The Weather Underground

Paper Summary:

This paper focuses on the Weather Underground, a radical branch of Students for a Democratic Society. It examines why the Weather Underground never was able to radicalize the general United States population. Most importantly, it uses the microcosm of the Days of Rage in Chicago to explain why the Weathermen were unable to mobilize support for their revolution.

Table of Contents:
Case Study: The Days of Rage
The Consequences of the Days of Rage
The Failures of the Weathermen

From the Paper:

"The Weather Underground, also briefly named the Weathermen, comprised largely of middle class college students from the East Coast and Midwest. They borrowed their name from a Bob Dylan song titled "Subterranean Homesick Blues". They were a militant organization which conducted protests and bombings in hopes of achieving a revolutionary overthrow of the established power. They also were against the United States involvement in the Vietnam. After working for years within the framework of the Students for a Democratic Society, members of the Weather Underground decided to break away from SDS in 1969 to "bring the war home" and "get it on in this country" by committing armed resistance against the U.S. government. However, it is evident through of The Days of Rage and its consequences that the Weather Underground was ineffective at sparking larger resistance. The self-indulging and elite attitude of the Weather Underground caused them to isolate themselves from the other New Left groups, ultimately rendering their violent protests and terrorist activities ineffective against stiff government opposition and an unsympathetic public."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adelson, Alan. SDS. Scribner, 1972.
• Crenshaw, Martha. "The Psychology for Terrorism: an Agenda for the 21st Century." Political Psychology 21 (2000): 405-420.
• Daniels, Stuart. "The Weathermen." Government and Opposition 9 (1974): 430-459.
• Dohrn, Bernardine. "Declaration of War." Weatherman Underground. California. June 1970. na <http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/videodir/pacificaviet/weathercommunique1.ram>.
• Jacobs, Ron. The Way the Wind Blew. Verso, 1997.

More papers on The Weather Underground:

• Research Paper # 75051 : "The Weather Underground"
• Term Paper # 104976 : "Terrorism and the Media"
• Persuasive Essay # 110093 : "Does the Means Justify the Ends?"

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