Other Movements of the 1960’s
11.8.2, 11.10.5, 11.11.2
EQ#8: How did the rights movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s
expand rights for diverse groups of Americans?
Hispanic Civil Rights Movement
• Spanish-speakers
arrived in America in
the 1500s
• Spain controlled Central and
South America as well as large
parts of North America
• the US bought Florida in 1819
• the US added Texas in 1845
• the US added the Southwest in
1850
• the US added Puerto Rico in
1898
• Hispanics are the
largest minority in
the US today
Hispanic Rights Movement
• Hispanic immigration
increased after 1965
• Immigration and Nationality
Act
• Mexican immigration
increased after the 1911
revolution
• the bracero program of the
1940s
• from 1960s to 1980s
over 2 million
immigrants came to the
US
Hispanic Civil Rights Movement
• Cesar Chavez
• migrant workers tried to
form unions but failed
• long hours, low wages, poor
housing, no healthcare,
exposure to chemicals
• Cesar Chavez organized
the United Farm Workers
• he used strikes,
boycotts, and hunger
strikes to gain support
for his cause
United Farm Workers
• in 1975, California
passed a law to
recognize the rights of
farmworkers to
unionize
Chicano Movement
• pushed for political
gains for Hispanics
• lawsuits and elections
• cultural education at college
and high school
• La Raza
• by 1980, six Hispanics
were in Congress
• Bill Richardson of New Mexico
ran for president in 2008
• debates for both democrats
and republicans were held on
Hispanic television channels in
2008
American Indian Movement
• AIM sought political rights
for Native Americans
• focus was on Indians in
urban ghettos
• land, mineral, and water
rights
• self-government (fishing
rights and religious rights)
• Indians have more power
to make their own rules
today
Other Civil Rights Movement
• activism became more
militant (less peaceful)
• in 1969, Indians seized
Alcatraz for 2 years
• in 1972, Indians marched
from San Francisco to DC
and occupied the Bureau of
Indian Affairs
• in 1976, several protests
contrasted the bicentennial
with the state of Indians
Consumer Rights
• Unsafe at Any Speed,
1965
• traffic accidents and
fatalities were on the rise
• Ralph Nader’s book
showed that car makers
cared more for profit
than safety
• new laws required seat
belts in all cars
• National Traffic and Motor
Vehicle Safety Act, 1966
Chevy Corvair
Consumer Rights
• Occupational Safety and
Health Administration
(OSHA)
• OSHA requires
businesses to provide
basic safety standards
for its employees
• guards on all moving parts
• permissible exposure limits
• personal protective equipment
• blood borne pathogens
• exposure to asbestos