Essay

   The civil rights movement and the Vietnam era was a time of change in the United States. It was a time when people questioned tradition and their beliefs. There was a lot of good things that came from this time period like equal opportunities and a change in music, however there were bad changes that occurred such as the cold war, Vietnam, and the large increase of drugs. The lesions we can learn from this era in American history are to recognize change is possible, be more open in foreign policy, and to try to create change through a respectable means.
 
 There is always going to be a politician out there that preaches change and radiates a revolutionary vibe. However during of the sixties the definition of a revolution was changed. Back in the colonial era the only respected revolutions were the ones that had an army. The 60’s and 70’s changed that because for the first time in history a revolution was formed based on civil disobedience alone. It was truly a change in the tide of history because the civil rights movement paved the way for other movements to form. What we can take from this is that we truly have the right to protest and for it to actually make a difference. The politicians of the time didn’t change with the rest of America but were eventually forced to change based off of the cold war.

 The cold war was a scary conflict because the military refused to realize that warfare has changed and they had to make a fast adaptation. For instance during the Cuban missile crisis we couldn’t just invade Cuba and call it a day because that would change tensions on the iron curtain and cause problems there. History shows that whenever and old military is thrown into a new battlefield the armies are reluctant to change. For instance during WW1 the army kept their battle strategies and the troops paid the price. Thankfully there wasn’t a nuclear war but there was a surrogate war and several cases of brinkmanship.  Neither country wanted war but neither wanted to be viewed as weak so they were basically just determining which country was tougher than the other while the public was scared out of their minds. The lesion the government should learn from this is to be more open with information between each other now that we are allies. The public was protestant towards the war and sang for peace but in a way they killed their own movement.
 
 The Hippie movement or whatever they called it was synonymous with the 60’s and 70’s but they were practically ignored by the federal government because of all of the drugs. Their movement was recognized but not respected exactly. At least not as respected as the black rights movement. All in all the hippies were just a bunch of people with nothing better to do than drugs and protest. The thing we can learn from this movement is to remember that in order for a movement to be respected it must be professional. Just look at the occupy movement, at the beginning of the movement it had some good points then other people joined with their own beliefs, then the whole 99% thing started and it just got out of hand. Now any revolution must look professional to the public for it to get anywhere, and if people are just camping out in tents then that isn’t very professional.

 The Change the 60’s and 70’s brought was undeniably influential to the country. It was a time of fear but prosperity and a time of living in the face of almost certain death. The main thing we must understand about the 60’s and 70’s is that humans are easily influenced by either a politician or a civil rights leader. It’s true that they could be doing the right thing but they could only say a few things you agree with then curve your view into something different. There will always be fakes and there have been pointless wars, but through it all we have survived and we will continue to push forward in time. The American people need to be more proactive however and find a respectable, professional way to get a say in where the country is heading.