The political unrest and social activism of the 1960s brought dramatic changes in the way many Americans lived. The civil rights movement, the gay liberation movement, and the women's movement certainly brought changes to the lives of those who participated in these movements of the 1960s, as well as to the larger social structures these movements hoped to change. Even more powerful were the changes brought by the shapeless and leaderless "youth movement," a general trend in culture that valued the freedom and lack of responsibility enjoyed by youth.

The dominant social movement in the first half of the decade was the civil rights movement. Nonviolent protestors led by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) participated in sit-ins and boycotts throughout the South to protest the persistent racism and segregation in the region. When southerners reacted violently, the federal government stepped in to enforce...