USA-other protests and movements. Flashcards
What was the emergence of the teenager
MOre people in their teens rebelled against their parents and began to question their parents beliefs and values. Before most young people acted how their parents did.
Factors That played a role in inspiring protest movements
After the second world war there was an increase in the birth rate. So by the 1960s ‘baby boomers’ made up a large percentage of the population and society had to start listening to the the views of the young because there were so many of them.
The invention of the contraceptive pill and washing machines led more women to question their roles in society.
What was the student movement
An increasing amount of students were going on to higher education after leaving school. During the 1960s students became invcreasingly concerned with major social issues and the injustices that existed in American society. They campaigned for gayrights, African Americans, womans rights, poverty and the environment.
What was the SDS
Students for a democratic society
What did the SDS do
Organised sit-ins and rallies to try and give students more say in the policies and practices of the universities.
What was the Berkeley free speech movement
The students organised protests against racial discrimination on the university campus. Students were arrested and asked to leave.
What was the FSM or free speech movement
Was created in order to protest and negotiate until they won what they saw as a right to hold protests and speaks about anything they wanted to on university campus.
Why did the FSM lose the support of many moderate students
Became more confrontational.
What were did other people think about the protestors
The students were trouble makers and had nothing better to do- labelled as the filthy speech movement.
What was the problem with the protests
Archived few of their aims because there was a huge variety of issues that they were protesting about and numerous differing views.
Why did the US want to prevent South Vietnam from becoming communist
Because they believed this would encourage other countries in South Asia to adopt communism and support the soviet Union.
How did the Vietnam war start
USA sent advisers, supplies and money to support South Vietnam. In 1959 the situation turned into a war. North Vietnam sent soldiers into the south and take over the country. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which stated that President Johnson could use his power to prevent attacks on the US forces in Vietnam without seeking the approval of congress. US troops joined the war in South Over half a million tropps were in Vietnam in 1969. In 1975 the whole south Vietnam had fallen to the communist north.
Why did protestors protest against the Vietnam war
Huge cost- people realised the US couldn’t win.
Rising number of deaths and injuries to US troops.
US were supporting a corrupt government (south Vietnam) even if it was anti-communist.
The draft system was seen as unfair. A high percentage of african americans and very young soldiers were sent in.
Why did the anti-war movement increase
The media showed footage of burning villages and terrified children.
What protests did the anti-war movement groups carry out
Mass rallies where protestors would shout -hey hey LBJ how many kids did you kill today.
Sit-ins held in army recruitment centres
Advising people how to avoid the draft.
What happened at Kent state university
National guardsmen were called to break up a protest on 4 May 1970. Despite using tear gas the students refused to move, so the troops fired into the crow killing 4 students.
effects of the anti-Vietnam war movement
Put pressure on the government and raising awareness of anti-war beliefs, however, they did not have much of an impact on ending US involvement in Vietnam.
Why did the Vietnam movement not persuade a large number of people
Many Americans did not trust the protestors, they were seen as unpatriotic, especially as some anti-war protestors burned the US flag and openly declared their support for North Vietnam and communism.
What were the Hippies
Hippies chose not to go to work or go to college. Many lived in communes in cities such as San Fransico, while others travelled around living out of buses or vans. They created a counter-culture to traditional America.
Hippies slogans
‘Make love, not war’ and ‘If it feels good, do it’
Hippies identities
long, unstyled hair and wore very colourful clothes and jewellery. Nakedness was encouraged if the weather allowed. They experimented with sex, drugs and various forms of art and especially rock music. However, they were not passive and showed their anti-war views and belief in racial and gender equality. MAny campaigned on environmental issues.
What were the main impacts of the Hippy movement
They were viewed as ‘wasters’ and people could not understand why their children wanted to behave in this way. Even though many young people did not become hippies, their culture has influenced our society. Hippies’ ideas of equality, individuality and tolerance of race and gender are used today and some aspects like music, unusual clothes and experimenting with drugs and sex have influenced teenagers to this day.
What happened to women after they got married
It was expected that they would give up their jobs and become housewives, some companies even dismissed female employees once they got married. This was because it was still believed that a women’s primary role was to look after the home and raise the children.
What did the First lady Eleanor Roosevelt do to help women’s rights?
She held her own press conferences and allowed only women to attend, meaning newspapers and radio stations had to employ female journalists. She also put pressure on her husband and later presidents to employ more women. Roosevelt made broadcasts on the radio and television and wrote many articles voicing her opinions. She also supported john Kennedy in his campaign to win the nomination of the democratic candidate for president, only if he agreed to establish a commission on the status of women if he became president. The report highlighted the huge inequalities facing women in work.
What factors led to change in women’s lives
As a result of the washing machine and the television, it became more necessary for households to have more than one wage earner to be able to afford these things. Additionally, household appliances save considerable time so female householders had more time for paid employment.
The contraceptive pill allowed women to plan their education and careers around this.
Who was Betty Frieden
She was a journalist who wrote a book on the myth that women should only find happiness and satisfaction in their role as housewives and mothers. She asked other women at her college reunion and wrote her findings in her book, She described these women’s homes as comfortable prisons. She believed that women should have equal political, economic and social rights to men.
What was the NOW group
It was a group created by Betty Frieden and other feminists set up to attract supporters and put pressure on the authorities to enforce equality.
NAtional Organization for Women.
What was the NOWs bill of rights
At its first national conference, it adopted a bill of rights setting out its aims
What were NOWs actions
They helped in a series of disputes about unequal pay and won 30 million in back pay for women.
They organised the Women’s Strike for Equality.
What was the Women’s Liberation movement and what were there beliefs
Feminists whose aims were far more radical, supporters wanted to totally destroy the existing system and liberate or free women from the limitations of patriarchal society. They wanted to completely seperate men and women and believed that lesbians were the only women who could achieve true liberation.
What did the Women’s liberation group do
Protests were more aggressive, they held sit-ins in the sexist company and damaged offices. They organised a protest at Miss America where they threw products that they felt showed society only valued women for their looks and crowned a sheep Miss America.
They also held discussion groups and talked about their own problems with soceity.
The protests attached huge, mostly negative media attention around the world.
What were the abortion protests
Members of NOW and the women’s liberation movement campaigned for abortion to be made illegal because it is a women’s choice what happens with her own body. Women were already having abortions illegally which were dangerous and often done by someone without medical qualifications.
What was Roe versus Wade
Norma McCorvey under the name Jane Roe, took the Dallas County district attorney, Henry Wade, to court to claim the right to have an abortion. Roe had her first two children adopted and she did not want to have another child. Roes’s lawyer won on this one case, so they decided to appeal to the supreme court to try to make it a test case that would apply in all states for all women.
The outcome of Roe versus Wade
The Supreme court ruled that abortion laws broke a woman’s constitutional right to privacy and freedom of personal choice in family matters.
Who was Phyllis Schlafly
Schlafly was a married mother of six and had been politically active since the 1950-s, she believed that the traditional role of housewife and mother was what nature intended for women, and was a fierce opponent to abortion.
What was the equal rights amendment
It would mean that women would be treated as totally equal and identical to men under the US constitution. It was finally passed in 1972.
What did Schlafly do about the ERA
Founded a new organisation, the stop ERA to prevent the ERA from being ratified by the states. HSe campaigned over the country and she highlighted the fact that women would have to serve in the military and they might lose the right to financial support from their husbands. In 2016 ERA had still not become a US law
Effects of women’s movement
More women became politically engaged. More women went out to work and in a wider range of jobs. the women’s lib took the focus of equal pay and discrimination.
