American SOCIETY in TRANSITION [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 14] Period 8: 1945-1980

Summary

This video wraps up Unit 8 of the AP US History curriculum, focusing on the transition of American society between 1945-1980 from a liberal to a conservative wave. The era saw significant liberal movements such as Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and the women's liberation movement, which triggered a conservative backlash. Key conservative movements and figures, like Young Americans for Freedom and the John Birch Society, emerged, emphasizing religious values and opposing liberal agendas like the Roe v. Wade decision. Economic woes, including stagflation and the Watergate scandal, further fueled distrust in the government, paving the way for conservative dominance, climaxing with Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. The lesson concludes with a look at conservative pushback against policies like affirmative action and the Equal Rights Amendment.

Highlights

• The conservative movement gained momentum as a reaction to the liberal gains of the 1960s and 70s ✊
• Key conservative groups, such as Young Americans for Freedom and the John Birch Society, emerged 🎯
• The rise of the religious right was fueled by the Roe v. Wade decision, uniting Protestant and Catholic Christians 🕊️
• Economic turmoil in the 1970s, including stagflation and the oil crisis, led to a decline in confidence in the government 📉
• The Watergate scandal shattered public trust in government integrity, exacerbating the conservative backlash 🚪⚖️

Key Takeaways

• Conservative movements gained traction in response to liberal policies of the 1960s and 70s 📈
• The election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 represented a peak in conservative backlash 🌟
• Economic issues and scandals, like Watergate, led to decreased trust in government 💔
• Social issues like the Roe v. Wade decision and affirmative action sparked significant conservative protests 🚫
• The religious right grew strongly during this period, unifying various Christian factions ✝️

Overview

The transition from liberal to conservative dominance in American politics during 1945-1980 was marked by escalating political and cultural shifts. The liberal policies throughout the 60s and 70s, including Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and the women's liberation movement, began to cause unease among conservatives who feared for the traditional social order. This unrest formed the backdrop against which groups like the Young Americans for Freedom and the John Birch Society gained prominence, rallying against the perceived excesses of liberalism.

While radical conservatism most visibly challenged liberal policies, it was the more moderate figures like William F. Buckley and his National Review that provided a balanced conservative discourse. During this era, the religious right rose rapidly, fuelled by issues such as the Roe v. Wade decision, which galvanized Protestant and Catholic cooperation. Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority and James Dobson's 'Focus on the Family' surged in influence, intertwining religion with politics and paving the way for a broad conservative coalition.

The political landscape was further reshaped by economic distress and significant scandals. The 1970s recession, fueled by an oil crisis and stagflation, compounded the growing distrust towards government competency, especially in light of the Watergate scandal which led to President Nixon's resignation. These factors magnified the conservative momentum, setting the stage for Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, symbolizing a new era in American politics where conservative ideology would hold sway.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview of Liberal Gains The chapter "Introduction and Overview of Liberal Gains" explores the increasing influence of liberal ideologies in American society from 1945 to 1980. It particularly highlights the successes achieved under Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiatives. The narrative shifts to approach the period from a conservative perspective, signaling a transition in focus within the larger context of the curriculum. This summary wraps up the unit by contrasting the liberal progress with impending conservative viewpoints.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Conservative Reaction and The New Right The chapter titled 'Conservative Reaction and The New Right' discusses the conservative response to major cultural and social shifts during the 1960s and 1970s. It notes that these changes, such as the anti-Vietnam War protests and movements like women's liberation and consumer society program, were unsettling for conservatives. The chapter points out that the conservative movement's significant achievement was the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, although this will be explored further in a subsequent unit. The focus here is on understanding the roots of the conservative backlash during this era.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Young Americans for Freedom and John Birch Society The chapter discusses the transformation of the traditional American family due to social movements like the women's movement and civil rights movement. It highlights the impact these changes had on southern white conservatives. The response from conservatives included the formation of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), a group of conservative college students. This group played a key role in Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign. During this campaign, Goldwater introduced the term 'The New Right,' symbolizing a coalition of conservatives opposing liberalism.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Growth of Religious Right and Moral Majority The chapter discusses the emergence of the Religious Right and the Moral Majority, highlighting their religious values and populist, anti-egalitarian beliefs about gender roles. An example is the John Birch Society, a conservative group that opposed communism, advocated limited government, and promoted right-wing conspiracy theories, such as the government using fluoride in water to control the population.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Economic Turmoil and Government Distrust The chapter discusses the growth of conservatism during a period of economic turmoil and increasing distrust in government. A more moderate form of conservatism was embodied by figures like William F. Buckley, who, through his magazine National Review, criticized extreme groups such as the John Birch Society to prevent radicalizing the conservative movement. Simultaneously, the religious right, comprising primarily conservative Christians, gained momentum. This group's primary motivation was stemming from the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, marking their opposition to liberal and progressive shifts.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Watergate Scandal The chapter discusses the impact of the Watergate scandal, focusing on its influence on religious and political dynamics in the United States. It highlights how the scandal and subsequent events helped bridge the divide between Protestant and Catholic Christians, particularly around the issue of abortion. In 1979, evangelical leader Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, blurring lines between Christianity and conservative politics. Falwell's 'I Love America' rallies marked a significant shift from traditional Southern Baptist beliefs on church-state separation.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Women's Rights and Equal Rights Amendment The chapter discusses the interplay of religion and politics in America, focusing on the rise of conservative movements. It highlights James Dobson's 'Focus on the Family' radio program, which, unlike Jerry Falwell's overt political activism, subtly promoted similar conservative values such as school prayer and opposition to gay rights. The chapter situates these developments within broader national events, including economic turmoil.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Affirmative Action and Bakke Case The chapter discusses the economic challenges in America during the 1970s, which included an oil crisis and stagflation, leading to a recession. It highlights President Nixon's attempt to solve these issues by cutting federal spending, which unfortunately exacerbated the situation. The overall economic turmoil contributed to a decline in public confidence in the government's ability to address such crises.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Conclusion The conclusion chapter discusses the controversial Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon's presidency. It outlines how operatives tied to Nixon's re-election committee were caught burglarizing the Democratic Party's headquarters at the Watergate complex, aiming to wiretap phones and steal documents. Despite Nixon's initial denials, subsequent investigations revealed that he was not only aware of the illegal actions but also approved them. The chapter highlights Nixon's repeated lies about the scandal, which eventually led to his impeachment being seen as inevitable.

American SOCIETY in TRANSITION [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 14] Period 8: 1945-1980 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hey there and welcome back to heimlich's history and furthermore welcome to the last topic video of unit 8 of the ap us history curriculum all through this period we've been seeing the rising tides of liberalism take hold in america and now it's time to hear from the conservatives so if you're ready to get them brain cows milk focus on the family style let's get to it oh it's got me cracked up i can't i can't keep going okay you know what we're just going to leave it in so during the period we've been considering from 1945 to 1980 many gains had been made for the liberal cause especially lyndon johnson's great
• 00:30 - 01:00 society program and the women's liberation movement but all of that as you can imagine made the conservatives of this age pretty dang twitchy and now we need to see what's happening on the other side of the aisle now the crowning achievement of conservatism in this period really came in the election of ronald reagan in 1980 but we're gonna deal with that more in the next unit for now let's consider the roots of the conservative backlash in the 60s and the 70s if you were conservative during that time then you would have been pooping your modest pants at the seismic cultural shifts happening street protests against the vietnam war were happening outside the structure of the
• 01:00 - 01:30 traditional american family was changing due to the women's movement and if you were southern and white which most conservatives were in the south then the gains made by the civil rights movement further evacuated your bowels so what did the conservatives do about all this well in a previous video i mentioned the young americans for freedom group that was a movement of conservative college students and they were instrumental in the campaign of barry goldwater for president in 1964. in this campaign he coined the phrase the new right which was a coalition of conservatives who resisted the onslaught of liberalism
• 01:30 - 02:00 were proud of their religious values were openly populist and anti-egalitarian which is to say they believed men and women had their designated spheres another manifestation of this movement was the creation of the john birch society this was a group of conservatives who opposed communism and advocated for limited government and spun out right-wing conspiracy theories about the issues of the day for example they opposed the government's effort to put fluoride into the water supply because it was some kind of mass medicine designed to keep us subservient now to be fair the two examples i just used were part of a more radical
• 02:00 - 02:30 conservatism growing up during this period but a more moderate conservatism also gained strength representing this stripe is william f buckley in his influential magazine called the national review he denounced folks like the john birch society as cranks because he feared that the whole conservative movement will be radicalized by their efforts now all bound up with this conservative movement was the rapid growth of the religious right this group included a large group of conservative christians who organized to oppose liberal and progressive trends but the issue that really cranked their engine up was the roe v wade decision in 1973
• 02:30 - 03:00 which legalized abortion this had the effect of helping protestant christians drop their long-held suspicion of catholic christians and unite on an issue that they all agreed upon in 1979 a pastor and evangelist named jerry falwell founded the moral majority which so closely melded christianity with conservative politics that it was difficult to know where one started and the other ended falwell held i love america rallies which was a significant departure from his southern baptist conviction on the separation between church and state in fact he argued that
• 03:00 - 03:30 it was this very separation of church and state that was the cause of the moral decay all around them along these same lines you had the rise of james dobson's focus on the family radio program dobson's program wasn't as blatantly political as falwell's efforts but that's only because he was more adept at hiding it dobson argued passionately for the reintroduction of prayer into schools and to resist the expansion of gay rights and much much more now all mixed up in this conservative backlash in america were some pretty significant national events first there was economic turmoil and if you remember in the last video i
• 03:30 - 04:00 mentioned that in the 1970s america had an oil crisis on its hands so take the oil crisis and add some stagflation to the pot stagflation is an economic mess in which inflation is running rampant but the economy is very stagnant and all that combined into a pot led to a nasty recession stew in the 1970s president nixon attempted to remedy this problem by cutting federal spending but that only made things worse and now people's confidence in the government to fix our problems began to wane and if the people needed even more reasons to lose faith
• 04:00 - 04:30 in the government then they got one the watergate scandal so richard nixon was reelected in 1972 but men hired by his re-election committee were caught breaking into the watergate office complex which housed the democratic party's headquarters attempted to bug phones and steal documents now nixon denied any knowledge of this blatant illegality but after months of investigation it became clear that he did in fact know about the activity and worse he endorsed it and then to make things even worse he lied about it on multiple occasions and so as the impeachment resolution seemed imminent
• 04:30 - 05:00 nixon resigned and went ahead and flushed whatever remaining confidence the people had left in their government right down the toilet okay so all of that is going on while this new conservative moment is arising and conservatives are clashing with liberals all over the dang place in another video on the women's rights movement i mentioned the equal rights amendment which proposed a constitutional amendment to make sure that women were on equal footing with men however thanks largely to the efforts of conservatives like phyllis schlafly the era was never ratified conservatives also clashed with
• 05:00 - 05:30 liberals over affirmative action now this was a program that arose out of the civil rights movement and not only did activists want to get rid of the oppressive structures of systemic racism they also wanted to take affirmative action to make sure those wrongs were now made right and this basically meant that race would be a factor in hiring decisions and college admission in some cases this meant that a certain number of positions or a certain number of applicants had to be of a certain race now as you can imagine this led to a great deal of conservative white resentment a white person could now be passed over for a job for which he or
• 05:30 - 06:00 she had sterling qualifications just because that job was reserved for a black person or in some cases other minorities and this resentment came to a head when a student named alan bakke was denied admission to the university of california he argued that he was being discriminated against for being white since the admissions department set aside 16 spots for minority applicants and so this case wound up before the supreme court in baki versus the university of california in 1978. the court handed down a decision that such minority quotas were unconstitutional
• 06:00 - 06:30 and violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment even so the decision didn't rule out race as a factor for admission only that it ought not be the only determinant so all of this growth of the conservative movement is really going to reach its peak in the next period so i will see you there okay that's what you need to know about unit 8 topic 14 and if you need more help getting an a in your class and a five on your exam in may then click right here and go review packet if you want me to keep making these videos you can tell me that by subscribing heimler out