Transcript The Resurgence of Conservatism

The Resurgence of
Conservatism
Election of 1980
• Ronald Reagan chosen by
Republicans to face Carter
• Reagan attacked Carter’s failings
• Reagan called on the Moral Majority
and “neoconservatives” to speak out
• Reagan won in a landslide
Moral Majority
• Started by evangelical Christian leaders
• Sparked the conservative movement of
the 1980’s
• The answer to the liberal movement of
the 1960’s
• Sought to take back America (think 20th
century Great Awakening)
Reagan and Conservatism
• Reagan began to cut spending on
social program, but not defense
• Many New Deal and Great Society
programs were cut
• Employed “supply side economics”
which lowered taxes in hopes of
increasing jobs
Yuppies
• Young Urban
Professionals
• The gap between
the “haves” and
“have nots”
widened in the
1980’s
Reagan and the Cold War
• Reagan took on the Soviet Union in an
arms race
• Plan was to force the Soviets into
spending themselves into bankruptcy
• Proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative
(SDI) which would use lasers to shoot
down Soviet Missiles
Political Quiz-Right or Left?
• http://www.isidewith.com/pol
itical-quiz
• Once you are done, summarize your
results (political parties and ideology on
back of paper)
• List 5 interesting facts for the Left and the
Right
• Then check off the table based off the
information you learned
Mikhail Gorbachev
• Soviet leader who
introduced a more
open Soviet Union
• Negotiated decrease
in nuclear weapons
• Slowly opened the
Soviet Union to
capitalist ventures
Iran-Contra Affair
• U.S. profits from secretly selling arms
to Iran
• U.S. uses profits to fund Nicaraguan
Contra rebels to overthrow regime
Sandra Day O’Connor
• Became the first
woman to serve
on the Supreme
Court
• Ushered in an
era of
conservatism in
the court
George H.W. Bush
• Reagan’s VicePresident
• Wins the 1988
election
• Only half of the
eligible voters
turned out to
vote
Texas v. Johnson
• Supreme Court case that said flag
burning was protected under the First
Amendment
Berlin Wall
• November, 1989, Berlin Wall is torn
down and begins the reunification of
Germany
• This symbolizes the beginning to the
end of the Cold War
First Gulf War
• 1990, Iraqi
leader Saddam
Hussein invades
Kuwait
First Gulf War
• 1991, U.S. leads a coalition of United
Nations forces to drive Iraq out of
Kuwait
• This became known as “Operation
Desert Storm”
Bill Clinton
• Wins the 1992
election, and
becomes the first
baby boomer
generation
President
NAFTA
• North American Free Trade
Agreement
• Lowered tariffs
• Created a free trade zone with U.S.,
Canada, and Mexico
Brady Bill
• Issued tougher gun laws
• Called for more background checks
before someone could purchase a
gun
Dot Com Boom
• Personal computers became more
affordable
• Internet became an important tool for
communication and information
Family Medical Leave Act
• Allowed people to take time from
work for medical issues without fear
of losing their jobs
Bosnia
• U.S. leads a NATO coalition to help
stop fighting in Bosnia