AS: Protest Culture Flashcards
Revise for AS exam
What was US GNP in 1950, compared to in 1960?
$300m v. $500m
Levels of which two things remained low in 1950s, leading to continual economic growth?
- Inflation
2. Unemployment
By 1956, what percentage of Americans worked in white collar (non-manual, professional) occupations?
60%
What percentage of US homes were owner occupied in 1940, compare to in 1960?
43.6% v. 61.9%
Largely due to the negotiations of labour unions on their behalf, by what percentage did the wages for production workers rise between 1950 and 1970?
70%
What percentage of Americans owned a car in 1940, compared to in 1970?
20% v. 50%
Term, coined by commentators to describe the American lifestyle in the 1950s and 1960s, meaning a lifestyle where everyone could afford to live in some measure of luxury
Populuxe
Which 1930s event increased the suspicion of many white Americans towards black citizens, as they feared for their own economic security, a factor which no longer remained relevant during the period of populuxe, encouraging the civil rights statement?
The Great Depression
Name of the generation born after the great depression, who had never experienced poverty or economic depression. This generation was better educated, supposedly less materialistic, and more interested in political issues as a result of being born in period of populuxe
Baby boomers
Slogan of President Kennedy, which appealed to the ambition and optimism of young people in America
“Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”
Date that President Kennedy established the Peace Corps, an organisation which sent volunteers to work in the developing world, which largely appealed to the younger generation’s ideals of self-sacrifice and ambition, and as such was successful
1961
Name of the President who committed the government to a multi million dollar space programme which aimed to land man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. This appealed to the country’s new-found ideals of self-sacrifice and ambition, and the programme was ultimately successful
President Kennedy
Number of volunteers working overseas as part of the Peace Corps by 1966
15k
Date on which the Apollo Programme successfully landed two men on the Moon
1969
Two areas which President Kennedy aimed to improve domestically as part of the ‘New Frontier’, which proved largely unsuccessful due to the lack of support from Congress, dominated at the time by Republicans and conservative southern Democrats
- Healthcare
2. Education
Example of a bill, proposed by Kennedy, which was blocked by (the largely Republican and southern Democratic) Congress
The Medical Health Bill
Name of President Johnson’s policy in which the government would use some of America’s newfound wealth to improve the lives of the poor
The Great Society
Number of bills passed under President Johnson and Congress which committed $1.5 billion to improve schools and $2.9 billion to regenerate America’s inner cities
435
Amount of money committed by the government under Johnson to improve schools
$1.5 billion
Amount of money committed by the government under Johnson to regenerate America’s inner cities
$2.9 billion
Name of the act passed by Johnson which guaranteed free health care to all people aged 65 and over
1965 Social Security Act
Although Kennedy spoke of a fairer society, what caused criticism of his behaviour in this area?
He was slow to act on civil rights
Although Johnson spoke of a fairer society, and have more success than Kennedy with civil rights, what caused criticism of his behaviour in this area?
The Vietnam War
Number of televisions in American homes in 1951: compared to in 1956
10.3m v. 34.9m
By 1960, what percentage of Americans owned a television
90%
Name of Bernard Rosenberg and David Manning White’s 1957 book which argued that modern mass culture deliberately filled the minds of Americans with worthless ideas in order to distract them from real issues
Mass culture: the Popular Arts in America
What percentage of the country’s manufacture were US top 100 companies responsible for in 1940, compared to in 1945?
30% v. 70%
Traditionally, American culture has stressed independence and individualism, whereas under the new corporate culture, … and … was valued. This proved unattractive to the majority of American youth, encouraging the new counterculture
Loyalty and conformity
2 facets of mainstream mass culture which was shunned by a good portion of American youth
- Media culture
2. Corporate culture
Name of Michael Harrington’s 1962 book which presented an analysis of American society showing the limits of populuxe. Harrington demonstrated this property was still present in America as certain groups (including black people people and the elderly) were largely excluded from the consumer boom
The Other America
By 1970, what percentage of America’s National wealth did the poorest fifth of its population receive, compared to the richest fifth?
5% v. 40%
4 distinct groups which constituted part of the counterculture movement
- Hippies
- Black Panthers
- Feminists
- Peaceniks
Different groups within the counter culture movement believed in, and focussed on, actually different ideas. However, they generally agreed on two things; what were they?
- America was corrupt
2. Traditional political institutions couldn’t deliver radical change
In what did the American counter culture of 1960s have its roots?
Youth culture of the 1940s and 1950s
New social group which emerged after the Second World War
Teenagers
Which social group were targeted by television stations and film companies, including Disney, which supported many countercultural values?
Teenagers
Example of the Disney show, which ran from 1955 to 1959, featuring rock’n’ roll music every week
The Mickey Mouse Club
Example of a Disney film, from 1944, featuring an extended scene with Donald Duck in a Hispanic Street party
The Three Caballeros
Name of the Disney film, from 1940, which supposedly inspired Dr Timothy Leary to experiment with drugs, particularly the magic mushrooms scene
Fantasia
Example of a Disney film, from 1952, in which the hero stood up to a corrupt government by stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Walt Disney himself describes the hero as “an inspiration to all who love freedom”
The Story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men
4 countercultural themes promoted in Disney
- Rock music
- Carnival dancing
- Trippy psychedelia
- Young rebel heroes
How much was it estimated that US teenagers spent a year by the end of the 1950s, encouraging advertising companies increasingly to target the age group?
$10b
3 types of music which Elvis Presley and similar rock n’ roll musicians mixed
- Black gospel
- Blues
- White-southern country
How did conservatives describe Elvis Presley’s performances?
Sexhibitionist
By 1958, what percentage of records sold were bought by teenagers?
70%
Name of the band which dominated the American music scene in 1960s, and was called “more worrying than Elvis” because of the influence of hallucinogenic drugs
The Beatles
Example of a film, from 1955, starring James Dean as a teenager who rejected the authority of his parents and teachers. This sort of glamorous outsider figure was an important part of 1960s youth culture
Rebel Without a Cause
Name of William S. Burroughs’ 1959 book which described the journey of a drug addict across America; a lifestyle embraced by the beatniks
Naked Lunch
Name of the group which questioned traditional American morality, and rejected both the square American work ethic and the material ‘populuxe’ lifestyle and focussing on non-material things, such as hallucinogenic experiences, sex, philosophy, and poetry. Members usually came from a middle class background
Beatniks
Name of the group which rejected the artificial mass-produced mainstream culture in favour of a more natural culture. Members usually came from a middle class background
Hippies
Type of community established by hippies, in which goods were freely shared and the idea of ownership was rejected
Commune
Name of hippie anarchist commune, which lasted in San Francisco from 1966 to 1968, in which money was replaced by trading in goods and services (or simply giving away things for free!), as well as drugs and ‘liberated’ sexual relationships taking place
The Diggers
4 services established by the Diggers hippie commune by 1967
- Free food store
- Free transport network
- Free healthcare
- Free rock concerts
Name of the underground chemist at the Diggers hippie commune, who produced large quantities of free LSD
Owsley Stanley
Name of the biggest hippie festival of the 1960s, for which not a single cheque bounced, showing that the hippie attendees weren’t short of cash
Woodstock
Whereas hippies and beatniks were cultural movements, the New Left was a…
political movement
Name of the political group, popular amongst young people and university students, who campaigned for equal wealth distribution in America, but wanted to distance themselves from the ‘Old Left’ Communist Party of America
New Left
First prominent New Left group, formed at the University of Michigan in 1960 (with many members having been part of radical civil rights groups like SNCC)
SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)
Document in which SDS set out its aims: to fight for a genuinely democratic society in which each “individual shares in those decisions which determine the quality and direction of his life”, and to fight for economic equality, providing a good life for all people instead of a select few making a profit. Give the name and date of publication of this document
Port Huron Statement; 1962
Name, and date of establishment, of the New Left student group based at the University of California, Berkeley. Although originally established to protest the University’s decision to ban handing out political leaflets, the group stretched much further, to be critical of American society as a whole
FSM (Free Speech Movement); 1964
What percentage of University of California students had taken part in civil rights protests between 1960 and 1964, contributing to the establishment of FSM?
10%
Date that the University of California banned handing out political leaflets on campus, leading to the establishment of FSM
1 October 1964
Leader of FSM, who argued that American society was a machine that trapped Americans, and that the time had come to destroy the machine
Mario Savio
New Left groups had little support prior to what date?
1965
What backgrounds did New Left activists tend to come from?
Wealthy
By October 1963, how many American universities had SDS groups?
6
By October 1963, what was the total SDS membership?
610
What caused a rise in popularity for the New Left?
The Vietnam War
Number of troops initially sent to Vietnam by President Johnson in 1965, compared to the number of troops in 1968
186k v. 550k
Number of US casualties in Vietnam in 1967, causing domestic uproar
11k
Number of US casualties in Vietnam in 1968, causing domestic uproar
16.5k
What percentage of soldiers called up to the draft in Vietnam were from poor and working-class families (seeing as wealthy young men could easily avoid the draft by enrolling in university)?
80%
What percentage of new soldiers being sent to Vietnam went absent without leave during the initial training (indicating the general unpopularity of the war)?
20%
What percentage of US soldiers in Vietnam used hard drugs, such as heroin (indicating low morale among the troops)?
25%
Date of the first heavy air force bombing raids ordered by President Johnson in Vietnam, which was domestically unpopular
February 1965
6 reasons why the Vietnam War was so unpopular with the US public
- Casualties
- The Draft
- Inequality of the draft
- Low morale
- A racist war to conquer an Asian country
- Brutal tactics
What did SDS radicals believe the Vietnam War was a clear sign of?
US government corruption
Why was the Vietnam War a very personal issue for university students?
Their age group was being drafted
Date for which SDS organised the first mass anti-war rally in Washington DC
April 1965
Number who attended SDS’s first mass anti-war rally in Washington DC, in April 1965
20k
5 locations where, in 1965, SDS organised ‘teach-ins’, events where lectures were suspended at universities, in favour of students and teachers meeting to debate the Vietnam War. Many prominent academics participated in the ‘teach-ins’, giving the anti-war movement some respectability
- University of Michigan
- University of Chicago
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Buffalo
- University of Columbia