Counterculture (63-72)

Question 1

Name 3 aspects of ‘social’ counterculture

Answer 1

• Divorce Rate, rose almost 100% during 60s
• Woodstock Festival (‘69) - 400k people attended, epitome of counterculture and civil rights supporters
• Feminine Mystique (63) written by Betty Friedan, seen as the beginning of the Women’s Liberation Movement (more radical than NOW)

Question 2

Name 2 aspects of ‘political’ counterculture

Answer 2

• Roe VS Wade (73), women’s choice to have an abortion
• Civil Rights Act (64), banned discrimination of race, religion, sexuality or gender

Question 3

What was the silent majority?

Answer 3

• Those that supported Nixon
• Not involved in marches or protest movements
• Resented attack on traditional morals

Question 4

Who were the silent majority?

Answer 4

• Veterans of WWII
• Working/middle class Americans brought up in 40s/50s grew up in a time of traditional values

Question 5

Who was Walter Cronkite?

Answer 5

• TV news reader (62-81)
• Covered the most dramatic news of the era
• Was voted the most trusted man in America
• Embodiment of the media’s importance of the media

Question 6

Why did the media have such an impact on the public?

Answer 6

By 1968, majority of American homes had owned at least one TV

Question 7

What was Nixon’s relationship with the media?

Answer 7

• Initially was supported by the media
• Many of the editors of the newspapers were liberals who recently graduated and so were opposed to Nixon
• Nixon preferred one-on-one addresses to Americans through the TV, as he could address the silent majority directly

Question 8

How did the media impact viewers’ stances on Vietnam?

Answer 8

• America invested more and more power and force into the Vietnam War, as they believed if one country was to fall to communism, the rest would too
• Extensive media coverage brought gruesome war into the living rooms of Americans
• Many Americans began to question the reasons and legitimacy of their involvement in the war
• Stirred up an powerful anti-war sentiment among American counterculture

Question 9

What were the Kent State Shootings?

Answer 9

1970
- After a massacre of civilians being tortured, then executed by US troops, global outrage took place
- Student protest closed dow the campus of Kent State University (Ohio)
- National Guard were called in to end the protest, ended up killing 4 people
- 50% of the public actually placed the blame on the students