Unit 7: Contemporary American Society Chapter 19 Essential Question: How did the end of WWII transform America’s economy and social culture?

Unit 7: Contemporary American Society

Chapter 19Essential Question:

How did the end of WWII transform America’s economy and social

culture?

Postwar BoomRedefining the Family

•During the 1950s, the economy booms and many Americans enjoy material comfort

•In 1945-1964 a baby boom happens creating a need for more housing

•In the United States, approximately 79 million babies were born during the Baby Boom.

•85% of new homes are built in the suburbs

•Middle class expands

•However, tensions from changed gender roles during the war increases divorce rates

•40% of mother work outside the home

Postwar Boom

Mass Media•In the 1950s the television becomes the most important means of communication

Stereotypes •Women and minorities on TV are stereotyped•There are very few Latinos and African-Americans

Postwar Boom

Rock ‘N’ Roll•Rock ‘N’ Roll is originated in the US during the 1950s•It’s a mix of rhythm and blues, country and pop•Lyrics were about teenage issues

Jazz

•Jazz is a musical tradition and style of music that originated in African American communities in the US

•It joins together both African and European music traditions



What kind of advances in federal civil rights and voting rights happened

during the 1950s and 1960s in America?

Civil RightsSegregation continues into the 20th Century

•African-Americans go North to escape racism (Great Migration)

•In the north African-Americans face segregated areas

•White Americans in the north resent African-Americans for job competition

A Developing Civil Rights Movement

•FDR ends government and war industries discrimination

•Returning African-American veterans fight for civil rights at home

Civil RightsBrown v. Board of Education

•In 1951, Linda Brown was an African-American girl attending the third grade at a public school in Topeka, Kansas

•Linda Brown lived a few blocks from a White elementary school, but when her father, Oliver Brown, attempted to enroll her at the neighborhood school, his request was denied, so he decided to sue the district

Civil RightsBrown v. Board of Education continued•A lawyer named Thurgood Marshall took the case; he would later become the first African-American supreme court judge•In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” education for African-Americans and white students was unconstitutional•This court ruling overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, which created segregation in schools

Civil RightsBoycotting Segregation

•On March 2, 1955, 15 year old Claudette Colvin was the first person to be arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, preceding the more publicized Rosa Parks incident by nine months.

•In 1955 the NAACP officer, Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus

•In response to this action The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed to organize a boycott of public buses

•The association elected a 26 year old Baptist pastor by the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. as their leader

Civil Rights

Changing the World with Soul Force•Martin Luther King, Jr. called his brand of nonviolence resistance “soul force”

•He based his ideas on the teachings of several people:

– Jesus– Henry David Thoreau– A. Philip Randolph– Mohandas Gandhi

Civil RightsEmmett Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955)

•An African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly whistling to a white woman.

•He was beaten and one of his eyes was gouged out. He then was shot through the head. His body was disposed of in the Tallahatchie River and retrieved from the river three days later.

•Till's murder is noted as a pivotal event motivating the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Civil Rights

Crisis in Little Rock•The school desegregation issue reached a crisis in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas

•The state’s governor, Orval Faubus, refused to let nine African-American students attend Little Rock’s Central High School

•President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to allow the students to enter the school

Civil RightsRuby Bridges

•In 1960, she was first African-American child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South. She attended William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana.

•She was 6 years old when her parents volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans School system.

Civil Rights

Integrating Ole Miss•In September 1962, a federal court allowed James Meredith to attend the all-white University of Mississippi

•The Kennedy administration sent in U.S. marshals and forced the governor to let Meredith attend the school

Civil Rights

Medgar Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963)

•An African-American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi.

•He organized voter-registration efforts, demonstrations, and economic boycotts of companies that practiced discrimination.

•Evers was shot in the back in the driveway of his home in Jackson. He died less than a hour later at a nearby hospital.

•His murder and the resulting trials inspired civil rights protests, as well as numerous works of art, music, and film.

Civil RightsCivil Rights Act of 1964•On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 AAs and whites marched into the nation’s capital

•They demanded the immediate passage of the Civil Rights Act

•Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke to the crowd and gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech

•The act was passed and banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex, national origin, or religion in public places and most workplaces

Civil RightsNew Leaders Voice Discontent•During the 1960s, new AA leaders emerged that wanted a more aggressive tactic in fighting racism

Malcolm X•Malcolm X was a part of the Nation of Islam, or Black Muslims•He declared that whites were responsible for AAs’ misery•He urged AAs to fight back if attacked

Civil Rights

Watts Riots•During August of 1965, clashes between white authorities and AA civilians escalated during the Watts Riots when a man was arrested by LAPD on charges of drunk driving

•When it was over, it left 36 dead, 900 reported injured, over 4,000 arrested and at least $200 million of property damage

Civil Rights

Black Panthers•The Black Panther Party was the creation of Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and was formed due to:

– The assassination of Malcolm X, the Watts Riots in California, and the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

•Black Panthers goals were to fight police brutality and promote black self-sufficiency, provide social services to the ghettos

Civil RightsThe assassinations of 1968•On April 4th, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, Tennessee

•Following a brief victory speech delivered on June 5th at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Robert Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan• Mortally wounded, he survived for nearly 26 hours, dying early in the morning of June 6th

Civil Rights

Civil Rights Gains•The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was passed by President Johnson•The act prohibited discrimination in housing

The Great Society•President Johnson also created a program called the Great Society•The program reduced poverty, reduced racial injustice, and promoted a better quality of life in the US



What were the best ways for a group to achieve equality in America in the

1960s?

Civil Rights

Mexicans Seek Employment

•Many Southwest Mexicans become US citizens after the Mexican-American War

•During WWII, there was a shortage of laborers to harvest crops, so the US hired braceros, or hired hands from Mexico

•Mexican-Americans suffered prejudice and discrimination as citizens of the US, so they formed organization to protest injustices

Civil RightsCésar Chávez•César Chávez, an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with Dolores Huerta•Chávez became the best known for his public-relations approach to unionism •His aggressive but nonviolent tactics made the farm workers' struggle a moral cause with nationwide support

Civil RightsLa Raza Unida•(National United Peoples Party) or United Race Party was an American political party centered on Chicano nationalism. •During the 1970s the Party campaigned for better housing, work, and educational opportunities for Mexican-Americans.

Brown Berets•The Brown Berets are a pro-Mexico secessionist organization that emerged during the Chicano Movement in the late 1960s

•They have also organized against police brutality and advocate for educational equality.

Civil RightsAmerican Indian Movement (AIM)•A Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with an agenda that focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty.

Civil RightsAsian American Movement•In the 1960s and ’70s, Asian Americans mobilized for a slew of political causes, including the development of ethnic studies programs in universities, the end of the Vietnam War and reparations for Japanese Americans placed in internment camps during World War II.

Postwar BoomThe Feminine Mystique•Betty Friedan wrote a book called “Feminine Mystique” because she thought women were victims of a false belief system that required them to find identity and meaning in their lives through their husbands and children

•Energized the women’s rights movement

National Organization for Women (NOW) •The largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966

•Formed when grievances of women were not addressed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Civil RightsCounter-Culture•An anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed first in the United States and spread throughout much of the Western world between the early 1960s and the early 1970s.•As the 1960s progressed, widespread tensions developed in society that tended to flow along generational lines regarding the war in Vietnam, race relations, human sexuality, women's rights, traditional modes of authority, experimentation with psychoactive drugs, and differing interpretations of the American Dream. New cultural forms emerged, including pop music and the concurrent rise of the hippie culture.



How did the varying domestic and foreign policies of presidents Nixon through Carter change American

society?

Contemporary SocietyRichard Milhous Nixon

•Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States (1969-1974)

•He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States (1953-1961)

•He was the only President to resign the office as well as the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency

•Nixon tried to steer the country in a conservative direction and away from federal control

Contemporary SocietyNixon’s Domestic Policies

•Nixon decreased the size and influence of the federal government

•He increased some social spending to win Democratic support

•But tried to attract white voters in the South by slowing down desegregation

•Nixon opposed the extension of the Voting Rights Act

Contemporary SocietyNixon’s Foreign Policies•Nixon moved aggressively to end the Vietnam War and mend the country

•Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state, created the foreign policy called Realpolitik

•Realpolitik “Realistic Politics” called for the US to confront powerful nations, but ignore weak ones

•Nixon and Kissinger also used another foreign policy known as "Détente," a French word meaning "release of tensions." The policy aimed at ceasing Cold War tensions

Contemporary SocietyNixon’s Foreign Policies in China•In 1971 Nixon visited China to establish a relationship with the US•The trip opened diplomatic relations with communist China

Nixon’s Foreign Policies in Moscow• In 1972 Nixon visited Moscow

to limit missiles and to sign the SALT(Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) I Treaty

Contemporary SocietyWar Powers Act• An act enacted in 1973 that limited a

president’s right to send troops into battle without consulting Congress

• The act’s main goal was to prevent "future Vietnams"

• President Nixon tried to veto it

Contemporary Society

An Imperial Presidency•The Great Depression, WWII, and Cold War made the executive office the most powerful branch

•President Nixon expanded the presidential powers and ignored Congress


A Bungled Burglary•The Committee to Reelect the President broke into the Democratic headquarters

•The Nixon administration attempted to cover it up by destroying documents, stopping the investigation and buying the burglars’ silence

•Washington Post reporters (Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodard) link the Nixon administration to the break-in

•The White House denied the allegation

Contemporary SocietyThe Senate Investigates Watergate•Judge John Sirica presided over the burglars’ trial and he did not think they acted alone

•It came out in court that some of Nixon’s advisers were involved with the burglary

•Nixon dismissed White House counsel John Dean

Startling Testimony•Dean declared Nixon was involved in the cover-up and he had proof Nixon taped his presidential conversations about the Watergate burglary

Contemporary SocietyThe Saturday Night Massacre•The dismissal of special prosecutors by U.S. President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal on the night of Saturday, October 20, 1973

•Vice-president Spiro Agnew later resigned when it was revealed he accepted bribes

•He was replaced by Gerald Ford, who was 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974 and the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977


Nixon Releases the Tapes•In March 1974, the grand jury charged 7 presidential aides with conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury

•Nixon wanted to release edited transcripts of the tapes

•However, the Supreme Court ruled that Nixon must surrender the un-edited transcripts


President Resigns•The House Judiciary Committee formal accused Nixon of: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress

•Nixon released the tapes, which showed he knew of the administration role in the cover-up

•Nixon resigned from the office of the presidency before he could be impeached


Resolution Watergate Affair•After the Watergate scandal the US learned that no one is above the constitution, not even the president

•The US has a government based on laws not individual

Contemporary SocietyJames "Jimmy" Earl Carter, Jr •He served as the 39th President of the United States (1977-1981) •He was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office

Camp David Accords•During 1978, Carter mediated historic peace agreements between Israel and Egypt at Camp David, Maryland

Contemporary SocietyOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC)•An economic association made of 12 oil-producing nations that is able to set oil prices

•On December 16, 1979,OPEC raised oil prices . America faced "oil shock": long lines and short tempers at gas pumps, panics over gasoline and heating oil shortages, and frustration with the inefficient, gas-guzzling vehicles

Silent Spring•Rachel Carson, a marine biologist, published a book entitled Silent Spring, which exposed the effects of pesticides on the environment, and triggered the environmental movement in US

Contemporary SocietyIranian Hostage Crisis•A diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days (November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981), after a group of Iranian students supporting the Iranian Revolution took over the US Embassy in Tehran

•The hostages were formally released into United States custody, just minutes after the new American president, Ronald Reagan, was sworn into office

•The crisis also marked the beginning of weakened ties between Iran and the United States


Ronald Wilson Reagan•Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989)

The New Right•A late 20th century alliance of conservative special-interest groups concerned with cultural, social, and moral issue•These groups assisted Reagan in winning the Presidential election in 1980


Chapter 25 and Chapter 26Essential Question:

How did the domestic and foreign policies of presidents Reagan through

Obama change American society?


End of the Cold War•The period of 1985–1991 began with the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev as leader of the Soviet Union. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War

•President Reagan was the last president during the Cold War

Contemporary SocietyGeorge Herbert Walker Bush•41st President of the United States (1989–1993)•43rd Vice President of the United States (1981–1989)

Gulf War•The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Storm was a war waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait•This war would lead to the outbreak of another war 12 years later

Contemporary SocietyRiots in Los Angeles After the Rodney King Verdict •The 1992 Los Angeles Riots, were a series of riots, lootings, arsons and civil disturbance that occurred in Los Angeles County, California in 1992, following the acquittal of police officers on trial regarding a videotaped, and widely covered police brutality incident of Rodney King

•They were the largest riots seen in the United States since the 1960s

•The riots over five days in the spring of 1992 left more than 50 people dead, and more than 2,000 injured

•The rioting destroyed or damaged over 1,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area. The estimated cost of the damages was over $1 billion

Contemporary SocietyWilliam "Bill" Jefferson Clinton •Bill Clinton served as the 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001)

•At 46 he was the third-youngest president and the first baby boomer president

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)•A 1994 treaty that removed tariffs and brought Mexico into the free-trade zone established by the US and Canada

Contemporary SocietyWorld Trade Center Bombed •The World Trade Center bombing occurred on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb was detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York, NY. The blast was intended to knock the North Tower (Tower One) into the South Tower (Tower Two), bringing both towers down and killing tens of thousands of people. It failed to do so, but did kill six people and injured more than a thousand.

•In November 1997, two more were convicted: Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the bombings, and Eyad Ismoil, who drove the truck carrying the bomb

Contemporary SocietyPresident Clinton Impeached •Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on two charges, one of perjury and one of obstruction of justice, on December 19, 1998

•Two other impeachment articles, a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of power, failed in the House. He was acquitted of both charges by the Senate on February 12, 1999

Contemporary SocietyUSS Cole Bombing•The USS Cole was traveling through the Red Sea to a port in Bahrain when it stopped in Aden, Yemen on October 12, 2000 to refuel. At 11:18 a.m., a 35-foot craft that was carrying explosives sidled up to the destroyer and exploded.

•The explosion ripped an approximately 40 by 40 foot hole in the Cole, killing 17 members of the crew. The bombing of the USS Cole was a terrorist attack organized by al-Qaida. The man who organized the bombing, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, was found and arrested in October 2002 in the United Arab Emirates. and injuring another 39.

Contemporary SocietyUnclear Winner in 2000 U.S. Presidential Election•Although some thought the election between Vice President Al Gore (Democrat) and Texas Governor George W. Bush (Republican) would be close, no one imagined that it would be that close

•The election results hinged on a difference of just a few hundred votes in Florida (537 to be exact), A recount of the votes in Florida was ordered and begun

•Bush was declared President even though Gore had won the popular vote (Gore received 50,999,897 to Bush's 50,456,002)


George Walker Bush•He was the 43rd President of the United States (2001-2008)

•However, controversy surrounded his presidency because he did not clearly win the first term


911 Attacks•A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon on Tuesday, September 11, 2001

•2,977 lost their lives in these attacks

•The attacks resulted in the Afghanistan war

Contemporary SocietyIraq War•The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that posed a threat to their security and that of their coalition/regional allies

•On 20 March 2003, the United States led an invasion into Iraq. It was followed by a longer phase of fighting, in which an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the newly formed Iraqi government

•The invasion led to an occupation and the eventual capture of President Sadam Hussein, who was later tried in an Iraqi court of law and executed by the new Iraqi government

•No (WMDs) were ever found in Iraq

Contemporary SocietyHurricane Katrina•Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest and most destructive Atlantic tropical cyclone of 2005. It was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States.

•An estimated 1,836 people died in the hurricane and the flooding that followed in late August 2005, and millions of others were left homeless along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans.

•The federal government and FEMA received widespread criticism for a slow and ineffective response to Hurricane Katrina victims.

Contemporary SocietyThe Economy Collapses

(Great Recession)•The Great Recession, which officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, began with the bursting of an 8 trillion dollar housing bubble

•The resulting loss of wealth led to sharp cutbacks in consumer spending

•As consumer spending and business investment dried up, massive job loss followed. Approximately 10% of the population was unemployed


Barack Hussein Obama IIHe is the 44th President of the United States (2009-present)

•He is the first African American to hold the office

•Obama appointed the first Latina to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor

•He ended U.S. military involvement in the Iraq War on October 21 2011, bringing the U.S. mission in Iraq to an end. (A total of 4,486 U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2012.)

•He ended Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) in the military

Contemporary SocietyDeath of Osama Bin Laden •On May 2, 2011, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces with the order of President Obama during an early morning raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan

•After the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for identification, then buried it at sea within 24 hours of his death

•Bin Laden claimed responsibility of the 911 terrorist attacks. He was the FBIs most wanted fugitive

Contemporary SocietyAffordable Care Act (Obamacare)•The Affordable Care Act was signed into law to reform the health care industry by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 and upheld by the supreme court on June 28, 2012

•It represents the most significant regulatory overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965

•The law also requires insurance companies to cover all applicants within new minimum standards and offer the same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions or gender

•Conservative groups believe the law will lead to disruption of existing health plans, increased costs from new insurance standards, and that it will increase the deficit

Documents

Unit 7: Contemporary American Society Chapter 19 Essential Question: How did the end of WWII transform America’s economy and social culture?