LearningCurve 29
The Supreme Court decision in Bakke v. University of California represented what?
A victory and a defeat for opponents of affirmative action The Bakke decision ended quota systems but upheld the basic principle of affirmative action by allowing race to be considered in hiring and admission decisions; thus, it was a mix of victory and defeat for opponents of affirmative action.
Why did many Americans leave mainline churches and join evangelical churches between 1970 and 1985?
Americans were seeking moral answers and social stability. Americans who felt unmoored by rising divorce rates, social unrest, and changing values sought to find stability and moral answers in evangelical churches. Evangelical churches offered solutions to those who were concerned about the moral decay of American society.
How did evangelical Christians see the family?
As the foundation of society Drawing on selected Bible passages, evangelicals believed that the nuclear family, and not the individual, represented the fundamental unit of society. The family itself was organized along paternalist lines: Father was breadwinner and disciplinarian; mother was nurturer and supporter.
Why did the two parties become more partisan and rigid after the 1970s?
Committee chairs lost power to party leaders in the House and the Senate. After the post-Watergate reforms, the size of the congressional staff doubled to more than 20,000. A diffuse power structure gave lobbyists more places to exert influence. The power of committee chairs weakened, and influence instead shifted to the party leaders in the Senate and the House. With little incentive to compromise, the parties grew more rigid, and bipartisanship became rare.
Why did Congress impose a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour in the 1970s?
Congress wanted to promote large-scale fuel conservation. Just two months after the OPEC embargo began, Congress imposed a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour to conserve fuel. Americans also began buying smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, which typically came from Japan or Germany.
The Watergate scandal proved to be a long-term boon to which group?
Conservative Republicans Watergate damaged short-term Republican prospects but shifted the party's balance to the right. Despite mastering the populist appeal to the "silent majority," Nixon was never beloved by conservatives. His disgraceful exit proved a boon to conservative Republicans, who reshaped the party in their image.
Which statement describes the feminist movement in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s?
Feminist activism addressed many issues, took a variety of forms, and affected millions of women. The feminist movement in these decades took a huge array of forms and produced activism on the scale of the earlier black civil rights movement. By the end of the 1970s, its efforts had created dramatic change and touched the lives of millions of American women.
Why did President Jimmy Carter have such chilly relations with congressional leaders even from his own party?
He operated with an outsider strategy. Carter did get some mileage from his outsider status for a while, but his disdain for the Democratic establishment and his heavy reliance on inexperienced advisors from Georgia hurt his relationship with congressional leaders.
What happened to Richard Nixon when it became clear that he had been involved in the illegal cover-up of Watergate and that he would be convicted by the Senate?
He resigned from office. When it became clear that Nixon would be convicted by the Senate and the House Judiciary Committee began to consider articles of impeachment, Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign his office. His resignation took place on August 9, 1974.
Why did nearly every major American city struggle to pay its bills in the 1970s?
Inflation and shrinking tax revenues created budget crises. Facing huge price inflation and mounting piles of debt, which were the result of financing social services for the poor and replacing disappearing tax revenue, nearly every major American city struggled to pay its bills in the 1970s.
Why did property owners and retirees with fixed incomes suddenly face growing tax bills in California in the late 1970s?
Inflation pushed real estate values upward. Stagflation pushed real estate values upward, with the result that property taxes skyrocketed. Hardest hit were suburban property owners, along with retirees and others on fixed incomes, who suddenly faced unaffordable tax bills.
How did the War Powers Act of 1973 seek to limit presidential power?
It required the Supreme Court to evaluate the constitutionality of a president's commitment of troops. The act gave Congress the power to recall American troops from any overseas deployment. It stipulated that the National Security Council keep Congress informed about the military status of any overseas intervention. Correct: It required the president to secure congressional approval for any substantial deployment of troops abroad. It required the president to secure congressional approval for any substantial deployment of troops abroad.
Which statement describes the impact of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade?
It said that states could not prohibit abortion in the first trimester. Roe v. Wade overturned state laws in Texas and Georgia that prohibited abortions in the first trimester. It took away much, although not all, of the authority that states had to prohibit abortions.
In the 1970s, the United States faced rising competition in industrial production from which nations?
Japan and West Germany In the 1970s, the United States faced rising competition in industrial production from Japan and West Germany.
Which statement characterizes the historical development of OPEC?
OPEC was ineffective until the mid-1970s when Arab states issued an oil embargo. The organization was ineffective during the 1960s until the Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Syria on one side and Israel on the other. Resentful of U.S. support for Israel, the Arab states in OPEC declared an oil embargo in October 1973.
What gain was made by gay rights activists in the 1970s?
Passage of gay rights ordinances in several cities The gay rights movement achieved notable victories in the 1970s. More than a dozen cities had passed gay rights ordinances by the mid-1970s, protecting gay men and lesbians from employment and housing discrimination.
What sparked inflation in the United States during the 1970s?
Rapidly rising oil prices The rise in oil prices caused a ripple effect throughout the economy, leading to inflation in all sectors.
What book from the early 1960s gave an impetus to the environmental movement?
Silent Spring The modern environmental movement began in 1962 with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, an analysis of the impact of pesticides on the food chain. Her book unleashed a cultural fascination with improving the natural environment and conserving natural resources for the benefit of all living creatures.
What development accounted for the dramatic increase in the number of women working outside the home in the 1970s?
Stagflation The combination of stagnating wages and inflation meant that many men no longer earned enough money to support their families alone. Women streamed into the workforce in order to augment families' incomes. By the end of the 1970s, many American families were dependent on the two-income household.
Why were feminists hopeful in the 1960s that the Supreme Court might legalize abortion?
The Court had already made decisions that opened the door to the possibility. The Supreme Court had first addressed reproductive rights in the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut, which struck down an 1879 state law prohibiting the possession of contraception as a violation of married couples' constitutional "right of privacy."
What was the significance of biologist Rachel's Carson's 1962 best seller Silent Spring?
The book described and publicized the harmful effects of toxic chemicals on the environment. Carson's bestselling book Silent Spring raised Americans' awareness about the harmful effects of toxic chemicals such as DDT and other pesticides. Carson's book, and her subsequent death from breast cancer, spurred many Americans to start thinking about the importance of environmental protection for the health of the earth and its species, including humans. It contributed to the creation of an environmental movement in the 1970s.
How did Democratic "Watergate babies" in Congress attempt to decentralize power in Washington?
They reduced the number of votes needed to end a filibuster in the Senate. In the Senate, Democrats reduced the number of votes needed to end a filibuster from 67 to 60—a move intended to weaken the power of the minority to block legislation.
Why were conservative Republicans critical of Richard Nixon during his presidency?
They thought that he was too conciliatory toward China and the Soviet Union. Conservative Republicans criticized Nixon for his role in the relaxation of tensions with the Soviet Union and Communist China. They believed Nixon should have pursued a hard-line containment approach with those nations.
What characterized the affirmative action programs instituted in the 1960s and 1970s?
They were procedures designed to account for the disadvantaged position of minorities. Affirmative action could best be described as a set of procedures designed to take into account the disadvantaged position of minority groups after centuries of discrimination.
Why did OPEC nations initiate an oil embargo on the United States in 1973?
To punish the United States for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War OPEC members used oil as a weapon in global politics to punish the United States for its support of Israel.
Why did Democrats reduce the number of votes needed to end a filibuster in the mid-1970s?
To weaken the ability of the minority to block legislation Democrats reduced the number of votes needed to end a filibuster from 67 to 60—a move intended to weaken the power of the minority to block legislation.
The gains of the women's movement in the 1970s included
abortion rights. During the 1970s, women achieved a number of advances, including abortion rights and increased access to previously all-male institutions and high-level roles in the government.
