American Decades Primary Sources: 1970-1979

The 1970s continued the tumult of the previous decade with new political and social conflicts. While the country remained embroiled in the Vietnam War for the first half of the decade, the Nixon administration found itself sinking under the weight of the Watergate scandal. President Richard Nixon ultimately resigned before he could be impeached for his infractions, but not before he pulled U.S. troops out of Vietnam. The U.S. Supreme Court both pleased and appalled the public, depending on ones opinion of the matter, when it ruled that abortion was legal. A medical, social, and moral controversy surrounded the first test tube baby. By the decades close, floppy disks were for sale, Microsoft was founded, and Americans had been taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran.

The following documents are just a sampling of the offerings available in this volume:

• Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen
• Looking Out for Number One by Robert J. Ringer
• Now is the Time of the Furnaces… And the Light Will be Seen Kent State SDS Flyer, and statements from witnesses to events that led to the deaths of four students
• Leisure suits -- from the Sears, Roebuck Catalog
• Yellow Ribbon, the diary of Iran Hostage Crisis survivor Bruce Lanigen
• U.S. v. Nixon, the case against Richard M. Nixon
• Self-help books: The Book of est and Im OK, Youre OK
• A Personal Report from Ms.| an artic