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.