Photograph of student protesters with sign "We must choose between Peace at any Price...," ca. 1960s
Document Description:
The 1960s surged with political and social upheaval. People around the world, often young adults, found themselves dissatisfied with their governments and cultures, and looked for means to impact the course of progress. In the United States, student protests on college and university campuses provided one popular means of expression. Some protests were peaceful, but others were not. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, students participated in several protests, one of which resulted in arrests and threats to close the school. The image included here shows students at the University of South Carolina sitting in opposition to the Vietnam War. In this case, the students opted for a non-violent demonstration of their beliefs. The image does not reveal why the students in this picture chose to join the protest: Were they opposed to war on principle, did they tag along with friends, did they see the ever-rising death toll as too great a cost, or were they resisting the draft? The answers to those questions remain a mystery, but the photograph nonetheless illustrates a portion of student life that is a quintessential element of the sixties.
Citation:
“We Must Choose Between Peace At Any Price…” Visual Materials Collection, 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 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.