America Then and Now 1

America Then and Now: A Historical Analysis of America Since 1945

Dena Ferguson

Pioneer Pacific College: History 410

April 18, 2023

America Then and Now 2

America Then and Now: A Historical Analysis of America Since 1945

During his second inaugural speech Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, “The test of our

progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we

provide enough for those who have little.” (Roosevelt, 1937). This statement would become the

mantra of a new era in American history, as a young and powerful country began a long and

arduous journey of progress. Progress that has had high cost, followed by great changes, and the

inevitable growth of a new American society determined to improve their destiny. However, the

great debate is “has America truly changed for the better?” A closer look at the positive changes

developed through social movements, societal policy expansion, and technological

advancements paints a picture of an improved American society.

Social Movements

After World War II ended in 1945, America experienced a brief moment of contented

peacefulness and growth. However, this quickly changed as the country moved toward a decade

of cold war in an effort to prevent the spread of Russian communism, which denied those under

its rule the right to basic human freedoms. This cold war was founded on the principle of

protecting global human rights, which would sparked an era of social unrest among American

minority groups who desired to have their own basic human freedoms recognized.

Martin Luther King & The Civil Rights Act of 1964

By the late 1950’s, American was experiencing the first in a long line of civil rights

movements demanding that the government take action to end social inequalities. The most

prominent of these was the battle over racial segregation in public areas, such as schools,

restaurants, stores, and buses. A battle that was fueled the arrest of by a black woman, named

Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on a crowded public bus, and was booked on charges

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for breaking segregation law. Rosa’s arrest rallied prominent black leaders to meet and begin

what would become the new banner for the civil rights movement, under the direction of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. (Social Studies School Service , 2015).

American society became embroiled in marches, sit-ins, and protests that continually gain

momentum, until the voice of the black community could no longer be ignored, which caused a

rising wave of violent attacks as white extremists did their part to silence the movements cries

for justice and equality. By 1964 the civil rights movement had reached a peaked that had cost

many their lives and caused President Johnson to sign the Civil Rights act of 1964, which ended

segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color,

religion, sex or national origin. However, the fight for social change was far from over, since the

success of the civil rights movement sparked the rise of other social groups looking to be heard.

Women’s Rights, the ERA and Roe vs Wade

The next influential social group to step forward and demand fair treatment was the

Women’s liberation movement. Although women had won the right to vote during the 1920’s,

they were still largely treated as second class citizens, which flared a desire to fight for equal

rights under the law. In the 1960’s women began to push for an amendment to the constitution

that would provide them with these rights, and by 1972 the Senate had passed the Equal Rights

Amendment, known as the ERA.

The ERA stated, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged by the United

States or by any State on account of sex", and quickly became a controversial topic that would

divide the nation, (ushistory.org, 2015). Initially the ERA was greeted with approval and quickly

gained ground toward ratification. However, it just as quickly began to stall as it was met by

traditionalist women who rallied against the cause and label feminists as lesbians.

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Then in 1973, Women’s Rights gain a small victory when the Texas Supreme Court ruled

in the Roe vs Wade hearing that a woman had the right to have an abortion, since what she did

with her body was her decision. However, this victory was short lived and became ammunition

for the anti-ERA movement, who used abortion to paint a picture of irresponsible women who

murdered babies.

Ultimately, state support for the ERA stalled and by 1972 when the ratification deadline

approached it remained three states shy of the necessary quota for passage. Congress attempted

to keep it alive by extending the deadline by three years; but by 1975 it was obvious that no

further support for the amendment was going to materialize. In the end, however, the fight for

equality caused twenty-one of the supporting states to pass their own version of the ERA,

proving that the fight was not a total loss nor was it going to go away.

Societal Policy Expansion

Not all group movements over the last seventy years have been focused solely on civil or

equal rights. Many Americans were concerned with other prominent issues facing society as a

whole. One of these individuals was President Richard Nixon, who quickly took action while in

office to make changes that were designed to help society as a whole. Nixon ushered in an era of

protection for the environment, workers’ rights, women athletes, and U.S. soldiers voting rights.

Nixon and the Environmental Protection Agency

In 1970 the pollution of the environment reached a peak of confusion as citizens and the

government became increasingly overwhelmed by the complexity of varying state and

community environmental protections law and their ineffectual enforce of them. Nixon

recognized the need to fix these environmental issues and created the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) in an effort to fix national guidelines and to monitor and enforce protection laws.

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Initially, the EPA was charged with the administration and enforcement of the Clean Air

Act of 1970. It was then was quickly charged with enforcing the Federal Environmental

Pesticide Control Act (1972) and the Clean Water Act (1972), all of which are designed to

protect the environment for future generations. However, over the years the EPA has created and

enacted laws that have far more reaching agendas.

Occupational Safety and Health Act 1970

By the late 1960’s the workplace had become an increasingly dangerous and deadly

place. Machinery, had levers, belts, gears, pulleys, and presses that could severe or mangle

limbs. The use of chemicals without proper handling, storing, and mixing could destroy

respiratory systems, burn the skin, and cause blindness. Dusts like asbestos caused long-term

health problems such mesothelioma and eventually death. Add to this that many workers were

being forced or bribed to keep quiet about workplace atrocities and there is a recipe for disaster.

The rise of injured and sick workers during this time period prompted many states to

create laws and regulations to help minimize or eliminate workplace issues. However, these laws

contained complex and confusing legislation that was poorly designed and inadequately

regulated. In addition, regulators assigned to enforce these law were often not given the proper

authority to enter workplaces, or if admitted, were not sure what was actually considered a code

violation. Not to mention some regulators would intentionally overlooked violations in order to

maintain industries that bolstered the economy in their state and local area; or, took bribes to

look the other way.

The American government quickly realized that something needed to be done. This

prompted the creation of the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

(OSHA), which granted the Federal Government the ability to create and regulate safety and

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health standards to protect most American workers from workplace hazards. OSHA promptly

created new regulations and standards that forced employers to provide safer working conditions

through things such as requiring access to safety equipment like google to protect the eyes and

respirators to protect the lungs. In addition, OSHA provided a way for workers to report non-

compliant employers. Ultimately, OSHA was instrumental in improving and maintaining worker

health, safety, and longevity. (MacLaury, 1981).

Right to Fight-Right to Vote 1971

Prior to 1971, many of our young American soldiers were being sent to Vietnam to die

for their country, while still being denied the right to vote and help determine who their President

and politicians would be as well as what governmental policies would be enacted that directly

impacted their lives. The idea of lowering the voting age was first introduced by Jennings

Randolph in 1942; however, at the time it did not take root. There were several attempts by other

individuals in the years that followed to gain support for an amendment that would allow our

young soldiers the right to participate in elections.

Ultimately, the high death toll of young soldiers in Vietnam became a battle cry for

young Americans to protest and demand their right to be recognized as responsible adults with

the ability to make voting decisions. This led to the support of President Nixon and many other

elected officials, which started the path toward the 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,

which was signed into law in July of 1971. (History.com Staff, 2015).

Nixon and Title IX 1972

Young Americans and ethnic minorities were not the only groups stuck in a battle for

equality. Women were also waging their own battle for recognition in many areas where men

dominated and over-shadowed their potential greatness. One of the biggest areas where this was

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happening was in the arena of women’s athletics, especially at the collegiate level, where

women’s athletics teams was poorly funded and undervalued.

President Nixon saw the need to eliminate the state-sanctioned sexism that was running

ramped in the secondary education sector. He became an advocate of equal access to athletic

funding for women’s sports, which led him to sign Title IX in June of 1972. Title IX made it

illegal for any federally funded education programs to discriminate based on gender. This opened

new doors for women and drastically increased the number of women playing sports in

secondary and post-secondary educational facilities. Ultimately, Title IX broke down gender

barriers giving America the ability to foster amazing female athletic teams, some of which have

gone on to win Olympic gold.

Technological Advancements

Internet and Mass Communication

Since 1945, America has entered the digital age, which has drastically benefited society,

and the world, as a whole. Advanced communications such as the Internet, cellular phones, and

video conferencing or live chat, has increased productivity, availability, and service, while

decreasing cultural barriers, costs, and international distances. In todays’ society you can

communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time of day enabling the ability to conduct

international business without having to incur the expense and lost time of traveling to another

country.

Instant communication and economic growth are great benefits in their own rights;

however, the accessibility of information and educational tools has had, and will continue to

have, an even greater impact on generations to come. Having a world of knowledge and

information at the click of a mouse brings other cultures and traditions from around the world

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instantly to the classroom and the minds of students. This has begun to shrink the boundaries of

our planet and has started to cultivate a more homogenous human species through shared

understanding and growth.

Healthcare Advancements

Technological advancements have also led to increased capabilities in the healthcare

industry. Thanks to technology, today’s healthcare industry has the ability to improve doctor to

doctor and doctor to patient communications, as well as increased capabilities for the research of

cures and medicines. In addition, new medical technology has enable providers and hospitals

with the ability to better track and maintain patients’ medical history, procedures, and

prescriptions, which provides improved services to patients.

Through new and advanced techniques American society has begun to win the war on

cancer with innovative treatments and prevention methods that have decreased the once almost

guaranteed diagnosis of death associated with most cancerous diseases. These advancements

have even provided society with innovative procedures such as micro-surgery, which has almost

completely eliminated the need for invasive and dangerous processes that require long-term

hospital care. Additionally, medical advancements have increased overall life expectancy and

quality of life through the sharing of ground-breaking, life-saving interventions and information

from around the world. In the end, the list of overwhelming medical advancement through

technology are too numerous to count; however, they have provide society with increased

confidence in medical facilities, treatments, and successful outcomes.

Conclusion

Although historical analysis is designed to be an unbiased examination of the past, when

one is forced to choose a side and debate the merits of whether or not American society has

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improved since World War II, the evidence lends itself to a picture of improved change.

Improvement, however, does not mean that American has no challenging issues to face. As a

society the United States still has on going issues with an unstable economy, struggling

government and politicians, and most of all job creation and high unemployment.

Economy

The American economy today highly relies on foreign trading. The nation, as a whole, is

no longer able to produce everything needed to be self-sustaining. With exports outweighing

imports, and assets being sold off, extensive debts make the standard of living increasingly less

affordable. In addition, foreign competition wants to render American society helpless and

highly dependent on their production of goods and services, by making us rely on their

innovations and utilize their financing. This increases economic suffering through the loss of

self-sufficiency, national security, and leverage.

In order to turn this suffering around and destroy the state of helplessness and

dependency, society needs to take an in-depth look at trading practices that have caused deficits.

First it needs to be easier for American companies to compete with outsourced competitors by

making outsourcing tougher and less attractive as an option. Second there needs to be a

recapturing of value for American made and American owned companies and their products. In

addition, America must put more regulation on other countries that do not uphold shared

standards on environmental, labor, and competition policies, which will directly reflect in the

cost of production and imbalanced cost advantages. Finally, American needs to bring back the

ability to sustain itself and rely less on foreign imports. (HEFFNER, 2014).

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Government and Politicians

Americans have come to have a great displeasure with American government, congress

and politicians. They see poor leadership, corruption, and a high level of abusing power. These

aspects, in American minds, contribute to economic hardships and employment issues.

Federal budget deficits, quality and costs of healthcare, and the decline in America’s

education system, to name a few, are all inter-connected with governmental policies and

politicians. The politicians need to take a closer look at policies and how they affect the nation;

not to mention; critically reviewing and amending things that are not improving government

functions. Furthermore, the government needs to place harder restriction to reduce corruption

and the abuse of power, which results in harsher punishments that hold politicians and officials

accountable for their actions. (Riffkin, Jobs, Government, and Economy Remain Top U.S.

Problems, 2015).

Jobs and Unemployment

Fundamentally, the issues related to decreased jobs and higher unemployment can be

traced back the inefficiencies of government and the declining economy. An unstable economy,

high taxation, and poor regulation cause increased outsourcing, which demolishes jobs in

America and leads to higher unemployment rates. This means there are fewer jobs and increased

competition for work, which causes many highly qualified individuals to find themselves either

over or under qualified for the few position available. These are just a few of problems facing

America’s workforce.

Adding to the problem is the issue that every year more Americans are joining a

workforce that cannot sustain the current demand for jobs. In addition, tools and resources

needed to find and maintain a job are declining, while governmental policies lack the ability to

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truly help job seekers. American society is screaming for better regulation, reduced outsourcing,

and increased job-related training and education programs that will assist people in finding and

keeping good jobs, with good pay.

In the end, the lesson is that America, although greatly improved and advance since 1945,

still has a lot of growing to do. Society needs to understand and embrace its past in an effort to

progress even further. This begins with demanding that jobs are brought back to America, that

the deficit is corrected, political corruption is stopped, and that American government begins to

truly work for its citizens, not big business.

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