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