Introduction
The unity of the people is a fundamental factor for the productive and prosperous existence of any state. The idea of unification is especially essential for such a multi-ethnic and multicultural country like the US. The first significant measures to unite the Americans were launched by the government in the 50s and led to conflicting results in the 60s. The tone and nature of American society differed at these time intervals for several reasons related to domestic and foreign policy. The generational factor also played a significant role in the generational factor; namely, youth were “living under the older generation’s restrictive rules, and regulations, which most youths felt were antiquate.” The purpose of this paper is to consider the main components of the American Consensus and its changes in periods in the 50s and 60s of the twentieth century.
American Consensus in 1945-1963
The complex social factors that unified the American community in the 50s can be called the American Dream. The first step in bringing Americans together was the Fair Deal socioeconomic program by President Truman, which provided Public Security and expanding of the civil rights of the People of Color. According to Corbett et al., “he wanted the Fair Deal to include Americans of color and became the first president to address the National Association for the Advancement of People of Color (NAACP).” Another integral part of the American dream was the Levittown, which set common standards for affordable suburban life and became symbols of American houses in cinema. It was the state that was the first to support the struggle of African Americans for civil rights and launched desegregation and integration policies. However, the social and cultural situation has changed dramatically in the next decade.
American Consensus after 1963
The 60s are certainly a period of Cultural Revolution and even cultural war, not only in the US but throughout the Western world. This decade is marked by the intensification of the struggle of ethnic and gender minorities for civil rights, which has led to a large number of protests and the final abolition of the segregation policy. The white population, who represented the middle class living mostly in Levittown, was wary of youth liberalization and an egalitarian domestic policy and gradually sided with the Republicans. These parallel processes have created a split in the American community. The 60s are also marked by the beginning of the distrust paradigm of the population towards the state, which led to absolute disappointment in the state apparatus in 70 due to the economic crisis. The reason for this was the leak of the Pentagon Papers. The sixties can be seen as an awakening of civil society.
Conclusion
This paper considers the American Consensus of the 50s and the subsequent social and cultural split in the 60s. The main components of the American alliance are the Fair Deal, Levittown, and the start of the African American community integration policy. The continued struggle of minorities for civil rights led to aggressive protests, which caused fear in the white suburban community. Society also opened its eyes to the bloody foreign policy of the state. The 70s may be marked by the depression of the American community caused by conflicting results of the 60s and the economic crisis.
Bibliography
Corbett, P. Scott, Volker Janssen, John. M. Lund, Todd Pfannestiel, Paul Vickery. U. S. History. Houston: OpenStax, 2017.
Anderson, Terry H. “1968: The End and the Beginning in the United States and Western Europe,” South Central Review, no. 16 (1999): 1-15.