Antiwar Movement Thesis

America is a place of freedom as some people love to say. The history of our country tells a different story. Throughout America 's history, people have been oppressed and treated terribly. These people have had freedoms stripped away and denied easy lives due to being slightly different than the “normal” person at the time. But the oppressed were able to fight through the tough times and band together for a common cause. The formation of social movements created a voice for the men, women and children who, by themselves, had no say in what they could or couldn’t do. Social movements made the population notice what was truly wrong with the ways these people were being treated. Harsh treatment wasn 't held to just one type of population, it …show more content…
The Woman’s Suffrage movement took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This movement was set forth to give women the right to vote, and succeeded in 1920 with the 19th amendment being ratified. The women that this movement affected were seeking equality, not because they were being discriminated against. This gave women a stronger voice in decisions and allowed a larger population to determine governmental officials being voted into power. A second example of these types of movements where a group is looking for change without being harshly treated is the Antiwar Movement. The Antiwar movement began in 1965 and ended eight years later. The goal for this movement was to end the Vietnam war and bring home soldiers that had been drafted against their will. A shocking moment for the movement came in October of 1969 when 500,000 people marched in Washington D.C to show their dedication for the message that they were presenting. The Labor movement began in the 1930s and the mission for this particular social movement was for fair workplace practices and protections. Although this was not the last movement for the work place, the first movement basically created the workplaces we have today, but it wasn’t even until 1938 that a basic minimum wage was put into place along with a standard 40 hour work week. These movements …show more content…
She describes the end of social movements being sure, she states that every movement ends eventually and each one can end a different way. The ending of a movement can either be success, co-optation, goal displacement, fragmentation, or repression. Monnier goes on to describe what each ending for social movements means for the groups that have attempted for equality. Success means the cause they promoted may have laws passed to promote the views of the movement. Co-optation means a “soft” version of the agenda will be adopted, and additionally the movement leaders can be offered positions to work inside the system. Goal Displacement is described by Monnier as when a movement focuses on maintaining itself and its organization rather the cause it was created to promote. Fragmentation is described by Monnier as members of a social movement might share political, social, or cultural views, they might disagree on strategies, alliances or leadership, so conflicts sometimes arise and the group may split into separate movements. And the final way a social movement may end described by Monnier is Repression. Repression is described as When the authorities consider a movement too challenging to the status quo, they might simply decide to use strategies of harassment, illegal surveillance, multiple arrests, imprisonment, or outright