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8 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Ronald Reagan | During the campaign of 1980, Ronald Reagan brought together a new coalition of conservatives: suburbanites, anti-government crusaders, libertarians, and the Christian right. Reagan campaigned on restoring America's strength, both economically and politically, home and abroad. Although Reagan won 91% of the electoral votes, his election did not represent a dramatic shift right in American attitudes (at least according to public opinion polls). Americans voted against Carter; the poor economy drove the demand for a change in leadership. But, Reagan took it as a mandate for conservatism, and started to implement conservative principles, cutting taxes and social programs while increasing defense spending. |
| Reaganomics | Supply-side economists projected that cutting taxes and deregulating industries would provide businesses with the necessary capital to grow. Business would pay taxes on new revenue (as would their new employees), thus making up for lost government revenues. Reagan instituted reductions in income taxes and capital gains in 1981, but a severe recession made it impossible to make up the lost revenue. Reagan ended up raising taxes, cutting social programs, and spending 1.6 trillion on defense projects. The national debt was $2 trillion by 1986. |
| "Border Crossings" | The hardships of Mexicans that crossed the border. |
| Immigration Act (1965) | It abolished the national quota system for immigration—national origin, race, or ancestry was no longer the basis for immigration. The Act gave preference to immigrants who were relatives of US citizens and permanent residents—reunifying families—and to immigrants who had special occupational skills or abilities needed in the United States. Immediate relatives (spouses, children, and parents) of US citizens were not restricted, but the total number of immigrants were limited. The act also allowed for the admission of political refugees, which helped many would-be immigrants in Central America and Asia. 170,000 per year (20,000 per country) from the eastern hemisphere and 120,000 per year in the western hemisphere (no 20,000 per country limit). |
| Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) | In 1986, Congress passed a new reform program that increased penalties for employers hiring illegals and also provided amnesty for undocumented immigrants who had lived in the United States since before Jan 1, 1982 or who had done farmwork for 90 days in the previous year. By 1989, 2.96 million people applied for amnesty, 70% who were Mexican. The act also provided $4 billion for English classes and US history and government classes to help "Americanize" immigrants and prepare them for citizenship. Although IRCA reduced illegal immigration for a few years, the government never seriously enforced the employer sanctions. It only had 350 agents to supervise 7 million employers and even when they were caught, penalties were often avoided. Another 3 million undocumented workers didn't qualify for amnesty, so they were in the same spot as before. It didn't really change anything. It was a matter of degree, but there was never a "clean slate" |
| First Gulf War | On August 2, 1990, Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait, after several months of claiming that the country's overproduction of oil was an act of "economic warfare" against his country. The U.N. condemned the invasion and Saddam Hussein's subsequent annexation of Kuwait. George HW Bush organizes a 40-nation coalition to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. After Hussein defied a UN ultimatum, the coalition began airstrikes in Iraq on January 17, 1991. The ground invasion of Kuwait begins on February 24, and allied forces meet little resistance, entering Kuwait City three days later. Bush refuses to topple Hussein, and announces that the war's purpose has been accomplished. The UN places heavy economic and military sanctions on the country and the official cease-fire on April 6, 1991. However, the dictatorship of Hussein remains relatively undisturbed. |
| September 11th | At 8:45 am, a hijacked airplane strikes the south tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. At 9:03 a second plane strikes the north tower. At 9:43, American Airlines flight 77 strikes the Pentagon and at 10:10, United Flight 93 crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. By 10:30, both towers at the World Trade Center collapsed. An estimated 3000 people died during the attacks, either on the plane or on the ground. In his speech to the nation, President George W. Bush declared that the U.S. would hold countries who harbored terrorists equally guilty for the attacks as those individuals who committed the act themselves. This resulted in the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 and Iraq in February 2003. |
| GITMO | The U.S. began occupying the naval base at Guantanamo Bay in 1903, five years after the Spanish-American War. Under the Platt Amendment, Cuba was required to lease land to the U.S. and could not sign any treaties without American approval. The U.S. government leased the for $4000 annually, even after the Platt Amendment was repealed in 1934. After the Communist Revolution in 1959, Cuba demanded the return of the land, but the U.S. government has refused. It still makes the lease payments, but Cuba has refused to cash them, calling it a military occupation. In January 2002, the military transported the first 20 detainees from Afghanistan to Cuba. The population rose to 558 in 2004, and by early 2008, 779 detainees from 40 different countries had spent time in the camps. When Obama signed the executive order to close GITMO within a year (Jan 22, 2009), 259 detainees remained in the camp. |
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