Unit 8: America in Turmoil (1968-1976)

Unit 8: America in Turmoil (1968-1976)

1968.

It was a hinge point in history, one of the most consequential and tumultuous years in the American experience, and it changed the country forever.

One traumatic event followed another as a wide array of social and political trends that had been building for years reached critical mass. During the span of 12 months a half-century ago, there were two shocking assassinations, growing and sometimes violent opposition to the escalating Vietnam war, hardening class differences, severe economic problems, and an increasingly impatient civil rights movement that gave rise to combative and angry black power advocates. And that wasn't all. Add in the rise of feminism, doubts about the credibility of the nation's leaders, a growing rebellion of young people against their parents' values, campus revolts against authoritarian administrators and lifestyle constraints, a new sexual freedom made possible by the birth control pill and, overall, a ferocious culture war over 'values issues' such as abortion, crime, patriotism, prayer in school, freedom of speech and respect for institutions. It was all dramatized and magnified by popular culture and an increasingly aggressive news media eager to hold political and cultural leaders accountable for society's shortcomings.

Many Americans thought their country was having a nervous breakdown. Underlying the public mood was a growing sense that a horrible toxin had been let loose in the land that manifested itself in the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King and Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.

The pervasiveness and power of television, with The Tube in virtually every home, intensified the hurricane of change. Vietnam was dubbed the 'living room war' because of TV, but there also was a 'living room culture war' that brought a parade of hippies, yippies, hard-hats, revolutionaries, hedonists, shock comedians and boundary-breaking TV shows to those living rooms in prime time nearly every night.

Americans who lived through it remain divided on what it all meant, and whether on balance the trends of 1968 were beneficial or harmful to the nation. These trends included rising cynicism about government and other institutions, which seemed to be engulfed in lies and committed to mindless conformity.

In some ways, historians say, America nearly lost its mind and its soul. In other ways, historians argue, the nation reinvented itself and became a more-tolerant, less-constrained place, more willing to let people express their individuality and challenge authority. Overall, the upheavals of that year, both positive and negative, made it clear that once social change reaches a critical mass, it can't be stopped.

And the changes live on today.

This unit describes physical fitness and what is required to obtain a physically fit body. Students will learn the components and benefits of physical fitness.

Unit Focus

• Benefits from achieving physical fitness
• Need for physical fitness in today’s world
• Components of physical fitness
• Basic training principles of physical fitness
• Exercise safety guidelines
• Effects of weather on training
• Stress management
• Personal fitness evaluation