Culture and Social Change of the 1960s

From the earliest days of America, social change has been thoroughly linked with public voice and identity. Social movements provided those who had viewed themselves as isolated to join with others to declare their identity. These movements, however, tended to have an integral moralistic value, rather than political rhetoric. During the 1960s, American society experienced one of the most influential social changes in the nation’s history. The social change of the 1960s was a movement away from the conservative fifties and towards revolutionary ways of thinking, defined by a discovery of identity and intense agitation for public voice. Changes that occurred in the sixties are still evolving today and influencing modern living.

Initially considered immoral and revolutionary, this counterculture was more concerned with philosophy than style. In seeking success and material gain, much of American society had been corrupted by capitalism and lost sight of the meaning of life. Proponents of this change challenged society to experience life more intimately and deeply, ignoring all distractions that prevented one from seeing the reality of American life. In a society where the individual had little chance, one’s only hope was to disappear into a movement where one could rediscover the fundamental truth that nature revealed, or into hallucinogenic drugs that transported the mind past its limitations, or into an entirely different lifestyle grounded on more humane and authentic values.

Defined by a popular culture that manages to thrive even in today’s society, the 1960s is a decade that refuses to die. Bell-bottoms, free love, incense, and psychedelic rock is a style that, although at the time was labeled as corrupt, anarchistic, and radi...

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...ee exercise thereof.” Although prayer in schools did not promote any specific religion, it promoted monotheism as a whole. The Supreme Court believed that if freedom of religion means freedom to not have a religion, then any form of prayer intervenes. The Engel v. Vitale decision sparked nationwide controversy and outrage. The 1960s also saw the rise of atheism and the belief that God is dead. Jacob Braunfeld, an Orthodox Jew, argued that mandatory Sunday closing hindered Judaism’s attempts to gain followers, violating his freedom of religion. He also argued that blue laws, which strictly regulated activities on Sundays, violated the First Amendment. In Braunfeld v. Brown, the Supreme Court ruled that blue laws were constitutional. While public opinion supported the Braunfeld v. Brown decision, those who believed in the strict separation of church and state did not.