Conservatism Dbq Essay

A new conservatism developed in American society between the years of 1960 and 1989 out of, simply, a large scale reaction. American society was experiencing a time of increasing freedoms and rights for many oppressed groups; some Americans found this to be promising, exciting, and desirable, while others—those who would develop this new conservatism—found all of the processes occurring to be too radical and in need of slowing or ceasing completely. To put it simply, this new conservatism developed as a reaction to the prominent liberalism present at the beginning of the mentioned period and several years before.

As mentioned, new conservatism was a reaction to an era of liberalism; this era was spurred on directly by the Great Depression,

1), unsuccessful programs (Docs. 2, 3, and 5), and skewed morals (Docs. 4 and 6). They believed that the era’s liberalism was hindering American society, and this belief only grew as time passed; Richard Nixon, for example, was elected in the 1970s off of a catering to a so called conservative ‘silent majority’. Past Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, liberalism in America up to 1989 could be found in welfare programs (Docs. 2 and 3), changing views towards society as a whole (Docs. 4 and 6), ‘hippie’ culture, and more. Threats to ‘traditional values’ could be found in all of these

Barry Goldwater, a senator, writes off “Big Government” and the New Deal as a demonstration of his new conservative beliefs; he is of an affluent social position, so he is unlikely to benefit from the liberalism of the period, making him a member of Nixon’s ‘silent majority’ (Doc. 1). Milton Friedman, an economist, also criticizes the New Deal, but Friedman is employed and likely manages his money very well, meaning that he would not benefit from the New Deal policies that he criticizes, so, like Goldwater, he is part of the ‘silent majority’ and does not benefit from liberalism as much as its supporters or at all (Doc. 2). Opposition to a less religious society comes from Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority; as the founder of an organization and a Christian, Falwell doesn’t likely benefit from liberalism, and he quite obviously feels threatened by it, claiming that “…[liberals] have learned a loss of respect for human life”, influencing his new conservative beliefs (Doc. 4). Finally, the Republican Party itself criticizes the Carter administration in 1980; by definition, Republicans of the time were conservative, and the people who controlled the party were likely affluent and certainly had power in society (Doc. 5). They would not support liberalism because they did not benefit from it (Doc.