TUMULTUOUS 1960s

 

 

Interpreting Primary Sources

 

Civil Rights

 

The separate but equal doctrine has failed in three important respects.  First it is inconsistent with the fundamental equalitarianism of the American way of life in that it marks groups with the brand of inferior status.  Secondly, where it has been followed, the results have been separate and unequal facilities for minority peoples.  Finally, it has kept people apart despite incontrovertible evidence that an environment favorable  to civil rights is fostered whenever groups are permitted to live and work together.

 

--President's Committee on Civil Rights, 1947

 

 

The New Left

 

Loneliness, estrangement, isolation describe the vast distance between man and man today....We would replace power rooted in possession, privilege, or circumstance by power and uniqueness rooted in love, reflectiveness, reason and creativity.  As a social system we seek the establishment of a democracy of individual participation, governed by two central aims: that the individual share in those social decisions determining the quality and direction of his life; that society be organized to encourage independence in men and provide the media for their common participation.

 

--Port Huron Statement of Students for a Democratic Society, 1962

 

 

Women's Liberation

 

We reject the current assumption that a man must carry the sole burden of supporting himself, his wife, and family, and that a woman is automatically entitled to lifelong support by a man upon her marriage, or that marriage, home and family are primarily woman's world and responsibility--hers, to dominate--his to support.  We believe that a true partnership between the sexes demands a different concept of marriage, an equitable sharing of the responsibilities of home and children and of the economic burdens of their support....

 

In the interests of the human dignity of women, we will protest and endeavor to change the false image of women now prevalent in the mass media, and in the texts, ceremonies, laws, and practices of the major social institutions.  Such images perpetuate contempt for women by society and by women for themselves.

 

--National Organization for Women's Statement of Purpose, 1966

 

 

Section 1.  Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

 

--Equal Rights Amendment

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  Examine the origins of the struggles of blacks, students, and women for equal rights.  What factors contributed to growing radicalization of these groups during the 1960s?

 

2.  Which strategy--court battles, non-violent protest, or violent confrontation--was most effective in bringing about social change?

 

3.  What do you think was the major goal of the struggles of blacks, students, and women for equal rights--a transformation of American society or equal participation within the existing order?

 

 

American Foreign Policy

 

Why are we in South Vietnam?  We are there because we have a promise to keep.  Since 1954 every American President has offered support to the people of South Vietnam....We have made a national pledge to help South Vietnam defend its independence.  And I intend to keep our promise....

 

We are also there to strengthen world order.  Around the globe, from Berlin to Thailand, are people whose well-being rests, in part, on the belief that they can count on us if they are attacked.  To leave Vietnam to its fate would shake the confidence of all these people in the value of American commitment, the value of America's word.  The result would be increased unrest and instability, and even wider war.

 

We are also there because there are great stakes in the balance.  Let no one think for a moment that retreat from Vietnam would being an end to conflict.  The battle would be renewed in one country and then another.  The central lesson of our time is that the appetite of aggression is never

satisfied.

 

--President Johnson defends the American role in Vietnam, 1965

 

 

Because we are free we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere.  Our moral sense dictates a clearcut preference for those societies, which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights....Our commitment to human rights must be absolute.

 

--President Carter, 1977

 

 

Through the 1950s and on into the 1960s our national security was coupled with a sense of national unity and purpose.  But that changed.  The Soviet Union has now forged ahead in producing nuclear and conventional weapons....Let us not be satisfied with a foreign policy whose principal accomplishment seems to be our acquisition of the right to sell Pepsi-Cola in Siberia.  It is time that we, the people of the United States, demand a policy that puts our own nation's interests as the first priority....Our foreign policy in recent years seems to be a matter of placating potential adversaries.  Does our government fear that the American people lack willpower?

 

--Ronald Reagan, 1976

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  Why did the United States intervene in Vietnam according to President Johnson?

 

2.  Were vital American interests at stake in the Vietnam War?

 

3.  On what grounds did anti-war critics protest American involvement in Vietnam?

 

4.  Are American interests best served by a foreign policy emphasizing human rights or a policy emphasizing more concrete national interests?

 

5.  Should the United States conduct its foreign policy unilaterally or through multilateral organizations?

 

 

STUDY AID: GREAT SOCIETY LEGISLATION

 

1964    24th Amendment                                  Banned poll tax in federal elections

            Civil Rights Act                                     Banned discrimination in public accommodations and

                                                                        employment

            Urban Mass Transportation Act            Provided financial aid for urban mass transit systems

            Economic Opportunity Act                   Authorized the Job Corps and VISTA

            Wilderness Preservation Act                 Barred commercial use in 9.1 million acres of national

                                                                        forest

 

1965    Elementary and Secondary                    Provided $1.3 billion in aid to schools

            School Act

            Medicare                                              Provided medical aid for the elderly

            Voting Rights Act                     Forbade literacy tests and other voting restrictions

            Omnibus Housing Act                           Provided rent supplements to low income families

            Department of Housing and 

            Urban Development  

            National Endowment for the Arts          Provided federal assistance to the arts

            Water Quality Act                    Required states to establish and enforce water quality

                                                                        standards

            Immigration reform laws       

            Air Quality Act

            Higher Education Act                            Provided federal scholarships

     

1966    National Traffic and Motor Vehicle   Sets federal safety standards

            Safety Act

            Highway Safety Act

            Department of Transportation

            Model Cities                                         Rehabilitated slums 

 

 

INTERPRETING STATISTICS: THE CIVIL RIGHTS REVOLUTION

 

African American Voter Registration Before and After Voting Rights Act of 1965

 

                                    1960                1966                Percent Increase

 

Alabama                         66,000           250,000           278.8

Arkansas                        73,000           115,000             57.5

Florida                         183,000           303,000             65.6  

Georgia                        180,000           300,000             66.7

Louisiana                      159,000           243,000             52.8

Mississippi         22,000           175,000           695.4

North Carolina             210,000           282,000             34.3

South Carolina                58,000           191,000           229.3

Tennessee                    185,000           225,000             21.6

Texas                           227,000           400,000             76.2

Virginia                         100,000           205,000           105.0

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  What difference did the Voting Rights Act make in black voter participation?

 

2.  In which states was the impact greatest?

 

 

Median Income of Families by Race

Ratio of Non-white to White Incomes

 

1939    37 percent

1950    54

1955    55

1960    55

1965    55

1970    64

1975    65

1980    58

 

African American Family Incomes, 1947 and 1974

(in 1974 dollars)

                                                1947                1974

 

Less than $3,000                      42                    14

$3,000 to $6,999                     41                    31

$7,000 to $9,999                       9                    16

$10,000 and more                      8                    38

 

 

Employment as Professional, Managerial, Technical, or Administrative Workers

 

                                    1940                1950                1960                1970                1980

 

Black males                    3                      4                      5                      8                    20

White males                  17                    19                    23                    25                    32

 

Black females                 5                      7                      8                    11                    20

White females               19                    18                    17                    19                    25

 

 

Percentage of Families at Various Income Levels by Ethnicity, 1980

 

                                    Black               Hispanic           White

 

$25,000+                     20                    23                    42

$15,000-25,000           23                    26                    28

$ 7,500-15,000            27                    29                    20

$ 0-7,500                     30                    22                    10

 

 

Years of Schooling

 

            Blacks              Whites

 

1950      6.8                   9.3

1981   12.1                 12.6       

 

 

Proportion of Americans 25-29 Completing High School

 

                        All Americans               African Americans

 

1940                38.1                             11.6

1950                52.8                             22.2

1960                60.7                             37.7

1970                73.8                             55.4

1980                84.5                             75.2

 

 

Percentage with four or more years of college

 

            Blacks              Whites

 

1950   2.1                     6.2

1981    8.2                   17.8 

 

 

Proportion of Families Below the Poverty Level

 

            All Americans               African Americans 

 

1959    18.5                             48.1

1965    11.8                             35.5

1971    10.0                             28.8

1976     9.4                             27.9

1981    11.2                             30.8

 

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  Compare black and white income distributions and educational attainment over time.

 

2.  Which changes offer evidence of improvement?  Which statistics indicate little improvement? 

 

                     

INTERPRETING STATISTICS: THE VIETNAM WAR

 

 

U.S. Troop Levels in Vietnam

 

1960                       900

1961                    3,200

1962                  11,300

1963                  16,300

1964                  23,300

1965                184,300

1966                385,300

1967                485,600

1968                536,100

1969                475,200

1970                334,600

1971                156,800

1972                  24,200

 

 

Question to think about:

 

1.  When did the American troop commitment increase most rapidly?

 

2.  When did the American troop commitment begin to decline?

 

                    

 

INTERPRETING STATISTICS:  AMERICA IN OUR TIME

 

 

Consumer Price Index

 

            Price Increase

 

1972     2 percent

1974     8 percent

1976     5 percent

1978     8 percent

1980    12 percent

1982     4 percent

1984     4 percent

 

 

Consumer Prices, 1967

 

3-bedroom house                                 $17,000

New Cadillac converible de Ville          $6,700

New Volkswagon                                 $1,497

5-ounce tube of Crest toothpaste          39 cents

Sirloin steak                                          89 cents a pound

Hershey chocolate bar                          5 cents

Regular gasoline                                    34 cents a gallon

Portable typewriter                               $39

Transistor radio                                    $14

Man's gray flannel suit                           $69

Black and white TV set                         $79

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  How have prices changed since 1967? Are increases greatest, in your view, in luxuries or in necessities?

 

2.  What factors have contributed to increased price levels?

 

 

Automobile Imports

 

           Proportion of Auto Market Held by Foreign Manufacturers

 

1946-50             0.2

1961-65             6.1

1966-70           10.6

1971-75           15.2

1976-80           20.1

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  When did automobile imports increase most rapidly?

 

2.  Why, in your view, did automobile imports increase?

 

 

The Changing Family

 

                                    1960                1980

Married couples           75 percent        55

 with children                44                    48

 without children           33                    27 

 

Female heads               17                    29

 with children                  3                    22                    

 without children           14                      7

 

Lone male head              8                    16 

 with children                  1                      1

 without children             7                    15

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  In what ways have American families changed since 1960?

 

2.  In what ways, in your view, are families better off today than they were a generation ago?  worse off?

 

 

Percentage of women in the labor force

 

                        Single               Married, Husband Present

 

1940                48                    15

1960                44                    31

1981                62                    51

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  Why did the number of women working for pay increase since 1940?

 

2.  How has the increase in women’s employment altered family life and the nature of the workplace?

 

Proportion of Labor Force Employed in Activities Other than Making Food or Goods

 

1900    27 percent   

1920    33

1940    44

1960    55

1984    70

 

 

Questions to think about:

 

1.  Describe the fundamental ways that the nature of work has changed over the course of the 20th century?

 

2.  What kinds of work do people do if they do not make food or goods?

 

 

Distribution of Wealth and Income 1980

 

                        Top Fifth          Middle Fifth      Bottom Fifth

 

 Wealth            76 percent          6                    0

 Income            42                    18                    5

 

 

Families at Various Income Levels, 1980

 

 $50,000+                      7 percent

 $25,000-50,000          33

 $15,000-25,000          28

 $10,000-15,000          14

 $ 5,000-10,000           13

 $ 0-5,000                      6

 

 

Ethnic Composition of the U.S., 1980

 

 German-Austrian         19 percent

 English-Scottish           17

 African                        12

 Irish                             11

 Hispanic                        7

 Italian               6

 Scandinavian                 6

 

 

U.S. Population Statistics

 

Year     Population        Median Age     Year     Population        Median Age

1790   3,929,000        15.9                 1890   63,056,000      22.0

1800   5,297,000        16                    1900   76,094,000      22.9

1810   7,224,000        16                    1910   92,407,000      24.1

1820   9,618,000        16.7                 1920    106,466,000   25.3

1830    12,901,000      17.2                 1930    123,188,000   26.5

1840    17,120,000      17.8                 1940    132,122,000   29.0

1850    23,261,000      18.9                 1950   151,683,000    30.2

1860    31,513,000      19.4                 1960   180,671,000    29.5

1870    39,905,000      20.2                 1970   204,879,000    28.1

1880    50,262,000      20.9