474 ChaPTer 21 | DisContinuities | period eight 194 5 –198 0

F

or many Americans, the forty years after the Second World War rep-

resent a time when all that had gone smoothly before seemed suddenly

to have become jagged and out of alignment. Already anxious from the

Cold War and the ongoing threat of global nuclear destruction, they felt

further threatened by new value systems that challenged old conven-

tions, by the emergence of new interest groups that demanded recognition and

respect, and by the arrival of new immigrants from locations outside of Europe.

The instability of American society and culture initiated a political backlash

that claimed to represent traditional American values and interests. This conser-

vative backlash grew in intensity throughout the 1970s and came to fruition with

the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980.

Seeking the Main Point

•   

Describe two social and cultural changes during the 1960s and 1970s, and

choose appropriate documents below to support your description.

•   

In what ways did government fuel the desire for change in the 1960s and

1970s?

•   

In what ways did technological changes in the first half of the twentieth

century shape environmental and social anxieties in the second half of the

twentieth century?

•   

In what ways are both conformity and rebellion elements of the documents

below? In other words, to what do the subjects below conform? What do

they rebel against?

474 ChaPTer 21 | DisContinuities | period eight 194 5 –198 0 ToPIC I | Conflicting postwar Visions^475

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