‘The Whole World is Watching!’ The 1968 Chicago Riots

Authors

  • Tyler Dawson

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/cons8056

Abstract

In 1968, the Democratic Party of the United States held its convention in Chicago. Thousands of anti-war protestors arrived to picket the democratic process and voice their concerns over the Vietnam War for the upcoming presidential election. With prior knowledge of the coming protests, the Chicago Police Department and city administration expected violence and prepared themselves accordingly. As a result, the convention was plagued all week by violence in the streets as protestors clashed with the police. At the end, the violence was declared be the result of excessive police brutality. Scholarly works on the pre-existing conditions of Chicago that lead to violence have not been fully considered. In looking at the complexity of violent protest, this essay intends to examine the leaders and their intentions – on both sides of the conflict – and determine the causes and impact of one of the most iconic political clashes in twentieth century America.

Author Biography

Tyler Dawson

Tyler Dawson is a third-year student in a combined honours program in history and political science. He is interested in political and cultural differences between the United States and Canada, and the impact of ideology on politics. He plans on pursuing a career in journalism.

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Published

2010-04-13

How to Cite

Dawson, T. (2010). ‘The Whole World is Watching!’ The 1968 Chicago Riots. Constellations, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.29173/cons8056

Issue

Section

Articles