Flashcard Set #1 - Colonies to War
for Independence
Mercantilism
The colonies had limits on trading
The colonies only existed for the benefit of the mother country (Great Britain)
Virginia House of Burgesses and the Mayflower Compact –
First representative democracies
Self-government in the colonies
Salutary Neglect
The British didn’t really enforce the laws against the colonies, so the colonies were
left alone.
It ended with new taxes: Stamp Act and Sugar Act, which upset the colonists.
Causes of the Revolutionary War
End of salutary neglect with new taxes
Taxation without representation
Proclamation of 1763 – kept colonists from moving west
Consent of the Governed –
The people get to approve the government
John Locke
Believed in “Natural Rights” and the “Social Contract Theory”
The Social Contract
The people can overthrow a government that does not protect their rights
The Declaration of Independence
Statement and explanation of why we are fighting for Independence
Includes “Natural Rights” and the “Social Contract Theory”
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
Pamphlet that encouraged the Colonists to fight the British
Articles of Confederation
First US Government – TOO WEAK!
The states had too much power
No president or Supreme Court, only a Congress
The Land Ordinance and Northwest Ordinance in the AOC
Land Ordinance of 1785 –set up admission of new states to US
Northwest Ordinance 1787 – prohibited slavery in NEW territories
Constitutional Convention
Wanted to “fix” the weak Articles of Confederation to make it stronger
Then, instead of fixing it, the weak AOC was replaced by the stronger Constitution
Flashcard Set #2 – Constitution I
Great Compromise
Representation in Congress
Created a bi-cameral (two house) legislature
Senate + House of Representatives = Congress
Laws must pass both houses
3/5ths Compromise
Question of counting slaves for representation in Congress
Counted as 3/5ths of a person
Electoral College to Elect the President
Each state gets votes based on population
It is possible for the popular vote loser to win the electoral college, like Bush in 2000
“Separation of Power” and “Checks and Balances”
The idea of dividing power comes from the Enlightenment
Each branch makes sure the other branch is not abusing its power
Powers of the President (Executive Branch)
Commander in Chief of the military
Appoints judges
Can sign laws or veto laws
Power of the Supreme Court (Judicial Branch)
Has Judicial Review - Declares laws either Constitutional or Unconstitutional
Powers of Congress
Makes laws
Approves Treaties
Approves Supreme Court Justices
Declares war
Can impeach the President
Can override a veto with 2/3rds vote
Elastic Clause
Congress can do anything “necessary and proper”
Gives flexibility, but DOES NOT CHANGE the Constitution
Flashcard Set #3 – Constitution II
Ratify
Means “to accept”
Example: The states ratified the Constitution; Congress can ratify an amendment
Federalists
The group that was FOR ratification of the Constitution
Thought a strong government was good
Wrote the Federalist Papers
Anti-Federalists
The group that was AGAINST the ratification of the Constitution
Wanted a Bill of Rights added
Bill of Rights
First 10 Amendments added because of the Anti-Federalist
Protects people’s rights from government abuse
Lobbying
When a special interest group wants Congress to pass laws that will help it
Unwritten Constitution
Traditions that are followed, but not in the constitution
Includes the Cabinet, Political Parties, Lobbying, and Judicial Review
Two-Term Tradition
Amendment
Unwritten tradition that became a part of the Constitution
Tradition started by Washington
Broken by FDR so it became 22nd Amendment
Gives flexibility by actually changing the words of the constitution
Example: During the Vietnam War, you could be drafted at 18, but couldn’t vote until 21.
So, the 26th Amendment CHANGED the voting age to 18.
Federalism
Two levels of government: State and Federal
Federalism: Delegated Powers
Federal (National) Government Powers
Declare War, Coin Money, Elastic Clause
Federalism: Reserved Powers
State Powers
Schools, Elections, Marriage & Divorce
Federalism: Concurrent Powers
Shared Powers: Both Federal and State
Roads and Taxes
Flashcard Set #4 – Early Republic
Political Parties
Started by disputes between Hamilton and Jefferson
Unwritten Constitution
President Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
Supported his Proclamation of Neutrality
Against political parties
Alexander Hamilton
Paid off debts and created the National Bank with the Elastic Clause
“Loose” Interpretation
Thomas Jefferson
“Strict” Interpretation
Bought Louisiana with Treaty Powers, NOT the Elastic Clause
Louisiana Purchase (1803)
Jefferson used Treaty Powers to buy from France
Doubled the size of US
Gained control of the Mississippi River
Jefferson went against his own “strict” beliefs
Chief Justice John Marshall - STRONG
His rulings made the federal government STRONGER
He made the Supreme Court stronger by giving it Judicial Review
He also gave Federal Government regulation of trade and the National Bank
Marbury v Madison (1803)
The “Midnight Judges” case
The Constitution didn’t include judicial review, so Marshall gave the Supreme Court it’s power of
“Judicial Review”
Judicial Review : Can declare laws constitutional or unconstitutional
McCulloch v Maryland (1819)
Maryland was taxing the National Bank
Marshall and the SC ruled the National Bank CONSTITUTIONAL, so Maryland couldn’t tax it
Gibbons v Ogden (1824)
Marshall and the SC ruled that the Congress could regulate trade between the states
Flashcard Set #5 – Madison to Polk
War of 1812
War Hawks wanted to expand US territory into Canada
Battle of New Orleans – makes Andrew Jackson famous
Era of Good Feeling
1815 to 1825 – Sectionalism takes backseat to Nationalism for short time
Monroe Doctrine
Sectionalism
Told Europe not to colonize any more of the Western Hemisphere
Said US would stay out of Europe
US wanted to control trade in Latin America
Economic differences between the North and South caused tension
Each side disagreed over slavery, the tariff, and “states’ rights”
Transportation Revolution in America
Steam Power, Canals, Roads, and Railroads
Internal improvements helped to improve industry and trade
Manifest Destiny
The belief that God says that the US should expand its territory from coast to coast
Texas Independence
Mexican War
Americans invited into Mexico, cheap land, promised to obey Mexican laws
Santa Anna led army against rebellious Anglos at Alamo
1845 - Texas became the 28th state
Caused by Manifest Destiny
US takes a huge amount of new territory from Mexico
The new territory causes arguments over the expansion of slavery
President Andrew Jackson: “King Andrew I”
Jacksonian Democracy – Era of the Common Man
Spoils System – hired his own supporters
Force Bill against South Carolina
Killed National Bank
Indian Removal Act
Worcester v Georgia (1832)
Jackson wanted the Native Americans removed from Georgia and put into the Oklahoma
territory
SC said it was Unconstitutional so they could stay
Jackson moved them anyway, violating “checks and balances”
Led to the horrible Trail of Tears
Seneca Falls Convention
Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott
Wrote the Declaration of Sentiments supporting equality and suffrage for women
Horace Mann
Led the public school reform movement
Flashcard Set #6 – Decade of crisis
William Lloyd Garrison
Abolitionist who published the anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator
Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner
Former slaves who attempted violent (separate) slave revolts
Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas
Former slaves who gave speeches supporting abolition (separately)
Timeline From Manifest Destiny to Reconstruction
(1) Manifest Destiny → (2) New Land from Mexico →
(3) Arguments over slavery in the new territories → (4) Weak Compromises →
(5) Secession → (6) The Civil War → (7) Reconstruction
Causes of the Civil War
Economic issues (Industry vs. Cotton)
Sectionalism
The Tariff
Slavery in the new territories
Weak compromises
States Rights and Nullification
Weak Compromises Before Civil War
Missouri Compromise – divided US into free and slave
Compromise of 1850 – California – free state and fugitive slave act
Kansas-Nebraska Act – Popular sovereignty vote on slavery, which led to violence
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
SC case where a slave was taken by his owner from a slave state (Missouri) to a free state
(Illinois) and wanted to remain free
Supreme Court Ruling in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
Slaves are property and blacks are not citizens
The government cannot take away property
Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional
Flashcard Set #7 –
Civil War and Reconstruction
Lincoln’s Goal during the Civil War
Keep the Union together
Did NOT free slaves at first, but did later
Lincoln Suspends Habeas Corpus
Lincoln took away Constitutional Rights
Arrested people in Maryland and Delaware who wanted those states to join the south
Helped the Union win the war
Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation
Told the Confederacy to free slaves, but it didn’t really free any slave
BUT it led to the 13th Amendment which got rid of slavery
Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plans
Wanted to forgive the South and bring them back into the Union
Assassinated before the plan went into action
Radical Republicans in Congress Plan for Reconstruction
Wanted to punish the South
Impeached Johnson because he was to forgiving
Reconstruction Amendments: 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments
13th: Freed the Slaves
14th: Gave blacks citizenship and “equal protection”
15th: Gave blacks the right to vote
Poll Tax, Literacy Test, Grandfather Clause
The South used these to keep blacks from voting
Official End to Reconstruction: Compromise of 1877
Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) becomes President in exchange for removing federal troops
from the South
Plessy v Ferguson (1896)
A black man wanted to ride in the white section of a train
The Supreme Court ruled against him and said that segregation was constitutional
“Separate, but equal”
Flashcard Set #8 –
Western Frontier, Big Business, and
Industrialization
Homestead Act (1862)
Gave land away to settlers to get people to move west
Dawes Act (1887)
Tried to “Americanize” the Native Americans by splitting up their tribes and giving them small
land
Chief Joseph
Leader of the Nez Perce who led a Native American Indian rebellion against the government
The “Gilded Age”
The nickname of the big business era in the late 1800s
Reasons for Industrialization in the North after the Civil War
INVESTMENT CAPITAL – money for investing in business
Transcontinental Railroad and Immigration
Monopolies, Trusts, and Pools
Eliminated competition and raised prices
Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?
Captains of Industry: The monopolists made billions, helped the economy, and provided jobs
to immigrants
Robber Barons: The monopolists paid low wages, had dangerous factories, child labor, and
eliminated the competition
Andrew Carnegie: Steel Entrepreneur
Carnegie Steel: Vertical monopoly in steel
Big philanthropist
John D. Rockefeller: Oil entrepreneur
Standard Oil: Monopoly that controlled 90% of oil refining
Big philanthropist
JP Morgan: Banking, Railroads, Steel Entrepreneur
Horizontal monopoly in railroads
Bought Carnegie Steel and created US Steel
Social Darwinism
“Survival of the Fittest” applied to business
Believes monopolies are good
Supports laissez-faire: Doesn’t want any laws regulating business
Collective Bargaining and Strikes
How unions negotiate for better conditions
Strikes were violent
Unions usually failed because government was on the side of business
Samuel Gompers: American Federation of Labor (AFL)
A labor union formed by Gompers for skilled workers
Eugene Debs: Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
A union organizer who led the Pullman Strike
Flashcard Set #9 –
Immigration, urbanization, and
Politics
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) and Gentlemen’s Agreement with Japan (1907)
Nativist policies that limited Chinese immigration and Japanese immigration
Urbanization During Industrialization
Big businesses needed immigrants to move to the US
Moved into northern cities
Ghetto – an area with the same ethnic group, like Chinatown and Little Italy
Tenement
Crowded city apartment, usually with immigrants
Old Immigration vs. New Immigration
Old (Before Civil War) – Irish and German
New (After Civil War) – Italian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese
Assimilation
Immigrants adapting to US culture and learning English
Melting Pot Theory of Immigration
America is a mix of cultures and our country benefits from the different ideas
Salad Bowl Theory of Immigration
Numerous distinct ethnic, religious, or cultural groups are present and tolerated within a society
Nativism
Hate immigrants: Think they take jobs from American born natives
Political Machine
Organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city
Patronage
Giving government jobs to people who got candidates elected
Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883
Bipartisan civil service commission to make appointments to federal jobs based on merit
system.
Candidates performance on examination
Tammany Hall and William Tweed
NYC political machine gains power through graft, bribery, and corruption
Exposed by Thomas Nast, cartoonist
Flashcard Set #10 –
Populism and progressivism
The Grange
Farmers against the railroad monopolies that raised prices on transporting food on the railroads
Populist Party
“Third Party” - Supported free silver –which would help farmers pay debts
Supported the Progressive income tax
Lost elections, but ideas adopted by both Republicans and Democrats
Progressive Era
The time period after industrialization when things improved because of REFORMS
Jane Addams Hull House
Settlement house for immigrant children
Muckraker
They exposed the bad things of industrialization and urbanization
Upton Sinclair – Muckraker
Exposed the Meat Industry
The Jungle led to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act
Frank Norris – Muckraker
Exposed railroad monopolies
The Octopus
Lincoln Steffens – Muckraker
Exposed the corruption of the cities
The Shame of the Cities
Thomas Nast – Muckraker
Exposed the corruption of the political machines by drawing cartoons
Focused on Tammany Hall’s Boss Tweed in NYC
Jacob Riis – Muckraker
Exposed the tenements with his pictures
How the Other Half Lives
Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the Clayton Anti-Trust Act
Broke up monopolies to help smaller businesses compete
Progressive Voting Reforms
Initiative, referendum, recall, direct election of Senators
Gives the people more direct democracy
Progressive Income Tax – 16th Amendment
Based on the ability to pay – the rich pay a higher percentage rate and the poor pay a lower percentage
rate
Flashcard Set #11 –
Progressivism and Imperialism
President Teddy Roosevelt - Progressive
Trust Buster – broke up the bad trusts, kept the good
Conservation – saved land in the west by setting up national forests and national parks
“Square Deal” – Progressive ideas
President Wilson’s New Freedom
Wilson’s Progressive Reforms: Progressive Income Tax and the Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve
Can protect the economy by controlling the money in circulation
Raises or lowers interest rates
Spanish American War (1898)
US freed Cuba from Spain
Yellow Journalism exaggerated Spain’s abuse of Cuba
The US went to war for the Cuban people, for imperialism, and because the Maine exploded
Open Door Policy (1899)
The US demanded an “open door” for trade
The US forced fair trading access into the Chinese/Asia market
President McKinley After Spanish American War
Takes land for business to get more raw materials and markets
Takes Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines from Spain
Later the US takes over Hawaii and Samoa
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
Believed the US should “speak softly but carry a big stick”
“International Police Power” – Roosevelt said the US would step in and solve problems in Latin America
and the Caribbean
Roosevelt Takes the Panama Canal
Important for trade and US military
TR gave Panama independence, so the US could take the canal from Colombia
President Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy
Better relations with Latin America through trade
Booker T. Washington
Thought job training education was the best way for African Americans to gain acceptance
WEB DuBois
Thought an education would provide an “educated elite” to protest for rights
Started the NAACP
Flashcard Set #12A –
World War I
Reasons for US involvement in World War I
German subs disrupted trade
Propaganda
The Sinking of the Lusitania & Zimmerman Note to Mexico
AND Wilson wanted to make the “world safe for democracy”
Espionage and Sedition Acts during World War I
Freedom of Speech was restricted during World War I
Couldn’t interfere with the draft or speak out against the war
Schenck v. United States (1919)
Charles Schenck arrested for mailing leaflets against the draft - violated the Espionage Act
The SC ruled speech can be limited only if there is a “clear and present danger”
Free Speech is not absolute: example – can’t yell “FIRE” in a crowded theater
Wilson’s 14 Points and the League of Nations
After WWI, Wilson wanted a League of Nations included in the Treaty of Versailles
BUT The US Senate rejected the treaty
The Senate thought it would get us into more wars
US went back to isolation and neutrality
Flashcard Set #12B –
Roaring 20s
US Isolationism in the 1920s
The Senate rejected the League of Nations
“The return to normalcy” was based on neutrality
US tried to use weak international agreements: Washington Conference and Kellogg-Briand Pact
Women Suffrage (SUFFRAGE = THE RIGHT TO VOTE)
Western states were the first to grant suffrage (the right to vote)
Led by Susan B. Anthony
19th Amendment: gave women suffrage
Red Scare and the Palmer Raids
Red Scare – Americans feared Communist would take over
Palmer Raids – police raids that violated the habeas corpus rights
Sacco and Vanzetti
Italian immigrants who were convicted of murder and executed
Nativism against immigrants and fear of Communism
Quotas on Immigration
Immigration Act of 1924: limits (QUOTAS) on immigrants based on nativism
Discriminated against people from eastern Europe, southern Europe, and Asia
Prohibition (1919-1933)
The Temperance movement led to the 18th Amendment (1919)
Many broke the law: difficult and expensive to enforce
Congress repealed prohibition by the 21st Amendment (1933)
Scopes Trial
“The Monkey Trial”: religion vs. science
Teacher on trial for teaching evolution
The “fundamental religious” argument was weakened by modern ideas
Flashcard Set #13 –
Great depression and new deal
Great Depression
Worst economy in American history with millions unemployed, farm problems, and bank failures
Causes of the Great Depression
Overproduction of farms and factories
Big gap between rich and poor
Too much buying on credit
Bank failures
Stock Market crash
Weak international economy
The New Deal
FDR’s plan to end the Great Depression
Government took an active role: “pump priming”
Provided jobs, saved the banks, provided a “safety net”
New Deal Program: AAA
Paid farmers not to grow certain crops so prices would go up
New Deal Program: The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)
Regulates the stock market
New Deal Program: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)
Provided jobs and cheap electricity to local parts of the South that need it
New Deal Program: Social Security Act
Benefits for the elderly, the unemployed, and welfare for the poor and their children
New Deal Program: FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
Insures deposits and makes people more confident in US banks
New Deal Program: Wagner Act
Gave unions the right to collective bargaining
FDR’s Court Packing Plan
The Supreme Court declared some New Deal plans unconstitutional
So, FDR tried to increase the size of the court from 9 to 15
Congress killed it because it violated “checks and balances”
Was the New Deal effective?
World War II ended the Great Depression, not the New Deal
Good: The New Deal provided jobs, helped people cope, and saved capitalism
Bad: People now rely more on the government
Flashcard Set #14 –
World War II
“Neutrality” Before World War II (Kellogg-Briand Pact and Neutrality Acts)
Before WWII, the US tried to stay neutral but couldn’t
Kellogg-Briand Pact – outlawed war
Neutrality Acts – declared US neutrality
BUT the US needed to sell weapons to get us out of the Great Depression
“Cash and Carry”, Destroyers for Bases, and the Lend Lease Act
Policies that traded weapons with the Allies (the democracies fighting in Europe)
FDR said the US was an “arsenal for democracy”
Slowly got the US more involved in WWII
FDR Puts the Japanese-Americans into Internment Camps
After Pearl Harbor, there was racism against Japanese Americans
FDR was worried about spies so he locked them up
Violated Civil Liberties and Congress apologized to them 40 years later
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
Korematsu was a Japanese American who wanted out of internment
SC ruled that a race of people can lose rights during wartime
Truman Drops Two Atomic Bombs on Japan (1945)
Wanted to end the war quickly and save American lives
Bad: Together killed 200,000 civilians instantly and thousands died in the years after
Good: Japan surrendered and WWII ended
Domestic Issues in World War II
The government sold war bonds
Women worked in the factories: Rosie the Riveter
Rationing – Americans rationed and saved products for the war
Nuremberg Trials
After WWII ended, the US was an international leader in holding trial against Nazis for “crimes
against humanity.”
Flashcard Set #15 –
Cold war
HUAC
Investigated communist activity
Led to “blacklisting” actors and writers in Hollywood who were accused o f communism
President Truman and the Military
The G.I. Bill gave money for housing and college to soldiers
Desegregation of the Military
Fired Gen. MacArthur during the Korean War: “Civilian Control of the Military”
The “Baby Boom” Generation Right after WWII
Largest population explosion in US history
Will be a huge problem for Social Security when they retire
Cold War (1946 – 1991)
Tension and hate between the US and the USSR without real war
Couldn’t go to war because both had nuclear bombs
Containment
Foreign policy where the US tried to keep communism in Eastern Europe
Marshall Plan
US gave money to Western Europe to rebuild, for trade, and to stop communism
Truman Doctrine and Eisenhower Doctrine
Foreign policies that gave aid to stop communism
Truman sent military aid and money to Greece and Turkey to fight Communism
Collective Security
Alliance systems to protect US and the USSR
NATO = US, Warsaw Pact = USSR
Korean War (1950 – 1953)
US uses containment and saves South Korea from becoming communist
Used United Nations forces
JFK Orders a Blockade Around Cuba (1962)
USSR tried to sneak missiles into Cuba, but JFK challenged the USSR with a blockade
USSR backed down and took the missiles out
McCarthyism
Senator Joseph McCarthy tried to make a name for himself by wrongly accusing government workers
o f being communist
His “Witch Hunt” ruined reputations and violated rights
Flashcard Set #16 –
1950s and 1960s
USSR Launches Sputnik
Soviets put first satellite into space
To catch up, US spent more money on science and math education
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
A black girl in Kansas wanted to go to a white school
SC said that “separate but equal” is NOT equal (14th Amendment)
Reversed Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
President Eisenhower Sends Troops to Central High in Little Rock, AK
President used federal troops to get 9 black students into an all white high school
Federalism Issue – this proved Federal government is more powerful than the states
Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, the Sit-Ins, and the Freedom Rides
Used civil disobedience and non-violent protest against segregation
Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks – Montgomery Bus Boycott
Sit-Ins – protested segregated lunch counters
Freedom Rides – protested segregated Greyhound Buses
President Johnson’s “Gulf of Tonkin” Resolution
This gets the US more involved in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
US lost trying to practice containment in Southeast Asia
The US thought the “domino theory” was correct
Unpopular war at home
58,000 Americans died
Johnson’s Great Society and “War on Poverty”
Laws for African Americans – Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and 24th Amendment
Programs to help the poor
Medicare: free health insurance for the elderly
Flashcard Set #17 –
1960s and 1970s
Cesar Chavez
The “Latino Martin Luther King”: Civil Disobedience, marches, and non-violent protest
Formed the United Farm Workers
Chief Justice Earl Warren
Supreme Court Chief Justice who expanded rights for minorities and accused criminals
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
The Warren Supreme Court ruled that evidence obtained in violation of the 4th Amendment cannot be
used in court
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964)
The Warren Supreme Court ruled that Congress can stop public racial discrimination
Gideon v. Wainwright (1962)
Gideon was too poor to afford a lawyer
The Warren Supreme Court ruled the 6th Amendment gives everyone an attorney
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
The Warren Supreme Court ruled that you must be informed of your rights upon arrest
The Miranda Warning: “You have the right to remain silent …”
Roe v. Wade (1973)
A woman in Texas wanted to have an abortion, but it was illegal there
A controversial decision where the SC ruled that a woman has a right to privacy and therefore
abortions should be legal in all states
Nixon Visits China
Nixon went to Communist China for better relations and to trade
Nixon: Détente and SALT
Détente – better relations with the USSR
SALT – A treaty with the USSR that reduced the number of nuclear bombs for each side
Nixon RESIGNS because of Watergate Scandal (1974)
Nixon lied to cover up the Watergate break-in
The Supreme Court forced Nixon to give up tapes that proved he was lying
Nixon quit before Congress was going to impeach him
People lost trust in the government
United States v. Nixon (1974)
Nixon claimed “executive privilege” to not hand over the Watergate Tapes
SC ruled Nixon had to because of “Separation of Powers”
Flashcard Set #18 –
1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s
War Powers Act (1973)
Because Vietnam was a disaster, Congress took back some war powers from the President
Nixon vetoed the act, but Congress overrode the veto
The President must get approval from Congress to send troops for more than 60 days
New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
Issue: Freedom of the Press that was established by the John Peter Zenger case 200 years before
SC said The Times could print the stolen Pentagon Papers, which showed the government was lying
about Vietnam
Camp David Accords (1978)
Carter brings the first peace agreement to the Middle East between a Muslim country (EGYPT) and
Israel
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
Helps end the Cold War with Gorbachev (USSR)
Increases military spending + cutting taxes = huge deficit
Iran-Contra – Illegally traded arms for hostages
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Prohibited discrimination in employment and public buildings (“wheelchair access”)
President George HW Bush fights the Gulf War (1991)
Iraq invaded Kuwait, which supplies the US with oil
US got support from the UN to kick Iraq out
Clinton Gets Impeached (1998)
Clinton lied under oath about an affair, which many thought was not really a crime
Impeached by the House of Representatives, but the Senate let him keep his job
President Clinton (1993 – 2001): Bosnia and Kosovo, NAFTA
Sent troops to Bosnia and Kosovo to stop ethnic cleansing
NAFTA – easier trade with Mexico and Canada
President George W. Bush’s response to the 9/11 attacks
The Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security, and war in Afghanistan
Iraq WAS NOT a response to 9/11 – we thought Iraq had WMDs, but it didn’t