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Oklahoma City Bombing
The United States suffered one of the largest domestic terrorist attacks, as a truck full of handmade explosives went off in front of the Alfred Murray Federal Building. The men who are responsible for the death of 168 people, injuring 600 more, 19 of them being small-aged children, were Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. This event not only swept the nation with sadness and fear but also highlighted the dangers of extremist anti-government sentiment at the time (Kruse and Zelizer, 221). -
Defense Marriage Act
President Clinton signed the Defense Marriage Act that only recognizes the unions between a man and woman, leaving same-sex marriages to be unable to be recognized under federal law. States also got the freedom to refuse the recognition of same-sex marriages done in other states. DOMA is significant because it puts a definition to marriages as well as shows an attempt to grapple with the very controversial topic of the rights and recognition of the LGBTQ community (Kruse and Zelizer, 218). -
September 11 Attacks
The Islamic Terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked commercial airplanes, flying them into major buildings. The structures that collapsed were the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This event was the largest terrorist attack seen on U.S. soil causing the death of close to 3,000. 9/11 was the end of a decade-long peace affecting American security and pride. This marked the beginning of an era full of fear, and increased security measures (Kruse and Zelizer, 249-251) -
War with Iraq Begins
President George W. Bush with U.S. forces, launched a military operation, strategizing to remove ISIS leader Saddam Hussein and destroy weapons through airstrikes. The military operation started because the Bush administration had the belief of there being weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The War on Iraq is significant as it reflected American sentiment of defense after 9/11 and would also affect U.S. foreign policy, cost lots of money, and cost the lives of many(Kruse and Zelizer, 261). -
Hurricane Katrina
A category 5 hurricane hit the United States with surges with heavy rains, high winds, and flooding. The parts of the U.S. that suffered the most destruction as the storm peaked were in parts of Texas, Florida, and New Orleans. This storm was extensive in property damage, causing an expensive cost of about $108 billion. Hurricane Katrina's effects also influenced Americans to analyze the Government's role in protecting its citizens and distribution of Disaster aid (Kruse and Zelizer, 280) -
PRISM Program
A program that was secretly launched by the National Security Agency with the aim of countering any terrorist attempts and gathering intel. This program included several important and large internet companies including: Google, Apple, and Microsoft. This PRISM program wasn't leaked to the public until 2013, causing debates about American digital privacy and security. Internationally there was criticism to the U.S. spying on leaders without authorization. (Kruse and Zelizer, 287) -
Barack Obama Inaugurated
Barack Obama was sworn in as the first Black president of the United States. His inauguration speech had a positive, unifying tone and placed a strong emphasis on civic duty. Across the nation, Obama's campaign and election raisedpolitical participation, especially among communities of color and young people. His presidency created asense of hope and equality in American politics, with an estimated 1.8 million people attending the inauguration. -
Affordable Care Act
The goal of this program, which was often referred to as "Obamacare", was to change our healthcare system. The program's goals included increasing access to health insurance and expanding to those with pre-existing medical conditions and of different ages. This program was one of the most significant domestic policy reforms that we continue to discuss today as it sparked continuing national debate about the role of the government in healthcare (hhs.gov). -
Bombing of The Boston Marathon
The biggest terrorist attack on American territory after the 9/11 attacks was the Boston Marathon bombing. Three were killed and more than 500 were injured when two bombs went off close to the finish line. The incident was orchestratedby brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev On top of sadness strikingthe country due to thenumber of those affected, this tragic incident rocked our country with anotherwave ofthe threat of domestic terrorism and the need for security(fbi.gov). -
#BlackLivesMatter
BLM had evolved from a hashtag to a movement in the year of 2015 striving to stand up against racial injustice and police brutality. This movement was in response to the death of multiple individuals in the Black community who were killed by police officers including, Micheal brown and George Zimmerman. The BLM movement allowed millions to engage in civic discussions of topics on equality and justice as well as face the issues of racial profiling and abuse of power (theatlantic)