Importance of 1963 and 1964 in the History of the US - Essay Example

IMPORTANCE OF 1963 AND 1964 TO THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED S Due Importance of 1963 and 1964 in the History of the United States Introduction It is undeniably a definite fact that the present days are in one way or the other, swayed or shaped by the events of the immediate or far long past. In addition, it holds true for the United States of America because the principles, attributes, protocols and procedures that guide the people, and the government of the United States are direct products of what happened sometime in the past. For this reason, it is applicable to the right of each and every nation in the whole world. In particular, 1963 and 1964 are very crucial years that have been referred to as the years when a change was inevitable and inescapable because they fundamentally modified the notion that America would become. Although 1964 is normally considered as the year that was pivotal in driving the crucial changes in the United States, some of the major events had their roots embedded deep in 1963. Discussion 1963 was a year that was characterized by civil rights demonstrations and grand civil unrest. The national outrage was fuelled by wide media coverage of police brutality and actions against African-Americans in Birmingham, Alabama.1 The police were using fire hoses and canines against protestors, many of whom were very young. The riots in Birmingham, Alabama on the 11th of May 1963, where bombing occurred, compelled President John F Kennedy to release troops who gravely harassed the protestors.2 On the 19th of June the same year, the president forwarded an all-inclusive Civil Rights bill to the Congress for consideration. The massive support for this pending bill is what led to the March on Washington on the 28th of August, probably the largest mass action that the nation’s capital has ever witnessed.3 It was attended by more than three hundred thousand people, organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. alongside other activists.4 The demands stated during the demonstration paved the way for the meaningful legislation of civil rights. In addition, the matching led to the elimination of segregation based on race in public schools, the safeguarding of protestors against police brutality, the passage of a law forbidding racial prejudice in the public and private sectors and finally a program that provided jobs equally to both the blacks and whites. All these featured in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was passed after the assassination of President John F Kennedy and are still functional to date.5 1963 was distinctively a very dark year for the United States of America. 1963 is the year that saw the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the US. On the 22nd of November 1963, the President of the United States was en-route to meet voters and tour the state of Texas. He arrived in Air Force One safely, and then hopped onto an open-air motorcade that would be taking them to Dallas, where the streets were paved with a thousand of his supporters. As the motorcade approached Dealey Plaza, gunshots were heard and what ensued was the news of the death of the John F Kennedy. Vice-president Johnson immediately took the oath of office and was installed as the 36th president of the US of America.6 John F Kennedy was laid to rest two days later, his suspected killer being shot dead a few days later on live television in a tragic shooting incidence. The death of a sitting president certainly coerced the United States into remodeling their structures of gathering intelligence. With the current breakthroughs in technology, the presidential fleet is now better placed as to picking up any elements that are planning anything against the president.7 The vehicles used in the presidential motorcades also changed, with the introduction of armored vehicles that can withstand RPG’s, gunshots, and many more other sophisticated weapons. The procedures and protocols for presidential visits also changed ever since this incident happened all brought to force in 1964 after the unanticipated and untimely death of John F Kennedy.8 On the 26th of June 1963, President John F Kennedy visited Berlin, Germany in what remains to be one of the most powerful speeches he had ever given. The famous “Ich bin EIN Berliner” speech, as it is commonly referred to as, was delivered in front of more than half a million Germans. On the 10th of June 1963, Mr. Kennedy declared a cessation of the testing of nuclear weapons of mass destruction and embraced talks on a nuclear test prohibition treaty.9 On the 26th of June 1963, Mr. Kennedy went to Berlin, the front line of the cold war to react to the great wall of Berlin constructed to divide Germany into two and the injustices that angered him. His speech was widely accepted, and he received so far the longest and loudest ovation than any other president that has ever set foot in Germany. Mr. Kennedy, on acknowledging the existence of nuclear weapons, ordered considerable increases in the American ballistic missile forces, boosted the nations’ air force power, military reserves and added five new army squadrons to match up to what other countries has in their arsenal.10 All these were put into effect in 1964, although all the events that led to their happening began in 1964. Conclusion It is evident that both 1963 and 1964 are crucial years that saw many occurrences in the calendar of the United States of America. The events that happened in 1963 saw the Civil Rights Act of 1963 being enacted, the tightening of the presidential security and intelligence service collection procedures and an upgrade in the United States arsenal. All these changes, although put into effect in 1964, gathered momentum from 1963 because it is the events of 1963 that brought about the 1964 changes. It can be safe to say that both 1963 and 1964 are of the relative importance to the history of the United States because the achievements in these years mold the United States as it is right now. If it were not for the events of 1963, the actions of 1964 would not be valid, and probably would not be in existence. Thus, both the years changed America to what it currently stands for and represents, and thus are relevant to the history of the United States of America. Bibliography Bloom, Alexander, and Wini Breines. 2002. "Takin it to the streets": a sixties reader. New York: Oxford University Press. Coates, Ta-Nehisi. "The case for reparations. (cover story)." Atlantic 313, no. 5 (June 2014): 54. Eberstadt, Nicholas. "The Great Society at Fifty. (cover story)." Weekly Standard 19, no. 34 (May 19, 2014): 24. Gillon, Steven M. The American paradox : a history of the United States since 1945. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2007., 2007. Heffernan, Virginia. "Granddaddy Was a Manly Conservative." New York Times 156, no. 53706 (September 18, 2006): E8. Kennedy, John. Ich bin ein Berliner. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK907TwM7q0 Kennedy-Nixon Debate. New York : NBCUniversal Media, LLC, 1960. Peterson, Thane. "Robert McNamara, Vietnam, and Iraq." Businessweek Online (April 7, 2004): N.PAG. Schulman, Bruce J. Lyndon B. Johnson and American liberalism : a brief biography with documents. Boston : Bedford/St. Martins, c2007., 2007. Solomon, Deborah. "Goldwater Girl." New York Times Magazine (August 27, 2006): 12. Read More