Hello, I'm Mr. Marchin, and thank you for joining me for today's history lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources today, and my top priority is to make sure that by the end of our lesson, you are able to successfully meet our learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on Civil Rights in the USA where we've been asking ourselves, how successful was the American Civil Rights Movement? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to compare and assess the impact of the New Frontier and Great Society programmes in the USA.

There are three keywords which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are regeneration, Social Security, and Congress.

Regeneration is the process of improving a place or system, especially to make it more active or successful.

Social Security refers to a benefit system which provided payments to vulnerable groups such as the elderly or the unemployed.

And Congress is the name of the group of politicians who vote on laws for the whole of the USA.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and we'll begin by thinking about presidential policies.

In years between 1961 and 1969, two men led the USA as President.

John F.

Kennedy, otherwise known as JFK and Lyndon B.

Johnson, otherwise known as LBJ.

During their terms as president both JFK and LBJ pursued ambitious plans of regeneration in the USA.

So, let's think about what we've heard so far.

How can historians tell that both JFK and LBJ supported major change in the USA? Is it because both presidents argued that they should have more power, because both presidents had ambitious regeneration plans, or because both presidents believed that the USA should become a communist country? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

We can tell that both JFK and LBJ supported major change because both had their own ambitious regeneration plans for the USA.

JFK explained that the USA faced increased dangers abroad and many changes at home.

Kennedy promised that his New Frontier programme would respond to these changes to strengthen the USA and help all Americans.

The president said, "The world is changing.

It is time for a new generation of leadership, new men to cope with new problems and new opportunities." So, what name was given to President Kennedy's plans for regeneration in the USA? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was the New Frontier.

That was the name of President Kennedy's plans for regeneration in the USA.

After Kennedy was assassinated, LBJ became president in 1963.

Johnson proposed his own regeneration programme for the USA as he promised a Great Society for the American people.

In fact, LBJ said, "The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use our wealth to advance the quality of our American civilization." So let's think about what LBJ said about the Great Society programme in a little bit more depth.

Which of the following quotes best demonstrates that LBJ supported regeneration? Is it where he said the challenge of the next half century, we have the wisdom, or advance the quality of our American civilization? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

We can tell that this shows LBJ supported regeneration because when he talks about the idea of advancing, that means improving, so he was looking to create a higher quality American civilization for the people of the United States.

Both JFK's New Frontier and LBJs Great Society planned for widespread change in the USA, including civil rights progress, reductions in unemployment and poverty, improved education, greater access to healthcare, and even environmental protection and improvement.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that says, JFK and LBJ planned for change in many areas, not only for civil rights.

Is that statement true or false? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the New Frontier and Great Society mainly focused on civil rights and improving the USA's military strength.

The second says that the New Frontier and Great Society included plans to reduce poverty and protect the environment.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was B.

The New Frontier and Great Society included plans to reduce poverty and protect the environment, as well as making progress on civil rights.

So we can tell that these presidential plans were really far-reaching.

So we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about presidential policies into practise.

I want you to summarise what the New Frontier and Great Society were.

Your answer may refer to the aims of the New Frontier and Great Society and key individuals who associated with both programmes.

So pause a video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, I asked you to summarise what the New Frontier in Great Society were, and your answer may have included.

The New Frontier in Great Society were programmes for regeneration in the USA introduced in the 1960s.

President Kennedy proposed a New Frontier, and President Johnson promised a Great Society for Americans when he became president.

These regeneration plans focused on improvements across a wide range of areas, including civil rights, poverty, and the environment.

So really well done if your own response looks something like that model there.

And now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today where we are going to think about JFK and the New Frontier.

JFK's assassination meant that he never had the full time he had expected to implement his New Frontier programme.

Nevertheless, efforts at regeneration were made in a wide range of areas during Kennedy's short term as president.

President Kennedy stated that he was committed to supporting the Civil Rights Movement and created the Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity or the CEEO to tackle job discrimination against African Americans.

However, the CEEO only helped those who already had a job and even then only employees of the federal government, meaning that it provided no help to the majority of black Americans.

In fact, by 1963, the unemployment rate for African Americans remained twice that of white Americans.

Unemployment was unintentionally made worse by some New Frontier measures.

JFK made $900 million available to companies to encourage job growth, worker training and investment in new technology.

However, in some cases, new technology meant that factories required fewer workers, so people lost their jobs.

Unemployment did fall overall during Kennedy's presidency, but only slightly, remaining just above 5% from 1960 through to 1963.

All the same JFK did succeed in raising the minimum hourly wage from $1 to $1.

25, helping workers earning lower incomes.

And he also signed the 1963 Equal Pay Act, which made it illegal to pay women less than men for the same work.

Furthermore, Social Security benefits were increased by 20% in 1961, providing more support for the unemployed and the elderly.

Okay, so let's check our understanding of everything that we've heard so far about JFK and the New Frontier.

We have a statement on the screen which says, JFK support for business investment in technology significantly reduced unemployment.

Is that statement true or false? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that businesses were able to grow, but because of the new technology, some needed less workers.

And the second says that most businesses no longer needed any workers leading to significant increases in unemployment.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was A.

JFK Support for new technology did help many businesses to grow, but because of this new technology, some companies also needed less workers, which created small increases in unemployment in particular areas.

And let's try another question.

How did Social Security payments change under JFK? Was it that they increased by 20% to support vulnerable groups, that they decreased by 20% to encourage people to work, or that they were not changed at all during Kennedy's presidency? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A.

Under JFK Social Security payments were increased by 20%, helping to support vulnerable groups such as the unemployed and the elderly.

The New Frontier also addressed problems with housing, education and healthcare.

A housing act was passed by Congress, which enabled people in deprived areas to access loans to improve their housing.

It was intended that the housing Act would help deal with the problem of slums in American cities, but most poor Americans simply could not afford the loan repayments so made no use of these funds.

Congress also proved an obstacle to greater change as JFK required its agreement to pass some of his biggest reforms. Kennedy shared plans to provide health insurance, which he called Medicare for elderly and poor Americans to help them afford healthcare.

But this was blocked by Congress.

Similarly, JFK's plans to increase federal funding for schools were blocked by southern politicians who feared these funds would be used to force through further school desegregation.

So, let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

Why did the New Frontier deliver little extra support for people trying to access medical treatment? Was it because JFK included no healthcare policies in his New Frontier programme, because JFK struggled to overcome opposition in Congress to his Medicare plan, or because JFK was assassinated before he had an opportunity to try and make healthcare changes.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

The reason there was little extra support for people trying to access medical treatments under JFK's time as president was because he struggled to overcome opposition in Congress to his Medicare plans.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about JFK and the New Frontier into practise.

I want you to provide three examples, which that the New Frontier was a success and three examples which suggest that the New Frontier success was limited.

So, pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, really well done for all of your hard work on that task.

Really a lot to think about when we are trying to identify examples to prove particular points of view.

So, I asked you to provide three examples which suggested that the New Frontier was a success, and your answers may have included, that Social Security payments were increased by 20%, that the minimum wage rose from $1 per hour to $1.

25, and that the CEEO challenged workplace discrimination against African Americans.

I also asked you to provide three examples which suggested that the New Frontier success was limited, and your answers for that may have included, that the use of new technologies led to some Americans losing their jobs, that Congress blocked JFK's Medicare plans for affordable healthcare, and that the black American unemployment rate was still double the white American rate in 1963.

So really well done if your own responses looked something like those answers in our model.

And now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we are going to think about LBJ and the Great Society.

After becoming President, Lyndon B.

Johnson devoted considerable effort to his Great Society programme.

However, some critics, including many civil rights campaigners, argued that the president could have achieved more had he not also been committed to fighting a costly war in Vietnam.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, what did some critics suggest prevented LBJ from pursuing his Great Society more effectively? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was the Vietnam War.

Some of LBJs critics said that the president's commitment to fighting America's costly and bloody involvement in the Vietnam War distracted him from pursuing his Great Society programme at home more effectively.

As a politician with much greater experience than JFK, LBJ found it easier to deal with other politicians and overcome opposition to his plans in Congress.

President Johnson also benefited from public sympathy after Kennedy's assassination to argue that passing new civil rights legislation would honour JFK's legacy of support for civil rights.

Indeed, LBJ oversaw the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, which effectively removed all remaining Jim Crow laws in the South.

By the end of Johnson's presidency, segregation had been banned in all public spaces in the South, and most of the black population living there was registered to vote.

So, which two things did LBJ approve in response to the Civil Rights Movement? Was it the Civil Rights Act, the Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, or CEEO, or the Voting Rights Act? Remember, you are looking for two answers that are correct in this question.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were A and C.

LBJ managed to pass both the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in response to the Civil Rights Movement, which meant that by the end of his presidency, all public spaces in the South had seen segregation banned, and most of the black population living there was registered to vote.

LBJs Great Society went beyond civil rights legislation.

In 1964, the president began a Poverty Tour visiting some of the most disadvantaged parts of the USA alongside the national media.

It was at this time that LBJ declared an all out war on poverty.

The minimum wage was increased once again from $1.

25 per hour to $1.

40.

Meanwhile, the job Corps was set up to help train disadvantaged high school leavers and ensure they could find employment.

Funding was also provided to clear inner city slums and construct new housing for Americans on low incomes whilst minimum standards for housing were also introduced.

By 1967, the federal government was spending four times as much on support for poor families as it had in 1961.

All of this helped protect vulnerable Americans from the worst effects of poverty.

Although inequalities remained the proportion of both white and black Americans living in desperate poverty fell between 1959 and 1970.

Whilst average family incomes also increased consistently during the 1960s.

For instance, if we look at the table on the screen, we can see that for white families, the average income rose from $5,835 per year in 1960 to $10,236 by 1970, and even for non-white families, whilst they were earning less, their average income still rose in that period from $3,233 in 1960 to $6,516 per year by 1970.

So, let's check our understanding of everything we've heard so far.

I want you to study the data shown in the table.

Based on this data, which inference is most valid? That the Great Society had a greater impact on improving wealth than the New Frontier, that the New Frontier and Great Society almost eliminated wealth inequality, or that the Great Society had a lesser impact on improving wealth than the New Frontier.

To help you answer this question, you are really gonna have to think about the dates when the New Frontier and Great Society programmes were in place.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A.

From the data we've been presented with, we could infer that the Great Society had a greater impact on improving wealth than the New Frontier.

For example, we can see that in the years when the New Frontier was in action, so between 1960 and 1963, there was some increase in average wages, but not by much, whether we look at the incomes of white families or non-white families.

However, we think about the years when the Great Society programme was in action, so between 1964 and 1969, we can see that it was a much more substantial increase in the incomes of both white and non-white families rising by a few thousand dollars in both instances.

LBJ also argued that improving education was critical to escaping poverty.

By introducing Project Headstart, an Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and a higher education Act, LBJ increased funding for schools, colleges, and universities, and increased support targeted at low income families to help them access a good education.

In fact, federal spending on education tripled from $4 billion in 1964 to $12 billion in 1967.

President Johnson successfully overcame opposition to JFK's Medicare plans and gained support for a closely related Medicaid programme.

Between 1964 and 1967, federal spending on healthcare also tripled mostly to fund Medicare and Medicaid, which ensured the elderly, unemployed, and those on low incomes could still access medical treatments.

The health of Americans was also safeguarded by new environmental laws, such as the 1963 Clean Air Act, and 1965 Water Quality Act, which tightened controls on pollution.

So, let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing number from the following sentence.

Federal government spending on healthcare and education was blank times larger in 1967 than it had been in 1964.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing number was three.

Federal government spending on healthcare and education was three times larger in 1967 than it had been in 1964.

So we can see that President Johnson made really big investment into these areas as part of his Great Society programme.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge from today's lesson into practise.

So I want you to answer the following question.

Did JFK's New Frontier or LBJs Great Society have a greater impact on regeneration in the USA? Explain your answer.

You must refer to both programmes as part of your response, and you may consider ways that you can relate or directly compare the impact of each programme.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you, did JFK's New Frontier or LBJ's Great Society have a greater impact on regeneration in the USA? And your answer may have included, LBJs Great Society had a greater impact on regeneration in the USA than JFK's New Frontier.

In part, this is because LBJ was able to successfully implement a wider range of measures than JFK could.

Whereas Congress blocked JFK's Medicare proposals, LBJ successfully passed Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, ensuring that vulnerable groups like the elderly could access medical treatments.

Furthermore, the Great Society created more measurable benefits for Americans.

The average incomes of both white and black American families increased much more significantly during LBJs presidency than during JFK's.

Therefore, it could be argued that Americans experienced a wider range and more noticeable improvements to their lives as a result of the Great Society programme than they did under the New Frontier.

So really well done if your own response looked something like that model, which we've just seen.

Alternatively, your answer may have included, JFK's New Frontier could be considered more impactful because of the influence it had on LBJs programme.

The New Frontier often began work on regeneration, which the Great Society was able to continue.

This was the case with healthcare where LBJ increased access to medical treatments by passing Medicare.

A plan first introduced as part of JFK's New Frontier.

Similarly, the Great Society followed the New Frontier's lead by increasing the national minimum wage to support low income workers.

This suggests that the Great Society was often inspired by the New Frontier.

Furthermore, LBJ's success on civil rights partly came from his ability to convince other politicians that new laws would honour the legacy of JFK, who declared its support for the Civil Rights Movement before his assassination.

So again, if your answer looked something like that model, which we've just seen, really well done.

And that means we've now reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about the New Frontier and Great Society.

We've seen that JFK and LBJ both promised regeneration for the USA.

JFK introduced his New Frontier programme, and LBJ introduced a wide range of measures as part of his Great Society programme.

Average incomes rose and poverty levels fell during the 1960s, though white Americans remained better off than others.

Both Kennedy and Johnson provided new funding for services like education and healthcare, especially to support access for the poor.

And Congress blocked some of JFK's policies and critics argued LBJ was distracted from the Great Society but the Vietnam War.

So really well done for all of the effort which you've put into today's lesson, it's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about civil rights in the USA and continue to ask ourselves, how successful was the American Civil Rights Movement?.