1968 Students Demonstrations - Essay Example

1968 Demonstrations 1968 Demonstrations Clearly, 1968 was a unique year in world history. protest movements contributed to increased students’ demonstrations that made 1968 a unique year in world history. The American student movement and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) are student protest movements that made a great impact in 1968. The student protest movements were global phenomena that defined the uniqueness of the year 1968 in world history. The year 1968 felt the effects of student protest movements making it a turbulent and unique year in world history.

The essay will rely on reliable sources to demonstrate how students’ demonstrations made 1968 a unique year in world history. Indeed, I will quote two scholarly readings from the 1960s to prove this assertion. The students for a democratic society released a statement in 1962 that defined a declaration of SDS principles (University of Michigan, 1962). Ideally, SDS was a radical student organization that derived fundamental influence in 1968. Indeed, the movement drew many students in protesting against Vietnam War.

The growing distribution of the Port Huron statement translated to a strong student movement that influenced global democracy in the1968 (University of Michigan, 1962). In 1968, SDS led to students’ demonstrations that involved more than 150 demonstrators who demanded multicultural curriculum and financial support for ethnic studies. The Students for a Democratic Society launched a major antiwar demonstration at Columbia University in April 1968 (Hayden, 1968). The demonstrators occupied various buildings and kidnaped three school officials.

It took the intervention of more than 1,000 police officers to clear the growing number of student demonstrators who were in excess of 5,000 students (Hayden, 1968). SDS governing council called for "two, three, many Columbians” in 1968. The call encouraged the demonstrators to heighten the protests with an aim of forcing the federal government to change or send American troops to take over American universities (Hayden, 1968). Indeed, they treated the Columbia strike as a case model for student protests in all universities in 1968 since it defined a new tactical movement.

Indeed, the student protests contradicted black protests since they opposed fundamental institutions (Hayden, 1968). Initially, students were responding to the black movement but in 1968, they focused on “Student Power." The demonstrators adopted an internationalist and revolutionary approach in opposing imperialism in American universities (Hayden, 1968). In 1968, the world encountered campus crisis as protests led by American student movement continued to grow. Even though university officials tried to curtail the protests by using the police, the student protests continued to influence the world as the students created a "new society" in 1968 (Hayden, 1968).

Student protest movements contributed to increased students’ demonstrations that made 1968 a unique year in world history. In this year, the world felt the effects of the American student movement and Students for a Democratic Society. Port Huron statement led to a strong student movement. The radical student organization derived fundamental influence in 1968 by mobilizing many students to protest against Vietnam War. The antiwar demonstration at Columbia University in April 1968 defined the demonstrators’ quest for a multicultural curriculum and financial support for ethnic studies.

The call for "two, three, many Columbians” in 1968 encouraged the demonstrators to diversify the protests while opposing the presence of American troops in American universities. The 1968 student protests opposed imperialism in fundamental institutions through an internationalist and revolutionary approach. References Hayden, T. (1968). Two, Three, Many Columbians. University of Michigan. (1962). Students for a Democratic Society, Port Huron Statement. Retrieved from: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/phs/about/thestatement