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Period: to
Social Reform (1960-Today)
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FDA approves sale of birth control.
Maragret Sanger was the first to promote birth control, opening a clinic in 1916. In the 1950s Gregory Pincus a biochemist and John Rock a gynocologist began work on the birth control pill. It was later approved by the FDA on May 9, 1960. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination by employers for both African Americans and women. It also removed the legal barriers African Americans faced when trying to vote and outlawed segregation in places of public accomodation. Johnson also established agencies to ensure these laws would be followed. -
Elementary+Secondary Education/ Higher Education Acts
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided federal support for public and parochial schools. It provided texts, materials, and Head Start. The Higher Education Act provided federally-funded loans and scholarships for college students. -
Voting Rghts Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1964 was forced through Congress by President Johnson following civil rights demonstrations in the South. The Act provided federal intervention to to protect African American voting and voting registration in six southern states. The Act applied to local, state, and federal elections. -
Congress passes Immigration and Naturalization Act
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 is also known as the Hart-Celler Act. It was designed to reunite immigrant families and attract skilled labor. The Act got rid of the quota system previously in place, which had been discriminatory. The number of immigrants from Asia multiplied immensely as a result. -
National Organization for Women (NOW) founded
Betty Friedan and other feminists founded the National Organization for Women to fight for equal rights for women, changes in divorce laws, and legalization of abortion. They were determined to show their abilities so that discrimination would stop. Regarding abortion, women argued they had the right to have control over their body. Also, the group advocated for an equal rights amendment, which would later lead to the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by Congress in 1972. -
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed by Congress
The Equal Rights Amendment was designed to make it unconstitutional to deny equal rights because of a person's sex. However, it fell three states short of ratification to actually be added to the Constitution. This is due to resistance by conservative people like Phyllis Schlafly who thought the ERA would make women subject to the draft and have other rights taken away. -
Roe v. Wade case decided
The Roe vs. Wade case was decided in 1973 in favor of abortion. Abortion was legalized by the Supreme Court by asserting the Right to Privacy and stated that the right was broad enough to encompass a woman's decision on weather to or not to abort her pregnancy. Religious groups and other pro-life people joined together in protest to this decision. -
Vermont is the first state to recognize same sex unions.
In July of 2000 Vermont was the first state to recognize same sex unions which was not a surprise because Vermont was a leader in protecting the rights of gays and lesbians in the 1990s. The civil unions gave gay couples some of the same legal rights as married couples. This event would later lead Massachusetts to become the first state to recognize same-sex marriage in 2004. -
Arizona Immigration Bill enacted
The Arizona Bill was the strictest anti-illegal immigration bill enacted in a very long time. It was created to restrict illegal immigration and based on the idea that illegal immigrants were bringing in drugs. This bill started a lot of controversy in America. This set up a trespassing provision which was the first of its kind. Obama later denounced the bill as racial profiling and had legal action taken against it.
