YOUTH Culture of the 1960s [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 12] Period 8: 1945-1980

Summary

The video from Heimler's History explores the dynamic youth culture of the 1960s in the United States, focusing on their opposition to existing societal norms and policies, particularly in relation to the Vietnam War. Two major groups were formed: the conservative Young Americans for Freedom, who supported the war, and the more liberal Students for a Democratic Society, who opposed it. The video also covers the counterculture movement, including the iconic hippie image, its communal living, experimental drug use, and the famous Woodstock music festival. Despite its vibrant start, the counterculture movement fizzled out in the 1970s due to its excesses.

Highlights

• Youth opposition to the Vietnam War was a significant factor in the 1960s cultural changes. 📢
• Young Americans for Freedom supported the Vietnam War, while Students for a Democratic Society opposed it, shaping campus politics. 🏫
• The Kent State massacre in 1970 highlighted the deepening divide and conflicts arising from anti-war protests. 💔
• Hippies led the counterculture movement with their unique expression through clothing, communal living, and a new music style. 🌿
• The Woodstock festival showcased the peak of the counterculture movement, with massive attendance and legendary performances. 🌟

Key Takeaways

• Youth culture in the 1960s was marked by a significant opposition to established norms, especially in response to the Vietnam War. 📝
• Two major student groups emerged: Young Americans for Freedom and Students for a Democratic Society, each with opposing views on the Vietnam War. 🆚
• The Kent State massacre became a pivotal event highlighting the tension between students and the government during anti-war demonstrations. 🚨
• The counterculture movement, symbolized by the hippie image, embraced rebellion against societal norms through fashion, music, and drug use. 🎸
• Woodstock music festival epitomized the counterculture's zenith, attracting hundreds of thousands in a celebration of music and rebellion. 🎶

Overview

The 1960s was a decade marked by youthful exuberance and an intense desire for change. The youth clashed with established ideals particularly in response to the Vietnam War. College groups such as Young Americans for Freedom and Students for a Democratic Society became pivotal in rallying support and opposition to the war, influencing a wave of student activism.

Outside of political spheres, the counterculture movement flourished, led by the iconic hippies. Centered around anti-establishment attitudes, the movement valorized freedom in personal expression and lifestyle. San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district became a symbol of this lifestyle, featuring communal living, psychedelic music, and free love as their credo.

The pinnacle of the counterculture movement was perhaps best captured by the Woodstock festival in 1969. As a musical mecca, it brought together nearly half a million attendees in a testament to the period's ideals of peace, music, and communal harmony. However, by the 1970s, the movement began to decline, overwhelmed by its own excesses and the changing tides of societal norms.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction & Youth Conflict The chapter titled 'Introduction & Youth Conflict' delves into the cultural changes in the United States post-World War II, with a specific focus on the 1960s youth culture. The discussion centers around explaining the emergence and evolution of opposition to existing policies and values throughout the 20th century, primarily led by young people. It sets the stage to explore youth conflicts, specifically in relation to the Vietnam War.
• 01:00 - 02:00: College Organizations & Vietnam War In the 1960s, college organizations with differing viewpoints on America's involvement in the Vietnam War emerged. Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative group, supported America's involvement as a measure to contain communism. On the other hand, Students for a Democratic Society opposed this view, advocating for participatory democracy and direct government action. They articulated their beliefs in the Port Huron Statement, challenging the prevailing norms of the time.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Kent State Massacre The chapter discusses the motivations behind the anti-war demonstrations by college students in the 1970s, particularly focusing on the Kent State Massacre. The students were concerned about the Vietnam War, fearing they would be drafted post-graduation into a conflict they deemed immoral. The chapter highlights the specific demonstration at Kent State University where the protest against the war's escalation ended in a tragic massacre.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Counterculture Movement The chapter discusses the Counterculture Movement, focusing on a specific incident during the Vietnam War era. Young people were protesting against President Richard Nixon, and the protests escalated to vandalism and looting. The National Guard was called in to maintain peace. However, attempts to disperse the protesters led to violence, resulting in the National Guard firing on the crowd, causing four deaths and injuring ten students. This incident highlighted the tense atmosphere and opposition among the youth during this period.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Hippie Movement & Lifestyle The Hippie Movement was primarily composed of young people and embodied a 'counterculture' that rejected societal restraint and traditional cultural norms. Characterized by rebellious clothing styles and experimental drug use, the movement's iconic image was the hippie, who dressed in a manner vastly different from traditional American culture. The most visible aspect of this movement was in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, where hippies embraced a communal lifestyle grounded in countercultural ideals, including the use of drugs.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Counterculture Music & Woodstock The chapter explores the counterculture music scene during the era, particularly focusing on the use of marijuana and psychedelic drugs such as LSD, which were deemed essential to the hippie mentality. These substances facilitated a sense of unity within the community. Additionally, the chapter touches upon the 'free love' movement, highlighting the sexual revolution that saw casual sex and multiple partners becoming normalized as a critique of previous generations' sexual norms. The chapter also briefly mentions the hippie movement's value for informality.
• 06:00 - 07:00: End of Counterculture The chapter 'End of Counterculture' discusses how the counterculture movement critiqued and deviated from the traditional values and aesthetics of the 1950s, especially in clothing and music. While the older generation admired the polished performances of artists like Frank Sinatra, the counterculture embraced raw and unpolished talent such as Bob Dylan. Despite Dylan's unconventional voice, likened humorously to a 'drunk cat,' his poetic lyrics and authentic style were celebrated within the movement.
• 07:00 - 07:30: Conclusion & Call to Action The chapter concludes with a focus on the Woodstock music festival of 1969, a hallmark of the counterculture movement, attracting nearly 400,000 attendees. It describes the liberated and uninhibited atmosphere where people were often naked and using drugs, while enjoying performances by artists like Jimi Hendrix and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. However, it points out the unsustainable nature of the movement, highlighting the decline of the counterculture by the 1970s due to the excessive use of psychedelic drugs. It wraps up the discussion on this cultural phenomenon, providing a call to recognize and understand the impact of these events.

YOUTH Culture of the 1960s [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 12] Period 8: 1945-1980 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 well hey there and welcome back to heimlich's history now over the last few videos we've been talking about cultural changes in the united states after world war ii and in this video it's hard time we talk about youth culture in the 1960s so if you're ready to get them brain cows milk counter cultural style then let's get to it so in this video here is what we are trying to do explain how and why opposition to existing policies and values developed and changed over the course of the 20th century and much of that opposition came from young people so i reckon we ought to talk about it first let's talk about youth conflict with respect to the vietnam war two
• 00:30 - 01:00 college organizations sprang up in the 1960s that had opposing viewpoints on america's involvement in the vietnam war the first was more conservative and it was known as young americans for freedom and their goal was to support america's involvement in vietnam because it meant the containment of communism the opposing group on the left was students for a democratic society who released their beliefs in something called the port huron statement which stressed participatory democracy and direct government action most important to what we're talking about the group challenged the prevailing norm that every effort
• 01:00 - 01:30 must be made to stop the spread of global communism at this point you might be wondering why did a bunch of college students care about what was going on over in vietnam they cared because once they graduated they were the ones who were going to be drafted and sent to fight in what many of them considered an immoral war and so across the country students engaged in massive anti-war demonstrations and we need to talk about one of those demonstrations in particular because it had a deadly outcome and i'm talking about the kent state massacre in 1970. the students at kent state university were protesting the latest escalation in vietnam at the
• 01:30 - 02:00 hands of president richard nixon they had been protesting for several days and in the midst of it some vandalism and looting had occurred so in response the national guard was sent to keep the peace and when the national guard tried to disperse the protesters they resisted by hurling rocks at them and in a moment whose causes are still disputed one national guardsman opened fire on the crowd and others followed suit in the end four students were dead and 10 others were wounded so needless to say things were tense in this era when it came to young people in the vietnam war but there was another movement that
• 02:00 - 02:30 mainly involved young people and it wasn't so tense it was called the counterculture and it was basically a movement that sought to cast off societal restraint and overturn cultural norms with rebellious styles of clothing and experimental drug use kids don't do drugs anyway the iconic image of this movement was the hippie who dressed in ways completely foreign to traditional american culture the most visible manifestation of the hippie movement was in san francisco's haight ashbury district here hippies gathered into a kind of communal living based on countercultural ideals drug use and the
• 02:30 - 03:00 music of the era together they took in prodigious amounts of marijuana and psychedelic drugs like lsd which they considered foundational to the hippie mindset and created the occasion for the unification of the community additionally the hippies were all about that free love i mentioned in a previous video the sexual revolution in which it became increasingly normal to engage in casual sex with multiple partners instead of reserving it for the act of marriage and monogamy this was a patent critique on the sexual norms of their parents generation additionally the hippie movement prized informality not
• 03:00 - 03:30 only did their clothes in general appearance critique the prim and proper styles of the 1950s they also valued informality in their music their parents like to listen to the fine-tuned well-trained voices of croners like frank sinatra but in stark contrast to that a key figure in the counter-cultural music scene was bob dylan who indeed wrote lyrics like a poet but whose singing sounded like a drunk cat whose tail just got stuck in an electrical outlet that is harsh i actually love bob dylan but his voice is truly terrible but oh i love it anyway one of the crowning achievements of the
• 03:30 - 04:00 counterculture movement was the woodstock music festival held in 1969 in which almost 400 000 people were in attendance they were free some of them were naked many were high as a kite and for several days they listened to music from folks who gave voice to the cultural rebellion like jimi hendrix and crosby stills nash and young and joan baez but the truth is the body and mind can only go on for so long being assaulted with powerful psychedelic drugs and by the 1970s the counterculture had fizzled out because of these excesses okay that's what you need to know about unit 8 topic 12 of
• 04:00 - 04:30 the ap us history curriculum if you want to go counter culture to most other kids you know and get an a in your class and a 5 on your exam in may then click right here and get review packets if this video was helpful to you and you want me to keep making them then the way that you let me know that is by subscribing heimler out