Reform and Reaction: Kennedy, Johnson and Nixton period key themes

Question 1

When was the Reform and Reaction: Kennedy, Johnson and Nixton period?

Answer 1

1960-1974

Question 2

What was the biggest challenge for the USA?

Answer 2

-improving the lives of the 35 million Americans still living below the poverty line in 1960->was part of President Kennedy’s ‘New Frontier’ and President Johnson’s ‘Great Society’->as a result this period was one of significant change which ambitious programmes of social reform

Question 3

What was life like for workers in this time?

Answer 3

-these improvements impacted on the position of workers and labour unions so that while prosperity increased, changes in technology resulted in a decline in union power and influence

Question 4

What was the Republican Era of the 1950s?

Answer 4

-had been one of social and political conservatism but Kennedy’s election marked a change of mood->seen in an intensification of mass civil rights activities led by stronger organisations and new leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr

Question 5

What was the impact on women in the Republican Era?

Answer 5

-this was also seen in the development of a new form of feminism which challenged fundamental assumptions about the nature and role of women

Question 6

What was life like for Native Americans in this time?

Answer 6

-this was a period of greater change for Native Americans->the policy of termination was abandoned and government policy changed so that Native Americans gained more control over their own futures as a reform programme was begun

Question 7

What was life like for African Americans in this time?

Answer 7

-the shock of Kennedy’s assassination led to support for Civil Rights Act passed by Johnson which harked back to the post-Civil War period in ending segregation and protecting African Americans voting rights->but by then more new demands had arisen from more radical African American leaders and a new radicalism emerged with the Black Power movement

Question 8

What was a result of Kennedy’s assassination?

Answer 8

-the shock of Kennedy’s assassination led to support for Civil Rights Act passed by Johnson which harked back to the post-Civil War period in ending segregation and protecting African Americans voting rights