How did the civil rights movement transform American society in the 1960s and 1970s?
This is such an EASY answer. The most interesting thing that happened in the 1960s and 1970s were cultural changes in the way that most people thought about their fellow citizens. The Civil Rights Movement was one of these shifts that transformed the attitudes of the majority of American citizens and made them realise that ALL people were entitled to pursue the American dream. People had been living a fairly conservative way in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Blacks didn't have legal equality. Many woman didn't work outside the home. Most people obeyed their parents and trusted the government. By the early 1970s, none of that was true anymore. Americans wanted their troops to withdraw from the war in Vietnam. Fashion changed as well. Before the late 1960s, African Americans had to live under a system of segregation. In some areas of the country, they were legally obliged to stay away from white suburbs, white schools, white shops, white restaurants, white jobs and white seats on busses. After the early 1970s, blacks were (theoretically) allowed to go anywhere and do anything they wanted, even if it took them into proximity to white people. The country still has a long way to go in terms of providing REAL equality to all its citizens, but at least for now the laws can be enforced. Have a look at these websites. They will give you a flavor of the whole era, not just the Civil Rights Movement. Spend about an hour reading through them. See what you can find out that will give you a true understanding of the whole period of American history: http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/elmer/infoCe... http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory... http://www.vietnamwar.com/ http://www.legacy98.org/move-hist.html (Search under the Second Wave) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings The success of the Civil Rights Movement was one of the most important moments in American history. For the first time ever, all citizens had the same rights under the law, and the court system was willing to back them up.
Why did the American people lose confidence in their government in the 1970s?
The lies told by the Politicians and powers that be about VIetnam were brought vividly home by the news media. Add to that, the fact that the establishment made abundantly clear that the Constitution and the Bill of RIghts applied only to WASPs and anybody with a different interpretation would go to jail, for instance, Hippies, free lovers, druggies, Goldwater Conservatives (Don't stick a gun in my back and try to force me to go kill the people you think I should. Especially if your kid is exempted or given a cushy spot in the National Guard back in the states.) Edit: The whole 60's thing spilled over into the 70's with Nixon. The young reporters who learned their trade during Vietnam were rising in the ranks and their bias gained influence as they did.
Why did americans make an increased interest in the environment during the 1970s? ?
Actually the environmental movement started in the late 1800s. It first came to promience with Teddy Rooseveldt who to date has done more for the environment than anybody else. In the 30s people worried about survival and nothing else so the topic got pushed aside. WW II dominated the 40s and the cold war the 50s. So it wasn't until the 60s that people started looking at the environment again. This became espeically popular in the Hippy culture and it was one of the ideas promoted by the Hippy culture that resonated in all of America. So the Environmental movement was reborn but with a Hippy bent too it. By the 70s it'd become one of the few positive things to happen in all that chaos, so people were happy to latch on and promote it. It made sense, it was worth doing and important to do.
How did the US government change during WWII?
The federal government and the executive became more powerful.
Why was the US Government so afraid of John Lennon talking about peace in the 70's?
John Lennon was an extremely influential celebrity who was an active critic of the Vietnam War with millions of fans around the world. Heck, he was a member of the most celebrated rock band in the world of all time during the sixties, the Beatles. Also, the bigoted J. Edgar Hoover and Nixon were really afraid of him that they performed all kinds of sabotage in his house and even tried to get him deported.
How did the 1960s change the era of the american society?
The 1960's was a time when people finally said and acted on what was really on their mind. It was also a time of polarization; we mostly think of hippies when we think about the 60's but there was also a strong conservative side as well. And often time they clashed. Things back then were more black and white (politically wise) than they are today. The 60's was a pivotal time for human rights. Martin Luther King and the Rosa Parks incident happened in the 60's. Nixon's presidency also happened during the late 60's early 70's. The Vietnam War and the Invasion of Cambodia happened because of Nixon which triggered a huge reaction in the "hippie" movement. The hippie movement was primarily white, middle class college students. The Kent State Massacre which originally was just a peaceful protest turned into an ugly shooting by the National Guard against university students who were unarmed. This resulted in the death of 4 students; 2 of which were not involved in the protest at all. This caused people to unify against the government many other protests and more shooting happened because of the KSU shooting (The Jackson State Protest which was influenced by the KSU shooting left 2 dead.) The KSU massacre caused the only nation wide school protest; which invluded over 4 million students. It even affected those fighting in Vietnam.. everyday since the KSU massacre over 500 soldiers left their post. The government realized how powerful the youth movement was and lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. The music reflected what was happening; songs like "What's going on" by Marvin Gaye and "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire reflect with the hippie movement. Then there are songs like the "Ballad of the Green Beret" by Barry Saddler which express the opposite views.. pro military, ultra conservative. I think overall the 60s made American Society more liberal.
Were Americans more happy and less stressed in the 20's, 50's and 60's than now?
Absolutely not.Think about what was going on during those time periods. Wars, civil rights movement, the Cold War, JFK was assassinated, a lot of shit was going down just like today.
Why do so many people think cars built in 60's & 70's are so much better than cars built today?
When people say that those cars were better, they are coming at this from a very specific viewpoint. Other answers have highlighted that they were, in fact, terrible compared to cars today.But all you have to do is look under the hood to understand the appeal.This is a 1960 Buick. With a little bit of time even I can identify several key components and I know what they do. It’s easy to understand.You can see everything and with a little knowledge you can do simple repairs and maintenance. An ordinary person can change the oil, air filter, replace the battery and check the radiator. (You can do this on new cars too, it’s just not worth it anymore.) You can save money by replacing the spark plugs yourself which also wasn’t hard and with a few more tools and some know how you can even adjust the timing to give the engine that perfect purr.There were a lot of guys who were DIY mechanics who fixed their own cars. (My father being one of them.) They could and did some fairly significant repairs in their garages. A standard set of automotive tools was enough to get by on most problems.It was possible to get to really know your car.This is a 2016 Buick. You might be pretty technical, but you’re not even going to open the hood if it breaks. Just call a towing service and take to the shop. There, they will plug it into a computer and get a diagnosis. It is computer controlled and way beyond the ordinary person’s capability to work on it.This is not a car you will ever know. It’s an alien machine that goes into the Magic shop where they Fix It. It is no more fathomable than your iPhone. The ability to understand your vehicle intimately is long gone.Which is why some people think that those older cars are better.