US9 America And The ‘Great Society’ Flashcards
What was the name of JFKs series of reforms?
The ‘New Frontier’
What did JFKs New Frontier reforms aim to help?
Eliminate poverty and inequality
Improve education
Fight unemployment
What did JFKs New Frontier do to help the economy?
- Cut taxes to give people more money to spend
- Made $900m available to businesses to create new jobs
- Gave grants to companies to buy high tech equipment and train their staff to use it
- Increased government spending on armed forces, creating jobs
What did JFKs. New Frontier reforms do for healthcare and poverty?
- Social Security Act increased benefits for elderly and unemployed
- introduced training schemes for unemployed
- increased minimum hourly wage
- $4.9b made available for loans to improve housing, clear slum areas and build roads and telephone lines
- Increased funding for research into mental illness and allocated funds to develop poor rural areas
What did JFKs New Frontier do for education?
- the Peace Corps was set up - an organisation that sends volunteers abroad to assist people in poorer countries
What were some criticisms of JFKs New Frontier?
- new equipment in factories sometimes meant that fewer workers were needed
- many new jobs were dependent on government spending so were vulnerable to spending cuts
- by 1963 unemployment stood at 4.5 million - only 1 million less than 1960
- The minimum wage was only helpful to those in work and housing loans were only useful if the recipient could afford the loan repayments
- JFK‘s efforts to provide funding for schools failed - politicians from the southern states refused to support his plans
- The commission on equal employment opportunity help those who already had a government job but did nothing to find jobs for millions of unemployed African-Americans the black unemployment rate was twice that of white Americans
What was the name of Lyndon B. Johnson‘s reform programs?
The great Society
What did LBJ‘s great society do for the economy?
- The job corps was introduced to help high school leavers get jobs
- The minimum hourly wage increased from $1.25 to $1.40
What did LBJ‘s great society do for healthcare and poverty?
- A housing act funded low income housing
- The model cities act cleared up inner city slums
- And water quality acts tighten controls over pollution
- Safety standards were improved for consumer products
- ‘Medicare’ was created to fund healthcare for the elderly and low income families
What did LBJ‘s great Society do for education?
- operation Headstart gave money to poor schools in cities
- The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided major funding for schools
- Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) program was set up as a domestic version of the peace corps
- National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities gave grants to fund the artists and galleries
What was some criticisms of LBJ‘s great society?
- opinions on the great society very dramatically
- Supporters say that in 1959 for example 56% of African-Americans lived in desperate poverty but by 1970 this fall into around 30%
- Families reduced from 18% to just 8%
- Despite this LBJ spent far too much on his reforms and by 1968 unemployment was rising and there was widespread rioting in poor areas of some cities
- LBJ supported involvement in the Vietnam war which is becoming increasingly unpopular and costly 
What did President Kennedy set up to report on women in the workplace?
The status commission
According to the report on women in the workplace in 1963, how much did women earn compared to men?
60% less than men
According to the report on women in the workplace 1963, what could happen to women if they got married?
They could legally be dismissed
According to the report on women in the workplace 1963, what percentage of managers were male?
95%
According to the report on women in the workplace 1963, what percentage of lawyers and doctors were women?
Only 4% of lawyers and 7% of doctors were women
According to the report on women in the workplace 1963, what were the majority of jobs like for women?
Mostly part time and with limited responsibility.
What was the name and author of the best selling feminist book released in 1963?
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
What did the bestselling book The Feminine Mystique argue?
That well qualified women felt depressed and undervalued because they were unable to pursue a fulfilling career. It called for equality between men and women
When did Congress pass the Equal Pay Act and what did it do?
1963
Made it law that men and women receive equal pay for the same job
When did the Civil Rights act ban discrimination based on race and sex in employment?
1964
What was the name of the organisation that Betty Friedan and others formed and when did it start?
National Organisation for Women (NOW)
1966
What did NOW demand?
- Complete equal rights for women in US law
- abortion was illegal in all US states - NOW stated it was a woman’s right to make her own reproductive decisions
How did NOW take action?
After only a few years they had 40.000 members, mainly middle aged and middle class. They would write to politicians, organise large demonstrations, and took companies to court that failed to pay women the same.
What were some other women’s groups called?
Women’s Liberation Movement
Women’s Campaign Fund
North American Indian Women’s Association
National Black Feminist Organisation
Overall ‘the feminist movement’
When we’re all married couples allowed to use contraception?
1965
What did California’s ‘no fault’ divorce law allow? The first state to do so.
Allowed couples to agree to divorce by ‘mutual consent’
When was the Educational Amendment Act and what did it do?
1972
Banned discrimination in education allowing girls to study same subjects as boys
What was ‘ERA’ and when was it approved by Congress?
Equal Rights Amendment
1972
What was the Stop ERA?
Campaign lead by Phyllis Schlafly
What did Stop ERA say would happen if ERA became law?
- would lead to women in combat
- greater abortion rates
- unisex bathrooms
- homosexual marriages
Why did the ERA fail?
Not enough states voted for it
When and what was Roe v Wade?
1973
Court case where lawyers argued 21 year old Jane Roe (real name Norma McCorvey) had the right to an abortion
What happened after Roe v Wade?
Supreme Court rules that women in all states had the right to safe and legal abortions, overriding the anti abortion laws of many states
