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The United States is a country that has had growing pains since its conception on July 4th 1776. Many of the issues that have caused problems are social, regarding people’s individual rights. During many times throughout the history of this great nation, people have been the victims of discrimination. The United States should be a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people, however sometimes the government has lost it’s vision when it comes to certain individuals. Persistence and perseverance have helped few people to teach the many that rights are rights, and a government should support the individual rights of its people.

Social Problems During The 1950’s

The 50’s were a good time for the United States. The second war in Europe had ended giving rise to an economic and population boom. (Davidson 2006) Americans were spending money. Men who recently returned from war were going back to work, and the women were ready to start their families.(Davidson 2006) Our nations population exploded, and with this explosion came a willingness to buy the perfect life. Americans wanted a house in the suburbs complete with a great lawn and flashy car.(Davidson 2006) After the war, Americans began to have strong anti-communist feelings. These feelings were based out of fear. Many felt that we had waited too long to enter the war, and the spread of the communist ideals could have spread too far. If we had waited any longer we may not have been able to stop Adolf Hitler at all.(Davidson 2006) The government began to realize that the spread of Communist posed a threat to national security.

Senator Joseph McCarthy began to point out different weaknesses that the United States government could be prone to. McCarthy rose to public view when he discussed the weaknesses that government may not have been aware of.

…McCarthy launched a series of interlocking, and incendiary, charges: (1) That the Communist global apparatus had made a sustained attempt to penetrate the U.S. government and subvert its foreign policy decisions, most specifically toward China; (2) that official defenses against such penetration, especially in the State Department, ranged from weak to nonexistent; (3) that the facts about all this had been concealed from the American peopleвЂ"ignored, down-played, or covered up by the authorities whose job it was to guard against such dangers. (Evans 1997)

Once these statements were made, the government began to panic. They needed to be absolutely sure that no Communist spies had infiltrated the different government agencies. McCarthyism was a way of capitalizing on the counties anti-communist views. The country needed to be kept safe, but McCarthyism walked all over peoples individual rights.(Davidson 2006) Hollywood actors and directors were put on lists denoting them as Communists. These lists lead to the actors and directors not being able to work, and many other people suffered by being called Communists.(Davidson 2006) It is important that a government protect her people, but sometimes hysteria can lead to places where it should not go.

There were areas in the State Department that needed some improvement; this is clear. The problem is when mass hysteria causes a witch-hunt that accuses innocent people.(Davidson 2006) Many times these people have no defense to the accusations, and suffer many years of embarrassment and humiliation. McCarthyism was bad for our country. The United States was certainly threatened by different Communist regimes, but we always must remember our individual rights.

American Social Problems of the 60’s

The 60’s were plagued by many different social problems. During this time period young Americans were rebelling against their parents values. This created many different problems; promiscuous sex and heavy drug lead to many interesting news stories. The most important social change of the decade was the Civil Rights Movement.

When one takes a look through American history in the 60’s one problem comes to mind. This problem was the Civil Rights Movement. The fight for Civil Rights for African-Americans began in the fifties, but people were still fighting for their rights in the 60’s During this time, many powerful African-American leaders rose to the spot light. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the inequalities African-Americans faced on a daily basis.(Davidson 2006) Dr. King taught us that peaceful protests gathered greater results. “ To resist without bitterness, to be cursed and not reply, to be beaten and not hit back”.(Davidson 2006) These actions showed the strength of African-Americans while fighting for their rights. Peaceful protests lead to many more protests all over the South. Segregation was a social problem in itself. Segregating once race from another only shows one races’ superiority. In America all men and women are created equal, and no one person is above another. On August 28th 1963 Dr. King organized the Civil Rights March on Washington. This showed the number of people that were affected by a lack of Civil Rights. This march called for African-Americans and Caucasian Americans to live in a color blind society.(Davidson 2006)

This period of time strained the relationship between African-Americans and Caucasian Americans in the South. There were constant protests and crime problems.

There were over three hundred incidents of violence in Mississippi during the summer of 1964, including beatings and murders. Civil Rights workers were jailed routinely and racist white prisoners managed to savagely beat them. Black Men who registered to vote sometimes had their hands and feet bound with barbed wire, after which they were dumped in the river.(Rossman 2005)

This time period was violent and frightening. It is had to imagine what these people lived through. One needs to remember that these events took place 44 years ago. The African-American people finally got their true freedom in 1964 with the passing of the Civil Rights Act. This made Segregation illegal and protected all races from employment discrimination.(Davidson 2006) African-American citizens finally were able to have their voice heard a few months later with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.(Davidson 2006)

American Social Problems of the 70’s

The Vietnam War caused many protests among America’s college students. Young Americans were tired of seeing their friends and family die in a war they deemed pointless. Over a period of time the anti-war sentiment grew and university students around the country were protesting.(Davidson 2006)

Kent University was a devastating blow to our country. Four