SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
OF THE
60S & 70S
Civil Rights, Women,
Hippies & the Environment
THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT
THE PLAYERS
Supporters of NonViolent Methods

Martin Luther
King, Jr. (MLK)
Supporters of ViolentMethods




Southern Christian
Leadership
Conference (SCLC)
Malcolm X
Nation of Islam
Black Panthers
STOKLEY CARMICHAEL:
African
Americans
should
use
their
economic
and
political
muscle to
gain
equality
THE PUSH FOR VOTING RIGHTS
SNCC, 1960


Student Non-Violent
Coordinating
Committee
“Freedom Summer”

1,000 volunteers folld
Mississippi to register
African Americans to
vote.
SCLC, 1957


Southern Christian
Leadership Conference
“March in Selma”
Pressured gov’t to
enact a voting rights
act.
 Heavily armed
troopers attack
marchers.

VICTORIES
Voting Rights Act,
1965
Ø more
literacy tests
24th Amendment,
1964
Ø more poll
taxes
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT,1964

Banned segregation
in
public
accommodations,
employment
AND
public facilities
LOSSES…
April 4, 1968.
In the wake of
his murder
Congress
passed the Fair
Housing Act,
which banned
discrimination
in housing.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Causes for the
movement
Feminism
The theory of political,
social & economic
equality for men and
women.

Rights gained in the
civil rights movement

Discrimination
against women

Unsatisfying roles

Workforce limitations
& discrimination
WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
Proponents

Betty Friedan
Pres. of NOW
 “The Feminine
Mystique”


Gloria Steinem

Ms. Magazine
Opponents

Phyllis Schlafly
Conservative
 Political activists
 Denounced women’s
lib as an “assualt on
the family, on
marriage, and on
children.

NOW: NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR
WOMEN
Established by Betty
Friedan
 Sought to win equality
for women
 Tried to get passage of
ERA=Equal Rights
Amendment
 Worked to protect a
woman’s right to an
abortion

ROE V WADE


Passed in 1973
Gave women
the right to
legal abortions
THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT

April 22, 1970=1st “Earth Day”
 EPA
formed=Environmental
Protection Agency.
 Clean Air Act (1970)
 Clean
Water Act (1973)
 Endangered Species Act (1973)
 Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962
RACHEL CARSON & SILENT SPRING
Published in 1962
 Inspired much
environmental
activism
 Describes deadly
impact of pesticides on
wildlife
 Eventually compelled
Congress to restrict
use of pesticide DDT.

COUNTERCULTURE OF THE 60S-70S

Grew out of the
beatnik movement


Emphasis on
freedom from
materialism
Influenced by civil
rights movement

Questioned
traditional values
HIPPIES…
Non-Judeo
–Christian
spirituality
Rock n’
Roll
Peace,
love,
freedom
Youth
generation
Open sexual
relationships
Recreational
drug use
COUNTERCULTURE


Generation gap:
Rebellion &
misunderstanding between
older & younger
generations
Communes: lived
together

Haight-Ashbury: Center
of the counter-culture in
district of San Francisco.


Experimented with drugs
Listened to Rock n’ Roll &
speeches made by Timothy
Leary
 Encouraged youths to
““tune in,” “turn on” to
drugs and “drop out”
of mainstream society.