American Social Movements of the 1960s.doc

American Social Movements of the 1960sI Introduction1 . Greensboro “Sit-in”The quiet “sit-in”by black students in Greensboro began the civil rights movement in the 1960s , the first of several social movement during the decade . On February 1 , 1960 , 4 freshmen from a black college in Greensboro , North Carolina , went to a store and sat down at a lunch counter . The waitress refused to serve them . The 4 students thought that the segregation law prevailing in the state was wrong . So they sat there until the store closed . And then more and more students joined them . The sit-ins in Greensboro were successful .2. DefinitionA social movement is a type of behavior in which a large number of participants consciously attempt to change existing institutions and establish a new order of life . All social movements have two basic characteristics : structure and spontaneity . And the movements need ideas for social change , collective action to make the change , and organization to direct the action and attract supporters .3 . The civil rights movements , and the youth anti-war , and the womens liberation movements had made great changes in American society . II. The Three Social Movements of the 1960s1. The Civil Rights MovementThe civil rights movement began when black people spontaneously protested segregation laws and created organizations to make the protests successful . In 1955 , Rosa Parks , was arrested because she refused to give her seat to a white man . This spontaneous action was believed to be the true beginning of the civil rights movement , 5 years before the Greensboro students sit-in . The civil rights movement began to spread all over the South and segregation was breaking down in the 1960s . The older male , Negro leaders ; black and white young people , some white professional men and women , and some white housewives worked in this movement . The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Cogress of Racial Equality (CORE) , the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) were the three organization which provided the leadership , the nonviolent tactics , the network and the people to fight against Southern segregation . Civil rights activists first used sit-in tactics to fight segregation and later freedom rides . And then the next direct action of the three civil rights organizations was voter registration .In 1963 , Martin Luther King , who led the SCLC , gave the famous speech I have a dream. In 1964 , the Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Johnson in order to improve the racial relations .The movement had brought several changes . The black leaders in other parts of the country spoke in favor of black separatism and against nonviolence in fighting discrimination and racism . And many of members in SNCC began to think the tactic of nonviolence was wrong . In 1966 , the first black student to enter the University of Mississippi , began a march against fear , walking all alone through Mississippi . Unfortunately , Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy who was runnin for president were assassinated in 1968 .2. The Youth Movement/Anti-War MovementMany white students from the North changed a lot after working in the South during Freedom Summer 1964 . They attempted to changed the situation at that time .They gave speeches about the civil rights movement , about nonviolence , and the need to change society and worked to gain support for the civil rights movement .In 1964 , a CORE organizer distributing information and collecting money , and stated that university authorities should not keep CORE from recruiting new workers for the civil rights movement in the South and that the universitys rule was illegal . And he was arrested . The students sat around the car for 32 hours in spontaneous , nonviolent , direct action . At last , the teachers and professors voted to change the rule that violated the 1st and 14th Amendments . The young peoples Free Speech Movement began with success .The anti-war movement became more organized and was aimed at ending the war in Vietnam . The organizations direct action strategies included teach-ins on college campuses , protest marches and rallies , and attacks on federal offices to destroy draft records by radical anti-war groups .3. The Womens MovementThe three groups of women and an accident began the womens movement . The women who formed the movement included professionals ; educated women of color ; young or middle-aged whited housewives and mothers , and young activists . The first was a group of professional women who were appointed to a Commission on the Status of Women by President Kennedy in 1961. The second group were mostly white housewives and mothers who read Betty Friedans book , The Feminine Mystique , published in 1963 . The third group were young activists in the civil rights and anti-war movement . The accident was a word in the Civil Right Act passed in 1964 . The changes women worked for included changes in economic practices and in social practices and attitudes . At last , women worked hard in the 1970 .III ConclusionThe social movements of 1960s had a profound effect on the way people think and act , and caused changes in many laws . The result of the Civil Rights Movement was that Legal segregation ended in the South . And