19th Amendment
Passed in 1920 it granted women the right to vote under the same rules as men
Women’s Bureau of Labour
Set up in 1920 to advance women’s working conditions and helped increase the number of women in work from 7,640,000 in 1910 to 13,007,000 in 1940
Flappers
Women in the 1920s who went against social norms. They worked, wore short dresses, smoked etc. Shifted public opinion on women however many stopped being flappers once married
Great Depression (Women)
Many women got jobs to support their husbands who had lost jobs during the Great Depression. However women could not work more than 10 hrs and so had to break this rule to work more
New Deal (Women)
Did little to help women
Eleanor Roosevelt set up Camp Tera to help women. However they were not paid and was not initially federally funded
Black women were worse off then white women and had less help and one black women set up the Housewives League and encouraged shopping at black stores
WWII (Women)
Women again took up jobs of men who had gone off the fight
- Women’s Land Army reformed
- Women were able to train for jobs during the war
- Still suffered from poor conditions especially black women who were treated horribly
Post-WWII (Women)
Despite initial loss of jobs following the return of men the number of married women working increased from 10.1% to 22% by 1950.
Men were also now more in favour of married women working with their opinion changing
Suburbs
- The development of suburbs changed social expectations of women who were to stay at home and look after the children.
- 19 million more people lived in suburbs in 1960 than 1950
- Women had lots of free leisure time due to time saving devices
- Those in cities didn’t change much because of suburbs
Actions of JFK
In 1961, President Kennedy, influenced by Eleanor Roosevelt, set up a Commission of Enquiry on the Status of Women. Its results were published in 1963
Equal Pay Act
1963 prohibited discrimination of wages on the basis of gender and opened up more job opportunities for women
However was not enforced properly
Betty Friedan
In 1963, Betty Friedan, a psychologist and journalist, published a book called The Feminine Mystique. Friedan’s book got many women thinking about women’s rights. This spurred some women (especially educated, middle-class, white women) to organise themselves and work more actively for women’s rights.
National Organisation for Women
National Organization for Women (NOW), set up on 30 June 1966. Friedan was one of its founder members.
The national organisations aimed to work within the political system to get equality and better enforcement of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Pay Act.
Opposition to women’s movement
- Some conservative women like Phyllis Schlafly did not want change for women
- Many men objected to changes not helped by radical women declaring on men the enemy
- Not all women wanted abortions and free access to contraception
Gains for women
- In 1967, President Johnson extended his executive order calling for affirmative action to improve employment conditions for those discriminated against on the grounds of race, creed or colour to cover sexual discrimination as well.
- In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled on the Eisenstadt v Baird case, allowing access to contraception to unmarried as well as married women.
- Abortion was federally legalised on 22 January 1973, by a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Roe v Wade
Pre-WWI Immigration
Open door policy allowing all people in to the ‘melting pot’
The Dillingham Commission
Investigated effect of immigration between 1907 and 1911
Determined it posed a threat to the American way but distinguished ‘old’ immigration from Ireland, Britain etc and ‘new’ immigrations from south and eastern Europe
Emergency Quota Act
1921 set immigration to a limit of 3% of the number of people from that country living in the US in the 1910 census
1st Red Scare
Made people afraid of those from Eastern Europe who were seen as linked to Communism
Great Depression (Immigration)
As there was no limit of immigration from South America there were many Mexicans in the US. During Great Depression over 400,000 Mexican workers were deported to open up jobs
‘Melting Pot’
Idea that America was a mix of people from everywhere. However most people gravitated to areas which developed like Chinatown and Little Italy
Impact of WWII on Immigration
Those descended from Italians, Germans and Japanese considered enemies
Internment of Japanese following Pearl Harbour
Many joined the army however were sent to Europe not the Pacific
Post-WWII (Immigration)
- After the Second World War, the government passed the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, which still used quotas.
- From 1953 onwards, a variety of ‘refugee Acts’ allowed a set number of refugees into the USA outside of the quota.
- The government also had difficulty in coping with large numbers of refugees, as when Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959. The USA opposed Castro and, over the next three years, 200,000 Cubans fled to the USA.
Vietnam War (Immigration)
Led to over 700,000 immigrants from Vietnam
Operation Wetback
Deportation of millions of Mexicans and South Americans who had immigrated illegally. Many however, were legal American citizens
