Chapter 29: Contesting Futures: America in the 1960s
Critical Thinking Questions
14. Describe the changing role of the federal government in the 1960s. What new roles and responsibilities did the government assume? In your opinion, can the government effect permanent social change? Why or why not?
15. Discuss how and why various groups of people within American society began to challenge and criticize the nation’s way of life in the 1960s. Were their criticisms valid? What were some of the goals of these groups, and how did they go about achieving them?
16. In your opinion, what is the most effective method for changing society—voting, challenges in the courts, nonviolent civil disobedience, or violence? What evidence can you provide from actual events in the 1960s to support your argument?
17. Were groups that advocated the use of violence in the 1960s justified in doing so? Why or why not?
18. Discuss how the United States became engaged in the Vietnam War. What were some of the results of that engagement?