Article from The Gamecock regarding student protests at the University of South Caorlina, ("Gas, Bricks Were No Mistake"), 13 May 1970
Document Description:
The Vietnam War years were turbulent times across the nation, and the University of South Carolina was no exception. USC saw its share of unrest, protesting and fighting against the administration. An already tense situation was escalated on May 4th when the National Guard killed four students at Kent State University in Ohio. The problems in Ohio blew the lid off the simmering pot at USC – the campus had been rocked by arrests, the closing of the UFO anti-war coffeehouse, and the Orangeburg Massacre only two years earlier. This article, written in the USC student paper, The Gamecock, appeared after several days of protests and near-riots on campus. It is a first hand reaction to the National Guard’s presence on campus and the rioting that ensued. It is also decidedly anti-war and pro-youth culture, making it an excellent example of the type of literature circulating on university campuses during the Vietnam War.
Citation:
“Gas, Bricks Were No Mistake.” The Gamecock. 13 May 1970. Newspapers on Microfilm. Published Materials Division, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
Correlating SC Social Studies Academic Standards:
Standard 3-5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in South Carolina in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century.
Indicator 3-5.6 Summarize the key events and effects of the civil rights movement in South Carolina, including the desegregation of schools (Briggs v. Elliott) and other public facilities and the acceptance of African Americans’ right to vote.
Standard 5-5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the social, economic, and political events that influenced the United States during the Cold War era.
Indicators 5-5.4 Explain the course of the Cold War, including differing economic and political philosophies of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States, the spread of Communism, McCarthyism, the Korean Conflict, the Berlin Wall, the space race, the Cuban missile crisis, and the Vietnam War.
Standard 7-6: The student will demonstrate an understanding of international developments in the post–World War II world, including the impact of the Cold War on the world.
Indicator 7-6.2 Summarize the events of the Cold War, including the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe; the rise of the Communist party in China; the building of the Berlin wall; the economic and political competition for influence in Vietnam and Korea; the Cuban missile crisis; the revolutionary movements in Africa; the development of new military, nuclear, and space technology; and the threat of nuclear annihilation.
Standard GS-6: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the effects of economic, geographic, and political interactions that have taken place throughout the world from the period of the Cold War to the present day.
Indicator GS-6.1 Summarize the ideologies and global effects of Communism and democracy, including the effects of totalitarianism and Communism in China and the effects of Communism in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union.
Indicator GS-6.3 Compare the challenges and successes of the movements toward independence and democratic reform in various regions following World War II, including the role of political ideology, religion, and ethnicity in shaping governments and the course of independence and democratic movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Standard USHC-9: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the social, economic, and political events that impacted the United States during the Cold War era.
Indicator USHC-9.3 Summarize the key events and effects of the Vietnam War, including the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the Tet offensive; the protests and opposition to the war; and the policies of presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.