The 60s: Re-defining the American Identity

This thesis examines the 1960s as the decade of re-defining the American identity through various socio-political movements, including but not limited to the Anti-war Movement and the Black Liberation movement.  Participants in the various movements re-defined what it meant to be an American by examining new ways of thought surrounding fundamental rights such as equality, freedom of expression, and inclusion.  The 1960s was a defining decade as it marked a time in which drastic change occurred all over the country, stemming from the various protests and grassroots movements that took place during the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1950s.  The movements became more radical as protestors felt their voices were being ignored, leading protest groups to grow rapidly in numbers, and causing the formation of groups such as the Students for a Democratic Society and the Black Panther Party.  The students as well as Black Americans fought for freedom from the various oppressive systems in their lives and separately, as well as together, took on these systems to create a new American identity separate from their parent’s generation that would forever change the course of the nation.