The 1960s were a turbulent decade. It was a time when many people came together for the common good and opposed injustice. The 1960s are often remembered as the era of the peace sign, marked by hippies, marijuana and pacifism. While this is true for much of the era, some of the movements calling for immense social change began as nonviolent harbingers of change and later became radical. The reason for this turn toward radicalism, as seen in the case of Students for a Democratic Society, and as suggested by the change between that organization's earlier Port Huron Declaration and the later Weatherman Manifesto, is due to the gradual escalation of the Vietnam War. .The Port Huron Declaration, issued in 1962 by a group of reform students, was a peaceful call to action. In addition to highlighting the wrongs committed in their society, it also shows how educational, government, economic institutions, the military-industrial complex, and society as a whole are broken and need to change. “Institutions and practices that stifle dissent should be abolished, and the promotion of peaceful dissent should be actively encouraged. » He calls for using modern technology, business and government to eliminate the problems that past generations had to suffer from, such as poverty and racism. Its specific recommendations talk about working within the system to reform it. At that time, Students for a Democratic Society truly believed that change could be achieved through “peaceful dissent.” The combative nature of the Weatherman Manifesto was the culmination of failures since the Students for a Democratic Society national convention seven years earlier. . Where the Port Huron Declaration is right in the middle of paper...... Similar to the black power response to the Civil Rights Movement, the SDS of the Weatherman Manifesto is a response to the SDS of the Port Huron Declaration. They were willing to resort to more violent tactics to achieve their goals. They called for a “movement fully prepared to participate in the violent and illegal struggle.” The Students for a Democratic Society of the late 1960s was the result of the failed SDS tactics of the early 1960s. Despite all the protests and teachings, the war raged on and intensified. After being continually marginalized, SDS youth were pushed to the breaking point. Their goal was “the destruction of American imperialism and the realization of a classless world: world communism.” This global revolution never came to fruition and yet we are still faced today with the same problems of poverty, injustice and war..