Protest and Personal Change 1963-72

?

Student Protest

  • No. Americans 50s in further ed inc sharply - late 60s 50% 18+ in college w/ 20% achieving degrees - college campuses place for political + social debate
  • 1964 one of first student demonstrations at uni of Cali at Oakland - organised by Free Speech Movement + call for ban on political activity on campus
  • 1968 221 major demonstrations took place covering Vietnam, more participaion in student gov + freedom - 1972 uni campuses place of revolution + LW activity
  • Students for Democratic Society founded at Uni of Michigan 1960 by Hayden + Haber - 1962 Hayden produce 'Port of Huron Statement' which set out SDS aims - claim USA dominated by large corps, gov + uni aim to oppress individual
  • Opposition to Vietnam War - SDS supporters inspired by civil right militants 'Rap' Brown - 1965 Hayden organise march on Washington DC - aim to emulate civil rights march 1963
  • Spring 1967 500,000 marchers went to NYC Central Park to protest against Vietnam War - some burnt draft cards + others criticise US military policy in Vietnam War
  • Jan 1968 Johnson admin claim USA winning in Vietnam - next month communist forces launch tet offensive - attack major cities in South Vietnam - even enter US embassy - disillusionment
1 of 6

Student Protest cont.

  • 1969 announcement that US troops massacre women/children My Lai 
  • 1968 campus across US affected by proteststors who want to take over uni campuses + end VW
  • At Democratic Party Convention to choose Dem presidential candidate in Chicago 1968 rioting - SDS + Yippies cause mayhem protesting - mayor send 12,000 police to stop riots
  • Fragmentation of the movement - 1969 extremist terrorist group 'Weather Underground Organisation' engage in bombings of gov + uni buildings - show radicalness 
  • US Presidents Commission on Campus unrest - reject work ethic + materialism - lead to Silent Majority
2 of 6

Impact of sexual liberation

  • Relations between sexes + attitudes towards sex change rapidly 
  • Contraceptive pill major impact - approved 1960 Federal Drug Admin + by 1962 1.2m using, 6.5m 1965
  • During 1960s casual sex more common + by mid 1970s survey of 8 colleges found 76% female + 75% male had sex by junior year, 3rd year
  • 'Free Love' 
  • Divorce rate increased 100% 1960s + 82% by 1982
  • No. people living alone increased from 10.9% 1964 to 23% 1980
  • Tradtitional ideas decreased dramatically
3 of 6

Growth of the Women's Movement

  • Father Knows Best + **** Van Dyke Show - women's place at home
  • 1965 25m women in regular employment - 40% married women w/ young children in FT PT employment 1968
  • 1964-73 prop 20-24yrs employment increased 50% to 61%
  • 1960 - pill - social + economic position changing 
  • 1963 Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique - m/c domestic bliss = 'comfortable concentration camp'  - women need opportunity for alternative lifestyles
  • 1966 year that women's liberation movement created - 1964 Civil Rights Act
  • Friedan + 300 feminists form NOW - feel civil rights fail - campaign for equality in jobs, fed + state support for childcare + abortions
  • Complain to EEOC - 1st case of stewardesses - claim ind female only + job requirements demand particular age, weight + appearance - EEOC rule airlines not fire women for getting married or when they reach certain age
  • 1967-8 Women's Liberation Movement created, more radical than NOW - protest against Miss America in Atlantic City - claim it's degrading
  • Roe v Wade made abortion legal 1973
4 of 6

Counter culture and its key features

  • Major change in youth + fashion e.g. long hair, beads + faded jeans
  • Young women flout conventional views on sex - experiment w/ drugs 
  • San Francisco most associated w/ counterculture - 1967 centre of 'flower power' and ' make love not war'
  • Beatles release 'All You Need is Love'
  • Counterculture led to revolution in pop music + late 1950s + early 1960s rocknroll + protest folk music associated w/ singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan 
  • 1963 pop music + fashion change w/ bands like Rolling Stones + the Doors linked w/ rebellion
  • Summer 1969 at Yasgur's Farm in Upper NYS - Woodstock Music Festival attract over 40,000 young people. Performers include Joan Baez + Jimi Hendrix
5 of 6

Origins of gay rights

  • 1963 being gay was still illegal in US
  • WW2 thousands of men + women dishonorably discharged from army for being gay
  • 1953 Eisenhower issue executive order claim homosexuality sufficient reason to fire fed employee
  • Gay men subject to 'gay bashing' from public + police
  • 1st male groups supporting gay rights was Mattachine Society, 1950
  • 1955 lesbian rights the Daughters of Bilitis   
  • 1965 group march in front of WH to protest oppression gay people
  • 17 June 1969 NYPD raid Stonewall Inn w/c gay bar in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, riot for 3days
  • Stonewall riots created gay movement - get American Pschiatric Society to remove homosexuality from list of mental illnesses 1973
  • By 1973 almost 800 gay + lesbian organisations formed
  • 1977 San Fran 1st openly gay elected official Harvey Milk - later assassinated
6 of 6

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar History resources:

See all History resources »See all America - 19th and 20th century resources »