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G.I. Bill
The G. I. Bill of Rights or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 provided for college or vocational education for recovering World War II veterans as well as one-year of unemployment pay. It also gave loans for returning veterans to buy houses and start businesses.The education and training provisions existed until 1956, providing benefits to nearly 10 million ex-soldiers. The Veterans’ Administration offered insured loans until 1962. -
Atomic Bomb
The Atomic Bomb is a nuclear weapon that gives off a significant amount of power through nuclear fission, during WWII, two atomic bombs were released onto Japan cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki which drove Japan to surrender and ended WWII. The Manhattan Project was the name of the classified program that produced the massive atomic bomb. The bomb dropped by the US was in response to the atrocities commited by Japan including the strike on Pearl Harbor. -
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Cold War
The Cold War was a state of tension between powers in the Eastern & Western Bloc.
The geopolitical tension between the USSR and the US.
Key events that increased the tension were the arms and space race along with the rising sensation of a third world conflict amongst America and the Soviet Union in dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis. -
Truman Doctrine
To delay the communist rule of Greece and Turkey, Truman talked in front of Congress to ask for American assistance for the two nations. On 1947, the Truman Doctrine stated the idea that the United States needed to support and protect countries or citizens who are threatened by communism. In order to aid Greece and Turkey, Congress granted $400 million to the United States for the fight against communism. To the Soviet Union, this was the beginning of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan channeled over $13 billion to finance the economic recovery of Europe between 1948 and 1951. The Marshall Plan succesfully sparked economic recovery and was enacted to promote European economic integration and federalism and created a mixture of public organization of the private economy similar to that in the domestic economy of the United States. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain symbolized the idea of fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas in the post-WWII and Cold War era. The boundary was vertical through the middle of Germany. On the west side was the Soviet Union, Poland, Finland, Hungary, Austria, Romania and West Germany, and on the east side was England, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and East Germany. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift needed goods to the west of Berlin after the government of East Germany had cut off all the supplies, (the soviet union as well). The U.S sent troops to fly and give goods for the well-being of the people. This incident took place during the Truman presidency. -
Fair Deal
President Truman's 1949 call to Congress. The Fair Deal was a program that called for better housing, full employment, higher minimum wage, better farm price supports, new TVA's, and the extension of social security.
Its only successes: raised the minimum wage, better public housing, extended old-age insurance to more people. -
Beat Generation
a group of American writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they wrote about. Central elements of "Beat" culture include a rejection of mainstream American values, experimentation with various drugs and alternate forms of sexuality, and an interest in Eastern spirituality. -
Television
The Television is a machine that takes electronic signals and makes them into images and sounds, the way of sending pictures and sounds by electronic signals over a distance so others can see and hear them on a receiver.By 1960, 87% of Americans had at least one television set. As a result, movies began to lose the cultural dominance they once had. TVs had three channels; ABC, CBS, and Cultural -
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1950's
During this era, the United States was the world's strongest military power. Its economy was booming, and helping with this was the new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods were available to more people than ever before. However, during this time, there was also great disagreements. For. The Civil Rights movement and the movement against communism at home and overseas displayed the divisions in American society. -
Rock N. Roll
Rock N. Roll began out as slang young individuals used to suggest to sex. Became "crossover" vocal style that rose to power in the 1950s, fusing rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and country that also featured a heavy beat and driving rhythm, rock 'n' roll music became a defining feature of youth culture. Became very big with Elvis and many other rock n roll pioneers -
Ike Turner
Born on November 5, 1931, Ike Turner was a famous African-American musician. He was one of the pioneers of Rock and Roll and even had Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, copy a song from him. His first song and hit was "Rocket 88," which was sung by his band, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats or Kings of Rhythm. Allegations by Tina Turner of domestic violence by Ike, damaged Ike Turner's career in the 1980s and 1990s. -
Dr. Jonas Salk
Dr. Jonas Salk created an effective vaccine against polio in the early 1950s, and the government sponsored a free inoculation program for children. The vaccine was extremely effective. By 1974, thanks to his vaccine and a new oral vaccine developed by Dr. Albert Sabin, only seven new polio cases were reported in the country. -
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Civil Rights
The Civil Rights Movement was a social movement in the United States whose goals were to end racial segregation and discrimination against African-Americans and to get legal acceptance. It was also to get equal access to and opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of U.S. citizenship. A woman named Rosa Parks began the movement when she refused to give her seat on a bus to a white man. For this act of protest, Parks wars arrested. the blacks started a boycott of the bus system. -
Polio Vaccine
Polio hurt and killed millions globally, and the strong vaccine virtually reduced the scourge made. The Vaccine produces antitoxin antibodies to offset the virus in the bloodstream later killing it. Jonas Salk an American doctor invented the polio vaccine in 1953 and announced safe in 1955. -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Emmett Till was a fourteen-year-old African American boy who was killed in Mississippi in 1955. Emmett was beaten and murdered then dumped in a creek for whistling at a white female. The two white men who were put on trial for murder but were not convicted or punished for their racial crimes.Till's death was showed world wide and it became a media craze around the world. His death was important because it showed the world that blacks were still rejected and very segregated. -
Rock ‘n’ Roll (Elvis Presley)
Elvis Presley was a singer whose music helped to change and transform popular music in the 1950s, combined rhythm and blues with bluegrass and country to form a new genre of music known as rock n' roll.His many hit records and flashy style greatly inspired American popular music and culture. His first hit song "Heartbreak Hotel" made #1 on Billboard's national country singles chart. -
Albert Sabin
Albert Sabin, well known as the maker of the oral virus polio vaccine, Dr. Sabin not only committed his entire known career to the removal of human suffering through his groundbreaking medical progress, he also made a campaign against poverty and ignorance throughout his lifetime. On October 6, 1956 Sabin announced that his live-virus polio vaccine is ready for mass testing. -
Space Race
The Space Race was an informal competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to see who could make the furthest advancements into space first. It involved the efforts to explore outer space with artificial satellites, to send humans into space, and to land them on the Moon. effectively began after the Soviet Launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. continued through the U.S. Apollo moon landing of 1969. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine a group of African-American students who were registered in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The growing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were originally blocked from coming into the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then visited after the intervention of President Eisenhower, is considered to be one of the most important events in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. -
Sputnik
With the innovative new voyager, the Soviet Union stunned the world by launching Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to revolve around the earth. The resulting outcry in the United States, primarily fears that the Soviets were advancing in both space exploration and military missiles faster than the U.S, drove the Eisenhower administration to progress defense spending and accelerate America's space program. -
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight, created to compete with the russian space program (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) -
Anti-War Movement
The Anti-War Movement was a student protest that began at the Free Speech movement in California and spread around the world. All members of the Anti-War Movement shared an opposition to war in Vietnam and condemned U.S. presence there. They claimed this was violating Vietnam's rights. This movement resulted in growing activism on campuses aimed at social reform etc. Primarily a middle-class movement. -
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1960's
During this time John F. Kennedy became president of the United States. His confidence that, as one historian put it, . However, that golden age never materialized. On the contrary, by the end of the 1960s it seemed that the nation was falling apart. -
Sit-Ins
Sit-Ins were a method of straightforward action that includes one or more persons nonviolently staying in one area for a protest, often to support or promote political, social, or economic reform. Sit-ins were an essential part of the non-violent tactics of civil disobedience in the early 60s that nearly ended racial segregation in the United States. The form of sit-ins started in Greensboro, North Carolina and spread nationwide. -
New Frontier
The New Frontier was JFK's program for development in which he declared a cry to the American people, calling upon them to make sacrifices to reach their potential importance it included medical aid for the elderly, increased education spending, space research, public service programs such as the peace corps, a dedication to civil rights and policies to help the economy. -
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is a federal organization created by President Kennedy in 1961 to support voluntary assistance by Americans in foreign countries, it gives employees power to help developing countries develop their infrastructure, health care, educational systems, and other phases of their societies. Part of Kennedy's New Frontier vision, the organization served as an effort by postwar progressives to promote American values and influence. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis is a global emergency in October 1962, the nearest plan to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR. When the U.S. created Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy required their departure and announced a naval blockade of the island and the Soviet leader Khrushchev agreed to the U.S. demands a week later. They also removed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The crisis was the closest the world came to nuclear war. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his infamous "I Have a Dream" speech supporting racial equality at the Lincoln Memorial during the march. MLK was widely credited as helping lead to the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the National Voting Rights Act (1965). 80% of the marchers were black. a. Philip Randolph. -
Birmingham Bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church attack was an act of white supremacist terrorism which happened at the African-American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on Sunday, September 15, 1963, when four people in the Ku Klux Klan placed a minimum of 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device under the front steps of the church. Described by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, the explosion at the church killed four girls and injured 22 others. -
Assasination of JFK
President John Kennedy was assassinated on November 23, 1963 in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy was visiting Dallas to start getting support for the future presidential election of 1964. Kennedy's assassination and funeral became a important moment for that generation as the nation was caught up in grief and watched his state funeral on television. His brief presidency was viewed as a high point of the postwar era and cast its influence on American politics during the 1960s. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
According to five U.S. federal investigations, he was the gunman who assassinated John F. Kennedy, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was a U.S. Marine who deserted to the Soviet Union in October 1959. He stayed in the Soviet Union until June 1962, at which time he came to the United States. Oswald was first arrested for the murder of police officer J. D. Tippit, who was killed on a Dallas street approximately 45 minutes after President Kennedy was shot. -
Jack Ruby
A Dallas nightclub operator, who stunned America when he shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, the accused assassin of JFK. As Oswald was being transferred, Ruby stepped out of a crowd and gunned him down. The event was witnessed by millions on live television. Ruby was convicted of murder. He claimed he had acted out of grief and denied any involvement in conspiracy. In 1966 Ruby’s conviction was overturned; however, while waiting for a new trial, he died of cancer. -
Warren Commision
The Warren Commission was established on November 29, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to review the assassination of JFK on November 22, 1963. Its 888-page conclusive statement was given to Johnson on September 24, 1964. It concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the killing of Kennedy, officer J.D. Tippit and that Jack Ruby acted alone in the murder of Oswald. The Commission's findings have since controversial and been both challenged and supported by later studies. -
Black Power
The Black Power movement highlighted racial pride and the origin of black political and cultural schools to teach and promote black collective interests, advance black values, and secure black autonomy. a range of political goals, from defense against racial oppression, to the establishment of separate social institutions and a self-sufficient economy. Black Power adherents believe in Black autonomy, with a variety of tendencies such as black nationalism, and black separatism -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a campaign in the United States started in June 1964 to try to list as many African American voters as possible in Mississippi, which up to that time had almost totally rejected black voters. The project was planned by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). -
Counter-Culture
The Counter Culture Group was an organization which took part in a widespread movement of renouncing held culture and disregarding the past. Those who took part in this movement were known as hippies. Many hippies experimented with drugs and sex and thought highly in women's liberation, anti-materialism, and opposititon for the Vietnam War -
Hippies
Hippies believed in anti-materalism, free use of drugs, they had a casual attitude toward sex and anti-conformity, practiced free love and took drugs, flocked to San Francisco- low rent/interracial, they lived in communal "crash pads", smoked marijuana and took LSD, sexual revolution, new counter culture, Protestors who influenced US involvement in Vietnam -
Great Society
Great Society was a public cry for improved environmental, conservation, racial, educational, and health programs, the Great Society was inspired by JFK and prompted by LBJ’s insecure need to win over the American people. Largely successful in the first two years of the Johnson administration, the idealism would later give way to destroy conservatism and a return to traditional values. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a important piece of civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public (known as "public accommodations"). Powers given to enforce the act were initially weak, but were supplemented during later years. -
Selma March
MLK organizes a march in Selma. Tens of thousands of black protesters petition for the right to vote outside of the city hall and are ignored. Then marched to governor's mansion in Montgomery. Police meet them with tear gas and clubs. "Bloody Sunday" is highly publicized and Americans are shocked. Southern police brutality of peaceful demonstrators in Selma outrage many Americans. Outrage aided President Johnson in his decision to propose and win passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party was an African-American group founded to advocate Black Power and self-defense through actions of social unrest. It was active in the United States from the mid-1960s into the 1970s.The Black Panther Party gained national and worldwide presence through their tangle in the local community. The Black Panther Party was an outlet of the greater movement, often noted the Black Power Movement. The Black Power movement was one of the most significant movements in Civil Rights. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Project Apollo and the third human voyage to the Moon. It was also the second all-veteran crew in manned spaceflight history. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above. -
Stagflation
During the 60's and 70's, the U.S. was suffering from 5.3% inflation and 6% unemployment. Stagflation refers to the unusual economic situation in which an economy is suffering both from inflation and from stagnation of its industrial growth. -
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1970's
In some ways, the decade was a continuation of the 1960s. Women, African Americans, Native Americans, gay and lesbians and other marginalized people continued their fight for equality, and many Americans joined the protest against the ongoing war in Vietnam. President Richard Nixon undermined many people's faith in the good intentions of the federal government. By the end of the decade, these divisions and disappointments had set a tone for public life. -
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was a governmental group signed into law by Richard Nixon in 1970 created to control pollution, emissions, and other factors that negatively affect the natural environment. The creation of it indicated a newfound involvement by the federal government to help combat environmental risks and was a significant triumph for the environmentalist movement. -
Title IX
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, federal legislation that prohibited discrimination in education whether in academics or athletics, 1972; Title IX of Federal Education Amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act requires substantially equal spending for young women in college and university sports. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment announced full constitutional equality for women. Although it passed both houses of Congress in 1972, a joint grassroots campaign by anti-feminists led by Phyllis Schlafly convinced enough state legislatures to vote against ratification. The amendment failed to become part of the Constitution. -
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal is the most controversial political scandal of the 70s. After a break in was seen at the Democratic Party headquarters, Nixon brought his top officials to cover it up. Nixon then claimed to have had no knowledge of either the break in or the cover up. Nixon continued to impede the investigation by refusing to turn over tapes, and after the Supreme Court ordered him to turn over the tapes and Congress began to consider impeachment, Nixon resigned in August 1974 -
Roe v. Wade
In the Roe v. Wade court case, the Supreme Court conducted unconstitutional most state statutes restricting abortion. It ruled that a state may not stop a woman from having an abortion during the first 3 months of pregnancy, and could regulate, but not prohibit abortion during the second trimester.The Decision in effect overturned anti-abortion laws in 46 states. -
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation, a free policy that promotes the principles that made America great: free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership. -
Camp David Accords
Diplomatic: For several weeks, tense negotiations between Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt occurred at Camp David in Maryland. The end result was a Treaty between Israel and Egypt, pledging peace. In exchange, America gave Egypt billions of dollars in aid every year. Begin and Sadat were both awarded the Noble Peace Prize. -
Robert Johnson
Founder of the Black Entertainment Television network (BET) was the first black billionaire -
Three Mile Island
Economic: The site of a nuclear reactor explosion in the Soviet Union in 1986, the worst in American history. A combination of mechanical failure and human error combined to permit an escape of radiation over a 16 mile radius. All of these incidents increased the public's questioning of technological progress and the public opinion against building of nuclear power plants. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
In November 1979, rebels rushed the American embassy in Tehran, Iran and held 52 Americans hostage. The Carter administration tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for the hostages release. On January 20, 1981, the day Carter left office, Iran released the Americans, ending their 444 days in captivity. -
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1980's
The decade saw great socioeconomic change due to advances in technology and a worldwide move away from planned economies. Many economists agree that the change in global economic trends of the 1980s can be attributed to the economic boom of "Reaganomics".The decade also saw the rise of the “yuppie,” an explosion of blockbuster movies and the emergence of cable networks like MTV, which introduced music videos and launched the careers of many iconic artists. -
Election of 1980
Republicans chose Ronald Reagan, against re-nominated Jimmy Carter, who nobody, not even his own Democrats wanted. Reagan won quickly and was very popular, Carter won only six states and the District of Columbia, putting the Republicans back in control for the first time in 25 years. Carter was defeated with honor though, and had well-meaning but had a lack of leadership skills. -
Reaganomics
Reaganomics refers to the economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are commonly associated with supply-side economics, referred to as trickle-down economics by political opponents and free market economics by political advocates.The four pillars of Reagan's economic policy were to reduce the growth of government spending, reduce the federal income tax and capital gains tax, and tighten the money supply in order to reduce inflation. -
Reagan Presidency
40th president, who 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. He believed in tax cuts/less government spending; cut out many welfare and public works programs; used the Strategic Defense Initiative to avoid conflict; responsible for the Iran-contra Affair which bought hostages with guns. -
Music Television (MTV)
MTV founded Aug, 1 1981, was 24/7 stream of music videos. In the 1980s, MTV was instrumental in promoting the careers of performers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and Duran Duran, whose videos played in heavy rotation. MTV went on to revolutionize the music industry and become an influential source of pop culture and entertainment in the United States and other parts of the world, including Europe, Asia and Latin America, which all have MTV-branded channels. -
A.I.D.S Crisis
In the 1980s, the virus was little understood. Scientists were yet to pin-point why swathes of otherwise healthy people were dying from rare conditions. Misinformation and homophobia were rife. AIDs was labelled the “gay plague”, suggesting that it was spread among men who had sex with men (MSM). For a period of six months in 1982, the condition was mistakenly labelled “Gay Related Immune Deficiency”. -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) "Star Wars"
The Reagan administration increased spending on the Strategic Defense Initiative, a plan for building a high tech system of lasers and particle beams to destroy enemy missiles before they reached the u.s. Critics called this Star Wars and said it would cause the USSR to build more missiles as well (escalating the arms race). Star wars puts pressure on the USSR to respond, but their economy couldn't handle it. -
Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy orchestrated and implemented by the United States under the Reagan Administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union during the final years of the Cold War. While the doctrine lasted less than a decade, it was the centerpiece of United States foreign policy from the early 1980s until the end of the Cold War in 1991. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the United States provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist guerrillas and resistance -
Iran Contra Affair
The Iran Contra Affair was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan Administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo in hopes of securing the release of hostages and allowing U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. -
Challenger Explosion
Explosion of the U.S. space shuttle orbiter Challenger, shortly after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Jan. 28, 1986. The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into flight, killing all aboard. The explosion was caused by a faulty seal in the fuel tank. The shuttle program was halted while investigators and officials drew up new safety regulations, but was resumed in 1988 with the flight of the Discovery. -
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1990's
The 1990s possessed a sense of happiness that seems long vanished. Money still generated money. Computers were becoming fast easy and cheap, and with them came a sense equality for everyone. Things were steadily getting better everywhere. The 1990s was politically defined by a movement towards the right wing, and cuts in social spending in the United States, Canada, and the UK. The 1990s saw huge advances in technology, with the World Wide Web, the first gene therapy trial, all emerging in 1990. -
Persian Gulf War/1st Iraq War
Saddam Hussain of Iraq went into Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia. By getting control over these regions, Hussain would have been able to control much of the world's oil. He was stopped by intervention of America in Operation Desert Storm. In 1991, Bush issued an ultimatum for Hussain to pull out of Kuwait or face invasion. Saddam failed to cooperate and America declared war. Iraq was defeated within 100 hours. -
Rodney King Incident
In 1991 Rodney King was pulled over for drunken driving. Four white police officers beat him with their nightsticks. The whole incident was caught on tape, broadcasted over the nations new. The four cops were acquitted by an all-white jury and were released back to their previous jobs. In reaction to this, the black community of Los Angles rioted for three days, burning various parts of the city. Nearly 2000 people were injured, and 40 died in the riot. 4500 fires burned, 500 Million in damage. -
Election of 1992
Bill Clinton won over George H.W. Bush because of the economy's problems and the solving of foreign policy problems, Bush's greatest strength. Democrats chose Bill Clinton (despite accusations of womanizing, drug use, and draft evasion) and Albert Gore Jr. as his running mate. Clinton won, 370 to 168 in the Electoral College. Democrats also got control of both the House and the Senate. -
Health Care Reform
This was a 1993 health care reform package under the Clinton Administration that claimed each US citizen and permanent resident to become registered in a qualified health plan. President Clinton set up a task force led by his wife to come up with a general plan to give universal health care along these lines. The Health Care bill was defended by Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell in Congress but was defeated in 1994 because there weren't Democratic Senators behind a proposal to pass a bill. -
World Trade Center Attack-1993
In 1993, a bomb in a parking garage of the World Trade Center Building in New York killed six and injured nearly 1000 people.Officials later arrested militant Muslim extremists who condemned American actions towards Israel and the American involvement in the Persian Gulf War. -
Contract with America
In the 1994 congressional elections, Congressman Newt Gingrich had Republican candidates sign a document in which they pledged their support for such things as a balanced budget amendment, term limits for members of Congress, and a middle-class tax cut. -
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Signed in 1993. NAFTA entered the US by 1994. Established by President Clinton. It opened free trade with Canada and Mexico and allowed the flow of increased goods, services, and jobs across the international borders by lessening and eliminating tariffs. It was strongly criticized by organized labor and conservative groups who viewed it as selling American jobs to cheap labor across the border and that it compromised America's -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy
The Dont Ask, Dont Tell Policy is a military policy announced by President Clinton in 1993 that barred officials from questioning the sexuality of military personnel but permitted the dismissal of personnel who admitted to being gay. -
Lewinsky Affair
Lewinsky Affair was a federal sex scandal that ended in Bill Clinton's impeachment and trial by Congress. In 1998, Clinton gave a sworn statement in a sexual harassment case that he had never involved in sexual activity with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. When prosecutors found evidence that the President had lied under oath about the affair, to which Clinton talked, Republicans in Congress began impeachment actions. Although Clinton was not convicted by the Senate. -
Welfare Reform
The Welfare Reform Act expanded the power of the states near to the federal government,replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program with block grants to the states
illustrated the process of devolution by giving states greater discretion to determine how to implement the federal goal of transferring people from welfare to work -
Defense of Marriage Act(DOMA)
Signed into law under President Bill Clinton on Sept 21, 1996. Orders unequal treatment of legally married same-sex couples, depriving them protections and responsibilities that marriage triggers at the federal level. Under DOMA, married same-sex couples are denied a long list of important protections and responsibilities, including Social Security survivor benefits, immigration rights, family and medical leave, and the ability to pool resources as a family without unfair taxation. -
Bush v. Gore (SCOTUS case)
During the Election, it was not certain who won Florida, a recount showed Bush winning by 300. punch card ballots could be tampered with so Gore demanded a hand recount, but it wasn't counted in time so Bush was declared the winner but Gore contested the result and Bush contested those results and it ended with the Supreme Court giving an impossible deadline and deciding the election with Bush as the winner. -
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Contemporary Times
The Contemporary World, characterized by a number of events, and the ongoing advent of war in the Middle East. Now in modern times, technology has made a gigantic leap in the medical, science, and engineering field. A number of healthcare and economic reforms have also been laid out in the century, as the rate of living has increased all around. However, on the horizon and outwards America's foreign policies and connections will undoubtedly bring about a new era of war and injustices. -
PATRIOT Act
A governmental law passed in reply to terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, The law, formally titled the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, it expanded the authority of law enforcement agencies throughout America and is applicable to many crimes other than terrorism. The law was slightly revised and reauthorized by Congress in 2006. -
War On Terror
After 9/11 Bush announced a War on Terrorism which lead to the invasion of Afghanistan and the overthrowing of the Taliban who were accused of allying with Al Qaeda. Eventually resulted in new foreign policy. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act (2001)
An education bill created and signed by the George W. Bush administration. Meant to raise liability standards for primary and secondary schools, the law allowed several federal programs to monitor those standards and increased choices for parents in selecting schools for their children. The program was highly controversial, in large part because it linked results on standardized curriculum to federal funding for schools and school districts. -
George W. Bush
George W. Bush is the son of George H. W. Bush who won the nomination for the Republic party and won the election of 2000. Many people found him to be reckless and more of a divider rather than an uniter. He questioned research on global warming, didn't support abortions, limited research on stem cells, and allowed Vice President Dick Cheney to beat out his administration's energy policy behind closed doors. -
9/11 Attacks
9/11 is a shorthand for the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, in which 19 militant Islamist men hijacked and crashed four commercial aircraft. Two planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing them to collapse. One plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and the fourth, overtaken by passengers, crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. Nearly 3000 people were killed in the worst case of domestic terrorism in American history. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
The costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States, killing nearly 2000 Americans. The hurricane devastated the Gulf Coast, especially the city of New Orleans, in late August of 2005. In New Orleans, winds and rain made the city's levees to break, leading to catastrophic flooding, particularly centered on the city's most poverty-stricken wards. A weak response by local and federal authorities increased the damage and led to widespread criticism of (FEMA). -
The Great Recession
The Great Recession was the worst economic period for the United States since the Great Depression. It officially began in December 2007 and ended in mid-2009, has had long-term lingering effects on unemployment, and was preceded by the largest housing bubble in US history, caused by short term economic thinking, speculation, and irresponsible spending. -
Barack Obama
Barack Obama was the Forty-forth president of the United States, and first African American elected to the office. A lawyer and community organizer in Chicago, Obama served in the Illinois State Senate before being elected to the U.S. senate in 2004. After a primary election campaign against Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama got the Democratic Party's nomination and defeated Senator John McCain on November 4, 2008. -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
It includes $787 billion in new federal spending and tax cuts, including about $100 billion for education funding, college grants, and tuition tax credits. It is an expense recovery package of $32 billion, passed in Congress on February 13, 2009. It was to give financial aid to coping states and to leave off rising unemployment in public careers. It was to also stimulate economic activity through a $288 billion middle class tax cut.
