The 1960s were a period when long-held values and norms of behavior seemed to break down, particularly among the young. Many college-age men and women became political activists and were the driving force behind the civil rights and antiwar movements. Other young people simply “dropped out” and separated themselves from mainstream culture through their appearance and lifestyle. Attitudes toward sexuality appeared to loosen, and women began to openly protest the traditional roles of housewife and mother that society had assigned to them.

Left-wing politics in the 1960s attracted primarily middle-class college students

The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) founded at the University of Michigan in 1960, was the organizational base for the New Left.

Leaders of the SDS believed that colleges were a natural base from which to promote social change

Before opposition to the Vietnam War exploded, issues that touched on student freedom, such as dress codes, course requirements, discrimination by sororities and fraternities, and minority admissions, were hot topics on campus

When the administration tried to control political activity at the University of California at Berkeley in the fall of 1964, the Free Speech Movement was formed

The tactics the Berkeley students used at the time — sit-ins and taking over college buildings — became common forms of antiwar protest

In the spring of 1965, SDS supported a nationwide campaign against the draft

On campuses, demonstrations included draft card burnings, confrontations with military recruiters, and sit-ins to protest ROTC programs

Off campus, antiwar protestors demonstrated at Army induction centers with picket lines and sit-ins.

Companies that were closely involved with the war effort, such as Dow Chemical (which manufactured napalm), were targeted when they came to a university to recruit

In the first six months of 1968, more than 200 major demonstrations took place at 100 colleges and universities across the country

The most celebrated of these early demonstrations was the confrontation at Columbia University in April 1968. The issue being protested was not the war, but the school's decision to displace black housing to build a gymnasium. The local SDS chapter, along with black students, commandeered several buildings on campus for almost a week. When the police were called in, 700 students were arrested and 150 injured as the buildings were cleared out. The occupation received national and international news coverage, Columbia's president resigned, and the plans for the gymnasium were dropped.

The best known off-campus violent episode involving the New Left occurred in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention when police brutally confronted antiwar demonstrators from the Youth International Party