10 Protest Movements That Changed America

[Playinghardball]

Source: Minanville

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement is in its sixth headline-grabbing week, and despite the early onset of winter, it doesn’t seem as if protestors plan to pack up their tents any time soon.

Although many of us are scratching our heads trying to figure out what the protestors’ endgame is, according to recent polls Americans have grown increasingly sympathetic toward the movement. Does that mean OWS has legs as a catalyst for long-term political and social change?

Taking a look at protest movements that have had a significant impact on America’s landscape might help answer that question. A telling indicator -- or omen -- may be how many of these movements, some of which began centuries ago, are still going strong today.

1. The Anti-Tax Movement
When: 1765-present
The Mission: Establish "fair" taxation
In the mid-1700s, the British Empire needed money to pay off its debt. Parliament tried to raise the funds by taxing Americans. Since the right to pay taxes was pretty much the only liberty the colonists enjoyed as British subjects, they organized to protest the unfair picking of their pockets.

Read all ten protest movements at: http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/10-movements-that-changed-america-movements/11/4/2011/id/37721

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. I'm glad you posted this. Some think that this movement is somehow unique on the planet

and therefore out of control or an anomaly.

[Hepburn]

2. I vividly recall this one:

9. The Anti-War Movement

When: 1965-1973

The Mission: To end the Vietnam War and raise the social consciousness