City College of New York

The Seventies

Jose Diaz

HIST 24100 D[38319]

M Vaz

Due: 5/13/19
 The seventies are usually thought of as a forgettable decade. A decade where too much

time was spent “wasted”. For the most part when people think of the sixties they think of an

entire set of political, social and cultural associations and the same could be said of the eighties.

However, when people think of the seventies they think of a time where bad hair, bad clothing

and bad music was the distinctive mark of the time. In his novel titled The Seventies the Great

Shift in American Culture, Society and Politics Bruce J. Schulman argues that the seventies are

in fact a time period where important shifts and transitions took place. He does this by displaying

in his novel the shift of political power, the enormous change in pop culture and the overall

change in the way Americans thought.

To thoroughly explain these transitions, we must first examine the era that came before it,

the sixties. The sixties are for the most part thought of as a time of tremendous prosperity,

democratic rule, government expansion, but most importantly divisiveness. During this decade

America experienced such a great deal of prosperity that there was enough money to fund a war

on poverty through the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 which helped low income members

of society attain training for better jobs among other things. This prosperity also led to the

overall expansion of government. Since most Americans were happy with their style of life, they

easily digested the ideals of the expanding government with its commitment to the protection of

individual rights and promotion of economic prosperity since it wasn’t affecting their standard of

living. But toward the end of the decade America had begun dealing with economic stagflation.

This led to an overall decrease in productivity nationwide.

During this same time period the war in Vietnam was underway and it was an extremely

divisive war which split the democratic party. The youth of the time were very vocal with their

disdain in what they saw as a pointless war, while the average blue-collar Americans were very
pro-war. This led to youth of the time having many different protests with a prime example being

the protests at Colombia university in New York City. Students occupied several different

buildings demanding the school cut ties with the military and the war in Vietnam. During this

period, it seemed as though a revolution was imminent. However, this changed with the Chicago

police riot of 1968. During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago many youths rallied

together in order to once again protest the war in Vietnam. The protest quickly turned violent

with police beating the youth for thirty minutes on national television. This ended up crushing

the morale of the activist youth in the country leading into the seventies. They believed that if it

wasn’t possible to protest the war, they would just refuse to take part in it.

The economic stagflation which took place at the end of the sixties was mostly due to the

falling of industrial America leaving a void in the economy for a brief period. During the post

war era America relied heavily on the north eastern industrial states which are later nicknamed

the rustbelt. These rust belt states were at the center of the American economy and had

flourishing cities during this time period. This led to these states, which for the most part had

democratic views, being the cultural centers of the country and the center of national politics.

However, due to higher energy prices and increasing competition from abroad these states began

to fail, which paved the way for the sunbelt south to begin its growth in the seventies.

The rising of the sunbelt caused major transformations in American society. By the mid-

seventies it was clear the south had undergone changes. Bulldozers had ploughed under farms

and forests and new factories and highways carved up old hunting grounds. Air conditioning

made the extremely hot summers bearable. California and oil-rich Texas had established

themselves as thriving economies, and newer regions of prosperity had begun to emerge

throughout the West. The south had increased productivity and attracted businesses and skilled
workers away from the struggling and divided North which caused northern states to lose

representation in Congress. The Sun Belt attracted domestic and international businesses for

many reasons, including lower energy costs and nonunion wages, and state policies favorable to

business. This new thriving south became the center of politics and culture for the country.

These changes to the south came with an evolution in their political views which ended

up making this new southern perspective the norm of the seventies. No longer was the south a

region of extremist politics on overt racial demagoguery. Southern politics became tamer. Legal

segregation and denying blacks the right to vote was looked down upon. The south had now

outlawed the worst excesses of racism and African Americans began voting in southern

elections. Black officials were elected into office and a new generation of white politicians came

into power which pushed these new ideals. However, the south wasn’t completely open to racial

integration many Americans disproved of many forms of mandatory integration such as

desegregation in busing for example. The new generation of politicians also disproved of

government social programs perceived as beneficial to blacks such as welfare, job training and

urban renewal. These ideals now represented the national mainstream on race relations and

political economy. The south was no longer ashamed of their region and they weren’t seen as out

of step.

With southern ideals being the national mainstream the south and south west wrested

control of national politics. Since the late sixties’ sunbelt candidates have won most presidential

elections. However, sunbelt power hasn’t stopped at the white house. Clinton and his vice

president along with the House Speaker and Senate majority leader during the Clinton

presidency all came from sunbelt states. The national agenda for the seventies was a southern
one of low taxes and minimal public services, military preparedness and a preference for state

and local government over national government and has stayed that way up to the 2000’s.

This growth of the south also caused a southernization of American life. Country music,

cowboy boots, pick up trucks and even the confederate flag had become symbols of an

influential culture. While the actual red neck culture was not relatively large country music

became mainstream. Country artists promoted conservative political policy through their music.

They expressed subtle antiblack and anticity ideals and expressed their disapproval of welfare

and government programs. It seems clear that country music is what helped spread the new

southern political agenda nationwide. Although actual redneck culture wasn’t particularly large,

millions of Americans became what was known as “half a redneck” through country music. The

sales of country records were such as “Red Necks, White Sox, and Blue Ribbon Beer” or

“Redneck!” were in the millions.

Schulman also examines the change in American attitude. The seventies witnessed a

looser code of conduct. Many Americans started to accept things weren’t previously socially

acceptable. Hair was no longer an issue, fashions became outrageous, and sexual behavior

became less restrained. With this room for freedom fashion in the 1970s was about individuality.

Many people began dressings in flashy clothing and growing longer hair alongside facial hair.

The notions of decency, civility and restraint were now second to personal liberation. Although

the fashions may be outrageous this was a big change for American culture which we can see the

effects of even today as this looser code of conduct has been embraced by Americans long-term.

Schulman successfully analyzes the seventies and its changes on society, politics and

culture. He proves that the seventies weren’t just a lost decade but that they reinvented America.

They transformed the south which caused a major shift in the balance of power. This then led to
a southernization of American culture with the help of country music. These years also made

many things socially acceptable which may have seemed outrageous in the decade before.