Economy, Demography and Continuity

Deindustrialisation and its politics

Manufacturing employment fell sharply as production moved abroad and automation advanced. The service and technology sectors grew.

The political consequence matters more than the economic one for exam purposes: manufacturing jobs were disproportionately unionised, and unions had been the organisational backbone of the New Deal coalition. Losing those jobs weakened the coalition itself.

Meanwhile the Sunbelt — the South and Southwest — grew rapidly through air conditioning, defence spending and lower costs. Since House seats and electoral votes follow population, this shifted national political weight toward more conservative states.

Immigration since 1965

The Immigration and Nationality Act (1965) abolished the national-origins quota system that had favoured northern Europe since the 1920s. Immigration shifted toward Latin America and Asia, reshaping the country's demographic profile.

The recurring debates — economic contribution, cultural change, legal status, border enforcement — reproduce the arguments of the 1880s and 1920s with different groups named. That continuity is exactly what a long-essay question wants you to see.

Continuity worth writing about

• Security versus liberty — Sedition Acts → Korematsu → PATRIOT Act.
• Federal power versus states — nullification → secession → civil rights enforcement → contemporary disputes.
• Who counts as American — Chinese Exclusion → 1920s quotas → contemporary immigration politics.