Students for a Democratic Society, SDS in a short form, exerts great influence to the development American young society. As a matter of fact, SDS refers to a quite influential national student activist organization located in US as a typical representation of the New Left. Students for a Democratic Society was in fact founded in the early 1960. Regarded as a youth group, SDS aims to bring equality, peace as well as economic justice to others. Especially during the time of 1960s, Mintz and Schwartz (1985) hold the view that such an influential organization once had a great impact on the political development of American society. In this sense, it is of great necessity to shed light upon this campaign in a great detail.
Roughly speaking, this essay consists of five parts. The first part is concerned with the origins of the SDS. As for the second part, it is related to the very beginning of SDS. In the third part, the development of SDS between 1965 to 1968 will be introduced, which is mainly in relation to the SDS from protest to resistance. Besides the climax and split development of SDS will also be briefly analyzed in the third part of the essay. In the fourth part of this essay, it is mainly about the causes and the motivations of SDS. Last but not least, it is a natural conclusion of this research paper.
In terms of the origin of the SDS, it is worth mentioning that SDS was developed from the Student League for Industrial Democracy, SLID in short form. Sale (1973) holds the view that it was in the early 1960s that the name of SLID was changed into SDS. In this way, it could attract more and more students to participate in this group. In addition to that, it should be noticed that there was a Vietnam War at that time. Under such a circumstance, it was of great urgency for people to call on peace. As we can see from the following picture, it vividly indicated that a great many of university students living in US were badly in need of peace. They needed democracy very much and wanted to bring all American soldiers home as soon as possible. It was in the University of Michigan that SDS held its first meeting in 1960. In this meeting, considerable American people criticized the political system as well as At that time, the Port Huron Statement, which was considered as the manifesto of SDS, referred to a set of statements that criticized the American political system and urged for the international peace. As is known to us, in the course of American Cold War, American government implemented a great many of polices to compete with Soviet Union. When implementing a series of polices, it, as a matter of fact, put great threats to the world peace. Taking arm race as an example, it could do great harms to the world peace. Nuclear war, for example, could also be considered as an extremely dangerous factor giving rise to the disastrous result to American society.
Hence, a great many of young university students marched on the street to fight for their freedom and democracy. Furthermore, for the purpose of having a better understanding on the SSD, it is also of great necessity to shed light upon the symbol of SSD. As we can see from the following picture, it is actually a modern sign of SDS.
From the letter D, we can see a fist which presents the power of democracy. In other words, the purpose of SDS aims to fight for the democracy of American people.
As Gilbert (2002) holds the view that, during the period between 1965 to 1968, as the Vietnam War became more and more serious, the group of SDS greatly expanded. More and more American young people joined the group of SDS struggling for equality, economic justice as well as a peaceful life. It was estimated that there were approximately 100,000 American young people had joined SDS, and that SDS was regarded as the largest radical young group in 1960s. It was in the year of 1965 that American president Johnson expanded the Vietnam War by means of bombing and sending troops to the South of Vietnam. Under such an urgent circumstance, almost all the university students in US started to lead various campaigns to fight against the war. A great many of various marches against the war in Washington began. In the following picture, it can be easily seen that a great many of various universities were marching for a peaceful international environment. From the following picture, a conclusion can be easily drawn that university students were the major group fighting for the democracy in America, and that SDS at that time even could be seen as a major group to facilitate the development of American society. It was very obvious that these young students were quite angry with the foreign polices that American government implemented.
In the summer of 1969, there were over 2000 young students taking part in the convention of SDS. It can be seen as a significant event for the development of SDS. As Hayden (2005) argues, since then, SDS began to split up and was on the decrease. Entering into the new century, a new version of SDS was established in the year of 2006.
The above statement is in regard to the whole development process of SDS. In order to shed light upon this issue more specifically, it is also of great necessity to analyze the causes and motivations of SDS. In terms of the motivations of SDS, it can be roughly summarized into several aims. More details are as follows. The first motivation of SDS is to facilitate the world peace. During the time in 1960s, the world situation as a matter of fact was not so optimistic. Not only was there a cold war between Soviet Union and the United States, but also American government tried to invade Vietnam. (Habermas, 1971) In light of this urgent International situation, most young students were worried about the future of America. In addition to that, SDS was also committed to realizing the equality of income as well as trying to against poverty. Heath (1976) holds the view that the equality, world peace as well as settling the issue of poverty can all be considered as the motivations of the SDS. As far as the cause why young American people engage in SDS is concerned, it is of course related to the political policies of American government in the 1960s. In actual, the political system at that time failed to realize international peace and made the economic situation of the United States worse and worse. In this sense, these factors can all be considered as the main cause of why American young people were engaged in SDS.
In the course of writing this essay, it is of great significance to make a personal reflection. When conducting this research, there are quantities of factors that I need to consider. How to make a literature review and how to find relevant materials related to the research topic requires a great amount of efforts. For the purpose of having a better understanding on the campaign of Students for a Democratic Society, thinking it twice about the cause and factors influencing SDS.
Last but not least, here comes a natural conclusion of this research paper. On the whole, this essay firstly reviews the whole process of how the SDS developed. Then a reflection is also mentioned in the end of the essay. There is no doubt that young students can be seen as main factor facilitating the development of the whole society. In the course of facilitating the development of Chinese society, it is very obvious that we can’t deny the role that the youth played in the process of facilitating the development of American democracy. All in all, for the purpose of making great process for a country, there is no doubt that great importance should be attached to the young people. In addition to that, seeking for a bright future of America without doubt needs great efforts of young people. In the course of establishing a great democratic country, it still has a long way for America to go.
Reference
Gilbert, D. (2002). SDS/WUO: Students for a Democratic Society and Weather Underground Organisation. Abraham Guillen Press.
Habermas, J., & Habermas, J. (1971). Toward a rational society: Student protest, science, and politics (Vol. 404). Beacon Press.
Hayden, T. (2005). The port Huron statement. New York: Thunder’s Mouth.
Heath, G. L. (Ed.). (1976). Vandals in the Bomb Factory: The History and Literature of the Students for a Democratic Society. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.
Mintz, B. A., & Schwartz, M. (1985). The power structure of American business. University of Chicago Press.
Sale, K. (1973). SDS: The rise and development of the Students for a Democratic Society.
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