Chapter 31: Continuing Divisions and New Limits, 1969–1980

A PEOPLE and A 

NATION 

EIGHTH EDITION 

Norton • Katzman • Blight • 

Chudacoff • Paterson • Tuttle • 

Escott • Bailey • Logevall 

Chapter 31: 

Continuing Divisions 

and New Limits, 

1969–1980

Ch.31: Continuing Divisions & New 

Limits, 1969–1980 

• Vietnam (Ellsberg) & Nixon further polarize USA 

• Protests become more radical 

• Women’s Movement v. antifeminist groups 

• Nixon adamant on Vietnam; flexible w/ 

USSR/PRC 

• Cynicism/suspicion re. US Gov’t grow 

(Watergate) 

• Post–WWII economic boom end 

• New limits on US power/prosperity (OPEC oil 

embargo, hostages in Iran) 

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 31 | 2

I. New Politics of Identity (Cultural 

Nationalism) 

• Protest movements embrace emphasis 

on group 

• Stress differences between racial/ethnic 

cultures 

• Some blacks reject integration; focus on 

preserving distinct Afro-American culture 

• Mexican-Americans (Southwest) also 

suffer continued poverty/discrimination 

• Chavez’s UFW protest exploitation of 

migrant farm workers 


I. New Politics of Identity (cont.) 

• Others protest “Gringo” invasion & 

embrace separatism of Chicano “Brown 

Power” 

• Some Native Americans activists accept 

pan-Indian Red Power; reject assimilation 

• Radical American Indian Movement 

(1973) seize hostages at Wounded 

Knee, SD 

• Moderates get US Gov’t to grant more 

control on reservations (‘74), but poverty 

remain 


II. Affirmative Action 

• Shift from emphasis on individual opportunity to 

group outcomes 

• Reflect results of continuing protest & limits of 

earlier legislation (case-by-case problem) 

• Nixon start requiring US Gov’t contractors to 

meet specific goals of female/minority workers 

• Proponents see remedy for past discrimination 

• White males see it as limiting their 

job/education prospects at time of economic 

decline 


III. Women’s Movement 

• Diverse “second wave” start in 1960s 

• The Feminine Mystique (Friedan, 1963) 

voice frustration of many with limits on their 

lives 

• Women form NOW (1966) because little US 

Gov’t action 

• Liberal wing: work with men to achieve 

equal rights through laws & court decisions 

• Lobby EEOC to enforce ’64 Civil Rights Act 


IV. Radical Feminism 

• Move beyond legal issues to challenge 

cultural assumptions & traditions 

• Protest Miss America Pageant (1968) as 

demeaning sexism (sex-role stereotypes) 

• Civil rights & antiwar activities motivate 

these young women to act 

• Use consciousness-raising discussion 

groups 


V. Accomplishments of the 

Women’s Movement 

• Challenge traditional view of rape 

• Roe v. Wade (1973) = right to end 

pregnancy 

• More women attend professional schools 

• Colleges do more with women’s studies 

& sports 

• Some minority/poorer women see 

organized feminism as white, middleclass 

movement 


VI. Opposition to the Women’s 

Movement 

• Conservative groups oppose feminism 

• Advocate patriarchal families (biblical 

base) 

• Schlafly see feminism as attack on 

traditional family/gender roles 

• Antifeminists stop ERA (late1970s/early 

’80s) 

• Join growing conservative movement 


VII. Gay Liberation 

• Suffer extensive 

discrimination/harassment 

• After Stonewall (1969), organized protest 

emerge 

• Push for legal equality & Gay Pride 

• Some adopt identity politics (reject 

integration with straight society) 

• Cities & colleges = base for movement 


VIII. Nixon (1969–74) & 

Vietnamization 

• An ardent Cold Warrior, Nixon promise to 

end the war & win the peace 

• Reject full withdrawal & loss of S. Vietnam 

• Replace US troops with S.Vietnamese 

forces 

• Increase US bombing to force 

concessions 

• Nixon expect quick end to war 

• VC/ N.Vietnam not give in to US 

demands 

• After secret bombing (‘69) Nixon try 

invasion 


IX. Invasion of Cambodia (1970) 

• Many protest war’s expansion (Kent & Jackson 

St.) 

• Pentagon Papers (1971) show US lies on 

Vietnam 

• More division over war within USA 

• My Lai (’68) reflect problems within US military 

• Nixon increase bombing in 1972 

• Both sides make concessions for cease-fire 

(1973) 

• USA then withdraw troops 

• Both sides then violate cease-fire 


X. End of War & Its Costs 

• N.Vietnam/VC defeat S.Vietnam by 1975 

• Deaths: > 58,000 Americans; 1.5 to 3 

million Vietnamese; plus Laos & 

Cambodia 

• Initial cost to USA = $170 billion 

• War anger allies & 3 rd World; delay 

détente 

• War hurt US economy & politics 

• Devastate SE Asia (esp. agriculture with 

Agent Orange & bombing) 


XI. Debate over Lessons of Vietnam 

• Hawks claim USA could have won war 

• Doves blame war on imperial presidency 

• War Powers Act (1973) seek to restrain 

executive 

• Veterans suffer PTSD & Agent Orange 


XII. Nixon, Kissinger, & Détente 

• Limits to US power in new multipolar 

world 

• Rely more on allies with Nixon Doctrine 

(1969) 

• In Cold War, try some cooperation with 

USSR 

• Expand USA-USSR trade 

• To slow arms race, sign SALT treaties 

(‘72) to limit ABM systems & # of ICBMs 

• Both USA & USSR need to limit spending 


XIII. Nixon & the World 

• Go to PRC (1972); agree to resist Soviet 

expansion 

• USA want stability among great powers 

• Middle East unstable 

• Israel gain land in Six-Day War (1967) 

• Settlements escalate conflict with 

Palestinians/PLO 

• In ‘73 war, Arabs in OPEC embargo oil to 

USA because they see USA as pro-Israel 


XIII. Nixon & the World (cont.) 

• Also want to curb radicalism in 3rd World 

• CIA replace Allende with Pinochet (Chile, 

’73) 

• Chile then suffer brutal dictatorship (20 

years) 

• Nixon initially back racist governments in 

Africa 

• Slowly accept some pro-US black 

governments 


XIV. Nixon’s Domestic Agenda 

• Complex: seem to mix liberal with conservative 

• Support ERA; pioneer affirmative action 

• Revenue sharing (state control of US Gov’t 

funds) 

• Overall seek to undercut liberal programs 

• Use divisive rhetoric (call Democrats “radicals”) 

• Southern strategy: appeal to southern whites 

by nominating conservatives to Supreme Court 

• Oppose Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg 

(1971) 


XV. Enemies and Dirty Tricks 

• Nixon: intelligent, but paranoid 

• Win easy re-election in 1972 (60% of 

vote) 

• McGovern offend many 

• Little-noticed during campaign, break-in 

occur at Democratic HQ (Watergate) 

• Spying part of larger illegal program 

(Plumbers) to get Nixon’s “enemies” 

• Also use FBI, CIA, IRS against critics 


XVI. Cover-up; Nixon’s Resignation 

(1974) 

• Slowly reporters, prosecutors, judges, & 

Congress unravel cover-up 

• Supreme Court order Nixon to turn over 

tapes 

• Tapes prove Nixon knew about break-in 

& order efforts to hamper investigations 

• House Judiciary Comm vote for 

impeachment 

• Nixon then resign to avoid impeachment 

• Congress pass laws to restrain exec 

abuses 


XVII. Ford’s Presidency (1974–77) 

• 1st unelected president in US history 

• Face cynicism & economic decline 

• Congress assert itself in wake of Vietnam 

& Watergate (override Ford’s vetoes) 

• Comedy show less respect for presidency 

• Carter defeat Ford in 1976 election 


XVIII. Carter as “Outsider” President 

(1977–81) 

• Promise honesty & stress “outsider” status 

(tap public suspicion of US Gov’t) 

• Face assertive Congress (outsider status 

hurt him) 

• Carter, like Ford, unable to fix economy 

• Encourage Americans to accept limits & 

conserve energy 

• Able to create Energy & Education 

Departments 

• Support deregulation; protect environment/ 

labor 


XIX. Economic Crisis 

• Stagflation: high unemployment with high 

inflation 

• US Gov’t deficits contribute to inflation 

• US productivity & quality decline just as USA 

face more foreign competition (Europe, Japan) 

• 1971: USA begin to run trade deficits 

• Oil embargo (1973) & repeated OPEC price 

increases cause inflation to skyrocket 

• US manufacturers (autos) lay off workers 


XIX. Economic Crisis (cont.) 

• Traditional remedies not work 

• Nixon devalue dollar (1971) 

• Ford: neither voluntary Whip Inflation 

Now (WIN), nor higher interest rates help 

• Carter alienate Democratic liberals by 

efforts to curb inflation via spending cuts 

• Frequent recessions (no economic 

growth) occur 


XX. Impacts of the Economic Crisis 

• Deindustrialization start 

• Heavy industries decline/move abroad 

• Wages & benefits much lower in 

emerging service sector 

• Blue-color workers slip from middle-class 

• Shifts to Sunbelt & suburbs accelerate 

(Map 31.1) 

• Fiscal disaster for urban North & Midwest 


XXI. Tax Revolts; 

Credit & Investment 

• Combine cynicism with growing 

conservative critique of “big government” 

(i.e., liberalism) 

• Proposition 13 (CA, 1978) cut property 

taxes to limit government spending; 

others copy it 

• Growing personal debt with more credit 

card use 

• Americans move money from saving 

accounts into mutual funds, stocks, & 

other investments 


XXII. Environmentalism 

• Key developments occur in US culture 

• Disasters (oil spills, Three Mile Island) 

increase public awareness of problems 

• Public uproar push Nixon to accept EPA 

(‘70) 

• Earth Day celebrations begin (1970) 

• Ecology argue earth’s resources finite 

• Call for conservation to avoid overuse 

• New questions about technology/science 


XXIII. Religion; 

Sexuality; Diversity 

• Evangelical/ fundamentalist Protestantism 

grow 

• Therapeutic culture focus on “feelings” 

• Broader public acceptance of premarital sex 

• Couples delay marriage; have fewer 

children 

• More divorces & births to unmarried women 

• Most new immigrants = people of color 

• Court outlaw rigid quotas (Bakke, 1978), but 

allow consideration of race/ethnicity 


XXIV. Carter’s Divided 

Administration 

• Vow to reduce Cold War & pay attention to 

3rd World concerns while curbing radicalism 

• His administration divide on foreign policy 

• Vance push use of diplomacy, but 

Brzezinski win overtime with rigid Cold War 

perspective 

• Panama Canal Treaties (1977) reduce 

tension 

• Camp David (1978): Israeli-Egyptian peace 

• Détente deteriorate; Cold War deepen 


XXV. Carter & Renewed Cold War 

• USSR invade Afghanistan (1979) to 

protect communist gov’t from Muslim 

rebels 

• Stall arms control & produce Carter 

Doctrine 

• USA will intervene to protect Persian Gulf 

• Begin CIA funding of Mujahidin 

• Because of US ties with shah, anger at 

USA central to Iranian Revolution, 1979 

• Hostage crisis (‘79–81) = humiliation for 

USA 


XXVI. US Foreign Relations 

• Afghanistan & Iran reflect rise of Islamic 

fundamentalism = reject western ways 

• Resent history of western domination in 

Middle East & Central Asia 

• Iraq remain secular under Hussein (1979) 

• USA favor Iraq in war with Iran (start, 

1980) 

• Carter inconsistent on human rights 

• Increase military spending & troops 

abroad 

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 31 | 31

Summary: Discuss Links to the 

World & Legacy 

• How ’73 oil embargo show link of USA with 

world? 

• Dependence as USA import 30% of its oil 

• Reflect relative decline of USA & importance of 

Arab/ Middle East to world economy 

• Human rights as legacy of 1970s? 

• Carter inconsistent, but global concern for 

human rights increase 

• Use issue to restore US moral authority in world

Chapter 31: Continuing Divisions and New Limits, 1969–1980

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