The American Pageant, 13th Edition Textbook Notes
The American Pageant, 13th Edition Textbook Notes
Here you will find AP US History notes for the American Pageant, 13th edition textbook. These American Pageant notes will you study more effectively for your AP US History tests and exams.
Additional Information:
Publisher: Cengage Learning; 13 edition (February 15, 2005)
Language: English
Chapter 01 - New World Beginnings
I. The Shaping of North America
Recorded history began 6,000 years ago. It was 500 years ago that Europeans set foot on the Americas to begin colonization
The theory of Pangaea exists suggesting that the
continents were once nestled together into one mega-continent. They
then spread out as drifting islands.
Geologic forces of continental plates created the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains.
The Great Ice Age thrust down over North America & scoured the present day American Midwest.
II. Peopling the Americas
As the Great Ice Age diminished, so did the glaciers over North America.
The theory holds that a Land Bridge emerged
linking Asia & North America across what is now known as the Bering
Sea. People were said to have walked across the "bridge" before the sea
level rose and sealed it off; thus populating the Americas.
The Land Bridge is said to have occurred an estimated 35,000 years ago.
Many peoples
Those groups that traversed the bridge spread across North, Central, and South America.
Countless tribes emerged with an estimated 2,000 languages. Notably:
Incas: Peru, with elaborate network of roads and bridges linking their empire.
Mayas: Yucatan Peninsula, with their step pyramids.
Aztecs: Mexico, with step pyramids and huge sacrifices of conquered peoples.
III. The Earliest Americans
Development of corn or maize around 5,000 B.C. in Mexico was revolutionary in that:
Then, people didn't have to be hunter-gatherers, they could settle down and be farmers.
This fact gave rise to towns and then cities.
Corn arrived in the present day U.S. around 1,200 B.C.
Pueblo Indians
The Pueblos were the 1st American corn growers.
They lived in adobe houses (dried mud) and pueblos ("villages" in
Spanish). Pueblos are villages of cubicle shaped adobe houses, stacked
one on top the other and often beneath cliffs.
They had elaborate irrigation systems to draw water away from rivers to grown corn.
Mound Builders
These people built huge ceremonial and burial mounds and were located in the Ohio Valley.
Cahokia, near East St. Louis today, held 40,000 people.
Eastern Indians
Eastern Indians grew corn, beans, and squash in three sister farming:
Corn grew in a stalk providing a trellis for beans, beans grew up
the stalk, squash's broad leaves kept the sun off the ground and thus
kept the moisture in the soil.
This group likely had the best (most diverse) diet of all North American Indians and is typified by the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw (South) and Iroquois (North).
Iroquois Confederation
Hiawatha was the legendary leader of the group.
The Iroquois Confederation was a group of 5 tribes in New York state.
They were matrilineal as authority and possessions passed down through the female line.
Each tribe kept their independence, but met occasionally to discuss matters of common interest, like war/defense.
This was not the norm. Usually, Indians were scattered and separated (and thus weak).
Native Americans had a very different view of things as compared to Europeans.
Native Americans felt no man owned the land, the tribe did. (Europeans liked private property)
Indians felt nature was mixed with many spirits. (Europeans were Christian and monotheistic)
Indians felt nature was sacred. (Europeans felt nature and land was
given to man by God in Genesis to be subdued and put to use).
Indians had little or no concept or interest in money. (Europeans loved money or gold)
IV. Indirect Discoverers of the New World
The 1st Europeans to come to America were the Norse (Vikings from Norway).
Around 1000 AD, the Vikings landed, led by Erik the Red and Leif Erikson.
They landed in Newfoundland or Vinland (because of all the vines).
However, these men left America and left no written record and therefore didn't get the credit.
The only record is found in Viking sagas or songs.
The Christian Crusaders of Middle Ages fought in Palestine to
regain the Holy Land from Muslims. This mixing of East and West created
a sweet-tooth where Europeans wanted the spices of the exotic East.
V. Europeans Enter Africa
Marco Polo traveled to China and stirred up a storm of European interest.
Mixed with desire for spices, an East to West (Asia to Europe)
trade flourished but had to be overland, at least in part. This
initiated new exploration down around Africa in hopes of an easier (all
water) route.
Portugal literally started a sailing school to find better ways to get to the Spice Islands, eventually rounding Africa's southern Cape of Good Hope.
New developments:
caravel: a ship with triangular sail that could better tack (zig-zag) ahead into the wind and thus return to Europe from Africa coast.
compass: to determine direction.
astrolabe: a sextant gizmo that could tell a ship's latitude.
Slave trade begins
The 1st slave trade was across the Sahara Desert.
Later, it was along the West African coast. Slave traders purposely
busted up tribes and families in order to squelch any possible uprising.
Slaves wound up on sugar plantations the Portuguese had set up on the tropical islands off Africa's coast.
Spain watched Portugal's success with exploration and slaving and wanted a piece of the pie.
VI. Columbus Comes upon a New World
Christopher Columbus convinced Isabella and Ferdinand to fund his expedition.
His goal was to reach the East (East Indies) by sailing west, thus bypassing the around-Africa route that Portugal monopolized.
He misjudged the size of the Earth though, thinking it 1/3 the size of what it was.
So, after 30 days or so at sea, when he struck land, he assumed
he'd made it to the East Indies and therefore mistook the people as "Indians."
This spawned the following system:
Europe would provide the market, capital, technology.
Africa would provide the labor.
The New World would provide the raw materials (gold, soil, lumber).
VII. When Worlds Collide
Of huge importance was the biological flip-flop of Old and New
Worlds. Simply put, we traded life such as plants, foods, animals,
germs.
From the New World (America) to the Old
corn, potatoes, tobacco, beans, peppers, manioc, pumpkin, squash, tomato, wild rice, etc.
also, syphilis
From the Old World to the New
cows, pigs, horses, wheat, sugar cane, apples, cabbage, citrus, carrots, Kentucky bluegrass, etc.
devastating diseases (smallpox, yellow fever, malaria), as Indians had no immunities.
The Indians had no immunities in their systems built up over generations.
An estimated 90% of all pre-Columbus Indians died, mostly due to disease.
VIII. The Spanish Conquistadores
Treaty Line of Tordesillas 1494: Portugal and Spain feuded over who got what land. The Pope drew this line as he was respected by both.
The line ran North-South, and chopped off the Brazilian coast of South America
Portugal got everything east of the line (Brazil and land around/under Africa)
Spain got everything west of the line (which turned out to be much more, though they didn't know it at the time)
Conquistadores = "conquerors"
Vasco Balboa: "discovered" the Pacific Ocean across isthmus of Panama
Ferdinand Magellan: circumnavigates the globe (1st to do so)
Ponce de Leon: touches and names Florida looking for legendary Fountain of Youth
Hernando Cortes: enters Florida, travels up into present day Southeastern U.S., dies and is "buried" in Mississippi River
Francisco Pizarro: conquers Incan Empire of Peru
and begins shipping tons of gold/silver back to Spain. This huge influx
of precious metals made European prices skyrocket (inflation).
Francisco Coronado: ventured into current Southwest U.S. looking for legendary El Dorado, city of gold. He found the Pueblo Indians.
Encomienda system established
Indians were "commended" or given to Spanish landlords
The idea of the encomienda was that Indians would work and be
converted to Christianity, but it was basically just slavery on a sugar
plantation guised as missionary work.
IX. The Conquest of Mexico
Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztecs at Tenochtitlan.
Cortez went from Cuba to present day Vera Cruz, then marched over mountains to the Aztec capital.
Montezuma, Aztec king, thought Cortez might be the
god Quetzalcoatl who was due to re-appear the very year. Montezuma
welcomed Cortez into Tenochtitlan.
The Spanish lust for gold led Montezuma to attack on the noche
triste, sad night. Cortez and men fought their way out, but it was
smallpox that eventually beat the Indians.
The Spanish then destroyed Tenochtitlan, building the Spanish capital (Mexico City) exactly on top of the Aztec city.
A new race of people emerged, mestizos, a mix of Spanish and Indian blood.
X. The Spread of Spanish America
Spanish society quickly spread through Peru and Mexico
A threat came from neighbors:
English: John Cabot (an Italian who sailed for England) touched the coast of the current day U.S.
France: Giovanni de Verrazano also touched on the North American seaboard.
France: Jacques Cartier went into mouth of St. Lawrence River (Canada).
To oppose this, Spain set up forts (presidios) all over the California coast. Also cities, like St. Augustine in Florida.
Don Juan de Onate followed Coronado's old path
into present day New Mexico. He conquered the Indians ruthlessly,
maiming them by cutting off one foot of survivors just so they'd
remember.
Despite mission efforts, the Pueblo Indians revolted in Pope's Rebellion.
Robert de LaSalle sailed down the Mississippi
River for France claiming the whole region for their King Louis and
naming the area "Louisiana" after his king. This started a slew of
place-names for that area, from LaSalle, Illinois to "Louisville" and
then on down to New Orleans (the American counter of Joan of Arc's
famous victory at Orleans).
Black Legend: The Black Legend was the notion that
Spaniards only brought bad things (murder, disease, slavery); though
true, they also brought good things such as law systems, architecture,
Christianity, language, civilization, so that the Black Legend is
partly, but not entirely, accurate.
Subject: 
Chapter 02 - The Planting of English America
I. England’s Imperial Stirrings
North America in 1600 was largely unclaimed, though the Spanish had much control in Central and South America.
Spain had only set up Santa Fe, while France had founded Quebec and Britain had founded Jamestown.
In the 1500s, Britain failed to effectively colonize due to internal conflicts.
King Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s and launched the English Protestant Reformation.
After Elizabeth I became queen, Britain became basically Protestant, and a rivalry with Catholic Spain intensified.
In Ireland, the Catholics sought Spain’s help in revolting against
England, but the English crushed the uprising with brutal atrocity, and
developed an attitude of sneering contempt for natives.
II. Elizabeth Energizes England
After Francis Drake pirated Spanish ships for gold then circumnavigated the globe, Elizabeth I knighted him on his ship. Obviously, this reward angered the Spanish who sought revenge.
Meanwhile, English attempts at colonization in the New World failed embarrassingly. Notable of these failures was Sir Walter Raleigh and the Roanoke Island Colony, better known as “The Lost Colony.”
Seeking to get their revenge, Spain attacked Britain but lost in the Spanish Armada’s
defeat of 1588. This opened the door for Britain to cross the Atlantic.
They swarmed to America and took over the lead in colonization and
power.
Chapter 03 - Settling in the Northern Colonies
I. The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism
1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Luther had several explosive ideas including…
The Bible alone was the source of God’s word (not the Bible and the church or pope).
People are saved simply by faith in Christ alone (not by faith and good works).
His actions ignited the Protestant Reformation.
John Calvin preached Calvinism which stressed “predestination” (those going to Heaven or hell has already been determined by God).
Basic doctrines were stated in the 1536 document entitled Institutes of the Christian Religion.
Stated that all humans were weak and wicked.
Only the predestined could go to heaven, no matter what.
Calvinists were expected to seek “conversions,” signs that they
were one of the predestined, and afterwards, lead “sanctified lives.”
Calvinists are famous for working hard, dusk to dawn, to “prove” their worthiness.
The impact of Calvinism has been vividly stamped on the psyche of Americans, and been called the “Protestant Work Ethic”
In England, King Henry VIII was breaking his ties with the Holy Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s.
Some people, called Puritans, were influenced to totally reform (“purify”) the Church of England.
The Puritans
Believed that only “visible saints” should be admitted to church membership.
Separatists vowed to break away from the Church of England (AKA, the Anglican Church) because the “saints” would have to sit with the “damned.” These folks became the Pilgrims.
King James I, father of the beheaded Charles I,
harassed the Separatists out of England because he thought that if
people could defy him as their spiritual leader, they might defy him as
their political ruler.
II. The Pilgrims End Their Pilgrimage at Plymouth
The Pilgrims or Separatists, came from Holland, where they had fled to after they had left England.
They were concerned that their children were getting too “Dutchified.”
They wanted a place where they were free to worship their own religion and could live and die as good Pilgrims.
After negotiating with the Virginia Company, the Separatists left
Holland and sailed for 65 days at sea on the Mayflower until they
arrived off the rocky coast of New England in 1620, a trip in which
only one person died and one person was born.
Less than half of the pilgrims on the Mayflower were actually Separatists.
Contrary to myth, the Pilgrims undertook a few surveys before deciding to settle at Plymouth, an area far from Virginia.
The Pilgrims became squatters, people without legal right to land and without specific authority to establish government.
Captain Myles Standish (AKA, “Captain Shrimp”) proved to be a great Indian fighter and negotiator.
Before leaving the ship, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, a set of rules by which to obey.
Though it wasn’t a constitution, it did set the standard for later
constitutions. It also set the first step toward self-rule in the
Northern colonies.
Chapter 05 - Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution
I. Conquest by the Cradle
By 1775, Great Britain ruled 32 colonies in North America.
Only 13 of them revolted (the ones in what’s today the U.S.).
Canada and Jamaica were wealthier than the “original 13.”
All of them were growing by leaps and bounds.
By 1775, the population numbered 2.5 million people.
The average age was 16 years old (due mainly to having several children).
Most of the population (95%) was densely cooped up east of the
Alleghenies, though by 1775, some had slowly trickled into Tennessee
and Kentucky.
Chapter 06 - The Duel for North America
I. France Finds a Foothold in Canada
Like England and Holland, France was a latecomer in the race for colonies.
It was convulsed in the 1500s by foreign wars and domestic strife.
In 1598, the Edict of Nantes was issued, allowing limited toleration to the French Huguenots.
When King Louis XIV became king, he took an interest in overseas colonies.
In 1608, France established Quebec, overlooking the St. Lawrence River.
Samuel de Champlain, an intrepid soldier and explorer, became known as the “Father of New France.”
He entered into friendly relations with the neighboring Huron Indians and helped them defeat the Iroquois.
The Iroquois, however, did hamper French efforts into the Ohio Valley later.
Unlike English colonists, French colonists didn’t immigrate
to North America by hordes. The peasants were too poor, and the
Huguenots weren’t allowed to leave.
II. New France Fans Out
New France’s (Canada) one valuable resource was the beaver.
Beaver hunters were known as the coureurs de bois
(runners of the woods) and littered the land with place names,
including Baton Rouge (red stick), Terre Haute (high land), Des Moines
(some monks) and Grand Teton (big breasts).
The French voyageurs also recruited Indians to
hunt for beaver as well, but Indians were decimated by the white
man’s diseases, and the beaver population was heavily
extinguished.
French Catholic missionaries zealously tried to convert Indians.
To thwart English settlers from pushing into the Ohio Valley, Antoine Cadillac founded Detroit (“city of straits”) in 1701.
Louisiana was founded, in 1682, by Robert de LaSalle, to halt Spanish expansion into the area near the Gulf of Mexico.
Three years later, he tried to fulfill his dreams by returning, but
instead landed in Spanish Texas and was murdered by his mutinous men in
1687.
Chapter 09 - The Confederation and the Constitution
I. The Pursuit of Equality
The American Revolution was more of an accelerated evolution than a revolution.
However, the exodus of some 80,000 Loyalists left a great lack of conservatives.
This weakening of the aristocratic “upper crust” let Patriot elites emerge.
The fight for separation of church and state resulted in notable gains.
The Congregational church continued to be legally established (tax
supported) by some New England states, but the Anglican Church was
humbled and reformed as the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Slavery was a large, problematic issue, as the Continental Congress
of 1774 had called for the abolition of slavery, and in 1775, the
Philadelphia Quakers founded the world’s first antislavery
society.
This new spirit that “all men are created equal” even inspired a few slave owners to free their slaves.
Another issue was women. They still were unequal to men, even
though some had served (disguised as men) in the Revolutionary War.
There were some achievements for women such as New Jersey’s 1776 constitution which allowed women to vote (for a time).
Mothers devoted to their families were developed as an idea of
“republican motherhood” and elevated women to higher
statuses as keepers of the nation’s conscience. Women raised the
children and thereby held the future of the republic in their hands.
II. Constitution Making in the States
The Continental Congress of 1776 called upon colonies to draft new
constitutions (thus began the formation of the Articles of the
Confederation).
Chapter 11 - The Triumphs and Travails of Jeffersonian Republic
I. Federalist and Republican Mudslingers
In the election of 1800, the Federalists had a host of enemies stemming from the Alien and Sedition Acts.
The Federalists had been most damaged by John Adams’ not declaring war against France.
They had raised a bunch of taxes and built a good navy, and then
had not gotten any reason to justify such spending, making them seem
fraudulent as they had also swelled the public debt.
John Adams became known as “the Father of the American Navy.”
Federalists also launched attacks on Jefferson, saying that he had
robbed a widow and her children of a trust fund, fathered numerous
children with his slaves (which turned out to be true), called him an
atheist (he was a Deist), and used other inflammatory remarks.
II. The Jeffersonian “Revolution of 1800”
Thomas Jefferson won the election of 1800 by a majority of 73
electoral votes to 65, and even though Adams got more popular votes,
Jefferson got New York. But, even though Jefferson triumphed, in a
technicality he and Aaron Burr tied for presidency.
The vote, according to the Constitution, would now go to the Federalist-dominated House of Representatives.
Hateful of Jefferson, many wanted to vote for Burr, and the vote
was deadlocked for months until Alexander Hamilton and John Adams
persuaded a few House members to change their votes, knowing that if
the House voted for Burr, the public outcry would doom the Federalist
Party.
Chapter 13 - The Rise of Mass Democracy
I. The “Corrupt Bargain” of 1824
After the Era of Good Feelings, politics was transformed. The big
winner of this transformation was the common man. Specifically, the
common white man as universal white manhood suffrage (all white men
could vote) became the norm.
In the election of 1824, there were four towering candidates:
Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, Henry Clay of Kentucky, William H.
Crawford of Georgia, and John Q. Adams of Massachusetts.
All four called themselves Republicans.
Three were a “favorite son” of their respective region but Clay
thought of himself as a national figure (he was Speaker of the House
and author of the “American System”).
In the results, Jackson got the most popular votes and the most
electoral votes, but he failed to get the majority in the Electoral
College. Adams came in second in both, while Crawford was fourth in the
popular vote but third in the electoral votes. Clay was 4th in the
electoral vote.
Chapter 14 - Forging the National Economy (1790 - 1860)
I. The Westward Movement
The U.S. marched quickly toward the West which proved to be very hard with disease and loneliness.
Frontier people were individualistic, superstitious and ill-informed of current matters.
II. Shaping the Western Landscape
The westward movement molded the environment.
Tobacco overuse had exhausted the land forcing settlers to move on, but “Kentucky bluegrass” thrived.
Settlers trapped beavers, sea otters, and bison for fur to ship back East.
The spirit of nationalism led to an appreciation of the American wilderness.
Artist George Catlin pushed for national parks and later achieved it with Yellowstone in 1872.
III. The March of the Millions
In the mid-1800s, the population continued to double every 25 years.
By 1860, the original 13 states now had become 33 states; the
American population was 4th in the world (behind Russia, France,
Austria).
Urban growth continued explosively.
In 1790, only New York & Philadelphia had more than 20,000 people, but by 1860, 43 cities had.
With growth came poor sanitation ‡ later, sewage systems and piped-in water came about.
A high birthrate had accounted for population growth, but near 1850s, millions of Irish and German came.
They came due to a surplus population in Europe, but not all came to the U.S.
The appeal of the U.S. was for land, freedom from church, no aristocracy, 3 meat meals a day.
Also, transoceanic steamships were used meaning travel time dropped to 12 days and it was safer.
IV. The Emerald Isle Moves West
The Irish potato famine in the mid-1840s led to the death of 2 million and saw many flee to the U.S.
“Black Forties”—they mainly came to cities like Boston and especially New York (biggest Irish city).
They were illiterate, discriminated against by older Americans, and received lowest-paying jobs (railroad-building).
They were hated by Protestants because they’re Catholic.
Americans hated the Irish (such as “NINA”—No
Irish Need Apply); the Irish hated competition with blacks for the
low-paying jobs.
Chapter 16 - The South and the Slavery Controversy
I. “Cotton’s Is King!”
Before the 1793 invention of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin,
slavery was a dying business, since the South was burdened with
depressed prices, unmarketable goods, and over-cropped lands.
After the gin was invented, growing cotton became wildly profitable and easier, and more slaves were needed.
The North also transported the cotton to England and the rest of
Europe, so they were in part responsible for the slave trade as well.
The South produced more than half the world’s supply of
cotton, and held an advantage over countries like England, an
industrial giant, which needed cotton to make cloth, etc…
The South believed that since England was so dependent on them
that, if civil war was to ever break out, England would support the
South that it so heavily depended on.
II. The Planter “Aristocracy”
Chapter 17 - Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy
I. The Accession of “Tyler Too”
The Whig leaders, namely Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, had planned
to control newly elected President William H. Harrison, but their plans
hit a snag when he contracted pneumonia and died—only four weeks
after he came to the White House.
The new president was John Tyler, a Virginian gentleman who was a lone wolf.
He did not agree with the Whig party, since the Whigs were pro-bank
and pro-protective tariff, and pro-internal improvements, but hailing
from the South, he was not. Tyler was really more of a Democrat.
II. John Tyler: A President Without a Party
After their victory, the Whigs unveiled their platform for America:
Financial reform would come in the form of a law ending the independent treasury system; Tyler agreeably signed it.
A new bill for a new Bank of the U.S. was on the table, but Clay
didn’t try hard enough to conciliate with Tyler and get it
passed, and it was vetoed.
Whig extremists now started to call Tyler “his accidency.”
His entire cabinet resigned, except for Webster.
Also, Tyler vetoed a proposed Whig tariff.
The Whigs redrafted and revised the tariff, taking out the
dollar-distribution scheme and pushing down the rates to about the
moderately protective level of 1832 (32%), and Tyler, realizing that a
tariff was needed, reluctantly signed it.
III. A War of Words with England
At this time, anti-British sentiment was high because the
pro-British Federalists had died out, there had been two wars with
Britain, and the British travelers in America scoffed at the
“uncivilized” Americans.
Chapter 21 - The Furnace of Civil War
I. Bull Run Ends the “Ninety-Day War”
When President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen on
April 15, 1861, he and just about everyone else in the North expected a
swift war lasting about 90 days, with a quick suppression of the South
to prove the North’s superiority and end this foolishness.
On July 21, 1861, ill-trained Yankee recruits swaggered out toward
Bull Run to engage a smaller Confederate unit. They expected one big
battle and a quick victory for the war.
The atmosphere was like that of a sporting event, as spectators gathered in picnics to watch.
However, after initial success by the Union, Confederate
reinforcements arrived and, coupled with Stonewall Jackson’s line
holding, sent the Union soldiers into disarray.
The Battle of Bull Run showed the North that this would not be a
short, easy war and swelled the South’s already too-large ego.
II. “Tardy George” McClellan and the Peninsula Campaign
Later in 1861, command of the Army of the Potomac (name of the
Union army) was given to 34 year old General George B. McClellan, an
excellent drillmaster and organizer of troops, but also a perfectionist
who constantly believed that he was outnumbered, never took risks, and
held the army without moving for months before finally ordered by
Lincoln to advance.
Chapter 23 - Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
I. The “Bloody Shirt” Elects Grant
The Republicans nominated Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant, who was a great soldier but had no political experience.
The Democrats could only denounce military Reconstruction and
couldn’t agree on anything else, and thus, were disorganized.
The Republicans got Grant elected (barely) by “waving the
bloody shirt,” or reliving his war victories, and used his
popularity to elect him, though his popular vote was only slightly
ahead of rival Horatio Seymour. Seymour was the Democratic candidate
who didn’t accept a redemption-of-greenbacks-for-maximum-value
platform, and thus doomed his party.
However, due to the close nature of the election, Republicans could not take future victories for granted.
II. The Era of Good Stealings
Despite the Civil War, the population still mushroomed, partially
due to immigration, but during this time, politics became very corrupt.
Railroad promoters cheated gullible customers.
Stock-market investors were a cancer in the public eye.
Too many judges and legislators put their power up for hire.
Two notorious millionaires were Jim Fisk and Jay Gould.
In 1869, the pair concocted a plot to corner the gold market that
would only work if the treasury stopped selling gold, so they worked on
President Grant directly and through his brother-in-law, but their plan
failed when the treasury sold gold.
The infamous Tweed Ring (AKA, “Tammany Hall) of NYC, headed
by “Boss” Tweed, employed bribery, graft, and fake
elections to cheat the city of as much as $200 million.
Tweed was finally caught when The New York Times secured evidence of his misdeeds, and later died in jail.
Samuel J. Tilden gained fame by leading the prosecution of Tweed,
and he would later use this fame to become the Democratic nominee in
the presidential election of 1876.
Thomas Nast, political cartoonist, constantly drew against Tammany’s corruption.
III. A Carnival of Corruption
Grant, an easy-going fellow, apparently failed to see the
corruption going on, even though many of his friends wanted offices and
his cabinet was totally corrupt (except for Secretary of State Hamilton
Fish), and his in-laws, the Dent family, were especially terrible.
The Credit Mobilier, a railroad construction company that paid
itself huge sums of money for small railroad construction, tarred
Grant.
Chapter 30 - The War to End Wars
I. War by Act of Germany
On January 22, 1917, Woodrow Wilson made one final, attempt to
avert war, delivering a moving address that correctly declared only a
“peace without victory” (beating Germany without
embarrassing them) would be lasting.
Germany responded by shocking the world, announcing that it would
break the Sussex pledge and return to unrestricted submarine warfare,
which meant that its U-boats would now be firing on armed and unarmed
ships in the war zone.
Wilson asked Congress for the authority to arm merchant ships, but a band of Midwestern senators tried to block this measure.
Then, the Zimmerman note was intercepted and published on March 1, 1917.
Written by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman, it secretly
proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico. It proposed that if
Mexico fought against the U.S. and the Central Powers won, Mexico could
recover Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona from the U.S.
The Germans also began to make good on their threats, sinking
numerous ships. Meanwhile, in Russia, a revolution toppled the tsarist
regime.
Chapter 33 - The Great Depression and the New Deal
I. FDR: A Politician in a Wheelchair
In 1932, voters still had not seen any economic improvement, and they wanted a new president.
President Herbert Hoover was nominated again without much vigor and
true enthusiasm, and he campaigned saying that his policies prevented
the Great Depression from being worse than it was.
The Democrats nominated Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a tall, handsome
man who was the fifth cousin of famous Theodore Roosevelt and had
followed in his footsteps.
FDR was suave and conciliatory while TR was pugnacious and confrontational.
FDR had been stricken with polio in 1921, and during this time, his wife, Eleanor, became his political partner.
Franklin also lost a friend in 1932 when he and Al Smith both sought the Democratic nomination.
Eleanor was to become the most active First Lady ever.
II. Presidential Hopefuls of 1932
In the campaign, Roosevelt seized the opportunity to prove that he
was not an invalid, and his campaign also featured an attack on
Hoover’s spending (ironically, he would spend even more during
his term).
Chapter 35 - America in World War II
I. The Allies Trade Space for Time
When Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, millions of
infuriated Americans, especially on the west coast, instantly changed
their views from isolationist to avenger.
However, America, led by the wise Franklin D. Roosevelt, resisted
such pressures, instead taking a “get Germany first”
approach to the war, for if Germany were to defeat Britain before the
Allies could beat Japan, there would be no stopping Hitler and his men.
Meanwhile, just enough troops would be sent to fight Japan to keep it in check.
America had the hardship of preparing for war, since it had been in
isolation for the preceding decades, and the test would be whether or
not it could mobilize quickly enough to stop Germany and make the world
safe for democracy (again).
II. The Shock of War
After the attack at Pearl Harbor, national unity was strong as steel, and the few Hitler supporters in America faded away.
Most of America’s ethnic groups assimilated even faster due
to WWII, since in the decades before the war, few immigrants had been
allowed into America.
Chapter 38 - The Stormy Sixties
I. Kennedy’s “New Frontier” Spirit
In 1960, young, energetic John F. Kennedy was elected as president
of the United States—the youngest man ever elected to that office.
The 1960s would bring a sexual revolution, a civil rights
revolution, the emergence of a “youth culture,” a
devastating war in Vietnam, and the beginnings of a feminist revolution.
JFK delivered a stirring inaugural address (“Ask not, what
your country can do for you…”), and he also assembled a
very young cabinet, including his brother, Robert Kennedy, as attorney
general.
Robert Kennedy tried to recast the priorities of the FBI, but was resisted by J. Edgar Hoover.
Business whiz Robert S. McNamara took over the Defense Department.
Early on, JFK proposed the Peace Corps, an army of idealist and
mostly youthful volunteers to bring American skills to underdeveloped
countries.
A graduate of Harvard and with a young family, JFK was very vibrant and charming to everyone.
II. The New Frontier at Home
Kennedy’s social program was known as the New Frontier, but
conservative Democrats and Republicans threatened to kill many of its
reforms.
Chapter 39 - The Stalemated Seventies
I. Sources of Stagnation
After the flurry of economic growth in the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. economy grew stagnant in the 1970s. No year during that decade had a growth rate that matched any year of the preceding two decades.
Part of the slowdown was caused by more women and teens in the work force who typically had less skill and made less money than males, while deteriorating machinery and U.S. regulations also limited growth.
A large reason for the 1970s economic woes was the upward spiral of inflation.
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s spending on the Vietnam War and on his Great Society program also depleted the U.S. treasury, and this caused too much money in people’s hands and too little products to buy.
Also, since the U.S. did not continue advancing, Americans were caught by the Japanese and the Germans in industries that the U.S. had once dominated: steel, automobiles, consumer electronics.
II. Nixon “Vietnamizes” the War
Upon taking office, President Richard Nixon urged American’s to stop tearing each other apart and to cooperate.
He was very skilled in foreign affairs, and to cope with the Vietnam dilemma, he used a policy called “Vietnamization” in which 540,000 American troops would be pulled out of the Southeast Asian nation and the war would be turned back over to the Vietamese.
The South Vietnamese would slowly fight their own war, and the U.S. would only supply arms and money but not American troops; this was called the “Nixon Doctrine.”
While outwardly seeming to appease, Nixon divided America into his supporters and opponents.
Nixon appealed to the “Silent Majority,” Americans who supported the war, but without noise.
The war was fought generally by the lesser-privileged Americans, since college students and critically skilled civilians were exempt, and there were also reports of dissension in the army.
Soldiers slogged through grimy mud and jungle, trusting nothing and were paranoid and bitter toward a government that “handcuffed” them and a war against a frustrating enemy.
The My Lai Massacre of 1968, in which American troops brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, illustrated the frustration and led to more opposition to the war.
In 1970, Nixon ordered an attack on Cambodia, Vietnam’s neighbor.
III. Cambodianizing the Vietnam War
North Vietnamese had been using Cambodia as a springboard for funneling troops and arms along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and on April 29, 1970, Nixon suddenly ordered U.S. troops to invade Cambodia to stop this.
Much uproar was caused, as riots occurred at Kent State University (where the National Guard opened fire and killed 4 people) and at Jackson State College.
Two months later, Nixon withdrew U.S. troops from Cambodia.
The Cambodian incident split even wider the gap beween the “hawks” and the “doves.”
The U.S. Senate repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, and in 1971, the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age to eighteen, was also passed.
In June 1971, The New York Times published a top-secret Pentagon study of America’s involvement of the Vietnam War—papers that had been leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, a former Pentagon official—these “Pentagon Papers” exposed the deceit used by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations regarding Vietnam and people spoke of a “credibility gap” between what the government said and the reality.
IV. Nixon’s Détente with Beijing (Peking) and Moscow
Meanwhile, China and the Soviet Union were clashing over their own interpretations of Marxism, and Nixon seized this as a chance for the U.S. to relax tensions and establish “détente.”
He sent national security adviser Dr. Henry A. Kissinger to China to encourage better relations, a mission in which he succeeded, even though he used to be a big anti-Communist.
Nixon then traveled to Moscow in May 1972, and the Soviets, wanting foodstuffs and alarmed over the possibility of a U.S.—China alliance against the U.S.S.R., made deals with America in which the U.S. would sell the Soviets at least $750 million worth of wheat, corn, and other cereals, thus ushering in an era of détente, or relaxed tensions.
The ABM Treaty (anti-ballistic missile treaty) and the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) also lessened tension, but the U.S. also went ahead with its new MIRV (Multiple Independently-targeted Reentry Vehicles) missiles, which could overcome any defense by overwhelming it with a plethora of missiles; therefore, the U.S.S.R. did the same.
However, Nixon’s détente policy did work, at least in part, to relax U.S.—Soviet tensions.
V. A New Team on the Supreme Bench
When Earl Warren was appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he headed many controversial but important decisions:
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) struck down a state law that banned the use of contraceptives, even by married couples, but creating a “right to privacy.”
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) said that all criminals were entitled to legal counsel, even if they were too poor to afford it.
Escobedo (1964) and Miranda (1966) were two cases in which the Supreme Court ruled that the accused could remain silent.
Engel v. Vitale (1962) and School District of Abington Township vs. Schempp (1963) were two cases that led to the Court ruling against required prayers and having the Bible in public schools, basing the judgment on the First Amendment, which was argued separated church and state.
Following its ruling against segregation in the case Brown v. Board of Education, the Court backed up its ruling with other rulings:
Reynolds v. Sims (1964) ruled that the state legislatures, both upper and lower houses, would have to be reapportioned according to the human population. This was to ensure each person’s vote was weighed evenly.
Trying to end this liberalism, Nixon chose Warren E. Burger to replace the retiring Earl Warren in 1969, and this succeeded—by the end of 1971, the Supreme Court had four new members that Nixon had appointed.
Strangely though, this “conservative” court made the controversial Roe v. Wade decision allowing abortion.
VI. Nixon on the Home Front
Nixon also expanded Great Society programs by increasing appropriations for Medicare and Medicaid, as well as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), and created the Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which gave benefits to the indigent, aged, blind, and disabled, and he raised Social Security.
Nixon’s so-called “Philadelphia Plan” of 1969 required construction-trade unions working on the federal payroll to establish “goals and timetables” for Black employees.
This plan changed “affirmative action” to mean preferable treatment on groups (minorities), not individuals, and the Supreme Court’s decision on Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) supported this.
However, whites protested to “reverse discrimination” (hiring of minorities for fear of repercussions if too many whites were hired).
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was also created to protect nature, as well as OSHA, or the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
In 1962, Rachel Carson boosted the environmental movement with her book Silent Spring, which exposed the disastrous effects of pesticides (namely, DDT), and in 1950, Los Angeles already had an Air Pollution Control Office.
The Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 both aimed to protect and preserve the environment and animals.
Worried about inflation, Nixon also imposed a 90-day wage freeze and then took the nation off the gold standard, thus ending the “Bretton Woods” system of international currency stabilization, which had functioned for more than a quarter of a century after WWII.
VII. The Nixon Landslide of 1972
In 1972, the North Vietnamese attacked again, surprisingly, and Nixon ordered massive retaliatory air attacks, which ground the Vietnamese offense to a stop when neither China nor Russia stepped in to help, thanks to Nixon’s shrew diplomacy.
Nixon was opposed by George McGovern in 1972, who promised to end the war within 90 days after the election and also appealed to teens and women, but his running mate, Thomas Eagleton was found to have undergone psychiatric care before, and Nixon won in a landslide.
Nixon also sought to “bomb Vietnam to the peace table.”
Despite Kissinger’s promise of peace being near, Nixon went on a bombing rampage that eventually drove the North Vietnamese to the bargaining table to agree to a cease-fire, which occurred on January 23, 1973
This peace was little more than a barely-disguised American retreat.
In the terms of the peace, the U.S. would withdraw its remaining 27,000 troops and get back 560 prisoners of war.
VIII. The Secret Bombing of Cambodia and the War Powers Act
It was then discovered that there had been secret bombing raids of North Vietnamese forces in Cambodia that had occurred since March of 1969, despite federal assurances to the U.S. public that Cambodia’s neutrality was being respected.
The public now wondered what kind of a government the U.S. had if it couldn’t be trusted and the credibility gap widened.
Finally, Nixon ended this bombing in June of 1973.
However, soon Cambodia was taken over by the cruel Pol Pot, who tried to commit genocide by killing over 2 million people over a span of a few years.
The War Powers Act of November 1973 (1) required the president to report all commitments of U.S. troops to Congress within 48 hours and and (2) setting a 60 day limit on those activities.
There was also a “New Isolationism” that discouraged the use of U.S. troops in other countries, but Nixon fended off all efforts at this.
IX. The Arab Oil Embargo and the Energy Crisis
After the U.S. backed Israel in its war against Syria and Egypt which had been trying to regain territory lost in the Six-Day War, the Arab nations imposed an oil embargo, which strictly limited oil in the U.S. and caused a fuel crisis.
A speed limit of 55 MPH was imposed, and the oil pipeline in Alaska was approved in 1974 despite environmentalists’ cries, and other types of energy were pursued.
Since 1948, the U.S. had been importing more oil than it exported, and oil production had gone down since 1970; thus, this marked the end of the era of cheap energy.
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) lifted the embargo in 1974, and then quadrupled the price of oil by decade’s end.
X. Watergate and the Unmaking of a President
On June 17, 1972, five men working for the Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP) were caught breaking into the Watergate Hotel and planting some bugs in the room.
What followed was a huge scandal in which many prominent administrators resigned.
It also provoked the improper or illegal use of the FBI and the CIA.
Lengthy hearings proceeded, headed by Senator Sam Erving, and John Dean III testified about all the corruption, illegal activities, and scandal that took place.
Then, it was discovered that there were tapes that had recorded conversations that could solve all the mysteries in this case. But Nixon, who had explicitly denied participation in this Watergate Scandal earlier to the American people, refused to hand over the tapes to Congress.
Also, Vice President Spiro Agnew was forced to resign in 1973 due to tax evasion.
Thus, in accordance with the new 25th Amendment, Nixon submitted a name to Congress to approve as the new vice president—Gerald Ford.
Then came the “Saturday Night Massacre” (Oct. 20, 1973), in which Archibald Cox, special prosecutor of the case who had issued a subpoena of the tapes, was fired and the attorney general and deputy general resigned because they didn’t want to fire Cox.
Nixon’s presidency was coming unraveled.
On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to give all of his tapes to Congress.
The tapes that had already been handed over showed Nixon cursing and swearing—poor behavior for our president.
Late in July 1974, the House approved its first article of impeachment for obstruction of the administration of justice.
On August 5, 1974, Nixon finally released the three tapes that held the most damaging information—the same three tapes that had been “missing.” The tapes showed Nixon had indeed ordered a cover-up of the Watergate situation.
On August 8 of the same year, he resigned, realizing that he would be convicted if impeached, and with resignation, at least he could still keep the privileges of a former president.
Through it all, the lesson learned was that the Constitution indeed works.
XI. The First Unelected President
Gerald Ford was the first unelected president ever, since his name had been submitted by Nixon as a V.P. candidate when Spiro Agnew resigned due to a bribery scandal while he was Maryland governor. All the other V.P.’s that had ascended to the presidency had at least been supported as running mates of the president that had been elected.
He was also seen as a dumb jock of a president (he was a former Univ. of Michigan football player), and his popularity and respect further sank when he issued a full pardon of Nixon, thus setting off accusations of a “buddy deal.”
His popularity also declined when he granted amnesty to “draft dodgers” thus allowing them to return to the U.S. from wherever they’d run to (usually Canada or Europe).
In July 1975, Ford signed the Helsinki accords, which recognized Soviet boundaries, guaranteed human rights, and eased the U.S.—Soviet situation.
Critics charged that détente was making the U.S. lose grain and technology while gaining nothing from the Soviets.
XII. Defeat in Vietnam
Disastrously for Ford, South Vietnam fell to the communist North in 1975, and American troops had to be evacuated, the last on April 29, 1975, thus ending the U.S. role in Vietnam War.
America seemed to have lost the war, and it had also lost a lot of respect.
XIII. Feminist Victories and Defeats
During the 1970s, the feminist movement became energized and took a decidedly aggressive tone.
Title IX prohibited sex discrimination in any federally funded education program.
It’s largest impact was seen in the emergence of girls’ sports.
The Supreme Court entered the fray in the feminist movement.
The Court’s decisions challenged sex discrimination in legislation and employment.
The super-hot Roe v. Wade case legalized abortion, arguing that ending a pregnancy was protected under a right to privacy.
Even more ambitious was the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) to the Constitution.
ERA sought to guarantee gender equality through words.
Phyllis Schlafly led other women against ERA. Schlafly said ERA advocates were, “bitter women seeking a constitutional cure for their personal problems.” She used the following arguments against the ERA amendment:
It would deprive a woman’s right to be a wife.
It would require women to serve in combat.
It would legalize homosexual marriage.
38 state legislatures adopted the amendment, 41 were necessary, and the ERA ended.
XIV. The Seventies in Black and White
Race was a burning issue, and in the 1974 Milliken v. Bradley case, the Supreme Court ruled that desegregation plans could not require students to move across school-district lines.
This reinforced the “white flight” to the suburbs that pitted the poorest whites and blacks against each other, often with explosively violent results.
Affirmative action, where minorities were given preference in jobs or school admittance, was another burning issue, but some whites used this to argue “reverse discrimination.”
In the Bakke case of 1978, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that Allan Bakke (a white applicant claiming reverse discrimination) should be admitted to U.C.—Davis med school. The decision was ambiguous saying (1) admission preference based on any race was not allowed, but conversely that (2) race could be factored into the admission policy.
The Supreme Court’s only black justice, Thurgood Marshall, warned that the denial of racial preferences might sweep away the progress gained by the civil rights movement.
XV. The Bicentennial Campaign and the Carter Victory
In 1976, Jimmy Carter barely squeezed by Gerald Ford (297 to 240) for president, promising to never lie to the American public. He also had Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.
He capitalized on being a “Washington outsider,” and therefore untainted by the supposed corruption of D.C. (He’d previously been governor of Georgia.)
In 1978, Carter got an $18 billion tax cut for America, but the economy soon continued sinking.
Despite an early spurt of popularity, Carter soon lost it.
XVI. Carter’s Humanitarian Diplomacy
Carter was a champion for human rights, and in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) and South Africa, he championed for black rights and privileges.
On September 17, 1978, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel signed peace accords at Camp David.
Mediated by Carter after relations had strained, this was Carter’s greatest foreign policy success.
Israel agreed to withdraw from territory gained in the 1967 war, while Egypt would respect Israel’s territories.
In Africa, though, several Communist revolutions took place—not all successful, but disheartening and threatening still.
Carter also pledged to return the Panama Canal to Panama by the year 2000, and resumed full diplomatic relations with China in 1979.
XVII. Economic and Energy Woes
Inflation had been steadily rising, and by 1979, it was at a huge 13%. Americans would learn that they could no longer hide behind their ocean moats and live happily insulated from foreign affairs.
Carter diagnosed America’s problems as stemming primarily from the nation’s costly dependence on foreign oil, which was true.
He called for legislation to improve energy conservation, but the gas-guzzling American people, who had already forgotten about the long gas lines of 1973, didn’t like these ideas.
Energy problems escalated under Carter.
In, 1979, Iran’s shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, who had been installed by America in 1953 and had ruled his land as a dictator, was overthrown and succeeded by the Ayatollah Khomeini.
Iranian fundamentalists were very much against Western/U.S. customs, and Iran stopped exporting oil; OPEC also hiked up oil prices, thus causing another oil crisis.
In July 1979, Carter retreated to Camp David and met with hundreds of leaders of various things to advise and counsel him, then he came back on July 15, 1979 and chastised the American people for their obsession of material woes (“If it’s cold, turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater.”) This tough talking stunned the nation.
Then, a few days later, he fired four cabinet secretaries and tightened the circle around his Georgian advisors even more tightly.
XVIII. Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Imbroglio
Carter signed the SALT II agreements with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, but the U.S. Senate wouldn’t ratify it.
Then, on November 4, 1979, a bunch of anti-American Muslim militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took the people inside hostage, demanding that the U.S. return the exiled shah who had arrived in the U.S. two weeks earlier for cancer treatments.
Then, in December 27, 1979, the U.S.S.R. invaded Afghanistan, which later turned into their version of Vietnam.
However, at the moment, their action threatened precious oil supplies.
Carter put an embargo on the Soviet Union and boycotted the Olympic games in Moscow.
He also proposed a “Rapid Deployment Force” that could respond to crises anywhere in the world in a quick manner.
President Carter and America fell into an Iran hostage mess.
The American hostages languished in cruel captivity while night TV news reports showed Iranian mobs burning the American flag and spitting on effigies of Uncle Sam.
At first Carter tried economic sanctions, but that didn’t work.
Later, he tried a daring commando rescue mission, but that had to be aborted, and when two military aircraft collided, eight of the would-be rescuers were killed.
It was a humiliating failure for the U.S. and for Carter especially.
The stalemated hostage situation dragged on for most of Carter’s term, and was never released until January 20, 1981—the inauguration day of Ronald Reagan.
Subject: 
US History
Chapter 40 - The Resurgence of Conservatism
President Jimmy Carter’s administration seemed to be befuddled and bungling, since it could not control the rampant double-digit inflation or handle foreign affairs, and he would not remove regulatory controls from major industries such as airlines.
Late in 1979, Edward (Ted) Kennedy declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for 1980. But, he was hurt by his suspicious Chappaquiddick 1969 driving accident in when a young female passenger drowned and he delayed reporting the incident.
As the Democrats dueled it out, the Republicans chose conservative former actor Ronald Reagan, signaling the return of conservatism, since the average American was older than during the stormy sixties and was more likely to favor the right (conservatives).
New groups that spearheaded the “new right” movement included Moral Majority and other conservative Christian groups.
Ronald Reagan was a man whose values had been formed before the turbulent sixties, and Reagan adopted a stance that depicted “big government” as bad, federal intervention in local affairs as condemnable, and favoritism for minorities as negative.
He drew on the ideas of a group called the “neoconservatives,” a group that included Norman Podhortz, editor of Commentary magazine, and Irving Kristol, editor of Public Interest, two men who championed free-market capitalism.
Reagan had grown up in an impoverished family, become a B-movie actor in Hollywood in the 1940s, became president of the Screen Actors Guild, purged suspected “reds” in the McCarthy era, acted as spokesperson for General Electric, and become 3Californian governor.
Reagan’s photogenic personality and good looks on televised debates, as well as his attacks on President Carter’s problems, helped him win the election of 1980 by a landslide (489-49).
Also, Republicans regained control of the Senate.
Carter’s farewell address talked of toning down the nuclear arms race, helping human rights, and protecting the environment (one of his last acts in office was to sign a bill protecting 100 million acres of Alaskan land as a wildlife preserve).
II. The Reagan Revolution
Reagan’s inauguration day coincided with the release by the Iranians of their U.S. hostages, and Reagan also assembled a cabinet of the “best and brightest,” including Secretary of the Interior James Watt, a controversial man with little regard to the environment.
Watt tried to hobble the Environmental Protection Agency and permit oil drilling in scenic places, but finally had to resign after telling an insulting ethnic joke in public.
For over two decades, the government budget had slowly and steadily risen, much to the disturbance of the tax-paying public. By the 1980s, the public was tired of the New Deal and the Great Society programs’s costs and were ready to slash bills, just as Reagan proposed.
His federal budget had cuts of some $35 billion, and he even wooed some Southern Democrats to abandon their own party and follow him.
But on March 30, 1981, the president was shot and wounded by a deranged John Hinckley. He recovered in only twelve days, showing his devotion to physical fitness despite his age (near 70) and gaining massive sympathy and support.
III. The Battle of the Budget
Reagan’s budget was $695 billion with a $38 billion deficit. He planned cuts, and vast majority of budget cuts fell upon social programs, not on defense, but there were also sweeping tax cuts of 25% over three years.
The president appeared on national TV pleading for passage of the new tax-cut bill, and bolstered by “boll weevils,” or Democrats who defected to the Republican side, Congress passed it.
The bill used “supply side economics” or “Reaganomics” (policies favorable to businesses) to lower individual taxes, almost eliminate federal estate taxes, and create new tax-free savings plans for small investors.
However, this theory backfired as the nation slid into its worst recession since the Great Depression, with unemployment reaching nearly 11% in 1982 and several banks failing.
Critics (Democrats) yapped that Reagan’s programs and tax cuts had caused this mayhem, but in reality, it had been Carter’s “tight money” policies that had led to the recession, and Reagan and his advisors sat out the storm, waiting for a recovery that seemed to come in 1983.
However, during the 1980s, income gaps widened between the rich and poor for the first time in the 20th century (this was mirrored by the emergence of “yuppies”—Young Urban Professionals, very materialistic professionals). And it was massive military spending (a $100 billion annual deficit in 1982 and nearly $200 million annual deficits in the later years) that upped the American dollar. The trade deficit, also rose to a record $152 billion in 1987. These facts helped make America the world’s biggest borrowers.
IV. Reagan Renews the Cold War
Reagan took a get-tough stance against the USSR, especially when they continued to invade Afghanistan, and his plan to defeat the Soviets was to wage a super-expensive arms race that would eventually force the Soviets into bankruptcy and render them powerless.
He began this with his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), popularly known as “Star Wars,” which proposed a system of lasers that could fire from space and destroy any nuclear weapons fired by Moscow before they hit America—a system that many experts considered impossible as well as upsetting to the “balance of terror” (don’t fire for fear of retaliation) that had kept nuclear war from being unleashed all these years. SDI was never built.
Late in 1981, the Soviets clamped down on Poland’s massive union called “Solidarity” and received economic sanctions from the U.S.
The deaths of three different aging Soviet oligarchs from 1982-85 and the breaking of all arms-control negotiations in 1983 further complicated dealings with the Soviets.
V. Troubles Abroad
Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to destroy guerilla bases, and the next year, Reagan sent U.S. forces as part of an international peace-keeping force. But, when a suicide bomber crashed a bomb-filled truck into U.S. Marine barracks on October 23, 1983 killing over 200 marines, Reagan had to withdraw the troops, though he miraculously suffered no political damage.
Afterwards, he became known as the “Teflon president,” the president to which nothing harmful would stick.
Reagan accused Nicaraguan “Sandinistas,” a group of leftists that had taken over the Nicaraguan government, of turning the country into a forward base from which Communist forces could invade and conquer all of Latin America.
He also accused them of helping revolutionary forces in El Salvador, where violence had reigned since 1979, and Reagan then helped “contra” rebels in Nicaragua fight against the Sandinistas.
In October 1983, Reagan sent troops to Grenada, where a military coup had killed the prime minister and brought communists to power. The U.S. crushed the communist rebels.
VI. Round Two for Reagan
Reagan was opposed by Democrat Walter Mondale and V.P. candidate Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to appear on a major-party presidential ticket, but won handily.
Foreign policy issues dominated Reagan’s second term, one that saw the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev, a personable, energetic leader who announced two new Soviet policies: glasnost, or “openness,” which aimed to introduce free speech and political liberty to the Soviet Union, and perestroika, or “restructuring,” which meant that the Soviets would move toward adopting free-market economies similar to those in the West.
At a summit meeting at Geneva in 1985, Gorbachev introduced the idea of ceasing the deployment of intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF). At a second meeting at Reykjavik, Iceland, in November 1985, there was stalemate. At the third one in Washington D.C., the treaty was finally signed, banning all INF’s from Europe.
The final summit at Moscow saw Reagan warmly praising the Soviet chief for trying to end the Cold War.
Also, Reagan supported Corazon Aquino’s ousting of Filipino dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.
He also ordered a lightning raid on Libya, in 1986, in retaliation for Libya’s state-sponsored terrorist attacks, and began escorting oil tankers through the Persian Gulf during the Iran—Iraq War.
VII. The Iran-Contra Imbroglio
In November 1986, it was revealed that a year before, American diplomats led by Col. Olive North had secretly arranged arms sales to Iranian diplomats in return for the release of American hostages (at least one was) and had used that money to aid Nicaraguan contra rebels.
This brazenly violated the congressional ban on helping Nicaraguan rebels, not to mention Reagan’s personal vow not to negotiate with terrorists.
An investigation concluded that even if Reagan had no knowledge of such events, as he claimed, he should have. This scandal not only cast a dark cloud over Reagan’s foreign policy success, but also brought out a picture of Reagan as a somewhat senile old man who slept through important cabinet meetings.
Still, Reagan remained ever popular.
VIII. Reagan’s Economic Legacy
Supply-side economics claimed that cutting taxes would actually increase government revenue, but instead, during his eight years in office, Reagan accumulated a $2 trillion debt—more than all his presidential predecessors combined.
Much of the debt was financed by foreign bankers like the Japanese, creating fear that future Americans would have to work harder or have lower standards of living to pay off such debts for the United States.
Reagan did triumph in containing the welfare state by incurring debts so large that future spending would be difficult, thus prevent any more welfare programs from being enacted successfully.
Another trend of “Reaganomics” was the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor. The idea of “trickle-down economics” (helping the rich who own business would see money trickle down to working classes) seemed to prove false.
IX. The Religious Right
Beginning in the 1980s, energized religious conservatives began to exert their political muscle in a cultural war.
Rev. Jerry Falwell started the Moral Majority, consisting of evangelical Christians.
2-3 million registered as Moral Majority voters in its first two years.
Using the power of media, they opposed sexual permissiveness, abortion, feminism, and homosexuality.
In large part, the conservative movement of the 80s was an answer to the liberal movement of the 60s. The pendulum was swinging back.
Conservatives viewed America as being hijacked in the 60s by a minority of radicals with political aims; the conservatives saw themselves as taking back America.
X. Conservatism in the Courts
Reagan used the courts as his instrument against affirmative action and abortion, and by 1988, the year he left office, he had appointed a near-majority of all sitting federal judges.
Included among those were three conservative-minded judges, one of which was Sandra Day O’Connor, a brilliant Stanford Law School graduate and the first female Supreme Court justice in American history.
In a 1984 case involving Memphis firefighters, the Court ruled that union rules about job seniority could outweigh affirmative-action concerns.
In Ward’s Cove Packing v. Arizona and Martin v. Wilks, the Court ruled it more difficult to prove that an employer practiced discrimination in hiring and made it easier for white males to argue that they were victims of reverse-discrimination.
The 1973 case of Roe v. Wade had basically legalized abortion, but the 1989 case of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services seriously compromised protection of abortion rights.
In Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the Court ruled that states could restrict access to abortion as long as they didn’t place an “undue burden” on the woman.
XI. Referendum on Reaganism in 1988
Democrats got back the Senate in 1986 and sought to harm Reagan with the Iran-Contra scandal and unethical behavior that tainted an oddly large number of Reagan’s cabinet.
They even rejected Robert Bork, Reagan’s ultraconservative choice to fill an empty space on the Supreme Court.
The federal budget and the international trade deficit continued to soar while falling oil prices hurt housing values in the Southwest and damaged savings-and-loans institutions, forcing Reagan to order a $500 million rescue operation for the S&L institutions.
On October 19, 1987, the stock market fell 508 points, sparking fears of the end of the money culture, but this was premature.
In 1988, Gary Hart tried to get the Democratic nomination but had to drop out due to a sexual misconduct charge while Jesse Jackson assembled a “rainbow coalition” in hopes of becoming president. But, the Democrats finally chose Michael Dukakis, who lost badly to Republican candidate and Reagan’s vice president George Herbert Walker Bush, 112 to 426.
XII. George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War
Bush had been born into a rich family, but he was committed to public service and vowed to sculpt “a kindler, gentler America.”
In 1989, it seemed that Democracy was reviving in previously Communist hot-spots.
In China, thousands of democratic-seeking students protested in Tiananmen Square but they were brutally crushed by Chinese tanks and armed forces.
In Eastern Europe, Communist regimes fell in Poland (which saw Solidarity rise again), Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Romania.
Soon afterwards, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down.
In 1990, Boris Yeltsin stopped a military coup that tried to dislodge Gorbachev, then took over Russia when the Soviet Union fell and disintegrated into the Commonwealth of Independent States, of which Russia was the largest member. Thus, the Cold War was over.
This shocked experts who had predicted that the Cold War could only end violently.
Problems remained however, as the question remained of who would take over the U.S.S.R.’s nuclear stockpiles or its seat in the U.N. Security Council? Eventually, Russia did.
In 1993, Bush signed the START II accord with Yeltsin, pledging both nations to reduce their long-range nuclear arsenals by two-thirds within ten years.
Trouble was still present when the Chechnyen minority in Russia tried to declare independence and was resisted by Russia; that incident hasn’t been resolved yet.
Europe found itself quite unstable when the economically weak former communist countries re-integrated with it.
America then had no rival to guard against, and it was possible that it would revert back to its isolationist policies. Also, military spending had soaked up so much money that upon the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon closed 34 military bases, canceled a $52 billion order for a navy attack plane, and forced scores of Californian defense plants to shut their doors.
However, in 1990, South Africa freed Nelson Mandela, and he was elected president 4 years later.
Free elections removed the Sandinistas in Nicaragua in 1990, and in 1992, peace came to Ecuador at last.
XIII. The Persian Gulf Crisis
On August 2, 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded oil-rich Kuwait with 100,000 men, hoping to annex it as a 19th province and use its oil fields to replenish debts incurred during the Iraq—Iran War, a war which oddly saw the U.S. supporting Hussein despite his bad reputation.
Saddam attacked swiftly, but the U.N. responded just as swiftly, placing economic embargoes on the aggressor and preparing for military punishment.
Fighting “Operation Desert Storm”
Some 539,000 U.S. military force members joined 270,000 troops from 28 other countries to attack Iraq in a war, which began on January 12, 1991, when Congress declared it.
On January 16, the U.S. and U.N. unleashed a hellish air war against Iraq for 37 days.
Iraq responded by launching several ultimately ineffective “scud” missiles at Saudi Arabia and Israel, but it had far darker strategies available, such as biological and chemical weapons and strong desert fortifications with oil-filled moats that could be lit afire if the enemy got too close.
American General Norman Schwarzkopf took nothing for granted, strategizing to suffocate Iraqis with an onslaught of air bombing raids and then rush them with troops.
On February 23, “Operation Desert Storm” began with an overwhelming land attack that lasted four days, saw really little casualties, and ended with Saddam’s forces surrender.
American cheered the war’s rapid end and well-fought duration and was relieved that this had not turned into another Vietnam, but Saddam Hussein had failed to be dislodged from power and was left to menace the world another day.
The U.S. found itself even more deeply ensnared in the region’s web of mortal hatreds.
XIV. Bush on the Home Front
President Bush’s 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act was a landmark law that banned discrimination against citizens with disabilities.
Bush also signed a major water projects bill in 1992 and agreed to sign a watered-down civil rights bill in 1991.
In 1991, Bush proposed Clarence Thomas (a Black man) to fill in the vacant seat left by retiring Thurgood Marshall (the first Black Supreme Court justice), but this choice was opposed by the NAACP since Thomas was a conservative and by the National Organization for Women (NOW), since Thomas was supposedly pro-abortion.
In early October 1991, Anita Hill charged Thomas with sexual harassment, and even though Thomas was still selected to be on the Court, Hill’s case publicized sexual harassment and tightened tolerance of it (Oregon’s Senator Robert Packwood had to step down in 1995 after a case of sexual harassment).
A gender gap arose between women in both parties.
In 1992, the economy stalled, and Bush was forced to break an explicit campaign promise (“Read my lips, no new taxes”) and add $133 billion worth of new taxes to try to curb the $250 billion annual budget.
When it was revealed that many House members had written bad checks from a private House “bank,” public confidence lessened even more.
The 27th Amendment banned congressional pay raises from taking effect until an election had seated a new session of Congress, an idea first proposed by James Madison in 1789.
Subject: 
Chapter 41 - America Confronts the Post-Cold War Era
I. Bill Clinton: the First Baby-Boomer President
In 1992, the Democrats chose Bill Clinton as their candidate (despite accusations of womanizing, drug use, and draft evasion) and Albert Gore, Jr. as his running mate.
The Democrats tried a new approach, promoting growth, strong defense, and anticrime policies while campaigning to stimulate the economy.
The Republicans dwelt on “family values” and selected Bush for another round and J. Danforth Quayle as his running mate. They claimed that “character matters” and so Clinton and his baggage should not be elected.
Third party candidate Ross Perot added color to the election by getting 19,742,267 votes in the election (no electoral votes, though), but Clinton won, 370 to 168 in the Electoral College.
Democrats also got control of both the House and the Senate.
Congress and the presidential cabinet were filled with minorities and more women, including the first female attorney general ever, Janet Reno, Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the Supreme Court
II. A False Start for Reform
Upon entering office, Clinton called for accepting homosexuals in the armed forces, but finally had to settle for a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that unofficially accepted gays and lesbians.
Clinton also appointed his wife, Hillary, to revamp the nation’s health and medical care system, and when it was revealed in October 1993, critics blasted it as cumbersome, confusing, and unpractical, thus suddenly making Hillary Rodham Clinton a liability whereas before, she had been a full, equal political partner of her husband.
By 1996, Clinton had shrunk the federal deficit to its lowest level in a decade, and in 1993, he passed a gun-control law called the Brady Bill, named after presidential aide James Brady who had been wounded in President Reagan’s attempted assassination.
In July 1994, Clinton persuaded Congress to pass a $30 billion anticrime bill.
During the decade, a radical Muslim group bombed the World Trade Center in New York, killing six. An American terrorist, Timothy McVeigh, bombed the federal building in Oklahoma in 1995, taking 169 lives. And a fiery standoff at Waco, Texas, between the government and the Branch Davidian religious cult ended in a huge fire that killed men, women, and children.
By this time, few Americans trusted the government, the reverse of the WWII generation.
III. The Politics of Distrust
In 1994, Newt Gingrich led Republicans on a sweeping attack of Clinton’s liberal failures with a conservative “Contract with America,” and that year, Republicans won all incumbent seats as well as eight more seats in the Senate and 53 more seats in the House. Gingrich became the new Speaker of the House.
However, the Republicans went too far, imposing federal laws that put new obligations on state and local governments without providing new revenues and forcing Clinton to sign a welfare-reform bill that made deep cuts in welfare grants.
Clinton tried to fight back, but gradually, the American public grew tired of Republican conservatism, such as Gingrich’s suggestion of sending children of welfare families to orphanages, and of its incompetence, such as the 1995 shut down of Congress due to a lack of a sufficient budget package.
In 1996, Clinton ran against Republican Bob Dole and won, 379 to 159, and Ross Perot again finished a sorry third.
IV. Clinton Again