Silent majority

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A silent majority is a large group of people who support something, but choose not to express their opinions publicly.

This term was made popular by US President Richard Nixon in a speech he gave on November 3 1969, about the Vietnam War.[1] Nixon said "And so tonight, to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans; I ask for your support."[1] The opposite of the silent majority were a noisy minority, a small group of people, who Nixon said tried to get their way by holding demonstrations in the streets.[2] The speech on this link does not contain these words. Read it for yourself. It only references the term “Silent Majority” which had been described during his campaign in other speeches.

 I might add that we are a Republic, and a “Silent Majority” is probably the most dangerous threat to the Constitution that we face.

-Sam Molloy

Examples[change | change source]

Nazi Germany[change | change source]

During WWII many German citizens claimed they had no idea of what was happening with the concentration camps. However many citizens felt opposed but did not stand up and fight them.

Other websites[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Nixon's 'Silent Majority' Speech [November 3, 1969]". watergate.info. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  2. "President Richard Nixon's "Silent Majority" Speech, November 1969". vietnamwar.net. Archived from the original on September 28, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2010.