America: Political Ideas 2- Liberalism And Counter Culture

Question 1

What generation was at the forefront of changing political ideas and why ?

Answer 1

• Those born during WW2 who were young adults in the 1960s
• They hadn’t experience a major economic depression or war, so as they grew up there was a shift in culture/ new influences e.g. liberalism and counter culture

Question 2

What changed about colleges between 1945-1970?

Answer 2

Enrolment quadrupled

Question 3

What did the increase in college enrolments mean for politics?

Answer 3

-more people educated and aware
- more uneasiness surrounding politics-more people with political opinions
- there was the second red scare and increasing violence against civil rights campaigners at the time that people had an opinion on

Question 4

Under which president did Liberalism emerge?

Answer 4

Kennedy

Question 5

What about Kennedy meant liberalism emerged during his presidency?

Answer 5

He was forward thinking, flexible, concerned with people’s welfare, and less suspicious about foreign matters
He described what it meant to be liberal

Question 6

What were the main beliefs/principles of liberalism?

Answer 6

-inspired those who believed in American dream
-support for equality, civil rights & social welfare
-liberals prepared to accept more government intervention to achieve better quality of life
-believed in positive discrimination

Question 7

When did liberal views cause trouble?

Answer 7

During the red scares- deemed as communist ideas and support

Question 8

What was ‘positive discrimination’ that was supported by liberals?

Answer 8

Preferential treatment for those defined as part of the 5 minorities to readdress equality

Question 9

What changes and improvements happened in the states as a result of a liberal minded congress/culture?

Answer 9

-Civil rights act, Voting rights act, Johnson’s great society welfare reforms were all passed by a liberal minded congress

Question 10

What increased in the 1960s?

Answer 10

Legalised abortions, civil rights and equal opportunities

Question 11

Who tended to believe / adopt liberalism?

Answer 11

Middle class

Question 12

What did young people want to change in comparison to liberals?

Answer 12

-they wanted to change society by changing the culture of the USA
-liberals focused on changing it by government legislation and politics

Question 13

What happened as a result of different opinions about changing the US society?

Answer 13

There were ideological splits that meant groups split and reformed new ones

Question 14

What were the 2 major counter-culture movements?

Answer 14

Hippies
Radical Student groups

Question 15

What was the purpose of the hippy movement?

Answer 15

They sought to establish communal living and utopian settlements
They were disillusioned from organised politics

Question 16

What were the stereotypes surrounding hippies?

Answer 16

Long hair, tie-dye shirts, rock music, drugs

Question 17

What was one of the biggest events of the hippy movement?

Answer 17

Woodstock 1969
- huge rock concert near New York
-500,000 ‘flower children’ for 3 days listening to music, had sexual freedom and cheap marijuana
-everything about it was what the opposition feared

Question 18

Why did the carefree lifestyle of hippies end quickly/ what event dented the appeal of hippy counter-culture?

Answer 18

-promoters tried to replicate Woodstock 1969 at a Rolling Stones concert 4 months later
- a member of Hell’s Angels Motorcycle gang stabbed and beat a man to death infront of the stage

Question 19

What were the radical student groups involved in the counterculture movements?

Answer 19

• most political side of student revolts in the 1960s
  E.g the SDS: students for a democratic society were the most high profile radical student group

Question 20

Who issued the Port Huron Statement ?

Answer 20

The SDS: students for a democratic society

Question 21

When was the Port Huron Statement?

Answer 21

1962

Question 22

What was the Port Huron Statement?

Answer 22

It condemned conventional politics & highlighted the absence of individual freedom in modern life

Question 23

What did the radical student groups like the SDS organise?

Answer 23

-the first mass rally against the Vietnam War in 1965
-“sit-ins” protests at universities
-they were mostly peaceful at first but an increasing number resorted to violence

Question 24

What happened at the 1968 Democratic National Convention?

Answer 24

Student protests were met with fierce authority reaction- officers clubbed and gassed demonstrators

Question 25

What famous attack on student protestors happened in May 1970?

Answer 25

The National Guard shot 4 dead at Kent State

Question 26

What led to student opposition and radicalism dying down?

Answer 26

Radicalism continued to increase and led to more splits in the movement
- led to the very extreme “weathermen” who bombed university and government buildings
-the government arrested most of the “weathermen” and it lead to opposition dying down

Question 27

What was the conservative reaction to counter culture?

Answer 27

-it bewildered older Americans
-it challenged traditional values, rejected Christian values, rejected value of hardworking
- most believed students were ungrateful for the opportunities they had
-they feared the liberal government wasn’t working and wanted a restoration of law and order/ traditional values

Question 28

Who exploited the fears of counter culture?

Answer 28

Richard Nixon

Question 29

How did Nixon exploit the fears of counter-culture?

Answer 29

• he was the voice of “middle America”
• he selected advisors who would restore Christian values

Question 30

What did many religious groups do in response to counterculture?

Answer 30

-held campaigns to spread traditional values
-wanted to move away from liberal policies like abortion & contraception
-wanted to keep laws that banned homosexuality