The 1960s were a time of enormous change in the boundries of American individualism. The civil rights revolution was a belated recognition that black Americans had been effectively barred from the ranks of individuals whom Jefferson had said two centuries earlier possessed ``unalianable right" to ``Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War had officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans had had more than enough of prejudice and violence against them. They, along with many white Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades.
