Seriously? These days, the public consciousness routinely loses track of major issues within days or weeks. We're already forgetting the major lessons of the last decade (re: renewed war fervor and attacks on civil rights over ISIS). 40+ years ago is ancient history politically.

I don't think the timescale was the same in 18th century England, but we're still talking about a generation-level gap here--I don't think you could just automatically assume a connection without some evidence.

Public consciousness routinely loses track of major issues within days or weeks, as a result of mass media and entertainment. Once the television and radio were invented, people's focus started shifting to the here and now, be it the news or their favourite programme on TV. One can't really say the same for the late 1700's! That's my take on it, at least