Social Issues of the Seventies Essay

“All of a sudden I heard them shooting, then I saw people dropping to the ground. Then I dropped to the ground,” said a victim of the 1970 Kent State shooting (Adams). The Vietnam War was a controversial war for the United States that was long and costly. The war was the start of communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam. As an ally of South Vietnam, the US supported them in the war. American involvement in the war led the communists of the northern part of Vietnam against the more democratic south. Opposition to the war in the US divided the American public. Many protests occurred on college campuses a few resulting in multiple injuries and deaths. The Kent State shooting was a focal point of the anti-war movement. The Kent State protests

Kent State was like any other university in America in the 70s. Students were there to expand their knowledge while they explored all the other abundant things college had to offer them. Along with several other universities at the time, Kent State began seeing a rise in student protests. Many students around the U.S. began speaking out against the controversial Vietnam War, showing their anti-war views in hopes of being heard. “In late April of 1970 . . . the United States invaded Cambodia and widened the Vietnam War,” causing even more widespread outrage and anger, especially among youth (Lewis, Hensley, “The May 4 Shootings at Kent State Univeristy: the Search for Historical Accuracy”). As the days went on after this declaration was made, the

In the late 20th century, Australia?s indigenous peoples were 29 times more likely to be put in jail than other Australians; 20 times more likely to be picked up by the police; less likely to receive bail or have legal representation in the court; and more likely to plead guilty. At the same time, indigenous peoples were less likely to be called up for jury duty than other Australians. The Aboriginal Legal Service (1970-97) provided access to legal advice and assistance for people who could not have otherwise afforded it, but it could do little to overcome injustices indigenous Australians suffered under the Australian legal system.

Although no individual right to privacy is explicitly stated in the Constitution, the Court has used inductive reasoning to develop the penumbra of individual privacy as a constitutional civil liberty. They have repeatedly recognized an individual's right to make choices regarding intimate aspects of one's own life in the area of sexual expression. The Supreme Court's trend of expanding the penumbra of individual privacy rights has been consistent with the liberalization of society's morals concerning sexual freedom (Caplan, 1986). The legalization of abortion came about in the landmark case, Roe v. Wade, which sets the precedent for an unwed mother's right to privacy in choosing to have an abortion, as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The majority opinion by Justice Blackmun establishes a legal balancing test between the compelling state interest of the health of the mother or the viability of the fetus. This balance is measured with the trimester framework, where the state protects the mother's right to privacy to choose in her first trimester, where the state can regulate abortions to protect maternal health in the second trimester, and where it can regulate and restrict abortions in the third

On this date the U.S. Supreme court announced its decision in Roe v. Wade, a verdict that set the precedent for all abortion cases that followed. For the first time, the court recognized that the constitutional right to privacy "is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy" (Roe v. Wade, 1973). It gave women agency in their reproductive choices; no longer were they forced to succumb to second rate citizenship as a housewife, a single mother, or a mother in poverty on account of

The 1970s were a decade of true unease for the United States. Youth counterculture and violent crime were tearing apart the moral fabric of the country but no one was quite sure of the cause. To describe this tumultuous period, America needed a reason for why the Baby Boomer generation was so out of control. The nation needed an excuse for its paranoia and distrust of the younger generations. The explanation came through the concept of permissiveness.

As with every decade, the 1960s were a tumultuous time filled with various social issues affecting a wide array of social groups. African Americans endlessly fought for their rights as a human being, women tried to achieve the same opportunities as men and dismantle workplace inequality, and families fought for their loved ones to come back from war. In their development, these diverse issues seem unrelated, but was eventually unified and blanketed as “social issues”. The merging, or convergence of these social issues was a direct result of a myriad of musical artists who perpetuated their opinions and feelings to all of America. These artists took the various “I’s” of social issues and were able to put them together and form a conglomeration, turning those “I’s” into “we.”

My Interpretation of the 1970s Smashed between the turbulent 1960’s and the conservative 1980’s, the 1970’s are debated on its importance as a decade in history. The 1970’s are understood as the decade of fear, anxiety, and apathy that created a new awareness in one’s own personal interests. The scandals in government, the back to the land movement, and the rise of local concerns can prove the fear, anxiety, and apathy created throughout the decade. This created the “me” generation.

This controversial case ruled that a woman’s ability to be able to chose to get an abortion is considered a protected liberty. It also concluded that this

happened to show their disagreement with Nixon’s plan. On KSU’s campus, the protestors buried “a copy of the Constitution” to state the meaningless activities of Congress. During midnight in downtown Kent, protestors continued destroying cars, stores and even police cars on May 1. As reported by The Kent State Coverup, this seemed to be underestimated for ten thousand dollar of damage and sixty captured persons by Kent’s police (Kelner and Munves). On May 2, the meeting of Mayor Satrom and many officials dicussed the solution of disturbance as “state of civil emergency”. Unfortunately, the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) building was set on fire. Then thousands of protestors were overpowered with tear gas and bayonets of Ohio National Guardsmen sent by Mayor Satrom’s call to Governor Rhodes because the city officials were afraid of not handling the rebellions of demonstrators to downtown business (Hensley and Lewis B2). On May 3, Governor Rhodes saw Kent protestors as “the worst type of people in America” and abandoned all the activities of demonstration. In the evening, the confrontation kept happening with rocks, tear gas and someone arrested (Hensley and Lewis

The 1960s are frequently referred to as a period of social protest and dissent. Antiwar demonstrators, civil-rights activists, feminists, and members of various other social groups demanded what they considered to be justice and sought reparation for the wrongs they believed they had suffered. The decade marked a shift from a collective view on politics, to a much more individualistic viewpoint. The 1960s could easily be characterized as a period during which political, ideological, and social tensions among radicals, liberals, and conservatives in American society are seen to have rapidly unfolded. Due to this, the decade has had an overwhelming effect on the decades that have followed. The sixties have had the greatest impact on American society out of any decade in recent history. Whether for better or for worse, the decade has had a profound influence on politics, society, foreign policy, and culture.

These illegal abortions were unsafe, and could be fatal to most women, and put their lives at risk. Jane Roe was a twenty-one year old woman that was pregnant, who represented all of the women who wanted abortions but could not get one. Henry Wade was a Texas attorney General who had defended the state’s law. The Supreme Court ruled for Roe and stated that America’s right to privacy included: the right for a woman to choose whether or not to have her child; and the right for a woman and her doctor to make this decision without state involvement within the first trimester of the pregnancy. It made it possible for woman to get safe, legal abortions from well-trained medical practitioners. Consequently, there was a dramatic decrease in pregnancy related deaths.

Society and Culture: The international NGO movement deeps its roots in that decade too, with the

The Sixties and Seventies were among the most important decades in American history in terms of massive social upheaval. With practically the entire world in a state of unbalance and with the wild relationship of the United States to the rest of the world, it is unsurprising that the States faced a state of unrest and social change. The United States was involved in two vastly different wars at the time that created a massive feeling of unrest inside its own walls, especially among groups of young people who worked in massive numbers to bring about heavy societal change in many different areas aiming for the top and moving down. These decades included some of the most hotly debated and controversial events in American history. The United states faced a state of massive uneasiness internally with the nervousness brought about by the Cold War. There was also a state of triumphant upheaval among the younger generation of the time through their mass protest of the Vietnam War. There was also a massive shift in the eye of the American public from support to vehement protest of the Vietnam War causing a large shift in American politics. These many issues gave way to both the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements which worked towards creating a change in the way that society had operated for practically the entirety of the United State’s existence. Terry Anderson in his book The Sixties aptly states that this is “the Decade of Tumult and Change” (Anderson 22). The 1960s and

Many believe that the 1970s was an era where not much happened compared to the 1960s and 1980s. There are many which regard the 1970s as a throwaway era because it lacked any form of impact in our society and was only known for bad fashion, rock music, and other things that were considered forgettable. Bruce Schulman believes otherwise; with his book “The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics.” Bruce talks about the 1970s as a period of transformative change in many different areas. The 1970s was the period of Richard Nixon becoming president all the way to Ronald Reagan’s decisive victory in the reelections which affected many things such as politics. Bruce Schulman goes against the popular notion that the 1970s was an unimportant era in history because he believes that the United States experienced a transformation in many different areas which helped shape our present time. Bruce Shulman believes that the 1970s was an overlooked decade and begins to explain what was affected during those times. Some of the many aspects that Bruce Schulman talks about which were transformed in the 1970s were American economics, cultural life, politics, family life, religion, race relations, and popular culture. In reading this book, I believe the most interesting consequential importance of these transformations happens in the area of politics. I believe politics was affected the most because of a multitude of events, many of which stemmed from the 1970s