The 1960s in American Society
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The 1960s was a period of ferment in American society and politics, and it was also a period of violence both by disaffected groups within society and by society itself in Vietnam and against various demonstrators in the U.S., from anti-war demonstrators to delegates and news people as well as agitators at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968. The event that most challenged America's view of the era and of itself took place at Kent State University in Ohio on May 4, 1970 as members of the National guard fired on student demonstrators, killing 4 and wounding 9. This was the culmination of a decade of student demonstrations both violent and non-violent. For some, the event was the fault of the students--nothing would have happened had the students been attending to their own business, and in any case the National Guardsmen were doing no more than protecting lives and property as they were charged with doing. For others, the event was proof not only that the American social and political systems were failing but that they knew it and were willing to kill young people to protect the status quo. Kent State has been considered by numerous commentators and historians since and is seen generally as an example of an excessive societal reaction to a perceived threat. President Richard Nixon made a speech on television on April 30, 1970 and announced what he called an "incursion" into Cambodia by U.S. troops fighting in Vietnam. This was perceived as a widening
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le, national demonstrations against the war, and there were also moratoriums on many campuses throughout the country. In Kent, 4,000 people marched through the downtown area. In Washington, D.C., a demonstration attracted some 500,000 people:
The imminence of the "revolution" was a theme popularized in songs and writings of the time. Hence, many who reflect on the events of spring 1970 remember them as part of a process that began earlier, characterized first by growing euphoria, then followed by shock, disbelief, and sometimes by disillusionment (Bills 10).
The immediate reason for the heightened student protest of the spring of 1970 was the announcement by President Nixon in April that U.S. troops were engaged in an assault on suspected guerrilla strongholds in Cambodia. Nixon also made reference to the protests as part of a new anarchy in the country. On May 1, a Friday, spontaneous demonstrations against the Cambodia invasion started on campuses across the country, including Kent State. At that campus, an ad hoc group of graduate students organized as the World Historians Opposed to racism and Exploitation (WHORE) and called for a noon rally. This demonstration was relatively small and not sufficiently threatening to
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Approximate Word count = 1807
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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