Final answer:
The social movement in the 60s and 70s focused on civil rights, stemming from grassroots activism and expanding into identity politics in the 1970s, set against a backdrop of counterculture that challenged existing societal norms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Social Movements of the 1960s and 1970s
The social movement in the 60s and 70s primarily focused on civil rights, with grassroots activists sparking significant progress toward racial equality in the United States. This period witnessed the peak of the civil rights movement, challenging discriminatory laws, job and housing discrimination, educational inequality, racism, and poverty. The movement's accomplishment in the 1950s and 1960s laid the foundation for identity politics in the 1970s, wherein subgroups based on culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and religion sought to advance their interests.
During the late 1960s, often regarded as the high tide of the civil rights movement, the federal government stepped up its efforts to address civil rights issues. However, the 1970s brought new challenges of changing people's attitudes and behaviors. This shift was also part of a broader counterculture movement which questioned societal norms and systems, influencing everything from gender roles to political conservatism.
In the context of the Vietnam War and the changing social landscape of America, new forms of activism emerged. The New Left pushed for reforms beyond staid liberalism, focusing on civil rights, women's rights, free speech, more liberal policies toward drug use, and opposition to the Vietnam War, signaling an evolution in social awareness and political engagement among Americans.