done

EXAMS ARE DONE EXAMS ARE DONE EXAMS ARE DONE

New laws including the Election Campaign Act (1974), the War Powers Act (1973), the Privacy Act (1974) and the Congressional Budget Control Act (1974)

New laws including the Election Campaign Act (1974), the War Powers Act (1973), the Privacy Act (1974) and the Congressional Budget Control Act (1974). 

After Nixon's resignation, Congress decided the pass through laws to limit the powers of the President in the wake of the Watergate scandal. These were:

• Election Campaign Act (1974): set limits to presidential campaign budgets.
• War Powers Act (1973): meant the president couldn't go to war without the support of Congress.
• Privacy Act (1974): set regulations and rules on how the government collected information about people.
• Congressional Budget Control Act (1974): controlled the president's use of government money.

These were all passed in order to prevent future presidents from exploiting different things while in office.

Phyllis Schafly and opposition to the women’s movement

Phyllis Schafly and opposition to the women’s movement.

1. Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly organised a group called STOP (Stop Taking Our Privileges) to campaign against the ERA; she very actively fought against the women's rights movement along with many women who wanted to return to more "traditional" femininity.
2. Phyllis argued that the ERA would take away rights that many women desired (e.g. exemption from army conscription) and that many poorer women that wanted to be wives and have children would be disadvantaged by it. Her campaign convinced enough states that there was considerable opposition to the ERA - only 30 states signed ratified it - not reaching the 3/4 of states that the amendment needed to be passed.

Betty Friedan, Eleanor Roosevelt, NOW, women’s liberation movement and abortion

Betty Friedan, Eleanor Roosevelt, NOW, women’s liberation movement and abortion.

1. Betty Friedan wrote "The Feminine Mystique" in 1963, which criticised the isolation of women in the household and revealed that many American women were dissatisfied.  
2. Friedan co-founded the National Organisation for Women (NOW), founded in 1966, and campaigned for women's legal, educational and professional equality. The organisation pressured Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (1972) but failed to achieve ratification by the necessary 3/4 of states. 
3. Feminists during this time were fighting against the objectification of women. For example, they protested against the Miss America beauty pageant in 1968, crowning a sheep as their own "Miss America", comparing women's treatment in the US to livestock.
4. Abortion was and still is a very controversial issue. Feminists argued that all women had the right to choose abortion, and the Supreme Court ruled in the case Roe v Wade (1973) that states banning abortion were unconstitutional. However, pressure from religious groups meant that Congress ended up passing the Hyde Amendment in 1976, which stopped Medicaid (medical assistance programme for the poor) from funding abortions.

The student movement, Berkeley Free Speech movement, and links to war in Vietnam, Students for a Democratic Society and ‘hippies’

The student movement, Berkeley Free Speech movement, and links to war in Vietnam, Students for a Democratic Society and ‘hippies’. 

• The 1960s brought along a decade of student protest and discontent among youth, protesting in favour of things such as black rights and the end of the Vietnam War.

1. The Berkley Free Speech movement was a student protest which took place from the years 1964-65 at the University of California, Berkeley. The protest was against the ban on on-campus political activities and against the notion that universities weren't allowing free speech among students. It resulted in over 800 students being arrested and major chaos in the area, but, university officials did end up giving in and allowing political activity on Berkeley campus, although under provisional rules. Shortly after the protest, the Vietnam Day Committee began, kickstarting the anti-Vietnam war movement.
2. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was formed in 1959. Throughout the early 60s, many of the members fought for civil rights and trained in protest tactics. Later, as the Vietnam War continued, the SDS became a leading group for the anti-war protests. In April 1968, the SDS led a student takeover of Columbia University to protest against both segregation and the Vietnam War, lasting for 8 days and leading to 700 arrests.
3. During the 60s, many people experimented with new lifestyles that involved rock music, sexual freedom, drugs and religious experimentation - A.K.A. "hippies". Protest singers like Bob Dylan wrote songs about political issues such as the Vietnam War and civil rights movement, and events included things like the Woodstock Music Festival. By the end of the 60s, there were hippy areas in most US cities, populated by "drop-outs" from mainstream life. This didn't involve all young people, though; many young people still had traditional values. 

General reasons for the growth of protest movements

General reasons for the growth of protest movements.

During the 1960s, protests grew across the USA, and also across the world in places like Europe. This was especially common among students and youth. The reasons for this included:

• New generation: young people began to reject their parents' conservative values, with many of them growing up during the early civil rights movement's development and being more tolerant towards the issues brought up by it. The new generation began to create and experiment with a new counter-culture, which emphasised on peace and free love while fighting against injustice e.g. Vietnam war, women's rights etc.
• High expectations: people had expectations and visions of a new and prosperous USA that was to come once WW2 had ended. This prosperity really only happened to the rich and men, leaving many dissatisfied; when Kennedy was elected in 1961, he promised a fairer and more equal society - people's hopes began to go up again. These changes didn't happen - people noticed - and people protested.
• The Vietnam War: the USA entered the war in Vietnam in 1955, sparking outrage among many Americans, especially when the US' involvement in the war increased; tactics like chemical bombings were criticized by many. The American media showed images of burning villages and homeless villagers across Vietnam, shocking the public and leading to many protests against the war. The outrage was strengthened when soldiers began to come home and form groups in protest of the war, exposing the horrible things they experienced during their service.

The Black Panther movement

The Black Panther movement.

In October 1966, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton set up the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California. The party had a 10-point plan that included aims such as ending police brutality and releasing black prisoners. The group was widely publicised by the media and were notorious for their unconcealed guns and violent attitudes, working as police in many US cities and seen as more efficient than the state police by some. The Black Panthers also organised projects such as free healthcare for black people. The US government saw them as a threat as the movement was spreading rapidly - 25 US cities had Black Panther groups by 1968.

The movement encouraged lots of violence, rather than peaceful methods, across the country. 100s of riots were carried out during the years of the Black Panther's peak - the group never organised these protests, though, only encouraged others to use violence to get change, so they couldn't be prosecuted themselves for the riots.