US History Chapter 20 Test

Glasnost

"openness," to allow more freedom of religion and speech. a Soviet policy permitting open discussion of political and social issues and freer dissemination of news and information

Perestroika

"restructuring," which allowed some private enterprise and profit making. a policy of economic and government restructuring instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in the 1980s

Ronald Reagan/1980 Election

After graduating from Eureka College in 1932, he worked as a radio broadcaster and became a Hollywood actor in the late 1930s. In 1947, Reagan became the president of the Screen Actors Guild—the actors' union. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Reagan had been a liberal Democrat, but dealing with Communists in the union shifted him toward conservative Republican ideas. In the 1950s, Reagan traveled the nation to promote a television program that he hosted. During these travels, he said, he met many people who complained about big government. By the time he ran for governor of California in 1966, Reagan was a committed conservative. Reagan won the election and was reelected in 1970. Ten years later, he won the Republican presidential nomination. Reagan's campaign appealed to frustrated Americans by promising to cut taxes and increase defense spending. He won the support of social conservatives by calling for a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Reagan won the election easily. For the first time since 1954, Republicans also gained control of the Senate.

Yuppies

By late 1983, stagflation had largely ended and stock prices soared as many companies reported record profits. Stockbrokers, speculators, and real estate developers made multimillion-dollar deals. Many of the new moneymakers were young, ambitious, and hardworking. They were nicknamed yuppies, short for "young urban professionals."

Tiananmen Square/Manuel Noriega

China's government had relaxed controls on the economy, but continued to repress political speech. In April and May 1989, Chinese students and workers held pro-democracy demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China's capital. In early June, government tanks and soldiers crushed the protests. Many people were killed. Hundreds of pro-democracy activists were arrested and later sentenced to death. Shocked, the United States and several European countries halted arms sales and reduced diplomatic contacts with China. The World Bank suspended loans. Bush resisted harsher sanctions. He thought that trade and diplomacy would change China's behavior.

Peace Through Strength

In Reagan's opinion, the only option in dealing with the Soviet Union was "peace through strength," a phrase he used during his campaign. Reagan launched a $1.5 trillion military buildup meant to bankrupt and destroy the Soviet Union if it tried to keep up. The United States also tried to stop nations from supporting terrorism. After Libya backed a terrorist bombing in Berlin, the United States launched an air attack on Libya on April 14, 1986.

Discount Retailers

In addition to the booming real estate and stock markets, the economy witnessed a revolution in retail sales with the growth of discount retailing. This type of selling had actually begun to emerge in the 1960s, but did not have a major impact on the economy until the 1980s. Discount retailers sell large quantities at very low prices, trying to sell the goods fast to turn over their entire inventory in a short period. Discount retailers could make more money than traditional retailers who sold fewer products at higher prices. The most successful discount retailer was Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. Annual sales at Wal-Mart increased from about $2 billion in 1980 to over $20 billion by 1988. By 1985, he was the richest person in the United States. Walton was one of the first retailers to track inventory and sales with a computer database. He also used a system of distribution centers to resupply stores. Others soon copied this approach. By the late 1970s, discount retailers such as Home Depot and Best Buy had begun to build "superstores." Their innovations created millions of new jobs in the 1980s and helped fuel the era's rapid economic growth.

Social Problems of the 80s

The 1980s was a decade of wealth and prosperity. Yet social problems, such as drugs, poverty, homelessness, and disease, continued.

Liberalism

a person who generally believes the government should take an active role in the economy and in social programs but should not dictate social behavior. In general, modern liberals believe that government should regulate the economy to protect people from the power of corporations and wealthy elites. Liberals also believe that the federal government should help disadvantaged Americans through social programs and by putting more of society's tax burden on wealthier people. They believe that those with greater assets should take on more of the costs of government. Although liberals favor government intervention in the economy, they do not support the government regulating social behavior. They are opposed to the government supporting or endorsing religious beliefs, no matter how indirectly. They believe that a society with ethnic and cultural diversity tends to be more creative and energetic.

Vernonia School District v. Acton

1995 case of Vernonia School District v. Acton held that random drug tests do not violate students' Fourth Amendment rights.

Televangelist/Moral Majority

After World War II, a religious revival began in the United States among Evangelicals. Ministers such as Billy Graham and Oral Roberts built national followings, and some owned their own newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television networks. With television, evangelical ministers reached a nationwide audience. These televangelists included Marion "Pat" Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who founded a group called the Moral Majority. The Moral Majority built up a network of ministers to register new voters who backed conservative candidates and issues. The group registered 2 million new voters in the 1980 election.

Collapse of the Soviet Union

As Eastern Europe abandoned communism, Gorbachev faced mounting criticism at home. In August 1991, a group of Communist Party officials and army officers tried to stage a coup. They arrested Gorbachev and sent troops into Moscow. In Moscow, Russian president Boris Yeltsin defied the coup leaders from his offices in the Russian Parliament. President Bush telephoned Yeltsin to express U.S. support. The coup soon collapsed and Gorbachev returned to Moscow. All 15 Soviet republics declared their independence from the Soviet Union. In late December 1991, Gorbachev announced the end of the Soviet Union. Most of the former Soviet republics joined in a federation called the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Although member states remained independent, they formed a common economic zone in 1993.

Conservative Coalition

As a result of all of these different political, economic, and social concerns, a new conservative coalition came together in American politics. Conservatives began to believe that society had lost its way. Political scandal, economic worries, growing federal power, and ongoing social turmoil seemed to plague the nation. International events such as the withdrawal from Vietnam seemed to make the nation look weak. Many Americans were tired of upheaval. They wanted stability and a return to what they remembered as better times.

START

As part of the military buildup, Reagan decided to place missiles in Western Europe to counter Soviet missiles. When protest erupted worldwide, he offered to cancel the new missiles if the Soviets removed their missiles from Eastern Europe. He also proposed Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) to cut the number of missiles on both sides in half. The Soviets refused.

Reaganomics

Critics called his approach Reaganomics or "trickle-down economics." They believed Reagan's policy would help corporations and wealthy Americans, but little wealth would "trickle down" to middle-class or poor Americans.

Iran-Contra Scandal

Despite the congressional ban, individuals in Reagan's administration illegally continued to support the Nicaraguan rebels. They also secretly sold weapons to Iran, considered an enemy and sponsor of terrorism, in exchange for the release of American hostages in the Middle East. Profits from the weapons sales were then sent to the contras. News of these operations broke in November 1986. U.S. Marine colonel Oliver North and senior National Security Council members and CIA officials admitted before Congress to covering up their actions. President Reagan had approved the sale of arms to Iran, but the congressional investigation concluded that he had had no direct knowledge about the diversion of the money to the contras.

Opening of the Berlin Wall

Glasnost spread to Eastern Europe, and in 1989 revolutions replaced Communist rulers with democratic governments in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. At midnight on November 9, 1989, guards at the Berlin Wall opened the gates. Soon, bulldozers began leveling the symbol of Communist repression. East Germany and West Germany soon reunited.

Panama Invasion

In 1978, the United States had agreed to give Panama control over the Panama Canal by the year 2000. Because of the canal's importance, American officials wanted to make sure Panama's government was both stable and pro-United States. But by 1989, Panama's dictator, General Manuel Noriega, was aiding drug traffickers and harassing American military personnel defending the canal. In December 1989, Bush ordered U.S. troops to invade Panama. The troops seized Noriega, who was sent to the United States to stand trial on drug charges. The troops then helped the Panamanians hold elections and organize a new government.

AIDS

In 1981, researchers identified a deadly disease that they named "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome," or AIDS. AIDS weakens the immune system. In the United States, AIDS was first noticed among homosexual men. Soon, though, it spread among heterosexual men and women. Many people were infected by sexual partners. Between 1981 and 1988, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified more than 100,000 cases in the United States.

New Jersey v. T.L.O.

In 1984, one teen who had been arrested for selling drugs challenged the school's right to search her purse without a warrant. In 1985, the Supreme Court case New Jersey v. T.L.O. upheld the school's right to search without a warrant if it had probable cause.

Mikhail Gorbachev

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union and agreed to resume arms-control talks. Gorbachev believed that the Soviet Union could not afford another arms race with the United States. Reagan and Gorbachev met in a series of summits. The first ended in a stalemate, as Gorbachev promised to cut back nuclear forces if Reagan gave up SDI, but Reagan refused. Reagan then challenged Gorbachev to make reforms. In West Berlin, Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall—the symbol of divided Europe—and declared: "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe . . . tear down this wall!"

Persian Gulf War/Saddam Hussein

In August 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein sent his army to invade oil-rich Kuwait. U.S. officials feared that the invasion might be only the first step and that Iraq's ultimate goal was to capture Saudi Arabia and its vast oil reserves. President Bush persuaded other United Nations member countries from Europe, the Middle East, and Canada to join a coalition to stop Iraq. The United Nations set a deadline for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, after which the coalition would use force to remove them. Congress voted to authorize the use of force if Iraq did not withdraw. On October 31, 1990, General Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, and other high-ranking officials met with President Bush. It was clear that Iraq would not obey the UN deadline. Powell presented the plan for attacking Iraq. "Mr. President," Powell began, "[w]e've gotta take the initiative out of the enemy's hands if we're going to go to war." Cheney later recalled that Bush "never hesitated." He looked up from the plans and simply said, "Do it."

INF Treaty

In December 1987, the two leaders signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. With an arms control deal in place, Gorbachev pushed ahead with economic and political reforms, which eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the United States, the economy was booming, the military was strong, and relations with the Soviet Union rapidly improving as Ronald Reagan's second term came to an end.

Grenada

In Grenada, radical Marxists overthrew the left-wing government in 1983. Reagan sent in troops, who quickly defeated the Grenadian and Cuban soldiers, and a new anti-Communist government was put in place.

Budget Cuts

Lower taxes increased the budget deficit—the amount by which expenditures exceed income. To keep the deficit under control, Reagan proposed cuts to social programs, including food stamps, school lunches, Medicare payments, unemployment compensation, and student loans. After a struggle, Congress passed most of these cuts, but the fight convinced Reagan that Congress would never cut spending enough to balance the budget. He decided that cutting taxes and building up the military were more important than balancing the budget.

Savings and Loans industry

Many savings and loan institutions had collapsed, making the deficit worse. After President Reagan allowed them to be deregulated, many had made risky or even dishonest investments. When these investments failed, depositors collected from federal programs that insured deposits. The cost to the public may have reached $500 billion.

Operation Desert Storm

On January 16, 1991, coalition forces launched Operation Desert Storm. Cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs fell on Iraq, destroying its air defenses, bridges, artillery, and other military targets. After about six weeks, the coalition launched a massive ground attack. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers died. Fewer than 300 coalition troops were killed. Just 100 hours after the ground war began, Bush declared Kuwait to be liberated. Iraq accepted the cease-fire terms, and American troops returned home to cheering crowds.

Stonewall Riot/Gay Liberation Front

On June 27, 1969, New York City police raided a nightclub called the Stonewall Inn. The police had often raided the nightclub because of the sexual orientation of its patrons. Frustration among the gay and lesbian onlookers led to a riot. The Stonewall Riot marked the beginning of the gay activist movement. Soon after, organizations such as the Gay Liberation Front began efforts to increase tolerance of homosexuality.

Increasing Budget Deficit

Reagan's military buildup created new jobs in defense industries. Supply-side economists had predicted that, despite the spending, lower taxes and cuts in government programs would generate enough revenue growth to balance the budget. Although tax revenues rose, Reagan could not cut popular programs significantly. The annual budget deficit went from $80 billion to more than $200 billion.

Evangelicals

Protestant evangelicals were the largest group of religious conservatives.

1980s Music

Rap music was the new sound of the 1980s. Originating in local clubs in New York City's South Bronx, rap emphasized heavy bass and rhythmic sounds and lyrics that frequently focused on the African American experience in the inner city. Its rapid rise in popularity made rap into a multimillion-dollar industry.

Deregulation

Reagan believed that excessive government regulation was another cause of the economy's problems. His first act as president was to sign an executive order to end price controls on oil and gasoline. Other deregulation in broadcasting, banking, and automotive industries soon followed. Increased oil drilling, mining, and logging on public land angered environmentalists, as did EPA decisions to ease regulations on pollution-control equipment and to reduce safety checks on chemicals and pesticides.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

Reagan disagreed with the military strategy known as nuclear deterrence, sometimes called "mutual assured destruction." He knew that if nuclear war did begin, there would be no way to defend the United States. In March 1983, he proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed "Star Wars," to develop weapons that could intercept incoming missiles.

Sandra Day O'Connor

Reagan tried to bring a strict constructionist outlook to the federal judiciary, wanting judges there who followed the original intent of the Constitution. He changed the Supreme Court by nominating moderate conservative Sandra Day O'Connor, who became the first female justice in 1981.

Nicaragua

Reagan was also concerned about Soviet influence in Nicaragua. Rebels known as the Sandinistas had overthrown a pro-American dictator in Nicaragua in 1979, set up a socialist government, and accepted Cuban and Soviet aid. The Reagan administration responded by secretly arming an anti-Sandinista guerrilla force known as the contras. When Congress learned of this policy, it banned further aid to the contras.

Religious Right

Some people were drawn to conservatism because they feared that American society had lost touch with its traditional values. Some Americans with conservative religious faith were shocked by Supreme Court decisions protecting the right to an abortion, limiting prayer in public schools, and expanding protections for people accused of crimes. In addition, student protesters' contempt for authority seemed to indicate a general breakdown in American values and morality. These concerns helped expand the conservative cause into a mass movement. The feminist movement's push for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) also upset some religious conservatives because it challenged aspects of the traditional family. Phyllis Schlafly's efforts to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment played an important role in the conservative resurgence. In 1972, Schlafly founded the Eagle Forum, a political interest group whose purpose was to educate voters and lobby the government on behalf of conservative social issues, particularly issues involving the family and women's role in society.

MTV

Until the late 1970s, television viewers were limited to three national networks, local stations, and the public television network. In 1970 a businessman named Ted Turner bought a failing television station in Atlanta, Georgia. He pioneered a new type of broadcasting by creating WTBS in 1975. WTBS was the first "superstation"—a television station that sold low-cost sports and entertainment programs via satellite to cable companies across the nation. Turner's innovation changed broadcasting and helped spread cable television. Other new cable networks focused on specific audiences, such as churchgoers, shoppers, or minorities. In 1980 entrepreneur Robert Johnson created Black Entertainment Television (BET). In 1981, music and technology merged when Music Television (MTV) went on the air to broadcast performances of songs and images, or music videos. Although the videos were often criticized for their content, MTV was a hit. Music videos boosted the careers of artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson.

1988 Election/George H. W. Bush

When Ronald Reagan left office, many Americans wanted his domestic policies to be continued. In 1988 Republicans nominated George H. W. Bush, who reassured Americans that he would do just that The Democrats hoped to regain the White House in 1988 by promising to help minorities as well as working-class and poor Americans. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson tried to create a "rainbow coalition" of those groups, and although unsuccessful, he became the first African American to make a serious run for the presidential nomination. The Democrats nominated Michael Dukakis, who was the governor of Massachusetts, but with Reagan's endorsement and a strong economy, Bush easily won the general election. Though voters had focused on domestic issues during the election campaign, President Bush had to focus on foreign policy soon after taking office.

Conservatism

a person who believes government power, particularly in the economy, should be limited in order to maximize individual freedom Conservatives distrust the power of government and wish to limit it. They also believe that government regulation makes the economy less efficient, and that free enterprise is the best economic system. They argue that increased economic regulation could lead to regulation in every aspect of people's behavior. Conservatives fear the government will so restrict people's economic freedom that Americans will no longer be able to improve their standard of living. They generally oppose high taxes and government programs that redistribute wealth. Many conservatives believe that most social problems result from issues of morality and character. They argue that such issues are best addressed through commitment to a religious faith and through the private efforts of churches, individuals, and communities to help those in need. Despite this general belief, conservatives often support the use of police powers to regulate social behavior.

Supply side economics

economic theory that lower taxes will boost the economy as businesses and individuals invest their money, thereby creating prosperity and economic growth that will offset the tax cuts They believed that high taxes took too much money away from investors, and that tax cuts could provide extra money to expand businesses and create new jobs. The result would be a larger supply of goods for consumers, who would now have more money to spend because of the tax cuts.