HST 2022 Textbook Questions

In the year 2000, what was the budget surplus? What was the unemployment rate? What do these figures tell us about the American economy during the presidency of Bill Clinton?

$230 billion in 2000. Inflation dipped to 2.3 percent and the unemployment rate declined, reaching a thirty-year low of 3.9 percent in 2000. Reduced government borrowing freed up capital for private-sector use, and lower interest rates in turn fueled more growth. During the Clinton years, more people owned homes than ever before in the country's history (67.7 percent). It was booming during his presidency

By 2013, what were conservative (low) estimates for the total cost of the Iraq war?

1.7 Trillion for total cost of the Iraq War

Describe the details of Hurricane Katrina. How many people were killed?

1500 people were killed Storm Levy broke Emergency response were too overwhelmed

What was Nixon's southern strategy? What was the silent majority? Nixon and Agnew appealed to what kinds of voters?

Denouncing segregation and the denial of the vote to African Americans, he nevertheless maintained that southern states be allowed to pursue racial equality at their own pace and criticized forced integration. The Silent Majority were northern, blue-collar workers Nixon and Agnew appealed to "middle America" voters (northern middle class, as well as southern whites)

What was a "sit-in"? What was SNCC? What was the SCLC?

Direct action of protect where they would occupy an area for the sake of political, economic, or social change, which was usually of one or more people - SNCC: committee inspired by Baker's sit-in protest to push for "participatory democracy. These actions helped desegregate many areas in response of student-led demonstrations. - SCLC: organization led by MLK to mount protest throughout the South Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Occupy a place as a form of protest Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

What happened in Waco, Texas? Who was Timothy McVeigh?

Federal and state law enforcement authorities laid siege to the compound of a religious sect called the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas. The group, which believed the end of world was approaching, was suspected of weapons violations and resisted search-and-arrest warrants with deadly force. A standoff developed that lasted nearly two months and was captured on television each day. A final assault on the compound was made on April 19, and seventy-six men, women, and children died in a fire probably set by members of the sect. Many others committed suicide or were killed by fellow sect members. Timothy McVeigh was a former U.S. Army infantry soldier. McVeigh had served in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq, earning a bronze star, but he became disillusioned with the military and the government when he was deemed psychologically unfit for the Army Special Forces.

What does the boomerang generation mean?

Graduated college students have to return to their parents homes and live their to pay off their student loans.

Who was Hans Blix? (note that your textbook has a typo and spelled it "Hanx") How did Blix respond to Bush's claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)?

Hans Blix denied that Saddam has WMDs

What was the American Indian Movement? What did they do at Alcatraz? What did the movement do at Wounded Knee?

In 1968, a group of Indian activists, including Dennis Banks, George Mitchell, and Clyde Bellecourt, convened a gathering of two hundred people in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and formed the American Indian Movement (AIM) They announced plans to build an American Indian cultural center, including a history museum, an ecology center, and a spiritual sanctuary. People on the mainland provided supplies by boat, and celebrities visited Alcatraz to publicize the cause AIM went to the reservation following the failure of a group of Oglala to impeach the tribal president Dick Wilson, whom they accused of corruption and the use of strong-arm tactics to silence critics. AIM used the occasion to criticize the U.S. government for failing to live up to its treaties with native peoples.

How would you characterize the beliefs of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)?

It called for greater participation in the democratic process by ordinary people, advocated civil disobedience, and rejected the anti-Communist position held by most other groups committed to social reform in the United States.

Why did Jimmy Carter win the presidential election of 1976?

Jimmy Carter won the presidential election of 1976 because the Democratic leadership had been decimated by assassination and the taint of Vietnam, and he had carefully positioned himself as an outsider who could not be blamed for current policies. He promised he would "never lie" Carter ran on an "anti-Washington" ticket, making a virtue of his lack of experience in what was increasingly seen as the corrupt politics of the nation's capital. Accepting his party's nomination, the former governor of Georgia pledged to combat racism and sexism as well as overhaul the tax structure. He openly proclaimed his faith as a born-again Christian and promised to change the welfare system and provide comprehensive healthcare coverage for neglected citizens who deserved compassion. Most importantly, Jimmy Carter promised that he would "never lie."

What was the relationship between the Great Society and Vietnam?

Johnson couldn't support his Great Society while spending money to wage the war. Racial harmony suffered as well through African Americans as a disproportionate number of African Americans that were enlisted and that died compared to whites. This angered many African Americans. Building the Great Society had been Lyndon Johnson's biggest priority, and he effectively used his decades of experience in building legislative majorities in a style that ranged from diplomacy to quid pro quo deals to bullying. In the summer of 1964, he deployed these political skills to secure congressional approval for a new strategy in Vietnam—with fateful consequences.

What was the Heritage Foundation?

Much of the intellectual meat of the Reagan Revolution came from conservative think tanks (policy or advocacy groups) that specifically sought to shape American political and social dialogues. The Heritage Foundation, one such group, soon became the intellectual arm of the conservative movement.

What was the Nixon Doctrine? What was détente? What was SALT?

Nixon Doctrine: a policy whereby the United States would continue to assist its allies but would not assume the responsibility of defending the entire non-Communist world Détente: relaxation of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union SALT: treaty between the two countries which limited each side to deploying only two antiballistic missile systems. It also limited the number of nuclear missiles maintained by each country. In 1974, a protocol was signed that reduced antiballistic missile sites to one per country, since neither country had yet begun to build its second system. Moreover, the two sides signed agreements to allow scientific and technological exchanges, and promised to work towards a joint space mission.

What happened at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969?

Police were ready to arrest many of the customers, especially transsexuals and cross-dressers, who were particular targets for police harassment, a crowd began to gathered and fought against the police. This resulted in formation of gay alliances in hopes to protest discrimination homophobia, and violence against gay people. The riot continued for several hours and resumed the following night. Shortly thereafter, the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists' Alliance were formed, and began to protest discrimination, homophobia, and violence against gay people, promoting gay liberation and gay pride.

In 2004, George W. Bush ran for reelection. What happened at Abu Ghraib?

Prisoners were tortured and mutilated

What is Title IX of the Education Amendments Act?

Prohibits sex discrimination in education

What kinds of laws did Arizona and Alabama pass with respect to illegal immigration?

Required police and other officials to verify immigrant-status of those they suspected of entering the country illegally

What were the key provisions of No Child Left Behind? What were charter schools?

Schools that received state funding we hold general assessment tests to students. Charter schools were schools that were funded by tax monies but were able to accept private donations and exempt of some rules public schools must follow

What happened to US troops in Lebanon in 1983? What was Reagan's response?

The 1983 Beirut barracks bombings were attacks that occurred on October 23, 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon, during the Lebanese Civil War when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) peacekeepers, specifically against United States and French service members, killing 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers, 6 civilians, and the 2 suicide attackers. A group called 'Islamic Jihad' claimed responsibility for the bombings and said that the bombings were aimed to get the MNF out of Lebanon Reagan announced that, given intensified fighting, U.S. troops were being withdrawn.

What happened in the Bay of Pigs invasion?

The Bay of Pigs invasion was a major foreign policy disaster for President Kennedy and highlighted Cuba's military vulnerability to the Castro administration Invasion failed and it showed a major foreign disaster for President Kennedy and Cuba's military vulnerability to the Castro Administration.

What were the Camp David Accords? What countries were involved in them? Who was the US president that helped put them together?

The Camp David Accords were meetings at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, led to the signing of the Camp David Accords in September 1978. This in-turn resulted in the drafting of a historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979. President Jimmy Carter helped put them together.

Explain the Cuban Missile Crisis. What was Kennedy's response to the Soviet construction of nuclear missiles in Cuba?

The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. When the Soviets became allies with Cuba through troops and technicians to counter against U.S. military plots, U.S spy planes discovered long-range ballistic sites in Cuba. - called for an immediately removal of the missile sites and ordered a naval quarantine placed around Cuba to block Soviet ships.

Explain how Iran was related to the "contras" in Nicaragua. Who were the contras? Who was Oliver North?

The Iran-Contra Affairs of the 1980s stemmed from the Reagan Administration's foreign policies toward two seemingly unrelated countries, Nicaragua and Iran. The Administration believed that changes to these countries that occurred in the 1970s threatened U.S. national interests. The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to the early 1990s in opposition to the socialist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua. Oliver Laurence North is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. He was convicted in the Iran-Contra affair of the late 1980s, but his convictions were vacated and reversed, and all charges against him dismissed in 1991

What was the New Right? What types of people supported Ronald Reagan?

The New Right was a group of conservative Americans included many very wealthy financial supporters and emerged in the wake of the social reforms and cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s Reagan also attracted people, often dubbed neoconservatives, who would not previously have voted for the same candidate as conservative Protestants did. Many were middle- and working-class people who resented the growth of federal and state governments, especially benefit programs, and the subsequent increase in taxes during the late 1960s and 1970s. They favored the tax revolts that swept the nation in the late 1970s under the leadership of predominantly older, white, middle- class Americans, which had succeeded in imposing radical reductions in local property and state income taxes.

What was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)?

The SDI called for the development of a defensive shield to protect the United States from a Soviet missile strike

Ironically, who had supported Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in their fight against the Soviet Union in 1979-80?

The United States

How would you describe President John F. Kennedy's foreign policy during the Cold War? What was the space race?

The foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration in 1961-1963 saw diplomatic and military initiatives in Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America and other regions amid considerable Cold War tensions. Kennedy deployed a new generation of foreign policy experts, dubbed "the best and the brightest" The space race was the race against predominantly the Russians to get a man into space, let alone land on the moon. Protect the interests of the "free world", engaged in Cold War Politics Push for his "flexible response" policy during his administration in which he would develop different strategies and tactics to respond more appropriately to foreign conflicts Competition between nations regarding space exploration.

What was the significance of the term "unlawful combatant," otherwise known as "enemy combatant?" In other words, why use this term? What did the Supreme Court rule in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld?

The term "unlawful combatant" used for prisoners so they can sue for the right to be tried in U.S law -Court ruled the U.S violated federal law and Geneva Convention

What did the Supreme Court rule regarding Nixon's personal tapes?

U.S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release the actual tapes of his conversations, not just transcripts or summaries. One of the tapes revealed that he had in fact been told about White House involvement in the Watergate break-in shortly after it occurred.

Under which presidential administration did the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) occur? Note that the policy concerned the service of LGBTQ members in the armed forces. What were the specific details of DADT?

Under the Clinton administration DADT: In the 1992 election, he promised to end the fifty-year ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military. However, in January 1993, after taking the oath of office, Clinton amended his promise in order to appease conservatives. Instead of lifting the longstanding ban, the armed forces would adopt a policy of "don't ask, don't tell Those on active duty would not be asked their sexual orientation and, if they were gay, they were not to discuss their sexuality openly or they would be dismissed from military service

Notice the optimistic predictions of Rumsfeld and Cheney about the invasion of Iraq. Notice that both predicted the war would last a few weeks or months and that we would be greeted as liberators. How did these predictions turn out? Mostly correct? Somewhat correct? Somewhat wrong? Spectacularly and tragically wrong?

Went according to their predictions at the start but as thousands of Iranians were killed the seeds of hatred were planted in the people there.

Who were the yuppies? How were they similar and different to the hippies?

Yuppies, whose name derived from "(y)oung, (u)rban (p)rofessionals," were akin to hippies in being young people whose interests, values, and lifestyle influenced American culture, economy, and politics, just as the hippies' credo had done in the late 1960s and 1970s. Unlike hippies, however, yuppies were materialistic and obsessed with image, comfort, and economic prosperity. Although liberal on some social issues, economically they were conservative. Ironically, some yuppies were former hippies or yippies, like Jerry Rubin, who gave up his crusade against "the establishment" to become a businessman.

Why were Bush's tax cuts controversial?

Bush didn't tax cut the top class

What did the US army sometimes do to Vietnamese villages as in My Lai? What are the details of the My Lai massacre? Why do you think half of the respondents to the Minnesota poll referenced in your textbook believed that the attack had not actually taken place?

-Evacuate and burn villages suspected of shielding Viet Cong fighters, both to deprive the enemy of potential support and to enact revenge for enemy brutality. - one hundred soldiers commanded by Captain Ernest Medina were sent to destroy the village of My Lai, which was suspected of hiding Viet Cong fighters. Two platoons entered it, shooting randomly. A group of seventy to eighty unarmed people, including children and infants, were forced into an irrigation ditch by members of the First Platoon under the command of Lt. William L. Calley, Jr. Despite their proclamations of innocence, the villagers were shot. Houses were set on fire, and as the inhabitants tried to flee, they were killed with rifles, machine guns, and grenades. - because they believed that U.S. soldiers could not possibly do such horrible things, they felt; they were certain that American goals in Vietnam were honorable and speculated that the antiwar movement had concocted the story to generate sympathy for the enemy.

What is a civil union? What was the first state to allow it?

Allowed same sex couples to have the the legal rights and privileges of marriage. First states to allow this was Massachusetts.

Once elected president, what did Nixon do in terms of civil rights?

Began to pursue a policy of deliberate neglect of the civil rights movement and the needs of ethnic minorities. Nixon was typically moderate or supportive in the progress of African Americans He promised to "bring us together again," and many Americans, weary after years of antiwar and civil rights protests, were happy to hear of peace returning to their streets

What were the beliefs of the Moral Majority? How did the religious right react to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s?

Believed most conservative Christians were true believers who were convinced that premarital and extramarital sex, abortion, drug use, homosexuality, and "irreligious" forms of popular and high culture were responsible for a perceived decline in traditional family values that threatened American society. Indeed, the Religious Right regarded it as a form of divine retribution meant to punish gay men for their "immoral" lifestyle

Why was Bill Clinton impeached? What were Clinton's approval ratings as he left office in 2000-2001?

Bill Clinton was impeached because he was lying under oath; Clinton had committed perjury. Again, Clinton denied any relationship and even went on national television to assure the American people that he had never had sexual relations with Lewinsky. Clinton's approval ratings: 66% (highest of any US president)

Who was Betty Friedan? What was Title VII of the Civil Rights Act?

- Betty Friedan wrote a book called The Feminine Mystique and it contested the stigma that women only purpose was to marry and have children. She stirred woman of their individualism and left them unsatisfied and their call to action to their human rights. Friedan's book was a best-seller and began to raise the consciousness of many women who agreed that homemaking in the suburbs sapped them of their individualism and left them unsatisfied. - Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was a section of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 which prohibited the discrimination of employment in the basis of sex.

What happened in the presidential election of 2000? Who won the popular vote? Who won the electoral college? What did the Supreme Court decide in terms of the Florida recount? What was the vote on the Supreme Court? On a philosophical level (and there is no right answer here), why do we tolerate the electoral college outcome in a nation that ostensibly calls itself a "democracy"? Doesn't this seem undemocratic? Twice in the last sixteen years—George W. Bush and Trump—we have elected presidents who received less votes at the popular level than their opponents.

- Gore topped Bush in the popular vote by 540,000 ballots, or 0.5 percent. -Bush won the electoral college -Consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran as the candidate of the Green Party, a party devoted to environmental issues and grassroots activism When the Florida Supreme Court ordered the recount to continue, the Republicans appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided 5-4 to stop the recount. Bush received Florida's electoral votes and, with a total of 271 votes in the Electoral College to Gore's 266, became the forty-third president of the United States.

Describe LBJ's Great Society. What steps did he take to eliminate poverty? What did Johnson do with education? Consumer protection? The environment? Health care?

- Johnson's vision for a society in the United States for equal opportunities for everyone to have a better life by combating racial discrimination and attempting to eliminate poverty. - pushed educational reform and increased federal funding to all types of schooling. - Consumer Protection laws were placed - created laws to protect air and water quality, regulating the disposal of solid waste, preserving wilderness areas and protecting endangered species - social security act of 1965 was placed to create the Medicare program to help the elderly. This act helped all social classes Increased federal funding to both elementary and secondary schools, allocating more than $1 billion for the purchase of books and library materials, and the creation of educational programs for disadvantaged children. The Higher Education Act, signed into law the same year, provided scholarships and low-interest loans for the poor, increased federal funding for colleges and universities and created a corps of teachers to serve schools in impoverished areas. Improved the safety of meat and poultry, placed warning labels on cigarette packages, required "truth in lending" by creditors, and set safety standards for motor vehicles. Funds were provided to improve public transportation and to fund high-speed mass transit. To protect the environment, the Johnson administration created laws protecting air and water quality, regulating the disposal of solid waste, preserving wilderness areas, and protecting endangered species

What did Black Power mean? What was Black Pride?

Black Power was the power of African Americans to unite as a political force and create their own institutions apart from white-dominated ones Black Pride urged African Americans to reclaim their African heritage and, to promote group solidarity, to substitute African and African-inspired cultural practices, such as handshakes, hairstyles, and dress, for white practices; Cultural movement among African Americans to encourage pride in their African heritage and to substitute African and African American art forms, behaviors, and cultural products for those of whites

What was the Bush Doctrine?

Bush Doctrine was the belief that the United States has the right to protect itself from terrorist acts by engaging in pre-emptive wars or ousting hostile governments in favor of friendly, preferably democratic, regimes.

What events led to Operation Desert Storm? In other words, why did the US and a coalition of countries invade the Middle East in 1991? How successful was this operation?

A deadline was set for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, or face serious consequences. Wary of not having sufficient domestic support for combat, Bush first deployed troops to the area to build up forces in the region and defend Saudi Arabia via Operation Desert Shield (Figure 31.13). On January 14, Bush succeeded in getting resolutions from Congress authorizing the use of military force against Iraq, and the U.S. then orchestrated an effective air campaign, followed by Operation Desert Storm, a one-hundred-hour land war involving over 500,000 U.S. troops and another 200,000 from twenty-seven other countries, which expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait by the end of February Operation Desert Storm was a resounding success. Through deft diplomatic efforts on the international stage, Bush had ensured that many around the world saw the action as legitimate. By making the goals of the military action both clear and limited, he also reassured an American public still skeptical of foreign entanglements

What rewards have the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan brought the United States? If you combine the total cost of Iraq and Afghanistan, how much have they cost?

4 Trillion in costs No known reward

What did the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) do?

A treaty that eliminated tariffs and trade restrictions among the United States, Canada, and Mexico