great change in the 1960’s and 1970’s
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Great Change in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The Warren Court. Warren Court (Very Liberal) —Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren Affirms free speech, and the separation of church and state banned prayer in public schools Limited the power of communities to censor books and films. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Great Change in the 1960’s and 1970’s
The Warren Court
• Warren Court (Very Liberal)—Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren
• Affirms free speech, and the separation of church and state
• banned prayer in public schools
• Limited the power of communities to censor books and films
Congressional Reapportionment
• Reapportionment—way states redraw election districts by population
• Court rules districts must have approximately equal population
• Leads to shift in political power from rural to urban areas
Rights of the Accused
• Warren Court rulings expand rights of people accused of crimes:
• illegally seized evidence cannot be used in court
• courts must provide legal counsel to poor
• Miranda rights- suspect must be read rights before questioning
• Some praise protection of right to a fair trial
• Others think rulings handicap police investigations
The Great Society
• Great Society—LBJ’s legislation to end poverty and discrimination (racial injustice)
• Johnson gets Congress to pass 206 of his bills
• Major Components of the great society: Education, Healthcare, environment, and Housing
Education and Healthcare
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds school materials (Over 1 billion dollars was provided)
• Healthcare• Medicare—low-cost
medical, hospital insurance for senior citizens
• Medicaid—health insurance for welfare recipients
Housing and the Environment
• Housing:• Money set aside for
public housing- (low to moderate income homes)
• Dept. of Housing and Urban Development created
• Robert Weaver is first African American in cabinet, HUD secretary
• The Environment• Rachel Carson’s Silent
Spring exposes dangers of pesticides
• Water Quality Act of 1965 requires states to clean up rivers
• LBJ orders government to search out worst chemical polluters
Effects of Great Society
• Poverty drops from 21% of population in 1962 to 11% in 1973
• Massive tax cut spurs economy; Great Society contributes to deficit
Rachel Carson and Silent Spring
• Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring warns against use of pesticides– argues poisons kill
food and harmless animals
• Becomes best seller; leads JFK to establish advisory committee
• chemical companies claim book inaccurate and threaten lawsuits
• Carson starts national focus on environmental issues
Environmental Awareness
• Earth Day—celebration highlighting environmental awareness– First observed
1970 by communities, thousands of schools, and colleges
The Government Takes Action
• Environmentalist—active protector of environment
• Environmentalist continue to fight for more “clean” acts
• In 1970 President Nixon, signs Clean Air Act, creates Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)---group that sets and enforces pollution standards
• 1970s, Congress passes 35 laws on conservation to help clean up the environment
King’s Death
• Seems to sense own death in Memphis speech to striking workers
• MLK is shot the following day, on April 4, 1968
• Reactions to King’s Death:
• King’s death leads to worst urban rioting in U.S. history– over 100 cities affected
• Robert Kennedy assassinated two months later
• more civil rights legislation was passed