A Powerpoint presentation on the troubled affluence in the USA after World War Two, with an emphasis on the Civil Rights Movement and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. For the Irish Leaving Cert USA History topic

1. Troubled Affluence in the USA

2. Despite the Economic Boom,
deep seated problems
remained in US Society.

3.  Racial Conflict
◦ Case Study: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
 Urban Poverty
 Crime and Drugs

4.  Declaration of Independence: “All men are created equal”
 US Constitution: "no state shall . . . deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.“

5. Who am I?
What did I do?

6. The Jim Crow Laws: Passed after the abolition of slavery in the Southern US
States
Premise: To prevent “race mixing” by providing “separate but equal” facilities for
people of different races.
What would be the problem?

9.  Blacks were urbanised – easier to organise
 Blacks were more educated
 USA – “Leader of the Free World” (?)
 Mass Media – TV
 Role of Churches and Clergymen – E.G. MLK
 Rise of liberal ideas

20. The Problem we all live with depicts 6 Year Old
Ruby Bridges who was escorted by federal
marshals to school after desegregation
What elements has the artist used to show the
hostility faced by Bridges?

22. This picture was taken in 1941…
what does “carry[ing] guns for
Uncle Sam” mean?

29.  End of Segregation in the Army
 Civil Rights Acts – 1957 and 1964
 Voting Rights Act 1965
 Affirmative Action – aka “positive discrimination”

31.  Baptist Preacher in Montgomery, Alabama
 Organised Montgomery Bus Boycott
 Organised further boycotts which provoked a “white
backlash” – media coverage
 Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
 His efforts led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act, 1964 and
Voting Rights Act 1965
 Eventually overtaken by more militant Civil Rights Activists
such as Malcolm X
 Also campaigned on social and economic issues
 Assassinated in 1968

37.  Despite strong opposition to equality for Blacks in the
Southern US States, most Americans agreed with the Civil
Rights Movement
 US Government granted many civil rights to blacks –
overruling individual states objections
 Pres Kennedy and Johnson – supported civil rights movement
 Some later Presidents (e.g. Reagan) took a hands off approach
and emphasised role of state government
 Genie out of bottle though!

38.  USA prided itself on being the richest country in the world
(still is)
 But Poverty was a major problem – country very rich on one
(generally white) hand, very poor on another (black)
 As Blacks became more urbanised, they ended up with the
worst housing in the cities – ghettos
 Whites fled to the suburbs
 Decline of manufacturing – blacks ended up with worst jobs

39.  More poor people in cities = less tax collected in cities
 Meant cities became “run down”
 New housing developments – tower blocks (like Ballymun in
Dublin) meant poverty became worse
 Drug dealing, crime increased.

40.  From the 1940s onwards US Governments had brought in anti
poverty measures
◦ Increasing welfare
◦ Established minimum wage
◦ Increased training opportunities
 However President Johnson (1963-68) increased Govt action
against poverty – his policies became known as the “War on
Poverty”

41.  “Great Society” was Johnson’s term for his anti-poverty
programme
◦ Established a “Poverty Line”
◦ Set up Office of Economic Opportunity
◦ Increased funding given to public schools
◦ New housing & rent aid for low income people
◦ Set up health programmes known as Medicare (elderly support) and
Medicaid (for poor people)
 However the rising tide of optimism was stopped by the
Watts Riots and by the escalating problem of the War in
Vietnam

43.  A cocktail of discrimination, unemployment, rising
expectations, the availability of new drugs and the ready
availability of guns meant that crime levels rose rapidly after
World War 2
 The opinion grew that Johnson and his Democratic Party were
“soft on crime”
 Democrats lost most of the elections from 1968 onwards
because of this and other issues
 Most criminals were Black, male and poor – factors that led to
slowdown in efforts to tackle racism

45.  http://www.newstalk.ie/programmes/all/talking-
history/
 Available free on itunes or download direct from the
website.