Silent Majority- Conservative Backlash Flashcards
‘Middle America’
Ordinary, patriotic, middle-income- 55% of the population, earnt $5000-$15000, many blue-collar, teachers or white-collar
Wanted law to protect them + their property, good manners, authority + respect for the flag.
Conservative backlash from MA in 1960s
Vietnam War- context
Communist North, anti-Communist South, led by Diem.
Kennedy + Johnson gave increasing aid,
1965, Johnson sent in ground troops
1968, half a million US soldiers in Vietnam
Vietnam War- Tet Offensive
Increasingly unpopular- Tet Offensive on Jan 30th 1968.
80,000 guerrilla communist troops attacked 36 of 44 capitals, 64 district capitals, 5 of 6 major cities.
60 million Americans watched on TV, communists in Saigon (capital), and US embassy
Exposed ‘credibility gap’, Johnson chose not to run, focus on the war.
Vietnam War- Why Conservative Backlash?
Middle America felt let down by J’s policy in Vietnam
Media exposed credibility gap in Tet Offensive- undermined government
Americans wanted alternate leader to end the war- lack of faith in J
Opposition to Great Society Programmes
Reforms reduced poverty, but many MA concerned their prosperity was threatened- had to pay for support
Ideal of self-help broken down
Opposition to Great Society Programmes- Evidence
Polls in 1968, 84% of Americans believed ‘too many people receiving welfare money who should be working’
Didn’t want to fund affirmative action programmes for black Americans, felt there were excessive benefits eg. 1965 Omnibus Housing Act
Oppositions to Great Society- Why Conservative Backlash?
Many Americans resented the programmes and felt they were disadvantaged.
Sought a shift to the right, ‘laissez-faire’, individualistic society
Growing Concerns About Law and Order- Civil Rights
MLK- Northern black ghettos
Many followed ‘Black Power’- economic, social, political equality, more extreme
Riots in 1964, one in Watts in Los Angeles (1965), lasted 6 days, $40 mill damage, 34 died, >1,000 injured, >4,000 rioters arrested
MLK assassinated in April 1968, riots in 100 cities, 46 died, 3,000 injured, 27,000 arrested
Growing Concerns About Law and Order- Student Protests
More politically active + radical.
Berkeley, Uni of Cali, winter 1964-5, college restricted distribution of political literature- caused protests + national student protests against curriculum + college relationships w/ federal gov.
1967, Washington, protest defence spending + Viet War, Stop the Draft Week
Over 100,000 attended, draft cards publicly burned.
Growing Concerns About Law and Order- Feminism
September 1968, 100 feminist activists disrupted Miss America beauty pageant
Threw bras, girdlers, curlers, false eyelashes, wigs and other ‘women’s garbage’ into a ‘freedom trash can’
Interrupted to protest female objectification.
Growing Concerns About Law and Order- Why Conservative Backlash?
There were fears of disorder and chaos
MA wanted a president that could restore stability/order
Wanted to ensure Americans were more patriotic.
Growing Concerns About Personal Freedoms- Hippies
1960s, emergence of hippies
Young people moved to Haight-Ashbury area, San Francisco
Wore ‘alternative’ clothes (mod fashion, granny gowns, Indian kaftans), attended ‘happenings’, smoked + sold pot, adopted new names, and grew their hair
Growing Concerns About Personal Freedoms- Feminism
Increased demands for female sexual freedom- new contraceptives (‘the pill’)
Evangelical Protestants worried about breakdown of family unit
Radical feminists focused on male subordination of females
Conservatives blamed ‘women’s lib’ for falling birth rate and rising divorce + abortion
Church communities offended by calls for legal abortion
Growing Concerns About Personal Freedoms- Gay Rights
1950, first male gay rights group- Mattachine Society
1955, first lesbian rights group- Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco
Church communities disapproved of rising gay consciousness- promoting sinful activities
