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. …show more content…
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 …show more content…
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