Transcript AMH Chapter 20 Section 1

Chapter 20
Section 1
Beat Generation
• During the 1950s, artist
and writers who
criticized American
society were known as
beats or beat writers.
• One of the more
important Beat writers
was Jack Kerouac who
wrote On the Road in
1957.
Baby Boomers
• The 1960s saw the rise of a youth movement that
challenged American politics and society.
• Because of the baby boom, the number of young
people attending college in the early 1960s
increased.
• College life enabled them to bond and share
feelings about society.
• This led to the youth protest movement, which
began on college campuses across the country.
New Left
• Young people
concerned about the
injustices they saw in
the nation’s political
and social systems
formed the “New Left.”
• One famous group of
activists was the
Students for a
Democratic Society
(SDS).
SDS’s View
• SDS urged citizens to
stop accepting a
country run by big
corporations and big
government.
• SDS also focused on
protesting the Vietnam
War as well as issues
such as poverty and
racism.
UC Berkeley
• Other activists formed the Free
Speech Movement at the
University of California at
Berkeley in 1964.
• Berkeley students were upset
that the university restricted
students' rights to distribute
literature and to recruit
volunteers for political causes on
campus.
• Arrests of 700 protesters led to
even larger protests. The
administration finally gave in.
• The Supreme Court upheld the
students’ rights to freedom of
speech and assembly.
Protest Tactics
• The Berkeley revolt became a model for other
student protests because protesters used
tactics of abandoning classes and occupying
buildings.
• These tactics had proven to be effective, and
were adopted by other demonstrators as well.
Hippies
• Many young people in
the 1960s tried to
create an alternative
lifestyle based on
flamboyant clothing,
rock music, drug use,
and communal living.
• They became known as
the counterculture and
were commonly called
“hippies.”
Peace & Love
• The hippies rejected many
traditional middle-class
values.
• They wanted to create a
utopian society that was
free, close to nature, and
based on love, empathy,
tolerance, and cooperation.
• In part, their views were a
reaction to the 1950s
stereotype of the dull,
colorless lives of white
collar workers.
What did Hippies stand for?
• As the counterculture movement grew,
however, newcomers did not understand its
original ideas.
• For them, what mattered most were the
outward signs such as long hair, shabby jeans,
and the use of drugs.
Communes
• Some hippies left home and
lived together with other
young people in communes.
• These were group living
arrangements in which
members shared everything
and worked together.
• Some hippies set up
communes in rural areas,
while others lived together
in parks or in crowded
apartments in cities.
San Francisco
• Thousands flocked to
the Haight-Ashbury
district in San Francisco,
one of the most famous
hippie destinations.
Counterculture begins to fade
• After a few years, the counterculture
movement began to decline.
– Some hippie communities in cities became
dangerous places in which to live.
– Drug use lost its appeal as some young people
became addicted or died from overdoses.
– Others grew older and moved on from this
lifestyle.
How they changed American culture
• The counterculture did change aspects of
American culture.
• Members often expressed themselves through
clothes.
• By wearing recycled or patched clothing, they
showed their rejection of consumerism and
social classes.
Clothing and Dress
• Ethnic clothing also became
popular.
– Beads imitated Native American
costumes.
– Tie-dyed shirts borrowed
techniques from India and Africa.
• Hair became a powerful symbol
of protest.
– Long hair, beards, and mustaches
on young men represented
defiance against conformity and
the military.
• In time, longer hair on men and
more individual clothes for both
men and women became part of
the mainstream.
Music and Woodstock
• Counterculture
musicians expressed
their views and feelings
through folk music and
rock and roll.
• In August of 1969,
thousands celebrated
the new protest music
at the rock festivals in
Woodstock in New York.
Musicians
• Folk singers such as Bob
Dylan, Joan Baez, and Pete
Seeger became important
voices of the movement.
• Major rock musicians
included Jimi Hendrix, Janis
Joplin, and The Who.
– They used electrically
amplified instruments that
changed the sound of rock
music.
• These changes continue to
influence musicians today.