On February 19,1968 more than 27,000 teachers across the state of Florida mailed in their letters of resignation creating the country’s first statewide teacher strike. By going on strike Florida’s teachers fought for and gained improvements in education and their profession. This dissertation explores the political and social factors that led to strike. In doing so, it examines how a population boom led to a rise in modern conservatism that served as a bellwether for the South’s switch to the Republican Party. Finally, this dissertation examines the strike itself and the years that followed to provide an analysis on the important role that teachers played in the shaping of political and social policy within the United States.