ME - The Modern Era Key Concepts (Lesson)
The Modern Era Key Concepts
Before you begin...
Notes are given here as well as in the Readings Document from Boundless that is available to download below. There is one presentation to view as well.
The Key Concepts lesson is very important as it covers the main areas of the Advanced Placement frameworks and the Georgia Performance Standards. Many of the test questions will relate to items found here. Many of the test questions will relate to items found here.
Boundless: PDF of readings for this module Links to an external site.
Key Concepts:
Download the key concepts questions that are found below and answer these as you read and view the information in the module. The answers are found in the text on this and the following pages, the readings, the online textbook links, and in the presentation. After you have done this, you will use these answers to review for the multiple-choice test for this module.
Key Concepts Questions for this module Links to an external site.
Carter Administration
Jimmy Carter's presidency was strongly influenced by international issues. He tried to bring peace to the Middle East and, in the Camp David Accords, negotiated a peace agreement between the Egyptian president and the Israeli prime minister at Camp David (a presidential retreat in Maryland) in 1978. This was the first time there had been a signed peace agreement between Middle Eastern nations. Although the agreement left many differences unresolved, it did solve urgent problems facing the two nations. In 1978, the Iranian Revolution replaced a shah (king) friendly to America with a Muslim religious leader unfriendly to America. When Carter let the shah enter the United States for medical treatment, angry Iranian revolutionaries invaded the U.S. embassy in Iran and took 52 Americans captive. The Iranian Hostage Crisis lasted 444 days until the captives were released after the election of Ronald Reagan as president, and it nurtured anti-Americanism among Muslims around the world.
Reagan Administration
Ronald Reagan was president for much of the 1980s. During that time, many important events helped shape American politics to this day. As a conservative, Reagan wanted to decrease the size and role of the federal government.
Read this Boundless summary of the Reagan Era. Links to an external site. Then, use the arrows below to reveal information about three important components of Reagan's Presidency.
Reaganomics
Reaganomics was the nickname for Reagan's economic policy. It included budget cuts, tax cuts, and increased defense spending. Critics argued that Reagan's programs benefited the wealthy at the expense of the poor. Initially, the economy remained poor, but the economy soon recovered and boomed for much of the rest of Reagan's presidency.
Iran-Contra Scandal
The Iran-Contra Scandal was Reagan's biggest failure in international policy. Administration officials attempted to secure the release of hostages by selling weapons to Iran-an enemy of the United States-and then violated more laws by using the profits from those arms sales to fund an anti-communist rebellion in Nicaragua fought by rebels called the Contras (a Spanish nickname for "counter-revolutionaries"). Details of this scandal are still largely unknown to the public.
Collapse of the Soviet Union
The collapse of the Soviet Union was Reagan's biggest success in international policy. The Soviet Union's last leader set up policies allowing freedom of speech and of the press and other reforms putting the U.S.S.R. on a path to democratic government, but these reforms got out of the leader's control and eventually led to the breakup of the 15 states that were the Soviet Union. Although communism in Europe collapsed under Reagan's successor, George Bush, Reagan's policies are often credited with helping cause the collapse.
Significant Events During the Reagan Administration
- January 20, 1981: Former California governor, Ronald Reagan, was inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States.
- Reforms: First thing after inauguration Reagan set out to roll back the Great Society by cutting funding for food stamps, school lunches, and Medicaid and to reduce eligibility for unemployment benefits. Reduced restrictions/regulations on the environment and economic activities.
- Reagan Doctrine: Foreign policy during Reagan's presidency that sought to reduce the Soviet Union’s international influence and attempted to end the Cold War; included a massive military buildup; new technology for missile defense systems.
- Invasion of Grenada: In 1983 the president ordered the invasion of Grenada, the 1st major overseas military action since Vietnam ended in 1975.
- 1984: Reagan-Bush re-elected for a 2nd term.
- “War on Drugs”: Reagan (both the president and Mrs. Reagan's) initiative that allocated $1.7B to fight drugs, and establish mandatory minimum penalties for drug crimes.
- MLK, Jr. Day: In 1986 Reagan was responsible for establishing MLK, Jr. Day (in January to recognize MLK’s birthday) as a federal holiday.
- INF Treaty: Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty—Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev signed the treaty to reduce nuclear weapons proliferation.
- Iran-Contra Affair: A covert deal to sell arms to Iran in order to fund paramilitary forces that were trying to overthrow the socialist government in Nicaragua (the Contra rebels).
- Federal Judges: Reagan appointed more federal judges than any president plus 4 Supreme Court justices, including Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice.
- Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986: Sweeping immigration reform during the Reagan administration; granted amnesty to 3M illegal agents, including many Irish immigrants.
- End of the Cold War: With the tearing down of the Berlin Wall (Reagan’s famous speech in Berlin) the end of the Cold War commenced.
- 1989: The Reagans leave Washington, D. C. and go home to their Simi Valley, California ranch. When Reagan left office, his approval rating matched that of FDR’s and Bill Clinton’s in the 1990s at 68% despite the massive amount of national debt that accumulated with “Reaganomics”-the extensive increase in spending and the reduction of taxes for 8 years.
View the presentation on key events from 1988.
John Hinckley Jr shot and seriously wounded President Reagan and three members of his entourage in March 1981 as Reagan was leaving a Washington D.C. Hotel. Hinckley carried out the assassination attempt in the hopes of getting the attention of Jodie Foster - an actress in a movie he had seen.
On the day of the shooting, Hinckley wrote a letter to Foster, but he didn't mail it. In the letter, he said he had to go ahead with the "attempt" in order to "impress" Foster. It is also alleged that he told someone in Texas that "as far as he was concerned all politicians should be eliminated."
Hinckley was acquitted on the grounds of insanity. But he remains in a mental institution.
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