Social And Domestic Changes In The 1970s

The Glory Years of the 1940s-60s had brought confidence to a great number of Americans. With the many achievements, including the moon landing, the lives of many Americans were at an all time high of delight. But, throughout the 1970s and 80s, that confidence and delight had begun to chip away. The birth rate from 1960 to 1975 had decreased by over 50%, possibly due to the loss in confidence, while the unemployment rate had practically risen by 55%. Due to the domestic and foreign crises of this time, America had plummeted into an era of malaise.

With a perceived loss in American moral, there were many negative domestic changes, both social and legal. Murders had been gradually increasing, causing the rate to go up by 100% from 1965 to 1980.
The burglary rate had increased by over 210% from 1965 to 1975, while the population had only increased by a mere 11%. This information caused anxiety for many families, as they could easily become a victim of this rising rate. With this new anxiety, a new need for an escape came along with it, mostly through cocaine. Alongside with this current rise in crime rates, there was a new longing for drugs. In 1970, 60% of overdoses were intentional suicide, while over 30% were accidental. Throughout the 1980s, Colombia was one of America’s biggest suppliers and began to import cocaine through Florida, then distributing it across the country. New York was notorious as a stronghold for crime and drugs, with prostitutes, muggers, and rapists frequenting Central Park and many other popular locations. This city, once an icon, had been infiltrated by the demand for drugs, sex, and porn, which often led to crime.

Not only did these domestic declines consist of legal situations, but also social situations.
America had seemed to have lost its “traditional image” as younger generations began to turn away from religion and lose their sense of morality. Throughout the 1940s and 60s the “traditional image” of America had been marriages between a man and woman, and the only purpose of sexual intercourse was to have a child. However, this had changed drastically by the 1970s with an increase in same sex marriages and young adults beginning to have sexual intercourse earlier. Although this was not unacceptable, many of the conservative, average Americans deemed it to be that way. With the developments of the birth control pill, there wasn’t a reason to wait to have intercourse for the sole purpose of a child, except, of course, religion, which had had a steady decline. But not only did the birth control pill provide security for many couples, but abortions. All American anti-abortion laws were deemed unconstitutional within the case of Roe v. Wade (1973). Now, women could get abortions with a legitimate doctor, that was relatively safe, compared to the backstreet abortionists before the 1970s. In 1971, 40% of women had had sexual intercourse by the age of 18, while in 1979 the number had gone up to 57%. Furthermore, divorce was practically unheard of, but throughout the 1980s the number had been continually rising. By 1980, divorce rates had risen by 175% from 1960, possibly due to financial
situations, affairs, and simply because they’ve grown apart. Many of the more conservative Americans had simply blamed all of these “dilemmas” on the loss of moral inside their country. However this may not be true, many believed this loss of morality came from the fairly recent decline in religion. Catholic marriages had decreased by over 20% from 1965 to 1985, and the church attendance of Americans aged 16-80 had decreased by over 25% from 1972 to 1982.

This era of malaise was caused not only by these domestic factors, but the foreign difficulties surrounding this time period. By 1965, America was fully emerged in the controversial Vietnam War, and had started drafting American men in the winter of 1969. Unease had spread throughout America with only one third of their citizens believing in the war by 1970. There were nearly 60,000 fatal casualties affecting the American military throughout the 20 years America was involved in the war. People had begun to wonder why they couldn’t win this war if their military was completely capable, as they had won WWII and had access to nuclear weapons. Finally, in 1970, America began to withdraw men from Vietnam thanks to Richard Nixon. The last remaining troops had left by 1973, but this war did have its consequences, including a period of stagflation. At the time in 1964 of the tax cut, President Johnson rapidly spent this money for domestic programs and the Vietnam War which caused an enlargement of the money supply and a raise in prices. Inflation had also been affecting America’s economy, ever since the end of WWII and there had been an increase in competition between the manufacturers of Japan, Germany, and America. Between 1950 and 1980 America’s per capita GDP had practically tripled, however, Germany’s had multiplied by over 5 times and Japan’s per capita GDP had multiplied by over 16 times. Moreover, the oil crisis had begun in the October of 1973 when the OPEC countries declared an oil embargo against America, a week after Egypt and Syria had launched an unexpected military campaign against Israel during which America supplied with Israel with arms. By the 1970s America’s oil production had already begun to recede, exacerbating the ban. After America had delivered war supplies on October 12, 1973, OPEC raised the posted price by 70%. A combination of American price controls and the withdrawal of old oil created a great scarcity, which was addressed by rationing for motor vehicles. There were different systems of rationing, such as odd-even rationing, with a license plate having an odd last digit getting gas on an odd day and vice versa.

A substantial amount of these domestic crises were centered around the middle east, including events in Afghanistan and the Iran hostage incident.
From 1950 to 1979, America had provided over $500 million to Afghanistan in loans and grants. However, all lasting relations between the two countries had deteriorated due to the Saur Revolution with the communist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) of April, 1978. In the February of the following year, American ambassador Adolph Dubs had been murdered in Kabul, causing America to abolish a small military training program. Any remaining assistance arrangements had ceased to exist after the Soviet Union Invasion of 1979. With the unstable society of Afghanistan, the Soviet Union efficiently took over, replacing Afghanistan’s current president with a man who took orders directly from Moscow. Following the invasion, America began supporting tactful efforts to attain a withdrawal of the Soviet Union. Additionally, Jimmy Carter throughout the 1970s had been continuously supporting the Iranian Shah’s regime, which by 1977 had accumulated negative publicity and received much opposition from liberal organizations. The 1979 Revolution, which replaced the pro-American Shah with the anti-American shah Ayatollah Khomeini, bewildered the American government. Islamic revolutionaries wished to execute the former Shah, who had requested entry into America and was suffering from terminal cancer. On November 4th of 1979, a revolutionary
organization that was maddened that the Shah had been taken into America, had occupied the American embassy located in Tehran, taking American diplomats hostage. These 52 diplomats were held hostage for exactly 444 days. The Operation Eagle Claw of 1980, the U.S. military rescue operation for the hostage incident, had drastically failed with the deaths of 8 American military men. This catastrophe ended with the signing of the Algiers Accords on January 19, 1981 and the hostages were released a day later.

In the election of 1980, Ronald Reagan won with a landslide victory with his campaign aided by the Iran hostage disaster, which was under the presidency of Jimmy Carter, Reagan’s opponent, democratic dissatisfaction with Carter, and a worsening economy that was heading into the period of stagflation. The imagined social and domestic decline throughout the 1970s and early 80s had led to a political and cultural backlash.