Topic 2 - C3 - Protest and Personal Freedom Flashcards
Why did students protest?
- JFK encouraged idealism
- CRM gave practice and inspiration to student protesters
- Resented college authorities who treated them as children and supported an unjust war in Vietnam
- Rocketing student population decided they could protest due to safety in numbers - no jobs to lose
How did JFK encourage idealism?
July 1960 speech urged Americans to face the challenges of peace and prejudice - demanded peace in Vietnam and an end to prejudice for ethnic minorities. Inaugural speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”
What was the SDS?
Students for a Democratic Society - established in 1960 by University of Michigan students - inspired by socialists of 1930s - the beat generation and student participation in the CRM.
When did the SDS first gain national attention?
April 1965 - Anti Vietnam War demonstration in Washington DC. 25,000 marched but did nothing to half escalation of LBJ’s Vietnam war
Who was Mario Savio?
Led Dec 1964 protests at Uni of California at Berkeley - had participated in SNCC’s Mississippi Freedom Summer and black voter registration campaign - wanted to raise money for SNCC.
How did the University of California respond to Mario Savio trying to raise money for SNCC?
Uni authorities wouldn’t allow fundraising and political activity on campus = so protests against constitutional right for free speech. Occupied administration building until police ejected them and made 800 arrests
What did Mario Savio’s campaign become known as?
Became known as Berkeley Free Speech Movement. Slogan - ‘you can’t trust anyone over 30’. FSM criticised unis as impersonal, bureaucratic and excessively regulatory.
What did the Student Peace Union, established 1959, protest against in 1961?
Protested outside the White House in 1961 against the testing of nuclear weapons. It had 3000 weapons by 1962.
How did the Vietnam War escalate student protest?
1964 - 1000 Yale Uni students staged a protest march in NYC. During 1965, unis held teach ins with anti war lectures and debates - 20,000 participated in a Berkeley teach in. Frequently led to disorder.
What evidence is there that student protest resulted in violence?
1965 - 8000 marchers clashed with Oakland police and vandalised cars and buildings.
In 1967 the New Left’s National Mobilization Committee to End the War (MOBE) organized a demonstration in Washington as part of the Stop the Draft Week…
100,000 attended the march, ‘Hell no, we won’t go’. Draft cards publically burnt across America. Berkeley radicals tried to close down the Oakland draft HQ
How did the police respond to the 1967 MOBE demonstration in Washington?
2000 police attacked them with clubs, demonstrators retaliated with cans, bottles, smoke bombs and ball bearings placed on the street to stop police horses
Why were there Columbia University Protests in 1968?
- Opposed research into weaponry
- Expansion programme had caused eviction of those in Harlem ghettos
- Wanted to create a gym in a Harlem pubic park
- Blacks would use a different door to enter gym
How did students protest towards Columbia University in 1968?
1000 students participated - seized 5 uni buildings and covered walls with pics of Malcolm X and communist heros. Police used clubs and made 692 arrests. Gym and defense contracts abandoned.
Who were Hippies?
- Roots lay in beat generation
- Characterised by drugs, spontaneity, free love and defiance of authority and convention
- Rejected individualism, competitiveness and materialism
- Prefered communal living and harmony
- Wore faded blue jeans, sang ‘All You Need is Love’ by the Beatles
What was Haight Ashbury?
Centre of bohemian lifestyle - christened Hashbury, where hippies went to smoke and sell cannabis.
What are examples of Hippie events?
- ‘Summer of Love’ 1967, San Francisco - hippie festival
- ‘Human Be in’ San Fran - Golden Gate Park, people met to celebrate personal freedom, communal living and environmentalism (1967)
- Allen Ginsberg and Dr Timothy Leary attended Human Be in
What was Woodstock, the largest counter culture event in NY state 1969?
Rock Festival - attended by 400,000 people. ‘Make Love Not War’ - slogan. Acts were led by Joan Baez, Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix. People swam naked, had sex more than breakfast and did drugs.
