Great Change in the 1960’s and 1970’s
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Transcript of Great Change in the 1960’s and 1970’s
Great Change in the 1960’s and 1970’s
The Warren Court
• Warren Court (Very Liberal)—Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren
• Affirms free speech, and the separation of church and state
• banned prayer in public schools
• Limited the power of communities to censor books and films
Congressional Reapportionment
• Reapportionment—way states redraw election districts by population
• Court rules districts must have approximately equal population
• Leads to shift in political power from rural to urban areas
Rights of the Accused
• Warren Court rulings expand rights of people accused of crimes:
• illegally seized evidence cannot be used in court
• courts must provide legal counsel to poor
• Miranda rights- suspect must be read rights before questioning
• Some praise protection of right to a fair trial
• Others think rulings handicap police investigations
The Great Society
• Great Society—LBJ’s legislation to end poverty and discrimination (racial injustice)
• Johnson gets Congress to pass 206 of his bills
• Major Components of the great society: Education, Healthcare, environment, and Housing
Education and Healthcare
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds school materials (Over 1 billion dollars was provided)
• Healthcare• Medicare—low-cost
medical, hospital insurance for senior citizens
• Medicaid—health insurance for welfare recipients
Housing and the Environment
• Housing:• Money set aside for
public housing- (low to moderate income homes)
• Dept. of Housing and Urban Development created
• Robert Weaver is first African American in cabinet, HUD secretary
• The Environment• Rachel Carson’s Silent
Spring exposes dangers of pesticides
• Water Quality Act of 1965 requires states to clean up rivers
• LBJ orders government to search out worst chemical polluters
Effects of Great Society
• Poverty drops from 21% of population in 1962 to 11% in 1973
• Massive tax cut spurs economy; Great Society contributes to deficit
Rachel Carson and Silent Spring
• Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring warns against use of pesticides– argues poisons kill
food and harmless animals
• Becomes best seller; leads JFK to establish advisory committee
• chemical companies claim book inaccurate and threaten lawsuits
• Carson starts national focus on environmental issues
Environmental Awareness
• Earth Day—celebration highlighting environmental awareness– First observed
1970 by communities, thousands of schools, and colleges
The Government Takes Action
• Environmentalist—active protector of environment
• Environmentalist continue to fight for more “clean” acts
• In 1970 President Nixon, signs Clean Air Act, creates Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)---group that sets and enforces pollution standards
• 1970s, Congress passes 35 laws on conservation to help clean up the environment
King’s Death
• Seems to sense own death in Memphis speech to striking workers
• MLK is shot the following day, on April 4, 1968
• Reactions to King’s Death:
• King’s death leads to worst urban rioting in U.S. history– over 100 cities affected
• Robert Kennedy assassinated two months later
• more civil rights legislation was passed