1. Lesson 1 The Counterculture of the 1960s
An Era of Change ( )
Lesson 1 The Counterculture of the 1960s

2. Lesson 1 The Counterculture of the 1960s
An Era of Change ( )
Lesson 1 The Counterculture of the 1960s
Learning Objectives
Describe the rise of the counterculture.
List the major characteristics of the counterculture.
Evaluate the positive and negative impacts of the counterculture movement on American society.
counterculture
generation gap
Beatles
communes

3. Summary
Post Great Depression and WWII Generation had a different world view than parents.
Counterculture movement 1960’s
Rebelled against long-standing customs.
Dressed differently
Listened to different types of music
Personal behavior challenged cultural norms.

4. A Counterculture Emerges
Counterculture- a movement made up mostly of white, middle-class college youth who had grown disillusioned with the war in Vietnam and injustices in America during the 1960’s.
Culture that was against mainstream society
Rebelled against music, dress and behavior
“don’t trust anyone over 30

5. Counterculture Why/How it started
Kids of the 40’s+50’s were becoming adults
Roots of the Counterculture
Beat Movement 1950’s – rejected materialism and emphasized personal experience
Civil Rights – introduces social and political protest
Vietnam War/college enrollment
Rejected materialism -> personal beliefs became important
60’s – most educated generation
War abroad = war at home
“Free Speech Movement”
Students for Democratic Society
End racism, poverty and violence
WHO?
Middle Class
White/College Educated
Baby boom of 1950’s

6. GENERATION GAP New Generation Older Generation “Boomer Generation”
“silent generation”
Lived through the Great Depression
Listened to same old music as parents (big band)
Valued loyalty/authority
New Generation
“Boomer Generation”
Lived through 1950’s
Listen to “Rock N’ Roll”
Activist for Peace – Antiwar
Distrust authority

8. “Sex Drugs and Rock N’ Roll
Beatles – 1964
Appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show
70 million watched the show
Music becomes the vehicle for a movement
Protest and Change
Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix
Art
Andy Warhol – realistic paintings of grocery items
Questions traditional art

9. Counterculture Communes – Hippie Culture or the Age of Aquarius
Rock ‘n Roll
Tie dyed t-shirts, torn jeans, military clothes, love beads
Communes –
Small communities where people share resources
“Sexual Revolution”
More open/Free compared to parents
Drugs
Routinely use drugs (LSD) “expand their minds”
Haight-Ashbury – San Francisco district (Hippie Capitol)
Timothy Leary – former Harvard Researcher
Drugs could free the mind
“tune in, turn on and drop out”

10. Woodstock: New York Music Festival
Rise of Music
Beatles Supremes
Woodstock: New York Music Festival
400,00o showed up - peaceful and well
organized

11. Positive and Negatives
Positives
Plants the seeds for the “Rights Revolution”
Utopian lifestyle
More authentic way of living
Live off the land
“environmental movement”
Negatives
Drug addictions increased dramatically
Leads to death of youth and many famous musicians
Jimi Hendrix
Values decreased
People became more self centered.

12. The Conservative Response
In the late 1960’s, many believed that the country was losing its sense of right and wrong.
Richard Nixon
Conservatives attacked the counterculture

13. The Counterculture Shapes a Generation
The Beatles, a rock band that emerged from the British counterculture, transformed American popular music and fashion in the 1960s.