Cultural Literacy

Recently for my AP United States History class, I was assigned to do a decade interview project about the 1960s. My partner and I had to come up with a list of events that occurred in this decade. There were many events with great significance, but the one event I think stands out the most, or at least was the coolest to talk about, is the Apollo 11 space mission where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin traveled and successfully landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong is known for being the first man to walk on the moon; he took the first few steps on the lunar surface and for this reason, among several other reasons, America became a world power. This mission ended the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. It also fulfilled a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy in a speech announcing that America would be the first country to safely put a man on the moon. When the United States accomplished this goal and beat the Soviet Union, America was viewed as a world super power.

I think if someone is literate in the United States, he should know about this astonishing event that had everyone glued to the television. The first walk on the moon is a major part of United States history and contributes to American culture because, after this experience, American citizens began to have a lot of national pride.