CW - Movements (Lesson)

Movements

Women's Movement

The National Organization of Women (NOW) was founded in 1966 to promote equal rights and opportunities for America's women. NOW had its origins in the civil rights and anti-war movements of the early 1960s. In both of these movements, women felt sidelined by the men who led organizations like SNCC and anti-Vietnam War groups. NOW's goals included equality in employment, political and social equality, and the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.

 

United Farm Workers' Movement

Latinos also protested to gain civil rights in the 1960s. Their leader was Cesar Chavez, an American of Mexican descent who grew up picking crops in California with his family. As founder of the United Farm Workers movement, Chavez believed in nonviolent methods to achieve his goals. In 1965, he started a nationwide boycott of California grapes, forcing grape growers to negotiate a contract with the United Farm Workers in 1970. This contract gave farm workers higher wages and other benefits for which they had been protesting through the Sixties.

 

Environmental Movement

Protecting the environment became important to many Americans. Silent Spring, a 1962 book about pesticides by Rachel Carson (1907-1964), exposed dangers to the environment. This book led to the Water Quality Act of 1965. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, when almost every community across America and over 10,000 schools and 2,000 colleges organized events to raise awareness of environmental issues; Earth Day is still celebrated in April each year. Also in 1970, President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set limits on pollution, conduct environmental research, and assist state and local governments in cleaning up polluted sites.

Conservative Movement

In 1964, the Republicans nominated Senator Barry Goldwater for president, which was a sign of the rising power of America's conservative movement. Goldwater believed the federal government should not try to fix social and economic problems such as poverty, discrimination, or lack of opportunity. His conservative proposals included selling the Tennessee Valley Authority, making Social Security voluntary, and getting more involved in Vietnam.

Goldwater lost the election to President Johnson, who said more American involvement in Vietnam would not solve the problems there.

Despite his loss, Goldwater's nomination began to shift the ideology of the Republican Party to a more conservative position which would be more successful in future elections.

The conservative movement continued with the 1968 candidacy and election of Republican Richard M. Nixon. He wanted to replace President Johnson's Great Society programs with what Nixon called the New Federalism. This conservative initiative would take away some federal government powers, such as social welfare, and give the powers to state and local governments.

 

 

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