Identifications:
·
Yuppies/VCRs/Three Mile Island
o
Yuppies: young, urban professionals who wore
ostentatious gear such Rolex watches or BMW cars. they came to symbolize the
increased pursuit of wealth and materialism of Americans in the 1980s,
represented decade of greed, stopped being radical, worried about weight.
o
VCRs: video cassette recorders became popular in
the late 70's that allowed viewers to tape and view later their favorite
programs and to rent movies on cassette. As entertainment became privatized,
families stayed home with the VCR instead of going to the movies
o
Three Mile Island: 1979 an accident at the
nuclear plant at this location that caused a radiation leak and forced the
evacuation of 140,000 people near the site. the story made headlines around the
world and seemed to confirm people's fears about nuclear power.
·
Roe v. Wade/Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA)/AIDS/Moral Majority/televangelists
o
Roe v. Wade: the 1973 Supreme Court decision
holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. the decision
forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy,
permitted states to limit abortions to protect the mother's health in the
second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third
trimester
o
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): a constitutional
amendment originally introduced in congress in 1923 and passed by congress in
1972, stating that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied
or abridged by the united states or by any state on account of sex."
despite public support, the amendment failed to acquire the necessary support
from three-fourths of the state legislatures. DID NOT RATIFY
o
AIDS: AIDS epidemic in the 1970s made many
Americans more cautious in their sexual behavior.
o
Moral Majority: political organization of the
United States which had an agenda of evangelical Christian-oriented political
lobbying. Formed by Jerry Falwell. organization made up of conservative
Christian political action committees which campaigned on issues its personnel
believed were important to maintaining its Christian conception of moral law.
this group pressured for legislation that would ban abortion and ban the
states' acceptance of homosexuality.
o
Televangelists: ministers who would spread their
messages via television networks
·
Gerald R. Ford/WIN/Mayaguez incident/Election of
1976
o
Gerald R. Ford: Nixon’s vice president after Agnew
resigned; he became the only president never to be elected. Taking office after
Nixon resigned, he pardoned Nixon for all federal crimes that he
"committed or may have committed."
o
WIN: “Whip Inflation Now” a program by the ford
administration to curb inflation and dramatic price increases by putting
pressure on businesses to lower prices and deter consumers from hording goods.
Did not really work. Start due to OPEC
o
Mayaguez incident: in May of 1975, Cambodian
communists seize the ship Mayaguez and 39 Americans are held hostage. In
retaliation the president ordered bombing on Cambodia and the launch of a
rescue mission
o
Election of 1976: Jimmy Carter/democrat vs.
Gerald Ford/republican= carter wins
·
Jimmy Carter/Love Canal/Panama Canal Treaty/SALT
II/Iran hostage crisis/Camp David
o
Jimmy Carter: from Georgia was viewed as a
Washington "outsider" with no political ties and no scandals, people
thought he would bring fresh ideas
§
stressed human rights. because of the soviet war
in Afghanistan, he enacted an embargo on grain shipments to USSR and boycotted
the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Created the department of energy and the
department of education. he was criticized for his return of the panama canal
zone
o
Love Canal: a neighborhood in Niagara falls, New
York, which became the subject of national and international attention,
controversy, and eventual environmental notoriety following the discovery of
21,000 tons of toxic waste buried beneath the neighborhood
o
Panama Canal Treaty: 1978 - passed by president
carter, these called for the gradual return of the Panama Canal to the people
and government of panama. Very controversial. The people were not happy.
o
SALT II: (strategic arms limitation treaty) superpowers
pledged to limit nuclear arms production, although signed it was never
officially ratified by the American senate
o
Iran hostage crisis: in November 1979,
revolutionaries stormed the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans
hostage. The carter administration tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for the
hostages’ release. on January 20, 1981, the day carter left office, Iran
released the Americans, ending their 444 days in captivity
o
Camp David: peace talks between Egypt and Israel
mediated by president carter
§
they led to a peace treaty the next year that
returned the Sinai peninsula to Egypt, guaranteed Israeli access to the red sea
and Suez canal, and more-or-less normalized diplomatic and economic relations
between the two countries. this isolated Egypt from the other Arab countries
and led to Sadat’s assassination in 1981
·
Ronald Reagan/Reagan
Revolution/Reaganomics/deregulation/Contras/Grenada/Beirut bombings
o
Ronald Reagan: elected president in 1980 and
again in 1984. he ran on a campaign based on the common man and
"populist" ideas. Had participated in McCarthy trials. Iran released
hostages on his inauguration day in 1980. he used the strategic defense
initiative to avoid conflict. his meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps
to ending the cold war. he was also responsible for the Iran-contra affair
which bought hostages with guns
o
Reagan Revolution: increased defense spending
reduced social programs and cut taxes they were based on supply side theory of
growing the economy by cutting government interference and taxes. attempt to
return America to the traditional values of church, family, and free enterprise
o
Reaganomics: these policies combined a
monetarist fiscal policy, supply-side(cut income taxes), and domestic budget
cutting. their goal was to reduce the size of the federal government and
stimulate economic growth, unemployed started going back to work
§
it included tax breaks for the rich,
"supply-side economics," and "trickle down" theory
o
Deregulation: the lifting of restrictions on
business, industry, and professional activities for which government rules had
been established and that bureaucracies had been created to administer
o
Contras: a Nicaraguan rebel group that got financial
support from the CIA. this group was formed as a response to the overthrowing
of Anastazio Somoza Debayle
o
Grenada: a small Latin country where a communist
government had taken power. Reagan invaded the country in protest of communist
expansion, showing that he was not pursuing détente.
o
Beirut bombings: Lebanon 1983: two truck bombs
struck separate buildings housing united states and French military forces
killing 299 Americans and Frenchmen - suicide bombers - led to the withdrawal
of the international peacekeeping force from Lebanon - Reagan administration
was & is severely criticized for its foreign policy
·
SDI/Election of 1984/Iran-Contra Affair/Mikhail
Gorbachev/START/INF Treaty/Pan Am 103
o
SDI: Reagan’s proposed strategic defense
initiative (1983), also known as "star wars," called for a land- or
space-based shield against a nuclear attack. Although SDI was criticized as
unfeasible and in violation of the antiballistic missile (ABM) treaty, congress
approved billions of dollars for development.
o
Election of 1984: republican: Ronald Reagan (won
in a landslide) democrat: Walter Mondale (running mate: Geraldine Ferraro-- first
woman candidate).
o
Iran-Contra Affair: president Reagan authorized
the off-the-books sale of stolen weapons from the pentagon to Iran in order to
fund the Nicaraguan contras; congress had forbidden him to use government funds
to support the contras; helped keep Iraq from winning the Iraq-Iran war (did
not want a middle eastern superpower); very illegal (Iran was considered a
terrorist state) and almost caused Reagan to be impeached
o
Mikhail Gorbachev: soviet statesman whose
foreign policy brought an end to the cold war and whose domestic policy
introduced major reforms
o
START: “Strategic Arms Reduction Talks”, talks
between the united states and the soviet union in which reductions in missiles
and nuclear warheads, not merely a limitation on increases, were negotiated
o
INF Treaty: 1987 agreement between the United
States and the Soviet Union. Signed in Washington, DC. by US. President Ronald
Reagan and Gorbachev on December 8, 1987. the treaty eliminated nuclear and
conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate
ranges, defined as between 500-5,500 km (300-3,400 miles). under the treaty
both nations were allowed to inspect each other's military installations
o
Pan Am 103: 1988 Libyan terrorist attack on US;
destroyed American plane (bomb); worst terrorist attack on us until 9/11 (270
killed)
Questions:
- Which social activist movement
of the 1960s continued strongly in the 1970s and 1980s? Why?
- The environmental movement
continued strongly in the 1970’s and 1980s. It gained momentum with
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and the environmental laws of the 1960’s
and the start of Earth Day in 1970. The creation of groups such as Sierra
Club and Greenpeace, for which membership increased greatly. Campaigns to
save animals, plants, and the ocean were launched. In the 1970’s
environmentalists attacked the nuclear plants employing rallies and
protests. The Three Mile Island incident and the China Syndrome movie
also aided in Environment change.
- The woman’s movement also
continued strongly. With the Roe v. Wade decision, and the ERA
- What was the Roe v. Wade decision?
Why did it prove to be politically divisive throughout the 1980s and early
1990s?
a.
Roe v. Wade was the 1973 Supreme Court decision
holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. The decision
forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy,
permitted states to limit abortions to protect the mother's health in the
second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third
trimester.
- The decision proved
controversial, especially with the Evangelicals who were pro-life. The
women, however, responded with Pro-life campaigns, which polls revealed
represented the majority of Americans.
- How did prospects for Native
Americans improve in the late 1960s and 1970s? What significant problems
continued to plague American Indians?
- Acts of militancy by the
Native Americans caused the government to give the native Americans more
rights over their lives and the reservations. Pride in being Native grew.
The natives also launched business ventures on the reservations, making a
lot of doe. They also gained the rights guaranteed in previous treaties.
Alcoholism, disease, and high unemployment rates still affected the
reservations but they still gained prosperity as a whole.
- In what ways did religious
faith play a more decisive cultural and political role in the 1970s and
1980s?
- The evangelists took on conservative backlash
against the radical changes in America. They first made movements against
Roe v. Wade which led to the government stopping Medicaid for abortions.
It also stopped the passing of the ERA bill. It also retrogressed the gay
rights movement. New groups formed with religion and spiritual
questioning. The moral majority formed the pro-life, pro-family,
pro-moral, and pro-American crusade. Televangelists appeared on TV across
the nation reaching millions of viewers.
- What were the troubles that
overwhelmed the Carter administration and prevented Carter's reelection?
- Carter gave the Panama Canal
back to Panama. His sheltering of the Shah in Iran led to the hostage
situation in Iran. The Iranians abused the American flag, and had
anti-American mobs. Inflation grew sharply worse as a second major oil
crisis drove up prices. The Federal Reserve Board pushed the discount
rate ever higher. With the cost of both credit and oil so high, economic
activity deteriorated to "stagflation." Carter’s reign was
cursed.
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