Stonewall: A Revolution Serving as the battleground for a cultural revolution, the young generation of America in the 60’s and 70’s found themselves challenging the ideas of the conservative government they lived under. What can best be described as a time of discovery and questioning, advances in the civil rights movement as well as the conflicts in Vietnam seemed to divide the nation. Within these events, America saw the rise of another revolution brewing, one that had started long before but continued to get pushed aside: that of equal rights for homosexuals. The Stonewall Riots are often cited as the beginning of the equality movement, however history tells a somewhat different story; a story in which the Stonewall riots are more of a plot twist as opposed to being an opening scene. However, these riots drastically changed the fundamental ideas and goals of the gay rights movement.
The 1960’s was an era full of political turmoil that led to the development of a variety of social movements aiming to upset the perceived injustices of American politics, society, and life. Many of these groups were formed and flourished on college campuses. Students for a Democratic Society, SDS, was one such group, representing of the New Left. SDS was disturbed by a political system waging an unconstitutional war in Vietnam, viewed as imperialistic in nature, and critical of domestic policies that harbored racism and economic inequality. As SDS grew, the Vietnam War and American social strife raged on with progress seeping in at a nearly undetectable rate.
As a result, the tension throughout the colonies, eventually led to the First American Revolution. However, at that time in Colonial Virginia, the lax laws were no longer effective in establishing clear policies to deal with problems or to instill new lifeblood into the province’s economy. Simply put, the problems that affected the population before Bacon’s Rebellion gave strength to Nathaniel Bacon. The nature of Bacon’s Rebellion does seem to be the beginnings of America’s quest for independence; however, this was more a coincidence. Closer examination of this period in history illustrates what Jamestown’s condition was a power struggle between two distinct personalities that nearly destroyed Jamestown.
Were young people out of control in the 1960’s? The question, ‘Were young people out of control in the 1960’s’, has several varied perspectives, in which I will explore through this essay… To an extent, we could argue that the youth during the 1960’s was in fact out of control. This is an accurate conclusion, for the sixties as a period of change, on every level. The most remarkable event being the transformation from the socially conservative fifties to the anything-goes seventies. This volcanic change was brought bu huge difference beneath the surface.
The emerging movement to become individualized would not be an easy one to accomplish. It would require dedication and strong powerful leadership to contrast the overbearing power of the established practices across society. The struggle for individuality that happened in the 1960’s is reflected in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest through the overbearing power of Nurse Ratched, the strong, outspoken leadership of McMurphy, and the personality changes in Chief Bromden. The struggle against authority that occurred during the 1960’s was an act against the existing establishment and that struggle is reflected in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The battle is demonstrated through the conflict between McMurphy’s rebellions and Nurse Ratched’s overbearing power.
To what extent was the Cold War caused by Truman’s policies? The Cold War was a state of political and ideological conflict, military tension and economic rivalry after the Second World War. This ‘war’ was fought between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States of America (USA). After the Second World War had ended Europe was devastated and in ruins. The industry and agriculture sectors were severely damaged, governments were in disarray, there were supply shortages and a split had emerged between the Great Powers.
I believe that ethnic identity in multi-ethnic states can be operated with by political leaders in such a way, as to create ground (or become one of the main motives) for ethnic conflict. 2. Summary 2.1. The rise of ethnicity In the recent years the themes of nationality and ethnicity have gained importance and interest with students of political science, especially with those who study European politics. Since the coming power of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 Europe has witnessed some startling events – the disintegration of multi-national states, namely the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
In order to understand the societal view of youth one must define the problem, in post-modern subcultural studies the problem refers to: crime, unemployment, style, attitude and educational underachievement. Britain along with other societies has witnessed a rise of the ‘underclass’, an emergence of a new working class criminal, anti-work, anti-social cultures of welfare dependency (MacDonald, 1997). The youth often get grouped into one big subculture but changing times and styles has caused various ambiguities surrounding youth culture. In this essay I will discuss whether working class backgrounds are the cause for negative youth behaviour referring to a study undertaken in East London on Black males and to research done in Newcastle on youth nightlife. ‘Street corner society’ has a long history as a key component of working class youth leisure (Shildrick and MacDonald, 2006).
It was a symbolic way to detach oneself from the normal ideals of society while attracting attention to a larger movement; in most cases political. Examples such as the Hippies drawing attention to the Vietnam war and the overall social unrest presiding in the United States in the 1960’s, to the Punks with their disappointment towards the government and the turbulent socio-economic climate of the late 1970’s proves such a point. Yet, since the dawn of the post-modern world, new youth cultures have attempted to take earlier subculture movements from the past and acquire pieces to
To what extent did Gorbachev contribute to the break-up of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact? Under the control of Stalin, communist states in Eastern Europe were forced to join the Warsaw Pact in 1955, which was a military alliance against the US NATO. Besides, earlier in 1947, he also launched the Molotov Plan which was an economic assistance to the Soviet satellites, had brought a great economic burden on itself. Luckily, there’s an upturn of Soviet after 1984. Gorbachev, who was the new General Secretary in 1985, was to a large extent contributed to the break-up of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact.