Explain the reasons why a new conservatism rose to prominence in the United States be-

tween 1960 and 1989.

Conservatism grew drastically between 1960 and 1989 in the United States as the country
progressed from the Progressive Era rolling into the New Era. The country tried several policies,
both domestic and foreign which spawned significant change to the people and what other coun-
tries viewed the United States as. This period experienced increased conservative bias throughout
the entire country which was caused by the repercussion of the extreme social movements con-
joined with the abating economy and the reputation on a global scale. These changes in the coun-
try caused the rise of conservatism.
The country was rapidly progressing, and one of the biggest movements that helped this
progress was the Civil Rights Movement. This movement primarily focused on the obtaining of
equal rights for all the citizens of the country. As this advanced, a plethora of societal changes
were occurring in the daily lives of the people. One of the most controversial matters was with
women. More than forty percent of the women were working, and were also more sexually ac-
tive, partly due to the increased drinking of the men in family forcing the women to take respon-

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sibility of heading the house. This led to high abortion rates and high use of birth control. Also
this decreased the birth rate in American society. Divorce rates increased drastically with all

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these transformations. Through all of this, many people were starting to question the direction in
which America was proceeding. Many felt that American culture was being lost, and principles

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broken. This was definitely one of the biggest reason for the rise of conservatism in this period.
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Additionally, the economic and political progress of the African Americans. Furthermore, gender
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discrimination bands, such as Title IX, and this had definitely angered many who were opposed
to the idea of this kind of progress. This apparent loss of tradition and culture was shunned by
many who thought it would be best for the country to revive its previous policies regarding the
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social issues. These people were the conservationists who believed that such change was un-
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healthy, and should be reversed.

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Another reason for the rise of conservatism was the crippling economy. The country was
experiencing the Cold war, which involved other conflicts such as the Vietnam war. The escalat-
ing war hurt the economy in many ways. For instance, decisions made by some of the Presidents
regarding the country’s foreign policy resulted in some unwanted repercussions. During the Viet-
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nam war, President Kennedy decided that the country should only participate in minimal in-
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volvement and believed that would be sufficient. But the proceeding President, President John-
son, made a different choice. He wanted to increase US involvement to its highest and sought to
end the war this way. But unfortunately the war escalated and the American soldiers were at
is

stake. The South Vietnamese soldiers decide to take advantage of the American soldiers and
leave all the major battles to them, in order to reduce causalities. Therefore, thousands and thou-
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sands of American troops were dying with no positive outcome and no advantages for America.
The American public was starting to get upset with the war and therefore became one of the most
unpopular wars. This was an obvious bruise to the economy. America supplied South Vietnam,
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with nothing in return. During his term, the country’s unemployment rate dropped, although in-
flation was on the rise. The next president, Richard Nixon, ended the Vietnam war, but was in-
volved in his own scandals, with little attention to certain aspects of the country. This slight igno-
rance led to very high unemployment and inflation. The same continued with the next president,
President Ford. Then, under President Carter, these rates skyrocketed. The country was in bad
shape, and many conservatives blamed the domestic policies of President Kennedy, which was

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 called the New Frontier, and President Johnson, named the great Society. These conservationists
believed that these policies were to be stopped and had ideas for change. This was another major
cause for the rise of the conservationists. Although, under President Ronald Reagan these rates
fell, but the country went into a large debt.
Lastly, another cause of the rise of conservationism was due to the international standing
of America. Many conservationists disagreed with what America had with her policies, espe-
cially her containment policy. America has involved herself with other countries and their mat-
ters. Many of the conservatives did not believe in this policy and advised different.
Conservationism was always there, it was just less active preaching out loud. But once
they believed the country was starting to go haywire, they rose to spur reform. This period is
similar to the Second Great Awakening, regarding the fact that both sought change through reli-
gious means and strived to revive societal issues.

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