The Tumultuous 70s
President Jimmy Carter once said, “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.” This quote perfectly describes the tumultuous events that occurred during the 70s. People had to reevaluate their principles and make life changing adjustments. Scandals, massacres, and controversial court hearings are just a few of the many happenings that occurred and this is just a glimpse of the chaos the decade of the 1970s had to bring. The Webster Dictionary defines tumultuous as involving a lot of confusion, violence, and disorder. The tumultuous 70s brought turmoil and discord. Ranging between the Watergate Scandal that resulted in the resignation of President Nixon, to the Supreme Court decision on abortion, and even including the Munich Massacre that killed 11 Israeli Olympians. One journalist described this decade as "the sober, gloomy seventies", and they were just that. This decade was nothing short of a tumultuous few years.
A tumultuous event that still lives on as a debate in our country today was the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court case. It began on January 22, 1973, when the Supreme Court ruled that women have a right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to choose whether they terminate a pregnancy or not. A steamy debate on morals and personal rights spread like wildfire across the country. As explained by Sarah Weddington, “This overturned a Texas law making all abortions (except those performed to save the life of the woman) illegal. . .” (Weddington par. 1).
The spark that ignited this controversy began in the early 1960s. Abortion was a banned and forbidden practice unless the mother’s life was endangered. As a result of abortions being illegal, it led many women to seek black market a...
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...doned Richard Nixon for any of the federal crimes he might have committed in office. (111) It was an effort made by President Ford to help end and move on from the Watergate scandal. After many months of heated debate and investigation, the tumultuous scandal came to a close.
The 70s were a worldwide decade of chaos, violence, and debate. Lives were lost in the Munich Massacre, women gained the right to abort a child, and the controversial Watergate scandal stunned the nation. Moral standards were reevaluated causing a trivial debates across the world. Each event that took place has greatly contributed to where society stands today. Turmoil and tumult have created a platform for this nation to grow on. President Nixon explained it best when he said, “Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”
The 1960’s was a time society fantasized of a better world. However, the horrors of the Vietnam War soon became evident; the mass amounts of death occurring because of the war became a reality. It created a “movement”, especially in American colleges, in order to stand up for what they believed to be “right”. By 1970, many Americans believed sending troops to Vietnam was a mistake, however there were also various individuals becoming increasingly critical of the student antiwar movement
The 1970’s was an era of political, environmental, and technological awareness. This era provided the American people with information and inventions that would positively shape the future of the United States. Awareness brings about optimistic thinking and change. This is exactly what happened in the 1970’s. Political awareness brought about accountability for the government and politicians. Environmental awareness brought about consumer and governmental accountability in energy usage. Inventions in the 1970’s were the platform for technology age that Americans currently rely on daily.
The 1960s was a decade overloaded with signifiant life changing events. From Martin Luther King Jr. to the Vietnam War, the reign of Muhammad Ali and the Beatles reaching to the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the moon landing. The result of these history changing events: a new culture emerging at the beginning of the Vietnam war in the early 60s. A radical movement would start to take off called Popular Culture. First witnessed after the Industrial revolution when amusement and entertainment got more and more appealing to society, the 60s was an era when everything changed and nothing would be the same again.
Throughout the sixties, the social climate of America changed. The decade started out with hope for the future. Kennedy symbolized youth and prosperity in America. His social beliefs and strong stance on communism allowed Americans to have hope for the future and belief in their government. However after Kennedy’s death, Johnson’s strong social programs were no match for the Vietnam Conflict. As the conflict itself changed from one of containment to one of full scale war, Americans were deceived into believing the war was going their way. As social issues of the day worsened, the new generation took to the streets to protest and become involved. When Nixon became president, the country was given even more chaos and scandal with Watergate and belief in the government failed. All of the events of the sixties symbolize the change from hope and belief in the government to the change to distain.
The 1970s can be best understood as a transitional period in America. Starting in the 1950s, the power of the youth was on the rise, through civil rights activism and anti-war protests. This decade’s ideal citizen seemed to be the person helping others. Then the 1980s are more financially centered and individualistic. This decade’s ideal citizen is the one who measured success by how much money they made. The 1970s proved to be a time of bitterness, cynicism, and increased interest in one’s self for most of the people in America. Some of the events that contributed to this were the Kent State Massacre, Roe v. Wade, and the economic stagflation that happened in the latter part of the decade.
It seems impossible that I have lived through so many decades! I have lived through decades from the thirties to the sixties, and there are many similarities between the two decades. In both decades democrats gained control in the political arena. Both decades were a time of rapid change, socially, economically, politically, and culturally. The population in the United States greatly increased by about fifty-four million people between the thirties and the sixties. Both decades were affected by a war; the 1930’s was greatly affected by WWII, and the sixties was greatly affected by the Viet Nam war. It seems like just yesterday that we began the roller coaster ride of the 1930’s. Why the twenties ended so horribly with the stock market crash, it didn’t seem like the thirties could get any worse, after Black Thursday, but the Great Depression proved that theory wrong.,
In 1973, in what has become a landmark ruling for women’s rights, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a woman’s right to an abortion. Ever since, individual states have adopted, altered, and/or mutilated the edict to fit their agendas – Texas included. However, the decision made by the justices in Roe v. Wade didn’t set clear cut, inarguable demarcation lines, which has allowed the fiery debate to consume the nation. Rather than establishing a legal ruling of what life is, or is not, the Supreme Court has remained silent on the issue.
On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, made decisions of Roe vs. Wade and declared all state abortion statutes to be morally wrong. The majority of the Court first found that Jane Roe, had challenged the Texas abortion statute, even though she already had given birth. The Court then later found that women and doctors had a right to privacy and it interfered with meaningful state regulation of abortion. The majority saw this and studied this for the history of abortion and ...
Women, African Americans, Native Americans, gays, lesbians, and other marginalized people continued their fight for equality (“The 1970’s”). Many Americans, particularly the working and middle class whites responded to the turbulence of the late 1960s-the urban riots, the anti-war protests (“The 1970’s”). This working and middle class whites was tired of being called spoiled hippies and whining protesters they wanted a change (“The 1970’s”). The wars of the 1970s were bloody and brutal some of these wars were, The Cold War, The Vietnam War, The Soviet War in Afghanistan, The 1971 Bangladesh Genocide, The Arab-Israeli Conflict, and many more (“The
In the duration of one year, 1968, the American national mood shifted from general confidence and optimism to chaotic confusion. Certainly the most turbulent twelve months of the post-WWII period and arguably one of the most disturbing episodes the country has endured since the Civil War, 1968 offers the world a glimpse into the tumultuous workings of a revolution. Although the entire epoch of the 1960's remains significant in US history, 1968 stands alone as the pivotal year of the decade; it was the moment when all of the nation's urges toward violence, sublimity, diversity, and disorder peaked to produce a transformation great enough to blanket an entire society. While some may superficially disagree, the evidence found in the Tet Offensive, race relations, and the counterculture's music of the period undeniably affirm 1968 as a turning point in American history.
As the 1960s dawned on America, the bald eagle faced unprecedented threats from afar while facing a new internal struggle. As America continued their battle with the Soviet Union, it also saw a clash amongst its people. Terror was brought to the hearts of many as America was on the brink of a Nuclear Holocaust. The 60s conveyed an exploration of the universe beyond earth. A race between Superpowers America and the Soviet Union, led to the first man to ever walk the moon. Not all was bad in the 60s, people would rejoice in many new dance styles that were on the rise. With technology becoming more advance, many TV shows that portrayed American life were being aired. Life in America seemed great as it was disciplined by a great leader, John F. Kennedy. Sadly, with the loss of a great leader Americans became distraught. During the 1960s in cultural and political movements and musical movements, Americans were rebellious, enterprising, and impulsive.
In All the President’s Men, 1970’s are portrayed as boisterous times. The 70’s could be described as a continuation of the 1960’s, women, African Americans, Native Americans, gays and other marginalized people continued their fight for equality, and the behavior of president Nixon threaten many people’s trust in the good circumstances of the federal government, which can be argued continues to be present till this decade. The country was embroiled in the Vietnam war, which clearly divided the U.S.A. This movie main focus is not just the Watergate scandal but it centers more on the reporters who are trying to get information from the administration. This movie shows scenes such as the working space that really helps you understand these times work environment, with the great sense of urgency, typewriters, and the young secretaries.
Although 1969, was the end of a significant decade, it held possibilities and hope for a new prosperous 10 years. Still in the midst of what was seen to many as the most pointless American war, the young generation especially was desperate to enforce a change. Change was a common theme of the 1960’s, deriving from movements such as the civil rights movements, the second feminist wave, a social revolution, and the anti-war movement. In addition, technology in America was at one of its highest peaks. Events such as the Space Race against the Sov...
The 1970’s are a decade of finding your self. In this decade, there were scandals, sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. The years between 1970 and 1979 were very crazy. In this paper are people that helped shape the 1970’s
Abortion has been a complex social issue in the United States ever since restrictive abortion laws began to appear in the 1820s. By 1965, abortions had been outlawed in the U.S., although they continued illegally; about one million abortions per year were estimated to have occurred in the 1960s. (Krannich 366) Ultimately, in the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, it was ruled that women had the right to privacy and could make an individual choice on whether or not to have an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. (Yishai 213)