During the late 20th century, the USA was on two opposite sides. The New Right and The New Left. The New Right was another name for conservatism, and the New Left had counter-cultures, abortion, people in homosexual communities, and communism. The majority of the nation expected some change, and having a small government could be an answer to the problem. However, small governments had their own problems, and they ended up hurting the economy more. Conservatives attributed many issues to liberalism; for example, there was no relationship between AIDS and liberalism, but it was made an issue in order to increase disharmony in society (Davidson, 2001, Chapter 21, Pages 761-771).
The year 1968 was a major turning point in the history of the United States. It changed the nation forever. About five decades ago, in a span of one year, there were two assassinations that shook the nation, the opposition to the escalating war in Vietnam, growing class differences, economic issues, and the increasing civil rights movement that rose the angry African American power advocates. In addition to these changes, there was a rise of feminism, doubts about the capability of national leaders, young people rebelling against the established values, and sexual freedom made possible with the advent of the birth control pill. Issues like patriotism, crime, abortion, freedom of speech, and questioning institutions were magnified with popular culture. The media was becoming increasingly aggressive to hold the political leaders responsible for the shortcomings of the nation (Lecture 26, Slide 2).
The entire decade of the 1960s was a time when the traditional long term values were breaking down. The young men and women became activists for anti-war and civil rights. In the initial six months of 1968, there were 200 major demonstrations. The New Left happened in Chicago when the police and law confronted the antiwar demonstrators called Yippies – Youth International Party. A landmark event in counter-culture was also the Woodstock Festival. It took place in August of 1969 and was called three days of music, love, and peace.
The New Right was a result of the combination of conservative business-people, Christian religious leaders who claimed that labor reputations and environmental regulations were not in favor of the American idea of capitalism and competitiveness. The presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater in 1964 was based on the idea that the New Deal must be reversed. He contended that the new government was against American liberty. When foreign competition made some inroads in competition with the American corporations in the 1970s, people began to think that Goldwater was correct. The big businesses gave their resources for the development of the New Right Movement (Wheeler, 2015, Chapter 6, page 192-220).
The Born Again Christians were also one of the major aspects of the New Right. About 36 percent of Americans were recognized as born again. The Christians also blamed the counter-cultural movement for the moral decay as it changed the ideas of traditional marriage (Lecture 26, Slide 7). The counter-culture wars were on many fronts. The first was the STOP ERA campaign. The STOP was an acronym for “Stop Taking Our Privileges.” The ERA amendment was designed to ensure equal rights to all the people of America irrespective of their sex. It sought to end the legal distinctions between men and women in the cases of property, divorce, employment, and other matters (Lecture 26, Slide 10). She insisted that the protective laws like the that of sexual assault will be changed or taken away. It will also change the possibility of a mother having the custody of a child in the event of a divorce. It divided the Christian ideologies against one another. The early gains that were made by the feminist movements, the time also saw a rise in conservatism that led the Americans to draw borders on the constitution’s equality between different sexes (Davidson, 2001, Chapter 17, Pages 604-612).
One of the other things that affected the New Right was the second Red Scare. It happened after World War II. It was also known as McCarthyism after the supporter Senator McCarthy. The Red Scare was accompanied by the fear of communism. Communism was increasing in tension during the time of the Cold War through the Soviet presence in Eastern Europe, the Chinese Civil War, the Berlin Blockade, and the Korean War. It led to paranoia, which led to many investigations. Such investigations resulted in the marginalization of many talented men and women who had become a part of the government with an aim to promote democracy. The federal employee program was created as a response to the paranoia that the Communists are entering the US government.
The 60s and the following decades were transformative for the American nation. It was an effort to both build and expand on what was achieved in Post World War II time. The Post War American hegemony reached new limits. The American model of the liberal and capitalist market was challenged and under threat for the first time in a global context ((Davidson, 2001, Chapter 31, Pages 1094-1109). It can be seen as something that foreshadowed the current discussions in the 21st century as well. The central progressive premise was that the United States was capable of having a wider, post-colonial, transformative approach that will bring durability, stability, peace, and prosperity that will establish the “new world order” that will provide collective security. The principles were specifically American and yet were perceived to be globally applicable (Wheeler, 2015, Chapter 1, pages 8-68).
Thus, the “newness” about the New Right was both about the redefined and reinvigorated forms of political actions and to the mobilization and youthfulness of the suburban middle class that was previously unorganized. It grew rapidly during the 1960s and the 1970s.
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Works Cited
Davidson, James West. Nation of nations: A narrative history of the American republic. Vol. 1. McGraw-Hill, 2001.
Wheeler, William Bruce, and Lorri Glover. Discovering the American Past: A Look at the Evidence, Volume II: Since 1865. Vol. 2. Nelson Education, 2015.
