AMSCO United States History 2015 Edition, Chapter 30 Conservative Resurgence, 1980-2000
9806941240 | Proposition 13 | In 1978, California voters passed this measure that sharply cut property taxes. (p. 654) | ![]() | 0 |
9806941241 | Arthur Laffer | Conservative economist who believed that tax cuts would increase government revenues. (p. 655) | ![]() | 1 |
9806941242 | religious fundamentalism | People who attacked secular humanism as a godless creed taking over public education. They campaigned for the return of prayers and the teaching of the Biblical account of creation in public schools. (p. 655) | ![]() | 2 |
9806941243 | televangelists | Pat Robertson, Oral Roberts, and Jim Baker brought in 100 million viewers in which religion became an instrument of electoral politics. (p. 655) | ![]() | 3 |
9806941244 | Moral Majority | Religion became an instrument for electoral politics when an evangelist from Virginia, Jerry Falwell founded this organization, which helped financed campaigns to unseat liberal members of Congress. (p. 655) | ![]() | 4 |
9806941245 | Regents of University of California v. Bakke | The admissions policies of one medical school were challenged. The Supreme Court ruled that while race could be considered, the school had created racial quotas, which were unconstitutional. Conservatives used this decision to intensified their campaign to end all preferences based on race and ethnicity. (p. 655) | ![]() | 5 |
9806941246 | election of 1980 | Ronald Reagan won this presidential election, defeating Jimmy Carter because of the Iranian hostage crisis and America's stagflation. It was significant because the Senate had Republican majority and more seats in the house allowing them to pass many key Republican programs. The 1980 election ended a half-century of Democratic dominance of Congress. (p. 655) | ![]() | 6 |
9806941247 | Ronald Reagan | He was president from 1981 to 1988, he led a conservative movement against détente with the Soviet Union and the growth of the federal government. Some people credit him with America's victory in the Cold War while others fault his insensitive social agenda and irresponsible fiscal policies. (p. 656) | ![]() | 7 |
9806941248 | supply-side economics | This economic theory argued that tax cuts and reduced government spending would increase investment by the private sector, which would lead to increased production, jobs, and prosperity. This was also referred to as "Reaganomics" and "trickle-down" economics. (p. 656) | ![]() | 8 |
9806941249 | Economic Recovery Tax Act | A measure signed by Reagan in 1981 which cut personal income taxes by 25 percent over three years, cut the corporate income tax, capital gains tax, and the gift and inheritance taxes. It offered the wealthy a broad array of other tax concessions. (p. 656) | ![]() | 9 |
9806941250 | business deregulation | Reagan followed up on the promise of "getting governmnet off the backs of people" by reducing federal regulations on business and industry. Restrictions were eased on savings and loans, mergers and takeovers by large corporations, and environmental protection. (p. 657) | ![]() | 10 |
9806941252 | Sandra Day O'Connor | President Reagan appointed this conservative judge to the Supreme Court, she was the first woman to serve on the Court. (p. 658) | ![]() | 11 |
9806941254 | budget and trade deficits | President Reagan's tax cuts combined with large increases in military spending lead to federal deficits of more than $200 million a year. During his two terms the national debt tripled from $900 million to $2.7 trillion. The U.S. trade deficit reached $150 billion a year. (p. 658) | ![]() | 12 |
9806941257 | Strategic Defense Initiative | An ambitious plan for building a high-tech system of laser and particle beams to destroy enemy missiles before they could reach the United States. Critics called it "Star Wars" and argued that the costly program would only escalate the arms races, while scientists pointed out this system was impossible to create. (p. 659) | ![]() | 13 |
9806941258 | Boland Amendment | In 1985, the Democrats passed this amendment which prohibited further aid to the contras in Nicaragua. (p. 660) | ![]() | 14 |
9806941259 | Iran-contra affair | Iran and Iraq were at war, the United States sold antitank and antiaircraft missiles to Iran's government for their help in freeing Americans held hostage by radical Arab group. The U.S. then used the profits from the sale to fund the anti-Communist contras in Nicaragua. This violated the Boland Amendment and congressional budget authority. (p. 660) | ![]() | 15 |
9806941260 | Beirut bombings | In April 1983, an Arab suicide bomber killed 63 people at the U.S. embassy in Beirut. A few months later, an Arab terrorist drove a bomb-filled truck into a U.S. Marines barracks, killing 241 servicemen. (p. 660) | ![]() | 16 |
9806941261 | Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) | The terrorist group that Israel fought with U.S. support. (p. 660) | ![]() | 17 |
9806941263 | evil empire | Reagan's term for the Soviet Communists and also "focus of evil in the modern world". (p. 659) | ![]() | 18 |
9806941264 | Mikhail Gorbachev | New Soviet leader who impletmented changes in their domestic politics with these reforms: 1) glasnost: an openness to end political repression and move toward greater political freedom for Soviet citizens. 2) perestroika: reconstruction of the Soviet economy by introducing some free-market practices. (p. 661) | ![]() | 19 |
9806941267 | Tiananmen Square | In 1989, Chinese pro democracy students demonstrated for freedom in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government crushed the protest with tanks, killing hundreds. (p 662) | ![]() | 20 |
9806941268 | Berlin Wall falls | In 1989, the Communists in East Germany were forced out of power after protesters tore down the Berlin Wall. In October 1990, the two Germanys reunited into one country. (p. 663) | ![]() | 21 |
9806941269 | Boris Yeltsin | President of the Russian Republic, he formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). He disbanded the Communist party in Russia and attempted to establish a democracy and a free-market economy. (p. 663) | ![]() | 22 |
9806941270 | START I and II | In 1991, U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Gorbachev signed the START I agreement which reduced the number of nuclear warheads to under 10,000 for each side. In 1992, President Bush and Yeltsin signed the START II agreement which reduced the number of nuclear weapons to just over 3,000 each. The U.S offered economic assistance to the troubled Russian economy. (p. 663) | ![]() | 23 |
9806941271 | Yugoslavia civil war | Yugoslavia started to disintegrate in 1991, a civil war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. (p. 664) | ![]() | 24 |
9806941272 | election of 1988 | In this presidential election George H. W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis. Bush had been Reagan's vice president. (p. 662) | ![]() | 25 |
9806941273 | George H. W. Bush | He won the 1988 presidential election. He was president during the Persian Gulf War. His ability to quickly bring the war to a conclusion while suffering relatively few casualties resulted in a very high approval rating of nearly 90 percent after the war. (p. 662) | ![]() | 26 |
9806941274 | Panama invasion | In December 1989, President George H. W. Bush ordered the invasion of Panama to remove the autocratic General Manuel Noriega. The alleged purpose of the invasion was to stop Noriega from using his country as a drug pipeline to the United States. U.S. troops remained in Panama until elections established a more credible government. (p. 664) | ![]() | 27 |
9806941275 | Saddam Hussein | In August 1990, this Iraqi dictator invaded oil-rich Kuwait. This invasion threatened Western oil sources. (p. 664) | ![]() | 28 |
9806941276 | Persian Gulf War | After Saddam Hussein invaded oil rich Kuwait, President George H. W. Bush built a coalition of United Nations members to pressure Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait. The U.N. embargo had little effect. In January 1991, the massive Operation Desert Storm brought air strikes down on Iraq. After only 100 hours of fighting on the ground, Iraq conceded defeat. (p. 664) | ![]() | 29 |
9806941277 | Operation Desert Storm | Massive operation in which more than 500,000 Americans were joined by military units from 28 nations. For 5 weeks they carried out relentless airstrikes and followed up with an invasion led by U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf. After 100 hours of ground fighting, Iraq conceded defeat. (p. 664) | ![]() | 30 |
9806941279 | no new taxes | President George H. W. Bush had promised this during the presidential campaign, but he agreed to accept the Democratic Congress' proposed $133 billion in new taxes. (p. 665) | ![]() | 31 |
9806941280 | Americans With Disabilities Act | In 1990, this act prohibited the discrimination against citizens with physical and mental disabilities in hiring, transportation, and public accommodation. (p. 665) | ![]() | 32 |
9806941281 | election of 1992 | In the 1992 presidential election, Democrat Bill Clinton defeated George H. W. Bush. Clinton presented himself as a moderate "New Democrat" who focused on economic issues. (p. 666) | ![]() | 33 |
9806941282 | William (Bill) Clinton | He served as president from 1993 to 2000. He was a moderate "New Democrat" who focused on economic issues such as jobs, education, and health care. (p. 666) | ![]() | 34 |
9806941284 | don't ask, don't tell | President Clinton failed to end discrimination against gays in the military and settled for the rule, "Don't ask, don't tell". Under this policy a member of the military could still be dismissed for being gay or lesbian but was not required to provide sexual orientation information. (p. 666) | ![]() | 35 |
9806941285 | NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement, which created a free-trade zone with Canada and Mexico. (p. 667) | ![]() | 36 |
9806941287 | National Rifle Association (NRA) | In 1974, this organization, which led the gun lobby, was angered when the Anti-Crime Bill banned the sale of most assault rifles. (p. 666) | ![]() | 37 |
9806941288 | deficit reduction budget | In 1994, Congress passed this budget which included $225 billion in spending cuts and $241 billion in tax increases. Part of the budget would go towards increased spending on education and job training. (p. 666) | ![]() | 38 |
9806941292 | Contract with America | Republican plan headed by Newt Gingrich that focused on scaling back the government, balancing the budget, and cutting taxes. (p. 667) | ![]() | 39 |
9806941294 | Oklahoma City bombing | In 1995, a federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed by militia-movement extremists. The bombing took 169 lives, the worse act of domestic terrorism in the nation's history until the attack on 9/11. (p. 667) | ![]() | 40 |
9806941297 | election of 1996 | In this presidential election, Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore defeated Republicans Bob Dole and Jack Kemp. (p. 668) | ![]() | 41 |
9806941298 | Clinton impeachment | In December 1998, the House voted to impeach President Bill Clinton on two counts, perjury and obstruction of justice. Neither impeachment charge was upheld by the Senate. (p. 669) | ![]() | 42 |
9806941302 | ethnic cleansing | Hundred of thousands of ethnic and religious minorities were killed in Bosnia and Kosovo by the Serbian dictator Milosevic. (p. 670) | ![]() | 43 |
9806941303 | nuclear proliferation | In the 1990s there were growing nuclear programs in North Korea, India, and Pakistan. (p. 670) | ![]() | 44 |
9806941304 | European Union | In 2002, this European organization became a unified market of 15 nations, 12 of which adopted the euro as their currency. The EU grew to include 27 European nations by 2007, including ten former satellites of the USSR. (p. 669) | ![]() | 45 |
9806941305 | World Trade Organization | In 1994, this organization was established to oversee trade agreements, enforce trade rules, and settle disputes. (p. 670) | ![]() | 46 |
9806941313 | concentration of wealth | Among industrialized nations, the United States had the largest gap between the lowest and the highest paid workers and the greatest concentration of wealth at the top. (p. 672) | ![]() | 47 |