The Superpower 1945-75

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International Relations 1945-60 & 1960-75

After WW2 the US moved away from a policy of isolation to one of Containment of communism in Europe and Asia

Involvement in the Cold War Under Truman

- The Soviet leader, Stalin, could argue that his country had suffered grievously during the war: possibly as many as 27 million dead, with 25 million homeless and 6 million buildings destroyed

- Therefore The USSR wanted the security of knowing that it could not be attacked without warning again

- The best way to ensure this was to control its neighbours, so that they might act as a buffer zone between the USSR and the rest of Europe

- Roosevelt had sympathised with Stalin and felt that Germany should pay reparation to the USSR for the damage they had caused, however Truman seemed more critical of him as he hadn't had the experience of working with Stalin like Churchill and Roosevelt had during the war

- Stalin had begun spreading communism to neighbouring countries so that they could be 'liberated' from from Nazi influence or occupied by Soviets e.g Romania Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia in 1948

- Only Greece, where a civil war was taking place between Communist and non-Communist forces, held out against Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe

- Truman became increasingly worried about forcing communism on Eastern Europe but could do little to stop it and he felt that the Soviets were not only after protection but for control over the whole of Europe

The Truman Doctrine

- In 1947, Truman had offered the support of the USA to countries struggling against Communism.

-The doctrine was first applied in Greece to give aid to the non-Communist forces.

- Greece did not become Communist; hence the first intervention appeared successful

- The Marshall Plan also formed out of the Truman Doctrine in 1947 as financial assistance ($ 13 billion) for the rebuilding of Europe - A conference of 22 nations was set up to assess the economic needs of the affected countries - however the USSR did not attend and refused permission for countries under it's sphere to attend

- The motive behind this plan was intended to help countries to recover their prosperity so that Communism would lose any appeal

Two Crises that made the prospect of direct confrontation between the USSR and the US a likely reality:

The Berlin Blockade and Airlift 1948-49

- Germany had been divided into four zones of occupation following the end of the war

- The capital, Berlin, was also divided although it physically lay within the Soviet zone

- The Western occupying powers, the USA, Britain and France, relied on Soviet goodwill to travel through its zone to their sectors in Berlin

- The Western parts were recovering well with the support of Marshall Aid however the Soviet zone remained poor

- when the Western zones try to introduce their new currency in their parts of Berlin, Stalin responded by cutting of transport links with the West

- He believed he could blockade Berlin into accepting Communist rule and therefore make the capital part of the future Communist East German state

- In retaliation Britain and the USA organised an airlift of essential supplies to the city under siege

- On 9 May, Stalin called off the blockade and things returned to normal. It appeared that in the first great confrontation, the USA had won

NATO

- In April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was signed. Although a defensive alliance, its main purpose was to prevent Soviet expansion

- The countries agreed that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all

The Korean War

- With the Fall of China in 1949 the first shooting war of the Cold War was triggered

- In March 1950, North Korea (communist) invaded the South (supported US)

- UN forces succeeded in liberating South Korea

- However, on MacArthur’s (American Commander) urging, they then went on to invade the North, ignoring China’s warnings of the consequences.

- The war effectively became a stalemate for three years

· The USA alone lost 27,000 troops and one million Korean civilians died

- In 1953, a peace of sorts was agreed in which Korea remained divided into a Communist North and non-Communist South

Involvement in The Cold War Under Eisenhower

- Eisenhower had attacked Truman and the Democrats for being ‘soft on Communists’ in the presidential election campaign of 1952

- America was very much in the grip of McCarthyism and Eisenhower and Dulles talked about a ‘roll back’ (of Communism) and ‘massive retaliation’ as they planned to base American defence on nuclear weaponry.

- under the soviet's new leadership Krushchev, they seemed to have taken a step back from their expansion e..g In May 1955, he signed the Austrian peace treaty, under which the four occupying powers at last got out of Austria, which became an independent and neutral state and he began a policy of relaxing the controls Stalin had imposed on Eastern Europe

- However when moderate Communists in Hungary, led by Imre Nagy, threatened to leave the Warsaw Pact (a response to NATO - miliatry alliance between nations controlled by the soviet union) Khrushchev sent in tanks to quell the rebellion

- Eisenhower weakened relations with Krushchev when soviets shot down a U-2 American spy-plane and captured the pilot, Eisenhower was forced to admit the plane’s intent and Khrushchev refused to attend the 1960 summit.

- The Suez crisis resulted in the illustration that Britain and France were no longer world powers and were heavily dependent on the USA and increased American involvement in the Middle East and in 1957 Eisenhower asked Congress for military and economic aid for any Middle East country that was threatened by aggression or subversion (Eisenhower doctrine - an extension of containment to the middle East) - However, Egypt and Syria turned increasingly to the USSR, as the Anglo–French actions had reminded them of the Western ‘colonial’ mentality

Arms Race - Worsened relations between the two superpowers

- USA tested their first atomic bomb in 1945

- In 1949 the USSR exploded their first nuclear weapon

- President Truman then said the USA would seek to develop a hydrogen bomb, with as much as a thousand times the power of an atomic bomb which was tested in Bikini Atoll in March 1954 and sparked the arms race

- Each superpower wanted more and better atomic weaponry than the other

- defence spending was between $ 40 to $ 50 billion per year in the 1950s and 90 per cent of foreign aid to US allies going on military spending

- Desert areas in Arizona and New Mexico became centres for weapons testing

- one of the benefits of nuclear weapons was the development of an industry in high technology e.g. the first IBM computer was introduced in 1953

Escalation under Kennedy

- Kennedy administration believed in a more aggressive pursuit of the cold war, he launched the era with a promise to “pay any price, bear any burden” to win the Cold War

- In 1961, he persuaded Congress to boost the defense budget by 20 percent, Hhe vastly increased America’s nuclear stockpile, strengthened the military’s conventional forces, and established the Special Forces - this had a positive effect on the economy e.g. doubled the 1960 rate of economic growth and decreased unemployment

- He also increased economic assistance to Third World countries to counter the appeal of communism

- 1961 America'a attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro and therefore communism failed and soldiers were deprived of air cover by Kennedy’s desire to conceal U.S. involvement

- Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 - The U.S. Navy created a “quarantine” line (naval blockade) in October 1962 that Soviet ships, carrying missiles to Cuba, must not cross, resulted in the Soviets removing their missiles but Khrushchev also insisted that American missiles be withdrawn from Turkey as part of the deal

- he also saw the need to preserve a non-Communist South Vietnam (southeast asia) however US involvement damaged the economy, eroded public faith in elected officials, and transformed the brief era of triumphant liberalism into a time of discord and despair

- However Kennedy was so threatened by the prospect of war he and Khrushchev installed a telephone “hot line” so that the two sides could com- municate instantly in future crises and then agreed to a treaty outlawing atmospheric and undersea nuclear testing

- These efforts signaled a new phase of the Cold War, later called détente, in which the superpowers moved from confrontation to negotiation

Conclusions: Kennedy signed the world’s first nuclear-test-ban treaty, yet initiated a massive arms buildup, he compromised on Laos but deepened U.S. involvement in Vietnam

The Vietnam War

- The nation’s longest war, and most controversial, would shatter the liberal consensus and divide the United States

- American involvement in Vietnam grew out of the containment policy to stop the spread of communism

- US supported France in their fight to keep control of indochina against the the Vietminh however they lost and Vietnam was divided in 1954 under the Geneva Accords

- led to the formation of the domino theory where Eisenhower warned that, if Vietnam fell to the communists, then Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, and ultimately all of Asia would follow

- the CIA installed Ngo Dinh Diem an anti-communist to lead south Vietnam and remove political opposition but Eisenhower revealed that “possibly 80 percent of the population would have voted for the communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader.” the anti-communist leader became increasingly unpopular which led to the formation of the communist National Liberation Front or Vietcong which wanted to unify the country under communist rule

Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam

- He worried that a pullout would make him appear cowardly, threaten his liberal agenda, and leave him vulnerable to conservative accusations tions that he was “soft” on communism.

- In early August, North Vietnamese patrol boats allegedly clashed with two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin and he used this to justify further escalation but never admitting that the U.S. ships took part in covert raids against North Vietnam and resulted in the Senate passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which allowed the president to take any means possible to repel an armed attack - however it was initially designed to deflect Goldwater’s charge that he was weak on communism

- Early in 1965, Johnson ordered “Operation Rolling Thunder,” the sustained bombing of North Vietnam

- Johnson then sought to inflict unacceptable casualties on the communists to force them to the peace table, Johnson sent 485,000 troops to Vietnam by the end of 1967

- In March 1965, students and faculty at the University of Michigan staged the first teach-in to raise questions about U.S. intervention and then later twenty-five thousand people, mainly students, rallied in Washington to protest the escalation

- 1968 Tet Offensive - the NLF and North Vietnamese forces mounted a huge offensive, attacking more than a hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns

- Public approval of the president’s conduct of the war fell to just 26 percent in the immediate aftermath of Tet

- In March 1968, an army unit led by an inexperienced lieutenant, William Calley, massacred several hundred South Vietnamese in the hamlet of My Lai

Nixon and Vietnam

- Despite pressure to end the war, Nixon proved no more willing than his predecessors to accept defeat

- Nixon escalated the bombing of North Vietnam and secretly ordered air strikes on Cambodia and Laos

- In February 1971, Nixon had South Vietnamese troops invade Laos to destroy communist bases there

- in 1972 Kissinger announced that “peace is at hand” as he had secretly negotiated with Le Duc Tho which required the withdrawal of all U.S. troops, provided for the return of American prisoners of war, and allowed North Vietnamese troops to remain in South Vietnam

Effects of the War

- It shattered the liberal consensus and inflamed dissent and conflict

- also distanced the U.S. from its allies and alienated many in the world

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The Age of Affluence - prosperity after the WW2

- The US economy grew significantly during the war e.g. Gross National Product (GNP) had risen 35 per cent since 1941

- Economic expansion created greater employment opportunities in many industries, for example aircraft production, chemicals and electrical goods

- unparalleled growth and opportunities

- not shared by everyone

Government Role

- adopted a keynesian economic approach which meant more government intervention to ensure long-term and real prosperity

- GI Bill of Rights 1944 allowed Veterans to improve their education, learn new skills and set up businesses

- the bill offered low interest home loans that allowed ex-servicemen and their families to move to new homes in the suburbs to which 8 million took advantage of

- government also payed for access to university

- planned a suburban community as a solution to the housing shortage and brought the housing industry into the industrial age - also having a positive effect on other industries

- The Federal Housing Administration - helped veterans get mortgages - percentage of Americans owning their homes rose from 50% in 1945 to 60% by 1960

However...

- African Americans did not benefit even though they served in combat during WW2

- in a town of 53,000 people only 266 were African American

- still racist and segregationist attitudes with African Americans being refused to renew their leases

Technological Advances

Women

- they did benefit from labor saving devices which meant more leisure time

- proved themselves capable of doing traditionally male-dominated jobs but they had to give these up at the end of the war and return to their traditional role as housewives - indicates that people's attitudes remained the same

- publicity encourages this stereotypical image of women which published articles about cookie, fashion and how to keep husbands happy as well as TV advertisements encouraging this image of a domestic servant

- In 1957 89% of women were housewives and many didn't want to start a career - those who did work were married woman who wanted to earn a supplement family income (women employment increased to 60% by 1960)

- lack of government policy directed at women encouraging woman to work

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Political Developments

Key Individuals

Truman - Democrat - in office from 1945-1952

Achievements

- proposed to widen the aims of the New Deal through housing, healthcare reforms and employment

- In 1945, he introduced the Full Employment Bill to Congress - ensured that jobs were always available and increased the dole, included a higher minimum wage, farm price supports and a public works programme

- However, Congress was to water down many of Truman’s proposals

- In 1949, Truman declared that ‘Every segment of our population and every individual has a right to expect from our government a fair deal’

- He tried to introduce a whole range of welfare measures but Republican and Democratic conservatives blocked many of his reform proposals

- however he succeeded in raising the minimum wage, extending the Social Security Act and passed an act to assist slum clearance and to provide housing for the poor

- Key lobbyist for the Civil Rights Movement e.g. passed an executive order in 1947 which desegregated the military and was the first president to speak to the NAACP however this split the party

- formed part of the 'liberal consensus'

Failures

Labor Relations

- Aimed to improve labor relations as after the WW2 there had been an increase in the number of strikes due to rising prices e.g. more than 5000 strikes occurred in 1946 alone

- called a special labour-management conference in November 1945 in an attempt to prevent further strike action but the conference ended without agreement and more strikes prevailed in 1945

- Therefore Truman wanted to take firmer action through introducing legislation that would restrict the right to strike against the government and would impose severe penalties on those that broke the law

- Truman had demonstrated the continued hostility of the Federal Government to labour and strike action

- Republicans made many gains in the midterm elections taking control of both House and Senate

- struggled in his first term with a republican dominated House and Senate who disagreed with Truman's policies and attempted to pass their own

Eisenhower - Republican - in office from 1952-1961

Achievements

- some suggest that he chose an able team, delegated well and had a good record as a mediator

- He worked well with a Congress which, for most of his presidency, was controlled by the Democrats and was popular with most Americans

- Eisenhower was able to achieve numerous legislative victories despite a Democratic majority in Congress

- he called his programme 'dynamic conservatism'

- He was determined to, and succeeded in, decreasing the role of federal government e.g. ended price and wage controls and reduced farm subsidies however he accepted that federal government should have some responsibility for the welfare of its citizens

- he strengthened the Social Security programme, increased the minimum wage and created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare

- In 1956, Eisenhower created the Interstate Highway System, the single largest public works programme in US history, which would construct 41,000 miles of roads across the country

Failures

- Critics at the time accused him of being far too conservative, a do-nothing president who spent his time playing golf

- He has also been accused of representing big business, especially as his cabinet was composed mainly of millionaire businessmen, three of whom had worked in the car industry

- showed little sympathy for civil rights

Kennedy - Democrat - 1961-62

Achievements

- wanted civil rights legislation but couldn't afford to alienate congress as only won a narrow victory

- however he put huge pressure of the civil service to employ blacks

- he made more black appointments to the federal bureaucracy than any other president e.g. appointed 5 black judges

- In 1962, he sent 23,000 government troops to ensure that one black student, James Meredith, could study at the University of Mississippi

- before his assassination he had been drawing up a civil rights bill

- 'The New Frontier' - used the Brains Trust to ensure new ideas would be young and fresh - The Federal Government would begin a series of projects, such as new roads and public buildings, he limited prices and wages to ensure inflation did not spiral out of control

- The Area Redevelopment Act, The Housing Act, The Social Security Act

- formed part of the 'liberal consensus'

Failures

- civil rights protests were prominent during his presidency e.g. Freedom Rides, Birmingham, March on Washington

- as he lacked a mandate we was wary of doing too much for the civil rights movement

- much opposition from conservatives and even democrats esp southern congressmen over civil rights as many still believed in the values of ‘rugged individualism’

- Kennedy planned to start Medicare, which was a cheap system of state health insurance, but this was thrown out by Congress

- the minimum wage only helped those who already had a job and the poorest people could not afford to pay back the housing loans

Johnson - Democrat - 1963-68

Achievements

- he was a Southerner therefore he knew how to deal with the Southern Democrats and overcome their opposition – especially to civil rights

- 'The Great Society'

- passed The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination in public places, in federally assisted programmes and in employment

- passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 appointed agents to ensure that voting procedures were carried out properly

- Johnson cut taxes to give consumers more money to spend and, in turn, to help businesses grow and to create more jobs

- the Office of Economic Opportunity set up schemes to help poor people in inner cities

- The Medical Care Act provided Medicare (for the old) and Medicaid (for the poor) e.g. 25 million given access to decent health care for the first time

- Federal money was provided to try to ensure that standards of education in all states were equal

- The minimum wage was increased from $ 1.25 to $ 1.40 an hour

- he had greatly extended the role of federal government in intervening to make a difference, especially in the reduction of poverty

- formed part of the 'liberal consensus' - new concern for legislating on behalf of the poor and minorities

Failures

- opposition against the Great Society however was distorted due to attitudes towards US involvement in the Vietnam War

- Republicans accused him of undermining rugged individualism

- escalation in the involvement of the Vietnam War meant social reforms took a back seat and money became directed solely at paying for the war

- The outbreak of violence in US cities in the late 1960s has often been regarded as evidence that the Great Society was a failure

- The programme had aroused expectations that it was then unable to deliver

Nixon - Republican - 1968-

Achievements

- he promised ‘peace with honour’ in Vietnam

- there was increased spending on the social programmes introduced by the Great Society

Failures

- both cambers in govt were controlled by the opposition therefore making it very difficult to pass any legislation

- Watergate Scandal - involved in a dirty campaign to ensure his reelection which meant breaking into democrat offices - lied about his involvement throughout the investigation

- resulted in a trial for his impeachment 1974 but he decided to resign to avoid impeachment and

- as a result of the scandal, the powers of the Executive were reduced by a series of measures e.g. The Election Campaign Act of 1974, which set limits on election contributions to prevent corruption, The War Powers Act of 1973, which required the president to consult Congress before sending American troops into combat, The Congressional Budget Act, 1974, which meant that the president could not use government money for his/ her own purposes

Growing Fear of Communism

- Communist influence within the country during the depression

- previous history of american anti-communism e.g. 1886 Haymarket Bomb, 1919 Palmer Raids and 1920s Red Scare

- Intensified the conflict between the Soviet Union as America was so fearful of the spread communism

Development of the Red Scare

External

- Cold War contributed to the Red Scare and hysteria known as McCarthyism

- Late 1930s, early years of the war - Roosevelt administration over-relaxed about penetration by Soviet agents

- 1941 - 221 Soviet agents in the USA reporting back to the NKVD, further Soviet Army Intelligence agents reporting back to the Red Army

- Leaking of vital secrets to Soviets - particularly atom bomb development

- ‘Loss of China’ to Mao Zedong’s communists blamed on weak minded individuals by the right-wing press

- Explosion of Soviet atomic bomb in 1949 confirmed fears that there were traitors at the heart of government

Internal

- Under Truman, FBI investigations into communist activities and government penetration intensified

- March 1947 - Truman issued Executive Order 9835 - established Federal Loyalty Boards which led to scrutiny of personal lives and political beliefs of government workers and many private individuals

- 1947-51 - over 3000 government employees forced to resign, 300 dismissed

- Alger Hiss was a well-connected diplomat in the State Department and he supplied Soviets with diplomatic secrets at the time of the Yalta Conference in February 1945 and in 1950 he was sentenced to a 5 year prison sentence

- The House Committee on Un-American Activities established in 1938

McCarthyism

- Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) magnified the Red Scare to ludicrous proportions

- McCarthy possessed a developed instinct for publicity

- Used press and radio to trigger paranoia in many ordinary Americans

- he claimed to have a list of traitors at the heart of US government

- Support from Republicans and Democrats - Joseph Kennedy and JFK

- 1950 elections - Republican gains, anti-communist rhetoric increased to embarrass the Truman administration

- McCarthy aided by international and political developments - humiliating defeat of US forces by Chinese Army in Korea in the winter of 1950-51, dismissal of General Macarthur, increasing unpopularity of Truman administration

- September 1950 - Congress passed the Internal Security Act over a presidential veto - subjected private citizens to more direct political surveillance

His Downfall

- Republican victories in 1952 presidential election - Eisenhower, Republican gains in Congress - initially seemed to confirm McCarthy’s influence

- McCarthy overreached by attacking CIA and the Army which infuriated Eisenhower

- McCarthy lost support of public and political allies

Impact of Red Scare

- Red Scare virtually eliminated Soviet Agents

- Red Scare harmed Civil Rights movement - association between activists and the Communist Party in the 1930s

- Taft-Hartley Act required union leaders to take an oath that they were not communists

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Society - Divided Union?

Native Americans

Progress

- 25,000 Native Americans served in armed forces during Second World War

- Many left reservations to live in cities and production centres

- 1941 - Indian Commissioner John Collier suggested that reservation life could not accommodate returning servicemen and their families

- 1944 - Indian Claims Commission set up to offer financial compensation to Native Americans for claims for lost lands - but didn't return the land

- the wartime migration of many Indians to the cities appeared to suggest that what many Native Americans themselves wanted was participation in America’s booming postwar industrial economy rather than a life of rural squalor on the economically deprived reservations

Setbacks

- opponents justified termination through stressing the backwardness of the reservations and the inability of individual Indians to cope without continued federal support - it was time to 'to end their status as wards of the United States'

- Termination policy implemented - Reservations should be broken up, Native American encouraged to move to urban centres and live like other American citizens - however NA were not consulted

- the Termination policy was of course self-interested with it opening up yet more valuable Indian land and resources to white purchasers

- there was no real effort made to help Native Americans to acclimatise themselves to urban life - therefore NA drifted into alcoholism, unemployment

- proved unsuccessful anyway with only about 3 per cent of reservation land was lost and stimulated the formation of the ‘Red Power’ protest movement of the 1960s

- could be argued that ‘termination increasingly resembled extermination’

African Americans in the 1940 -1960

Context

- The Second World War did provide a stimulus to the civil rights movement

- The USA had fought against the most racist regime of modern times, and supported decolonisation throughout the world therefore Americans saw the incongruity of racial inequality in a country that promoted freedom and equality of opportunity

- although there was recognition that civil rights needed to change it was never a government priority due to the need to keep support of Southern Democrats

- Truman had a genuine concern while Eisenhower was less enthusiastic and felt it was up to the state and local governments

Progress

- membership of the NAACP rose from 50,000 in 1940 to 450,000 by 1945

- The NAACP began to play an important part in the civil rights movement after the war because it raised the profile of issues not only within the African American community but also within the white community, and encouraged activism - NAACP sought to challenge separate but equal ruling - started with higher education e.g. Brown v Topeka Board of Education 1954 'separate but equal' ruled unconstitutional - 723 school districts desegregated with 300,000 black-American schoolchildren

- the ruling was upheld in 19 cases January 1956

- CORE was founded by James Farmer, a civil rights activist, in 1942

- In September 1946 Truman set up Civil Rights Committee to investigate racial abuse

- Executive Order 9981, passed by Truman in July 1948 to desegregate the armed forces entirely and guarantee fair employment opportunities in the civil service

- by 1950, the Navy and Air Force were completely integrated

- Even the military training camps in the South were integrated without significant issues

Setbacks

- A Coalition of 20 Southern Democrats and 15 Republicans blocked ever civil rights measure introduced into the Senate e.g. anti-lynching measures

- Eisenhower passed Executive Orders that desegregated government-run shipyards, veterans’ hospitals, encouraged integration of schools but he believed that legislation couldn't changed peoples attitudes

- after the Brown v Topeka case 240,000 remained in entirely segregated schools and Alabama legislators declared Brown v Topeka ruling ‘null, void and of no effect’ and Southern school boards found ways to oppose desegregation e.g. gave grants to private schools which could remain segregated

- 1964 - only 2 percent of black Americans in 11 Southern states went to fully integrated schools

African Americans 1960-75

Kennedy

Progress

- television coverage of the struggle for racial equality brought increased massively the numbers of African- Americans into the movement

- they continued to pressure Kennedy as they realised that only comprehensive national legislation could guarantee equal citizenship

- Martin Luther King launched nonviolent marches, sit-ins, and pray-ins in Birmingham to gain the support from the white majority and expose the radical racism

- MLK 'letter from Birmingham jail' which detailed the humiliations of racial discrimination and segregation and justified civil disobedience to protest unjust laws

- Bill Connor's vicious tactics seared the nation’s conscience and pushed Kennedy to negotiate with MLK for desegregation

- Increasingly concerned about America’s image abroad as well as the frustration and discord at home, Kennedy feared that if the government did not act, blacks would turn to violence - indicated Kennedy's self-interested nature

- However in June 1963, the president went on television to define civil rights as “a moral issue” and to declare that “race has no place in American life or law" and a week later Kennedy proposed a bill outlawing segregation in public facilities and authorizing the federal government to withhold funds from programs that discriminated

- The March on Washington 1963 - King turned a political rally into a historic event - 'i had a dream' speech

Setbacks

- Kennedy continued to stall the pleas of the civil right activists seeing it more as a political issue than a moral one as he feared it would split the democratic party, and jeopardise his re-election

Johnson

Progress

- won the passage of theCivil Rights Act of 1964 - the most significant civil-rights law in U.S. history - banned racial discrimination and segregation in public accommodations

- When civil-rights activists sought to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama state police stormed into the defenseless marchers, who were clubbed, shocked, and tear-gassed - Showcased on TV, the event provoked national outrage and support for a voting rights bill

- The Voting Rights Act 1965 invalidated the use of any test or device to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disfranchised blacks - it boosted the number of registered black voters in the South from 1 million in 1964 to 3.1 million in 1968

- progress under Johnson raised hopes for the possibility of greater change, legitimated protest, broke the white monopoly on political power in the South and ended discrimination and segregation

Setbacks

- But its inability to move beyond opportunity to achievement, to gain equality as a result, not just a right was a major setback during this period although legislation granted equality people's attitudes remained hostile and so enforcement became increasingly difficult

- e.g. The movement did little to change the deplorable eco- nomic conditions of many African-Americans

- provoked the outbreak of a series of riots e.g. In Newark, New Jersey, twenty-seven people died and more than eleven hundred were injured in a riot

- In 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King black uprisings flared in the ghettos of a hundred cities

- The demand for Black Power sounded in 1966 paralleled the fury of the urban riots; it expressed the eagerness of young activists for militant self- defense and rapid social change

- the movement owed much to the rhetoric and vision of Malcolm X - he asserted that Blacks had to seize their freedom “by any means necessary.”

- The Black Panther Party, founded in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale - celebrated black pride and advocated black self-determination

The Student Movement

Division

- many students wanted a greater voice in society over aspects such as education and racism (many wanted to protest along with Blacks for civil rights) and there was increasing hostility to US involvement in the war in Vietnam

- Half a million young Americans were fighting in the war and many others would be called up by the draft or conscription system

- In the first half of 1968, there were over 100 demonstrations against the war, involving 400,000 students - this, in turn, led to angry clashes with police e.g at Kent State University, Ohio in 1970 where tear gas was used and shots were fired at the students, 4 people were killed - provoked strike action from 2 million students

- The 1960s also saw an explosion in pop music which, in turn, was an expression of this emerging youth culture, and an expression of protest against important issues of the day

Unity

- Although the SDS and student protests did not bring an end to the war in Vietnam, there is no doubt that they helped to force a shift in government policy and make the withdrawal from Vietnam much more likely and they provided greater publicity for the racism still prevalent in US society

The Women's Movement