Democracy's Children

They burned bras, draft cards, and even the American flag. In acts of civil disobedience, they defied the police, the military, and the government as they battled to change American society. But what drove a group of young Americans to democratic revolution in the tumultuous years of the 1960s, and what made them think they could win? They were a generation brought up to expect fairness and equality. Born in the 1940s, a time of strong democratic idealism influenced by the political Left and remnants of the New Deal, they grew up in families where parents treated their children as equals in a sort of mini-democracy. They attended progressive schools that stressed individuality and the importance of students. They were part of the Baby Boom, but a separate and discrete subsection who grew up in the idealistic decade from 1940 to 1950. They were Democracy's Children. In this new book, Edward K. Spann looks at the motivations and values of the young rebels of the 1960s. He links their fight for equality for African Americans, women, and other marginalized groups to the democratic values of their World War II-era parents. Unlike other books which explore the revolutionary movements of the era, Democracy's Children looks at the individuals who comprised the movements. Spann provides a cultural portrait of who the rebels were, what they thought, what they did, and what became of them after they crossed that magical divide of age thirty. He gives due consideration to the wide spectrum of youth opinion from radical to conservative to apolitical. Democracy's Children will fascinate readers with its colorful depictions of the individuals, events, and drama of the 1960s.

Edward K. Spann is emeritus professor of history and distinguished professor in arts and sciences at Indiana State University.