Transcript No Slide Title

The American Nation
Chapter 29
Prosperity, Rebellion and
Reform, 1945–1980
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
The American Nation
Chapter 29: Prosperity, Rebellion and Reform, 1945–1980
Section 1:
Postwar Policies and Prosperity
Section 2:
The Civil Rights Movement
Section 3:
Protest, Reform and Doubt
Section 4:
The Crusade for Equal Rights
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
Postwar Policies and Prosperity
Chapter 29, Section 1
• What problems did Americans experience
as they shifted from war to peace?
• What factors contributed to the economic
and baby booms of the 1950s?
• How did American lifestyles change in the
1950s?
The Problems of Shifting From War to Peace
Chapter 29, Section 1
•
When World War II ended, experts feared returning soldiers might have
trouble finding jobs. They feared that unemployment would rise, and the
economy would fail.
• Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights. Under this law, the government
made loans to help veterans set up farms and businesses, pay for
college, or buy a new home.
• When price controls were ended after the war, inflation, or rising
prices, became the major economic problem.
• Workers demanded higher wages to keep up with price increases.
Many labor unions called strikes.
•
In the election of 1948, President Truman won a surprise victory.
• The Republicans nominated Governor Thomas Dewey of New York.
• Because of labor strikes and inflation, many people expected Truman
and the party in power, the Democrats, to lose.
• Truman campaigned vigorously. He traveled the country by train,
attacking the Republicans as “gluttons of privilege.”
The Problems of Shifting From War to Peace
Chapter 29, Section 1
•
As President, Truman proposed a new round of reforms called the Fair
Deal.
• Conservative Democrats and Republicans opposed Truman’s
proposals.
• Only a few of his proposals passed: a higher minimum wage,
expanded Social Security benefits, and loans for buying low-cost
houses.
•
In 1952, General Dwight D. Eisenhower became President.
• For the first time, television played a major role in the campaign.
• Like most Republicans, Eisenhower believed in limiting federal
spending and reducing federal regulation of the economy.
• He favored cutting the federal budget but expanding Social Security
benefits and some other New Deal programs.
The Postwar Economic and Baby Booms
Chapter 29, Section 1
•
What led to the baby boom?
• During the Great Depression and World War II, many Americans had
put off having families.
• When the war ended and prosperity returned, the number of births
soared. Population experts called this phenomenon a baby boom.
• Improvements in health care and nutrition contributed to the baby
boom.
•
What factors contributed to the economic boom?
• When an economy expands, more goods are produced and sold and
more jobs are created.
• Federal projects helped increase production. The government spent
more money on roads, houses, schools, and military goods.
• New technology promoted rises in productivity, or the average output
per worker. Corporations began to use computers for calculations and
record-keeping.
• High productivity led to a 40-hour workweek, which gave Americans
more leisure time.
Lifestyles of the 1950s
Chapter 29, Section 1
The economic boom raised the standard of living, an index based on the
amount of goods, services, and leisure time people have. Americans bought
washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and other consumer goods, especially
for the home. This consumer spending reshaped the country.
Suburban
living
• Many people bought homes in the suburbs, or communities
outside the cities. The GI Bill encouraged home building by
offering low-interest loans to veterans.
• Builder William Levitt pioneered a new way of building. He
bought large tracts of land, divided them into small lots, and
built identical houses on each lot. Because the houses were
mass-produced, they cost less to build.
• Shopping centers sprang up near suburban housing.
• As millions flocked to the suburbs, central cities began a slow
decline.
Lifestyles of the 1950s
Chapter 29, Section 1
Sunbelt
living
• Americans flocked to the Sunbelt, a region stretching
across the southern rim of the country.
• States from Florida to Texas and California experienced a
large population growth.
• People were lured by a warm climate, good jobs, and a
prosperous economy.
• The work force included many recent Latin American and
Asian immigrants.
Car crazy
• People living in the suburbs or the sunbelt needed a car to
drive to work.
• To accommodate the increase in automobiles, the federal
government built thousands of miles of highways.
• In 1956, Congress passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act,
which called for a national network of high-speed roads.
• The highway system boosted the economy because
Americans could travel more easily.
Lifestyles of the 1950s
Chapter 29, Section 1
Television
• As TV sets shrank in price and grew in size, almost
everybody wanted one. Nine out of 10 households owned a
television by 1960.
• Television helped to make the 1950s a time when people
wanted to look and act the same as everyone else. Many
programs presented the same view of the ideal middle-class
family.
Rock
music
• Rock-and-roll appeared in the mid-1950s. It combined rhythm,
blues, country, and gospel with a hard-driving beat.
• Adults worried that the music was too wild, but teenagers
liked it because it provided a way for them to show their
independence.
• Early rock musicians who gained fame were Chuck Berry,
Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and Elvis Presley.
Lifestyles of the 1950s
Chapter 29, Section 1
Discontent
• Not all Americans were happy with the emphasis on getting
and spending. Some writers and artists criticized what they
saw as the growing materialism in American society and its
lack of individuality.
• Novelist Jack Kerouac coined the term beat, meaning
“weariness with all forms of the modern industrial state.”
• Middle-class observers called Kerouac and others like him
beatniks.
Section 1 Assessment
Chapter 29, Section 1
After World War II, in the United States the greatest economic difficulty was
a) falling prices.
b) rising prices.
c) controls on prices.
d) not enough jobs.
In the 1950s, most of the new housing sprang up in
a) central cities.
b) farm areas and other agricultural lands.
c) suburbs.
d) forests and other public lands.
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Section 1 Assessment
Chapter 29, Section 1
After World War II, in the United States the greatest economic difficulty was
a) falling prices.
b) rising prices.
c) controls on prices.
d) not enough jobs.
In the 1950s, most of the new housing sprang up in
a) central cities.
b) farm areas and other agricultural lands.
c) suburbs.
d) forests and other public lands.
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The Civil Rights Movement
Chapter 29, Section 2
• How did discrimination affect the lives of
minorities in the United States?
• What role did the courts play in helping
African Americans and Mexican
Americans gain civil rights?
• What was the role of Martin Luther King in
the Montgomery bus boycott?
How Discrimination Affected People’s Lives
Chapter 29, Section 2
Throughout the nation, discrimination limited the lives of millions of
Americans. After World War II, their struggles for equality and civil rights
intensified.
Discrimination • In the North, African Americans were barred from good
jobs and decent housing.
created
• In the South, laws enforced strict separation, or
barriers
segregation, of the races in schools, theaters,
restaurants, and other public places. Facilities for blacks
were inferior to those for whites.
• In the Southwest, laws, as well as traditions,
discriminated against Mexican Americans. Custom kept
Mexican Americans from living in certain neighborhoods
or using certain hotels or restaurants. Often, they were
not hired for better-paying jobs.
How Discrimination Affected People’s Lives
Chapter 29, Section 2
Breaking
down barriers
• For African Americans, the NAACP led the drive against
discrimination.
• Under Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP’s Legal Defense
Fund mounted court battles against segregation.
• The NAACP also helped blacks register to vote and
fought for opportunities in housing and employment.
Historic
firsts in fighting
discrimination
• In 1947, Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He became the first black player in Major League
Baseball since 1884.
• Under pressure from civil rights groups, President
Truman ordered integration, or the mixing of different
racial groups, in the armed forces in 1948. During the
Korean War, black and white soldiers fought side by side.
The Courts Play a Role in Civil Rights
Chapter 29, Section 2
During the 1950s, African Americans and Mexican Americans took their
struggle for equality to the courts, but they also protested in the streets. Their
efforts became known as the civil rights movement.
In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court decided that
1896
“separate but equal” facilities were constitutional.
1948
Mexican American veterans founded the American GI Forum of the
United States in order to campaign for equal rights.
Early
1950s
• Laws in 21 states and the District of Columbia still enforced
separate black and white public schools. Virtually all of the black
schools were inferior to the white ones.
• Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas, asked the school board to let his
daughter, Linda, attend a nearby white school rather than a distant
black school. When board members refused, Brown filed a lawsuit.
He hired Thurgood Marshall to present the case in court. Marshall
argued that segregated schools violated the Fourteenth
Amendment, which gave “equal protection” to all citizens.
The Courts Play a Role in Civil Rights
Chapter 29, Section 2
1954
In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court ruled
in Brown’s favor: “We conclude that in the field of public education,
the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate
educational facilities are always unequal.”
1954
Pete Hernández, a Mexican American, had been convicted of murder
by an all-white jury in Texas. In the case of Hernández v. Texas,
Hernández’s lawyers argued that Mexican Americans in Texas were
denied equality because they were excluded from juries. The
Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ended the exclusion of
Mexican Americans from Texas juries.
1955
The Supreme Court ordered the schools to be desegregated.
1957
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to
keep African American students from attending all-white Central High
School in Little Rock. President Eisenhower finally sent in federal
troops because the Arkansas governor was defying a federal law. The
black students entered Central High.
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Chapter 29, Section 2
•
•
•
•
•
Court cases alone were not enough to end discrimination.
In 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give up
her seat on a bus to a white man, as Alabama’s segregation laws
required her to do. She was arrested and jailed.
Park’s arrest angered African Americans. That night, several
women from the NAACP composed a letter asking all African
Americans to boycott, or refuse to use, the buses. They hoped
their boycott would hurt the city financially and force the city to
end segregation on the buses.
To support the protest, Montgomery’s black leaders formed the
Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) with Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., as its head.
At a meeting in the Holt Street Baptist Church, Dr. King spoke to
thousands. On December 5, 1955, most African Americans in
Montgomery refused to travel by bus.
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Chapter 29, Section 2
•
•
•
•
•
The boycott lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956.
MIA carpools took people to and from work. Many people simply
walked.
Angry whites fought back. Employers threatened to arrest African
Americans if they did not abandon the boycott. Police harrassed
African American drivers. They jailed King for speeding. Someone
bombed his house.
King insisted that his followers limit their actions to civil
disobedience, or nonviolent protests.
Churches played a central role. In their churches, boycotters held
mass meetings, sang together, prayed together, and listened to
stories of sacrifice. Churches kept morale high, provided
leadership, and gave boycotters courage and inspiration.
Finally, the MIA filed a lawsuit to end bus segregation in
Montgomery.
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Chapter 29, Section 2
What the lawsuit and the Montgomery boycott accomplished:
• In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on Alabama
buses was unconstitutional. The Montgomery bus company
agreed to integrate the buses and hire black bus drivers.
• The boycott brought the civil rights movement to national
attention.
• It launched nonviolent protest as a key tactic in the struggle for
equality.
• It introduced a new generation of African American leaders, many
of them ministers from African American churches. One of the
most important of these new leaders was Martin Luther King, Jr.
Following the boycott, King and other African American leaders
founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to
carry on the crusade for civil rights. The group consisted of nearly
100 black ministers.
Section 2 Assessment
Chapter 29, Section 2
In the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court ruled that
a) separate but equal facilities for blacks and whites are constitutional.
b) separate but equal has no place in public education. Separate educational
facilities are always unequal.
c) Texas must end its practice of excluding Mexican Americans from juries.
d) laws enforcing separate schools for blacks and whites are up to the states.
The federal government should not interfere.
African American citizens of Montgomery, Alabama, organized a boycott of the
city’s buses because they wanted
a) to ruin the city of Montgomery.
b) to avoid going to work each day.
c) to provide a model of violent protest for African Americans in other cities.
d) the city to end segregation on its buses.
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Section 2 Assessment
Chapter 29, Section 2
In the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court ruled that
a) separate but equal facilities for blacks and whites are constitutional.
b) separate but equal has no place in public education. Separate educational
facilities are always unequal.
c) Texas must end its practice of excluding Mexican Americans from juries.
d) laws enforcing separate schools for blacks and whites are up to the states.
The federal government should not interfere.
African American citizens of Montgomery, Alabama, organized a boycott of the
city’s buses because they wanted
a) to ruin the city of Montgomery.
b) to avoid going to work each day.
c) to provide a model of violent protest for African Americans in other cities.
d) the city to end segregation on its buses.
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Protest, Reform, and Doubt
Chapter 29, Section 3
• What goals did Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
set for the nation?
• Why did protest movements increase in the
1960s?
• What problems did President Nixon face?
• What principles guided the Carter administration?
President Kennedy’s Goals
Chapter 29, Section 3
•
•
•
•
•
•
In 1960, Republican Vice President Richard Nixon ran against Senator
John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Kennedy won by a narrow margin.
During the campaign, Kennedy had been shocked to find hungry families
in the United States. As President, he urged Congress to pass laws to help
Americans living in poverty. Congress blocked his poverty programs.
Kennedy called on Americans to fight “the common enemies of man:
tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.”
Congress did fund Kennedy’s proposal for the Peace Corps—volunteers
sent to teach or provide technical help to developing nations.
Congress also approved Kennedy’s proposal to explore the “new frontier”
of space.
Before any other proposals could be enacted, Kennedy was shot and
killed in Dallas, Texas, in 1963, while he was on a political tour.
President Johnson’s Goals
Chapter 29, Section 3
•
•
•
•
Johnson steered many of Kennedy’s proposals through Congress.
Johnson had his own program—the Great Society. It aimed to create a
decent living standard for every American. The first step was a “war on
poverty.”
In just two years, Johnson pushed 50 new laws through Congress.
• Medicare helped pay hospital costs for senior citizens.
• Medicaid gave states money to help poor citizens with medical bills.
• The Office of Economic Opportunity created job-training programs
and gave loans to needy farmers and to businesses in poor sections
of cities.
• Congress established the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, or HUD. Its head, Robert Weaver, was the first African
American ever appointed to the Cabinet. HUD carried out programs to
build housing for low- and middle-income families.
Johnson’s Great Society had a mixed record. It aided the poor but at a
great cost to taxpayers. Still, Medicare, Medicaid, and other reforms
became permanent parts of American life.
Why Protest Movements Grew in the 1960s
Chapter 29, Section 3
The civil rights movement expanded. Opposition to the war in Vietnam grew.
Some young people rejected the values and lifestyles of their parents.
Counterculture
movement
• Many young Americans joined the counterculture
movement, which criticized competition and the drive for
personal success.
• Inspired by the civil rights movement, counterculture
protesters called for peace, justice, and social equality.
They wore clothing that made it hard to distinguish
between rich and poor. They said American life was
empty and materialistic.
• Some people turned to eastern religions in search of
spiritual meaning.
Antiwar
movement
• As more and more young men were sent to fight in
Vietnam, the antiwar movement gained strength.
• As the antiwar movement grew stronger, President
Johnson’s popularity fell.
Counterculture movement Problems During the
Nixon Years
Chapter 29, Section 3
Lyndon Johnson chose not to run for another term as President. In 1968, a
Republican, Richard Nixon, was elected.
Nixon set about trying to reduce government involvement in people’s lives. He
cut funds for many Great Society programs, including job training, education,
and low-income housing. He also sought to return power to the states.
Law and order
• Nixon said that he wanted to help the silent majority,
those Americans who were disturbed by the unrest of the
1960s but did not protest publicly.
• Nixon began a “law-and-order” program. Federal funds
aided local police departments. Nixon named four
conservative justices to the Supreme Court.
Space program
The space program’s greatest triumph came in 1969, just as
Nixon took office, when two astronauts landed a small craft
on the moon.
Problems During the Nixon Years
Chapter 29, Section 3
The economy
• The economy suffered from stagflation, a combination of
rising prices, high unemployment, and slow economic
growth.
• To fight inflation, Nixon froze wages and prices.
• To stimulate growth, he increased federal spending.
• Increased federal spending caused federal budget deficits.
• An oil embargo caused higher energy prices, which, in
turn, caused prices to rise even further.
Scandal
• On June 17, 1972, police caught five men breaking into
Democratic party headquarters in the Watergate building in
Washington, D.C.
• Evidence linked the burglars to Nixon’s reelection
committee.
• Senate hearings revealed that Nixon had made secret tape
recordings of conversations in his office. The tapes showed
that the President and several advisers had tried to cover
up the truth about the Watergate break-in.
Problems During the Nixon Years
Chapter 29, Section 3
Scandal
• In a second scandal, Vice President Spiro Agnew was
accused of taking bribes and was forced to resign.
• A House of Representatives committee passed articles
of impeachment against the President. In August 1974,
before an impeachment trial could take place, Nixon
resigned from office.
Nixon’s pardon
• Vice President Gerald Ford became President. In order
to help the nation emerge from the political scandal,
Ford granted Nixon “full, free, and absolute pardon.”
• Some people felt that Nixon should have been brought
to trial. Ford, however, wanted to save the country from
a bitter debate.
Principles of the Carter Administration
Chapter 29, Section 3
•
•
•
•
In 1976, Republicans nominated Gerald Ford for President.
Democrats chose Jimmy Carter, the former governor of
Georgia. Carter’s promises of a new approach led him to a
narrow victory.
In his first year, Carter sent Congress almost a dozen major
bills. They included reforms in the Social Security system and
in the tax code. But Carter’s lack of experience in Washington
hurt him. Congress would not support his legislation.
Carter, like Nixon, could not do much about inflation. Although
the government tried to slow inflation, prices kept rising.
Carter was a strong defender of human rights. Just before
Carter took office, the United States had signed the Helsinki
Agreement. Thirty-five nations pledged to respect basic rights.
Carter said that the United States should keep this pledge and
not aid countries that violated human rights.
Section 3 Assessment
Chapter 29, Section 3
In the 1960s, the counterculture movement criticized
a) competition and the drive for personal success.
b) people who dressed in shabby clothes and men who grew beards.
c) people who turned away from traditional families to live together in
groups or communes.
d) rock music.
President Nixon resigned just as the House of Representatives was about to
place him on trial for
a) taking bribes.
b) breaking into Democratic party headquarters.
c) blocking justice by covering up the truth about the Watergate break-in.
d) making secret tape recordings.
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Section 3 Assessment
Chapter 29, Section 3
In the 1960s, the counterculture movement criticized
a) competition and the drive for personal success.
b) people who dressed in shabby clothes and men who grew beards.
c) people who turned away from traditional families to live together in
groups or communes.
d) rock music.
President Nixon resigned just as the House of Representatives was about to
place him on trial for
a) taking bribes.
b) breaking into Democratic party headquarters.
c) blocking justice by covering up the truth about the Watergate break-in.
d) making secret tape recordings.
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The Crusade for Equal Rights
Chapter 29, Section 4
• How did African Americans work for equal rights
during the 1960s and 1970s?
• Why did the women’s movement grow stronger?
• How did the Latinos’ drive for equal rights
compare with the efforts of other groups?
African American Crusade for Equality
Chapter 29, Section 4
In the 1960s, segregation laws still limited the rights of
black Americans across the South. African Americans,
joined by some whites, pursued nonviolent direct action
in their crusade for equality. These actions included sitins, boycotts, marches, and other peaceful methods. By
remaining nonviolent, protesters gained a moral
advantage and the sympathy of many Americans.
• Sometimes police responded by using attack dogs or
water hoses.
• Sometimes houses and churches of black leaders
were bombed.
• Civil rights workers—black and white—were
sometimes injured or killed.
African American Crusade for Equality
Chapter 29, Section 4
Sit-ins
• In 1963, Anne Moody and two other African Americans sat at
a “whites only” lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi. When
a waitress told them to move to the black section, they
continued to sit and asked politely to be served. A crowd
smeared them with ketchup and mustard and dragged them
from the lunch counter.
• Anne and her friend were using a form of protest called sitins, in which people sit and refuse to leave.
• The first sit-in took place at a lunch counter in Greensboro,
North Carolina.
Freedom
Rides
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized “Freedom
Rides.” Busloads of young Freedom Riders—black and
white—rode from town to town to integrate bus terminals in
the South.
March on
Washington
• In 1963, more than 200,000 Americans marched on
Washington, D.C. They wanted Congress to end
discrimination and help the poor.
• Among the speakers that day was Martin Luther King, Jr.
African American Crusade for Equality
Chapter 29, Section 4
The demonstrations spurred Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to press
for federal civil rights laws. Kennedy failed but Johnson succeeded. The
new civil rights laws did not end all forms of discrimination, however.
Civil Rights Act
of 1964
1. This act protected the right of all citizens to vote.
2. It also outlawed discrimination in hiring and ended
segregation in public places
Voting
Rights Act
of 1965
1. This act allowed federal officials to register voters in
states that practiced discrimination.
2. It ended literacy tests used to block African Americans
from voting
African American Crusade for Equality
Chapter 29, Section 4
Some African Americans believed that nonviolent protest had failed.
Black Panthers
• The Black Panthers and other radical groups told African Americans
to arm themselves.
• Blacks, they said, had to be ready to protect themselves and to fight
for their rights.
Black Muslims
• Black Muslims, such as Malcolm X, argued that blacks could succeed
only if they separated from white society.
• Later, Malcolm X began to change his views. He called for “a society
in which there could exist honest white-black brotherhood.”
Black Power
• Both moderates and radicals talked of “black power.” They urged
African Americans to achieve economic independence.
• Leaders also called for “black pride,” encouraging African
Americans to learn more about their heritage and culture.
Protests turn
violent
• In crowded city neighborhoods, anger about discrimination, lack
of jobs, and poverty boiled over into violence.
• In August 1965, rioters in Watts, a section of Los Angeles, set fire
to buildings and looted stores.
• Over the next two years, riots also broke out in Chicago, Detroit,
and other cities.
Results of the Crusade for Equality
Chapter 29, Section 4
•
•
•
•
In April 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., went to Memphis, Tennessee,
to support a strike of black sanitation workers. A white gunman
killed him. King’s life has continued to inspire Americans to work
for peaceful change.
The civil rights movement began to show some results in the
1970s. African Americans won public offices in small towns and
large cities. Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, New Orleans, and Los
Angeles all elected black mayors.
African Americans also made gains in the federal government. In
1967, Edward Brooke of Massachusetts became the first black
senator since Reconstruction. In 1968, President Johnson
appointed Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court.
Many businesses and universities adopted affirmative action
programs. These programs sought to hire and promote minorities,
women, and others who had faced discrimination.
The Women’s Movement Grew Stronger
Chapter 29, Section 4
•
•
•
•
•
Since the 1960s, women’s drive for equal rights has been known as the
Women’s Rights Movement. In the workplace, qualified women found that
male employers were unwilling to hire them for certain jobs. They were
usually paid less than men. They were fired before men and promoted less
quickly.
In 1966, writer Betty Friedan helped to set up the National Organization for
Women (NOW), which worked for equal rights in jobs, pay, and education.
It helped women bring discrimination cases to court and campaigned for
maternity leave and child-care centers.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 required equal pay for equal work.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in hiring based on
gender and on race.
In the 1970s, the women’s movement suffered a major defeat. In 1972,
Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution.
However, conservative women led a successful campaign against its
ratification.
Latinos Drive for Equality
Chapter 29, Section 4
By the end of the 1970s, more than 10 million Latinos lived in the United States. Like
others, Latinos also worked for equal rights.
• Mexican Americans are the largest group of Latinos in the United States.
Mexican
Americans • Although many Mexican Americans lived and worked in cities, many
more were migrant workers who traveled from farm to farm looking for
work.
• Mexican Americans were often barred from better-paying jobs and from
better neighborhoods.
• Many Latinos in the eastern United States came from Puerto Rico.
Puerto
Rican
• Puerto Ricans also faced discrimination in housing and jobs wherever
they settled.
Americans
• A third group of Latinos came from Cuba in two waves.
Cuban
Americans • Between 1959 and 1962, some 200,000 people fled when Fidel Castro set
up a communist government in Cuba.
• A second wave came in 1980 after Castro allowed thousands of people to
leave the island. Most of the new refugees were unskilled and had a hard
time making a living.
• Cuban Americans became a strong economic and political force in
southern Florida.
Latinos Drive for Equality
Chapter 29, Section 4
• In the 1960s, new Latino organizations sought change.
• César Chávez formed a union of migrant workers, the
United Farm Workers. When farm owners refused to talk to
the union, Chávez called for a nationwide boycott of farm
products. In the end, the owners recognized the union.
• Latino groups registered voters. These new voters helped
elect more Latino officials.
• One result of Latino efforts was a provision of the Voting
Rights Act of 1975. It required areas with many non-English
speaking citizens to hold bilingual elections. Bilingual
means in two languages.
• Bilingual Education Acts of 1968 and 1973 promoted
bilingual programs in public schools with Spanishspeaking and Asian students.
Other Groups Seek Equality
Chapter 29, Section 4
Asian
Americans
In 1968, students at the University of California at Berkeley
founded the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA). Students
of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and other Asian descent joined
to promote the rights and culture of Asian Americans. As a
result, many universities created Asian American studies
programs.
Native
Americans
• Native Americans claimed rights not only as individuals, but
also as members of tribal groups.
• In the 1940s and 1950s, the federal government tried to break
up tribal governments and encouraged Indians to leave
reservations. In the 1960s and 1970s, Native Americans
organized the National Congress of American Indians to
defend Indian rights.
• The American Indian Movement (AIM) protested the treatment
of Indians.
• In 1973, AIM members occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota,
for several weeks. AIM wanted to remind people of the
government’s failure to deal fairly with American Indians.
The Human Rights Movement
Chapter 29, Section 4
1975
Voting Rights Act
1973
AIM Occupation of Wounded Knee
1966
Founding of NOW
1965
Voting Rights Act
1964
Civil Rights Act
1963
March on Washington
1960
Greensboro lunch counter sit-in
1955
Montgomery bus boycott
1954
Brown v. Board of Education
Section 4 Assessment
Chapter 29, Section 4
Which statement best describes the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
a) It called for African Americans to achieve economic independence by
starting their own businesses.
b) It supported northern practices that kept African Americans out of
housing in certain neighborhoods.
c) It protected the right of all citizens to vote, outlawed discrimination in
hiring, and ended segregation in public places.
d) It said that businesses and universities had to hire and promote a
certain percentage of minority employees.
Bilingual Education Acts of 1968 and 1973 promoted bilingual programs in
certain public schools. Bilingual means
a) Chicanos, from the Spanish word Mexicano.
b) in two languages.
c) especially for migrants.
d) Spanish-language newspapers.
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Section 4 Assessment
Chapter 29, Section 4
Which statement best describes the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
a) It called for African Americans to achieve economic independence by
starting their own businesses.
b) It supported northern practices that kept African Americans out of
housing in certain neighborhoods.
c) It protected the right of all citizens to vote, outlawed discrimination in
hiring, and ended segregation in public places.
d) It said that businesses and universities had to hire and promote a
certain percentage of minority employees.
Bilingual Education Acts of 1968 and 1973 promoted bilingual programs in
certain public schools. Bilingual means
a) Chicanos, from the Spanish word Mexicano.
b) in two languages.
c) especially for migrants.
d) Spanish-language newspapers.
Want to connect to the American History link for this section? Click here.