The Birth of the New Left

• Post World War II America experienced economic prosperity, mainly benefiting White Americans, while racial inequality persisted nationwide.
• American society emphasized uniformity and traditional ideals during the Cold War, but a student movement emerged pushing back against these norms.
• Activists fought for civil rights, addressing Jim Crow laws, segregation, voter suppression, and discrepancies in the quality of life for Black Americans.

The Birth of the New Left

• The New Left movement emerged in the 1960s, breaking from the Old Left due to dissatisfaction with social injustices.
• Students felt leftist politicians were not doing enough regarding civil rights and social justice, leading to the New Left student movement.
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), founded in 1962 in Port Huron, Michigan, shared ideas and goals for the movement.
• Tom Hayden and Al Haber wrote the Port Huron Statement, the SDS manifesto, outlining ideologies and calling for greater participatory democracy.

Grassroots Efforts

• Grassroots movements and organizations played a significant role in the 1950s and 60s, succeeding through collective action.
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) worked with other groups to address racial and economic injustice, including the Economic Research and Action Project (ERAP).
• ERAP aimed to unite poor communities in cities to protest policies affecting marginalized groups but did not gain national traction and ended in 1965.
• The Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC), founded in 1960 by Black college students, protested restaurant segregation through peaceful, direct action.
• The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), founded in 1940, gained momentum in the 1960s with young activists taking on leadership roles and focusing on peaceful protests.
• The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), founded in 1957, initially focused on bus segregation in Montgomery, AL, using boycotts, marches, and nonviolent protests.
• The student movement played a role in Freedom Summer in 1964, organizing voter registration campaigns in Mississippi.

Free Speech Movement and Youth Protests

• The Free Speech Movement was closely tied to students, including CORE members involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
• Public universities in California restricted students' political activities, leading to protests at the University of California, Berkeley in December 1964.
• Mario Savio led the march on the administration building to abolish free speech restrictions; representatives of CORE, SNCC, and SDS joined the protest.
• The Free Speech Movement inspired other youth protests in the United States and future student activism in the anti-war movement.

The Antiwar Movement

• The Vietnam War began in 1955.
• The United States supported South Vietnam due to anti-communist sentiments and sent troops and military advisors in 1963.
• Opposition to the Vietnam War arose due to moral grounds and government spending concerns.
• Protests occurred on college campuses and across the nation, including a tragic event at Kent State University where the National Guard killed four students and injured nine.
• The events at Kent State led to protests on college campuses nationwide.

The Student Movement of the 1960s: Fracture

• Weather Underground, a militant activist group, was founded in 1969, advocating communism through violence.
• The Weathermen attempted to recruit members through violence and organized assaults on police and bombings across the nation.
• The Weather Underground's violent methods contrasted with peaceful protests, causing division and contributing to the end of student groups and the movement.

Impact of the Student Movement

• The student movement addressed civil rights, poverty, campus issues, and the Vietnam War.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 expanded civil and voting rights for Black Americans.
• The Freedom of Speech and antiwar movements led to continued advocacy for free speech, with Tinker v. Des Moines affirming students' free speech rights in schools.
• The student movement lost momentum at the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s.