AP US History AMSCO Guided Notes
8.12: Youth Culture of the 1960s
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP US History Guided Notes
AMSCO 8.12 - Youth Culture of the 1960s
Learning Objectives
- Explain how and why opposition to existing policies and values developed and changed over the course of the 20th century.
I. Baby Boom Generation
1. How did the baby boom generation's experiences differ from previous generations, and what movements influenced their worldview?
2. What changes occurred in college and university enrollments between 1945 and 1970, and why were institutions unprepared for this shift?
II. Student Movement and the New Left
A. Origins of the New Left
1. What was the Port Huron Statement and what did Students for a Democratic Society seek to achieve?
2. How did the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley reflect broader student concerns about university authority?
III. Students Against the Vietnam War
1. Why did the Vietnam War and draft become the primary focus of student protests by the mid-1960s?
2. What forms did student antiwar protests take, and what specific targets did activists choose?
A. The Chicago Convention
1. What happened during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and how did Mayor Daley respond to the protests?
B. The Weather Underground
1. How did the Weather Underground's tactics differ from other radical groups, and what methods did they employ?
2. What impact did the Weather Underground's violent actions have on public perception of the New Left movement?
IV. The Counterculture
1. What were the defining characteristics of 1960s counterculture in terms of dress, music, and lifestyle?
A. Woodstock
1. What did the Woodstock Music Festival represent about the counterculture, and what factors contributed to its decline?
B. Sexual Revolution
1. What role did Alfred Kinsey's research, medical advances, and media play in changing American attitudes toward sexuality?
2. How did attitudes toward premarital sex, contraception, and homosexuality change during the 1960s, and what was the conservative reaction?
V. In Retrospect
1. What ideals motivated the baby boom generation's activism, and what factors ultimately discredited their movement?
2. How did the counterculture's emphasis on 'sex, drugs, and rock and roll' contribute to the conservative resurgence of the late 1970s?
Key Terms
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
New Left
Free Speech Movement
Democratic Convention
Yippies
Weather Underground
counterculture
folk music
rock music
Woodstock
Alfred Kinsey
sexual revolution