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Chapter 31: An Era of Social Change 1960 - 1974
Essential Question: Why did social protests and calls for change sweep across the United States in the 1960s?
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Section 1: Latinos and Native Americans Seek Equality
Objectives: Describe the growth and diversity of the Latino population in the United States during the 1960s. Summarize the efforts of Latinos to secure civil rights and respect for their cultural heritage. Explain the efforts of Native Americans to secure reforms in government policies.
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Hispanic Americans Organize
By the late 1960s, 9 million Hispanic Americans lived in the United States. Came to America due to economic opportunities, government oppression, and to escape poverty and war. Faced the same prejudice as other immigrant groups and began to organize their own protest movement.
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UFW Organized In the early 1960s, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta organized two groups that fought for the rights of farmworkers. In 1966, after employers would not respond to worker demands, the groups organized a boycott of table grapes and combined into one group, the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee. The boycott ended in 1970, when grape growers finally agreed to raise
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Chavez used boycotts & fasts to help farm workers win more rights, higher wages, & other benefits.
Chavez fought to improve conditions for farm workers.
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UFW Financial Achievements
First collective bargaining agreements between workers and growers First contracts requiring hiring out of union halls First pension plan for retired farm workers First functioning credit union for farm workers Extension of unemployment compensation for farm workers
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UFW Health & Safety Achievements
First union contracts requiring rest periods, clean drinking water, hand washing facilities, and protection against exposure to pesticides First comprehensive union health benefits for farm workers and their families First union contracts regulating safety and sanitary conditions of farm labor camps Abolition of crippling short-handled hoe Extension of disability and workers’ compensation to farm workers
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Growing Political Activism
In 1969 José Angel Gutiérrez organized a new political party in Texas called La Raza Unida, or “the United People.” The group mobilized Mexican American voters with calls for job-training programs and greater access to financial institutions. An issue promoted by Hispanic students and political leaders was bilingualism, the practice of teaching immigrant students in their own language while they also learned English.
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La Raza Unida was likely to help Latinos win political offices.
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Native Americans Raise Their Voices
Native Americans began to organize in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a result of grievances that included low income, high unemployment, discrimination, limited education, and short life expectancy. In 1961 Native Americans issued the Declaration of Indian Purpose, calling for policies to create greater economic opportunities on reservations.
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A Protest Movement Emerges
Native Americans wanted independence from society. Native Americans formed militant groups such as the American Indian Movement (AIM). In 1969 AIM made a symbolic protest by occupying the abandoned federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay for 19 months, claiming ownership “by right of discovery.”
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AIM – militant group that organized many uprisings to draw attention to the needs of Native Americas. American Indian Movement: quest for land rights, better living conditions, & more cultural respect led to clashes with the government.
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A Protest Movement Emerges
A violent protest occurred in 1973, when AIM members occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. •A clash between the occupiers and the FBI killed two Native Americans and several injured on both sides.
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Native Americans Make Notable Gains
The 1975 passage of the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act, which increased funds for Native American education and enlarged tribal roles in administering federal programs. Native Americans moved into policy-making positions. Native Americans won a number of land and water rights in court.
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Exit Ticket Did the Warren Supreme Court expand or undermine the concept of civil liberties? Why or why not?
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Section 2: Women Fight for Equality
Objectives: Identify factors that led to the rise of the women’s movement in the 1960s. Describe some of the early gains and losses of the women’s movement. Summarize the legacy of the women’s movement in employment, education, and politics.
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A Weakened Women’s Movement
A new feminist movement began in the 1960s. Feminism, the belief that men and women should be equal politically, economically, and socially, began as early as the 1920s. With the onset of World War II, women joined the nation’s workforce as many men went off to fight the war.
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A Weakened Women’s Movement
When the soldiers returned after the war, many women lost their jobs. Women gradually returned to the labor market, and by 1960 made up almost one- third of the nation’s workforce.
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Women’s Movement Reawakens
By the early 1960s, women became increasingly resentful of old stereotypes. As more women entered the workforce, the protest for equality increased. The women’s movement was brought back to life by a mass protest of women and a government initiative called the President’s Commission on the Status of Women. The group, headed by Eleanor Roosevelt, urged President Kennedy to study the status of women.
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Fighting for Workplace Rights
In 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed. It outlawed paying men more than women for the same job. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed job discrimination. It became the legal basis for advances by the women’s movement. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) still held that jobs could be distinguished by gender.
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The Feminine Mystique In 1963 Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique stirred up women all across the country. For the book, Friedan traveled around the country interviewing women who had graduated with her from Smith College in 1942. Friedan found that while women reported that they had everything they could want, they still felt unfulfilled. The book became a bestseller. Helped call attention to women’s needs.
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The Time is NOW In June 1966, Betty Friedan felt it was time for a national women’s organization to promote women into mainstream America. The group was named the National Organization for Women (NOW). It demanded greater educational opportunities for women and denounced the exclusion of women from certain professions and political positions.
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NOW focused on bringing about changes in the workplace, including ending gender discrimination in hiring. Gloria Steinem: women’s rights activist.
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Successes & Failures An important success was greater equality for women in the educational system. Lawmakers enacted federal legislation banning sex discrimination in education.
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Striving for Equality in Education
In 1972 Congress passed the Educational Amendments. One of the sections, Title IX, prohibited federally funded schools from discriminating against girls in nearly all aspects of their operations, from admissions to athletics. Implementation of Title IX was slow at many schools and women still had to struggle for equality.
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Roe v. Wade By the late 1960s, some states began adopting liberal abortion laws regarding a woman’s mental health or in the case of rape or incest. The biggest change came with the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court ruled that state governments could no longer regulate abortion during the first three months of pregnancy, a time within a woman’s constitutional right to privacy. This gave rise to the right-to-life movement, whose members considered abortion morally wrong.
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Equal Rights Amendment
In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which protected against discrimination based on gender. In order for it to become part of the Constitution, 38 states had to ratify it. Opposition to the ERA amendment began to grow as many saw the act as a threat to traditional American values and social patterns.
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Equal Rights Amendment
Phyllis Schlafly, one of the most vocal critics of the amendment, organized a national Stop-ERA campaign. The amendment failed to be ratified by 38 states and finally died in 1982. In spite of the ERA’s failure, the women’s movement eventually led to profound changes in society.
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New Right – opposed the positions of the women’s movement on a variety of issues.
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Impact of the Women’s Movement
Since the 1970s the number of women pursuing college degrees and careers outside the home has increased a great deal, and employers have begun to offer family- friendly options to their employees. Although the women’s movement helped to change social attitudes about women, a large income gap between men and women remains.
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Impact of the Women’s Movement
Most working women still have lower-paying jobs, but professional women have advanced the most since the 1970’s. By 2000, over 40 percent of the Americans graduating with law or medical degrees were women.
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“Equal Pay for Equal Work” = slogan of feminism movement.
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Exit Ticket Has the women’s movement for equality in the U.S. become a reality or remained a dream? Why or why not?
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Section 3: Culture and Counterculture
Objectives: Describe the flowering and decline of the counterculture in the 1960s. Summarize the impact of the counterculture on art, fashion, music, and attitudes. Explain the conservative response to the counterculture.
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The Growth of the Youth Movement
During the 1960s, a youth movement developed that challenged American politics, its social system, and the values of the time. The beginning of the 1960s youth movement actually got its start in the 1950s. Some Americans, especially writers and artists of the “beat” movement, openly criticized American society.
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The Growth of the Youth Movement
The youth movement also reflected the huge number of baby boomers. By 1970, 58.4 % of the American population was 34 years old or younger. The economic boom of the 1950s led to a dramatic increase in college enrollment. College gave young people the opportunity to share their feelings and fears about the future with others.
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The Counterculture Some young Americans did not challenge the system.
Instead, they sought to create their own society. The counterculture, or hippies, were mostly white youths from middle- and upper-class backgrounds. They lived a life that promoted flamboyant dress, rock music, drug use, and free and independent living
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Counterculture = mostly white, middle-class college youths who had grown increasingly discontented with mainstream society. Counterculture: group that abandoned mainstream America.
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Hippie Culture At the core of the counterculture was a utopian ideal of living, or the ideal of a society that was free, closer to nature, and full of love, empathy, tolerance, and cooperation. Long hair, Native American headbands, shabby jeans, and drugs were common.
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Hippie Culture Communes or group living arrangements in which members shared everything and worked together, were formed as hippies dropped out of society. One of the most popular hippie destinations was the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco. Unofficial capital of counterculture movement. (“hub of Hippie life” in 1960s)
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New Religious Movements
As counterculture members rejected materialism, many embraced spirituality. A broad range of beliefs– including astrology, magic, Eastern religions, and new forms of Christianity– were popular. Two new religious groups of this time were the Unification Church and the Hare Krishna movement.
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Counterculture Declines
The counterculture declined, as some hippie communities became a place where criminal activity was common. Drug use declined as the excitement faded and as more young people became addicted or died from overdoses.
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Impact of the Counterculture
The counterculture had an impact on American life as mainstream America adopted some of their ideas. The international fashion world looked to the counterculture to create new fashions with more color and comfort. Military, worn-out, and ethnic clothing was popular. As the initial shock of the counterculture waned, what was once clothing of defiance became mainstream.
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Conservatives placed the blame for the increasing permissiveness in society on campus rebels & counterculture. Conservative reaction to counterculture helped propel Nixon into the White House.
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Pop Art During the 1960s, the distinction between traditional art and popular art ended. Pop art took its subject matter from popular culture, using photographs, comics, advertisements, and brand-name products.
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Music & Dance The new generation of music added to the rift between parents and youth. Musicians like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Janis Joplin used lyrics to describe the fears and hopes of the new generation. Beatles: brought English rock & roll to U.S.
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Woodstock The Woodstock Festival was a three-day concert (which rolled into a fourth day) that involved lots of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll - plus a lot of mud. August, 1969: 400,000 young people gathered at a 600 acre farm in upstate NY for “3 days of peace and music”.
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Woodstock This was a perfect metaphor for the counterculture, which stressed individuality within the group. These major events made it hard to ignore the youth movement.
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Exit Ticket Do the ideas of the 1960s still have relevance today? Why or why not?
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