Changing Political Environment - Topic 1.2 Flashcards
Important events and policies over the period
What is rugged individualism?
The idea that the state doesn’t give hand-outs, nor do the people need the state to help them; creates distrust when the government tries to institute laws and programs to help the poorest in the nation.
A Republican policy
During the First Red Scare…
1919-20
The FBI had been set up to round up suspected communists (between 5,000 to 10,000 arrests) in 33 cities across the country.
By 1920, the entire country was full of anti-communist sentiment.
How did the KKK rise in popularity?
What was different to the first rendition?
1915-44
KKK reformed in 1915, instead of it being in the South only, the group has spread to the entirety of America. The KKK targeted all groups that were “Un-American”; not just blacks in the country. The Red Scare and rise in anti-immigration sentiments helped fuel their popularity
What was the ‘Bonus Army’?
And what did they do?
Groups of WWI veterans that weren’t given their full bonus payment after the war. Many of them only got $50, with the rest of the money staying in the Federal Reserve to then be paid out in 1945. Veterans during the great depression wanted the rest of their bonus payments now so they could survive. The ‘Bonus Army’ stormed the White House with violence breaking out on both sides, and the White House didn’t treat the veterans well (tear gas, bayonets, cavalry, tanks and machine guns). Hoover lost significant popularity because of the Bonus Army’s treatment.
What are Alphabet Agencies?
They provided work and helped different sections of society on a state-to-state basis, and all states were accountable to the federal agencies that provided them with money.
These would later be deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
What agencies did FDR create to help deal with the Great Depression?
National Recovery Administration (NRA)
- Set up and enforce codes of practices for businesses (working hours and minimum wage). Public-supported businesses that joined the NRA
Agricultural Adjustment Agency (AAA)
- Regulated the major crops. It bought up surplus crops and subsidised farmers to grow less of crops that were being overproduced
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Set up National Parks across the nation
Relief, Recovery and Reform (3 R’s)
During the Second Red Scare…
1947-57
Truman Doctrine
- Contain communism to the Soviet Union
- All successor presidents are bound to supplying and supporting the war against communism
McCarthyism
- Tydings Committee
- ‘Reds under the beds’
- HUAC - House Un-American Activities Commission (Ran by the FBI)
What did the Presidents do to contain communism and try to destroy it?
1945-1969
Harry S. Truman:
- Beginning of the Cold War
- Signatory of the NATO Treaty and Marshall Aid
- Korean War (1950-53)
Dwight D. Eisenhower:
- Eisenhower Doctrine - Contain communism and Arab nationalism in the Middle East
- ‘New Look’ Policy - Focus more on nuclear weaponry
- U2 Incident
John F. Kennedy:
- Cuban Missile Crisis & Bay of Pigs invasion
- Vital years in the Space Race
Lyndon B. Johnson:
- Officially began the Viet’Nam War
What did the Presidents do to contain communism and try to destroy it?
1969-1981
Richard M. Nixon:
- Operation Rolling Thunder
- Detente - Normalisation of relations with China
- Paris Peace Accords - Pull out Viet’Nam
- SALT I - Limited ICBMs and ABMs a country could have and reassured MAD
Gerald R. Ford:
- North Vietnam invaded the South; Saigon fell and the US is blamed for backstabbing
- Led to the genocide in Indonesia
- Mayaguez Incident (Khmer Rouge) - USS Mayaguez was boarded and seized. Communication error between the two, US: 41 dead, 50 wounded.
Jimmy E. Carter:
- Continued Detente with the USSR
- Camp David Accords with Egypt and Israel (Success)
- Carter Doctrine - Afghanistan defence and Persian Gulf defence after 1980 invasion
- Boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics
What was the ‘Permissive Society’?
Permissive Society - a society in which social norms become increasingly liberal, especially with regard to sexual freedom. Ideas changed regarding gender, race, sex and sexuality.
(The term is often used by traditionalist and conservatives to critisice what is seen as a breakdown of tradition values, such as premarital sex and divorce.)
Swinging Sixties - a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism.
- Woodstock Generation - Hippies and Drugs
Gave rise to counter-culture groups
Define ‘conservative backlash’
Refers to a negative response from conservative groups to progressive policies or social changes. The term has been used to describe the opposition to progressive movements, e.g., the civil rights movement.
How did the Christian/Conservative backlash hit with full effect?
What tools were used and what did they believe in?
1968-80
Evangelicalism is a movement among Protestant Christians who believe in the necessity of being born again, emphasize the importance of evangelism, and affirm traditional Protestant teachings on the authority as well as the historicity of the Bible. Because of the liberal stance the nation was taking, those who were christian became more evangelical, causing it to rise, mainly in the South but nationwide as well.
Some broadcasting channels had very little restrictions and guidelines on what can be shown and by who. This meant that anyone could show anything on TV at any time. This reaffirmed beliefs such as evangelicalism
Older generations wanted to go back to the American Dream and Christian views, and with extensive progressivism preventing that, a ‘new right’ was born from outrage.
What was the ‘New Right’?
What did they fight for and what economic policy did they follow?
A political movement made up especially of (evangelical) Protestants, opposed to secular humanism, and concerned with issues especially of church and state, patriotism, pornography, and abortion. The New Right emerged partly in contrast to the counterculture of the 1960s.
It grew rapidly during the 1960s and 1970s, thanks in part to organizations such as Young Americans for Freedom and College Republicans, and people such as Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.
‘New Right’ politicians followed older economic policies such as the ones used during the Republican Golden Age (e.g., Laissez-faire and rugged individualism)
