Sharon Statement (1960)

According to Voices of Freedom, the 1960s was known as a decade of radicalism, but also had a conservative side. Students emerged as a force in politics and issued the Sharon Statement. "In this time of moral and political crisis, it is the responsibility of the youth of America to affirm certain eternal truths."Through this dignified statement, the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), and the Port Huron Statement of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) were established. These two documents "portrayed youth as the cutting edge of a new radicalism and claimed to offer Americans a route to greater freedom." The Sharon Statement also discussed things such as the free market being underpinned "personal freedom," political freedom rested on a free market economy, government must be strictly limited, and "international communism."

There are many political and culture conflicts of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Many were demanding equal rights and changes in American life other than African Americans. The 1960s was known as the decade of radicalism. Student radicals emerged while fighting for equal rights in segregated restaurants. The Greensborough sit-in launched in the 1960’s proved that students have become the social edge of change. The Sharon Statement was a striking document that summarized beliefs that had circulated among conservatives during the past decade—the free market underpinned “personal freedom, “ political freedom rested on a free market economy, government must be strictly limited, and “international communism,” the gravest threat to liberty, must be destroyed (Foner 270). Organizations such as the Young Americans for Freedom aimed initially to take control of the Republican Party from leaders who had made their peace with the New Deal and seemed willing to coexist with communism (Foner 968).