other protest movements: students, women, anti–vietnam

• STOP ERA: what was it and its achievements

  sclaflys campaign to help stop individual states agreeing to the Equal Rights Amendment, it was successful and by the 10 year deadline in 1982 only 35 of the required 38 states had agreed so the ERA was not written into law
• phyllis schlafly

  didn't support the womens movement, led an anti-feminist movement - believed women shouldn't have equal rights, should stay at home and raise a family, she thpught the womens movement threatened to damage family, in 1972 ERA bill was proposed if passed it equal rights for women would be written into the constitution - needed the support of 38 put of 50 states
• the issue of abortion

  abortion was illegal in 1960, the NOW and women's liberation movement campaigned to change this, there was some change in states like New York that in 1970 allowed abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy - campaigners wanted this to be allowed in all states, in 1973 the supreme court ruled that abortion was the right of a woman to decide
• the women's liberation movement's achievements

  much of the publicity received was negative and distracted from the real issues of equal pay and opportunities, didn't achieve much and was often ridiculed by the media
• methods used by the women's liberation movement

  they refused to wear make-up or bras because they were seen as a symbol of control, held sit-ins to disrupt businesses that they thought were sexist, tried to fore their ways into "male only" clubs and bars, disrupted the Miss Americana beauty pageant in 1968 with shouting and crowned a sheep Miss Americana to show how degrading and sexist beauty contents were
• the women's liberation movement views

  had more extreme demands than the NOW
• NOW's methods and achievements

  used marches, strikes, petitions, lobbying politicians and challenging cases to bring about change - some women's groups felt that NOW was too moderate and didn't demand enough - led to the development of more extreme Women's Liberation Movement
• what did NOW campaign for?

  he equal rights amendment to guarantee equal rights for women, maternity rights - maternity leave and pay, an end to employer discrimination against women, the removal of laws limiting the use of contraception and abortion
• what was the NOW

  national organisation for women: was set up in 1966 by white middle class feminists it was moderate in its demands and wanted more equal rights for women had 40,000 members in the early 1970s
• eleanor roosevelt


  she was known for standing up for women's rights, continued to be an important figure in the Democratic Party and President John F Kennedy put her in charge of the President's Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, commission's report was published in 1963 showed that the vast majority of women were stuck in low paid jobs and paid 60% less than men doing the same job, JFK passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 which made it illegal to pay people different wages for the same job
• the womens movement

  ww2 gave women independence and opportunities n the workforce - returned back to normal after 1945, women were paid less than men and didn't get promoted to the same level, women were expected to give up their careers one they got married, limited to traditional women's jobs (teachers), in the 1960s women made up nearly 50% of the workforce and began to challenge traditional stereotypes, labour-saving devices - women were less tied to the home, wider availability of the contraceptive pill gave women greater control and choice about when to plan a family, more educated - 1.3m female university students by 1960 and increasing numbers joining the professions, high-profile campaigns by the civil rights movement and the student movement encouraged women to campaign for greater equality
• the "hippies"


  some young people chose to "drop out" of mainstream society, adopting an alternative lifestyle known as being "hippies", live in communes or travelled around the country in buses or vans, grew their hair long, used drugs, wore colourful clothes, believed in "free love" which meant not staying in traditional couples or family relationships - wanted to "make love, not war" - shocked traditional, older americans, lots of young people who did not become hippies were still influenced by hippy ideals about tolerance, sex and attitudes to drugs
• SDS: who were they and what did they do

  "students for a democratic society", a left-wing organisation set up in 1959 and campaigned for greater freedom for students to have a say in how universities were run and the courses they taught, had ver 100,000 members by the mid 1960s got involved in other protest campaigns like the anti-Vietnam War movement and the Berkeley Free Speech Movement organised sit-ins and mass meetings to challenge strict university rules- adopted more millitant tactics like occupations of university campus building
• the berkley free speech movement

  in 1964 students at the university of california protested against against racism at the university who responded by banning protests - students that broke the ban were suspended, 400 studeents demanded they be suspended long the protesters, police were called to arrest the students, police were called to arrest the students and SDS members made speeches criticising the University's attitude to free speech, students were protesting their right to speak about whatever they want, another protest led to further arrests and the university allowed protesting under strict conditions
• opposition against the vietnam war

  there were protests against the rising costs of the war with taxes rising to pay for it, 50,000 soldiers lost their lives, controversial tactics, such as aerial bombing and the use of chemical weapons, resulted in the deaths of innocent vietnamese civilians, in 1968, over 100 protests involving more than 400,000 students took place against the war, protesters often burned draft cards, in 1969, 500,000 people, including veterans, demonstrated in Washington DC, in 1970 4 students were killed at an anti-vietnam war protest at Kent State University - led to a nationwide strike by 2m students and 400 colleges closed down
• the anti-vietnam war movement

  US soldiers were sent 10,000 miles away to make sure South Vietnam stayed capitalist and defeat vietnamese communists, by 1969 there were over half a million US troops in South Vietnam, the war split opinions in American society opposition to the Vietnam War grew as more soldiers, with an average age of 19, were deployed, horrific images were filmed and Americans could see the reality of war on their televisions every night - increased
• the student movement

  more people went to college because of the baby-boom post ww1, people felt a sense of injustice and were influenced by singers like Bob Dylan - his song "The Times They Are A' Changing" became an anthem of student rebellion, cared about issues like black civil rights, more equality for women, nuclear disarmament and protests against the American war in Vietnam
• reasons for the growth of protest movements

  growing generation gap between younger and older americans, teenagers had personal freedom, growth of television meant that teenagers could follow and support and get involved in more protests and also encourage more protest, women wanted more freedom and equality as well as black Americans frustrated at the lack of equality,