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1968 Dbq

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During the 1960s our nation was going through many important and crucial events. From the Vietnam War, to national politics, and even civil rights, our country was changing a lot. In particular the year 1968 was a year that was filled with change, conflict, and turmoil. With events such as the assassinations of prominent political and social leaders within the United States such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy to the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, and everything else in between, 1968 proved to be a very challenging year for America. The events of 1968 didn’t only impact the period of time that they occurred in but they continue to influence society today. Specifically, the topic of drug use today continues to be very controversial …show more content…

Document 3 depicts an image of an issue of a Life Magazine title page that announces Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. The front cover of the magazine consists of a picture of King which takes up most of the page and above the picture words confirming the murder of King are written. While this event was the main focus point of the article there is still more news on the title page. There is also mention of the Vietnam War and unsteady politics on the front cover. The intended audience of the magazine was really the entirety of the United States of America. There was no target audience for this article as it most likely looked to commemorate King for his work in society. Also, seeing as how the magazine is headlined with “Week of Shock,” King’s murder obviously came as a surprise to many. Life Magazine wanted everyone to be aware of the tragedy that took place and there was no discretion to who the article was or wasn’t meant for as this was a time of sadness and mourning. The protest for equality didn’t stop after King’s death though. In 1968 at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, two American athletes did the “black power” salute on the podium(doc. 5).These Olympics took place right after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death and this is significant because after King was assassinated new means of protesting were devised. Peaceful protests were less frequent as the …show more content…

Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t the only prominent societal figure who was assassinated as Robert F. Kennedy suffered the same fate as King did. After Robert Kennedy’s death his brother Edward paid tribute to him and proceeded to speak fondly of his brother. Edward Kennedy described what must be done in order to preserve the ideals of American society. Edward Kennedy preached his brothers beliefs by saying that society is in control of the future and can mold it in whatever way they please. However, hard work and reason would be required in order to shape our destiny(doc. 4). The purpose for this was that Edward Kennedy wanted to try to preserve and keep alive his brothers ideals as they had potential to change America for the better whether it be socially, economically, or politically. Kennedy’s death was a political turning point due to the fact that the country would end up being ran by someone else other than Kennedy. This meant that America’s focuses shifted and it wa on route to a different future. A future that was quite different than what Kennedy would have imagined and might likely would have occurred because he was tipped to win the election. So in order to commemorate his brother and keep his ideals and values alive Edward Kennedy wanted to give a last gasp public tribute to his brother. Assassinations aside, there were still some other problems plaguing the country, one of those being drug use. In document 9 Arlene Sklar-Wein puts her hallucinogenic

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