USA Unit 1(0.7) Flashcards
What popular view dominated society in the 1960s?
What factors caused this?
-Liberalism, many Americans especially the young became increasingly liberal.
-These views were in accordance with;
-Civil Rights movement.
-Opposition to the Vietnam War.
-A demand for gov’t to assist more with the poor.
-Some favoured more progressive lifestyles; sexual liberation, drug taking and alternative lifestyles.
What liberal ideas did Johnson support? What liberal ideas was Johnson opposed to?
-Civil rights.
-He also wanted to create a Great Society.
-Johsnon was at odds with liberals regarding the Vietnam War. Also counter-cultural movements, which he had little sympathy.
What were the counter culture movements?
-Defined as movements which protested against the dominant culture; feminists, anti-war activists and hippies.
What did Hippies reject? What were they pro? Which event showcased the biggest counter culture?
-Hippies rejected American society’s emphasis on individualism, competitiveness and materialism.
-They were pro communal living and harmony.
-The greatest counter culture happening was the Woodstock rock festival in 1969, which 400,000 people attended.
When had the hippie movement faded? What did it draw attention to?
-The movement faded by the mid-1970s.
-It had drawn attention to healthy foods, liberalisation of attitudes to drugs and sex, environmentalism and Eastern philosophy.
What role did the media play in influencing the counter culture of the 60s? Which groups did it provide stronger coverage despite numbers?
-Media, especially television provided exhaustive coverage of protest movements and counter culture.
-It gave the hippies and Black Panthers coverage out of all proportion to the numbers involved.
Where did the counter-cultural movements receive resistance?
By 1968 what forms of protests did many Americans lose patience with? What were the views towards high taxation?
-Amongst conservatives.
-Many Americans had lost patience with rioters and with a federal gov’t they perceived as taxing them to give money to the undeserving poor.
Who did Nixon appeal to in his 1986 & 72 campaigns?
-Non-young, non-poor, non-black, middle aged, middle class and middle mind; all those who opposed change.
-The ‘silent majority’ voted Nixon to power in 1968-72.
What protests and counter culture movements was Nixon faced with?
-October-November 1969, huge anti-war protests occured across America.
-When Nixon appeared to be extending the war to Cambodia in 1970, anti-war protests errupted in most American universities.
-Nixon also faced pro-civil rights, pro-Black Panther and anti-capitalist protests.
How did Nixon successfully decrease the number of protests?
-Withdrawing troops from Vietnam.
-Ordering FBI surveillance of groups such as the Black Panthers.
-Threatening to end federal scholarships and loans for student trouble makers.
How did Evangelical Christians oppose counter cultural movements?
-The Catholic Church opposed abortion, setting up the National Right to Life Committee in 1967. This had considerable support, holding mass rallies.
-The Religious Right was increasingly influential in the 1970s. Its supporters espoused traditional values opposing feminism, divorce, drug-taking, pre-martial sex and homosexuality.
-Estimated 5 million evangelical Christians who had not previously voted, voted for Reagan in 1980.
