NOTE 11 - RECOVERY, PROSPERITY, AND TURMOIL - UNIT 11



NOTE 11 - RECOVERY, PROSPERITY, AND TURMOIL - UNIT 11

THE COLD WAR AT HOME---RED SCARE

During the 1950s, rumors and accusations of Communists in the United States led to fears that Communists were attempting to take over the world. The Red Scare began in September 1945, and escalated into a general fear of Communist subversion - an effort to secretly weaken a society and overthrow its government. In early 1947, Truman established the Loyalty Review Program to screen all federal employees for their loyalty, leading to fears that communists were infiltrating the government. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and the House Un-American Activities Committee began to investigate suspected groups and wiretapped thousands of telephones. Several high profile Americans were revealed to be communist sympathizers/collaborators, including Time magazine editor Whittaker Chambers, diplomat Alger Hiss, and spy-ring leaders Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Capitalizing on this heightened tension was Senator Joseph R. McCarthy who had won his Senate race by accusing his opponent of being a communist. He also accused many members of the State Department and the Democratic Party of protecting communists. Americans came to believe these accusations at the same time that the McCarran Act (1950) was passed, a law that criminalized any activity that contributed to the “establishment of a totalitarian government”. Senator McCarthy became the chairman of the Senate subcommittee on investigations. His investigation turned into a witch hunt as he searched for disloyalty based on poor evidence and fear. He ruined reputations without proper evidence. This tactic came to be known as McCarthyism. In 1954, Americans watched televised Army-McCarthy hearings, and saw how McCarthy attacked witnesses, and his popularity faded. Finally, an army lawyer named Joseph Welch stood up to McCarthy, leading to his censure by the Senate. Bomb shelters became common sites in many neighborhoods.

Americans especially feared the Soviets following the launch of Sputnik. This led to the establishment of NASA. During the Eisenhower administration, new highways were built to transport the nuclear weapons built during the era of brinksmanship.

AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM-Domino Theory

The United States, under Truman and Eisenhower, supported the French government in its attempt to maintain control of its colonial possessions in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. The French were battling with the Vietminh, a nationalist/communist group headed by Ho Chi Minh, when it was ultimately defeated in 1954. The U.S. defended its support of the French with the Domino Theory - the belief that if Vietnam fell to communism, other nations in Southeast Asia would do the same. Negotiations to end the conflict, called the Geneva Accords, divided French Indochina into the nations of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Vietnam was further divided between the Vietminh controlling North Vietnam, and a pro-Western regime headed by Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam. In 1956, elections were held to form a single government. The United States stepped in to protect the new government in South Vietnam. Tensions escalated with the U.S. caught in the middle. In August 1964, a North Vietnamese attack on American destroyers led to the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack on U.S. forces. Congress had given all its war powers to the president. Soon after, the Vietcong (N.V. militia) began attacking bases where American advisers were stationed, leading to Johnson ordering air strikes on the North. By 1966, over 300,00 Americans were fighting in Vietnam, with many Americans believing they could win. As American casualties increased, many American citizens began questioning involvement in the war, leading to a widespread anti-war movement. On January 30, 1968, during the Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong and NVA launched a surprise attack known as the Tet Offensive. Militarily, Tet was a disaster for the Communists, but it was a political victory that shocked Americans. Lt. William Calley killed a number of innocent villagers at My Lai, turning more people against the war. By 1971, nearly two-thirds of Americans wanted the Vietnam War to end. Nixon’s policy was called Vietnamization-getting the South Vietnamese to be able to fight on their own. Nixon also became the first US President to visit China and the USSR, playing them off against east other and North Vietnam and using the policy of détente. (relaxing of tensions) The United States began a bombing campaign that eventually led to the resumption of peace talks, with both sides agreeing to end the war. In March 1975, the NVA launched a full-scale invasion of the South, with Congress refusing aid. On April 30, 1975, the NVA captured Saigon, united Vietnam under communist rule, and renamed Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. The legacy of Vietnam includes the expenditure of $150 billion, 58,000 deaths, and increased suspicion about government. The War Powers Act was passed, limiting the President’s ability to commit troops without Congressional approval.

Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the Camp David Accords bringing a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. His foreign policy centered on Human Rights issues. He boycotted the 1980 Olympics over the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. He signed a treaty to give control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999.

Carter lost the 1980 election to Reagan mainly as a result of the Iran-Hostage Crisis.

THE COUNTERCULTURE

During the 1960s, a youth movement developed that challenged American politics, its social system, and the values of the time, largely inspired by the 1950s “beat” movement which openly criticized American society. Students concerned about injustices in political and social issues formed the Students for a Democratic Society, expressing their views in the Port Huron Statement. Others began the Free Speech Movement which challenged freedom of expression limitations on university campuses, becoming the model for college demonstrations around the country. Many student spoke out against the war with 5 shot and killed by the National Guart at Kent State . Instead of challenging the system, some youth sought to create their own society, becoming known as “hippies”, and leading what came to be known as the “Counterculture”. They lived a life that promoted flamboyant dress, rock music, drug use, and free and independent living. The Haight-Asbury district in San Francisco became the center. At the core of this movement was a utopian ideal of living that was closer to nature, full of love, empathy, tolerance, and cooperation. Communes, in which members shared everything and worked together, were formed when hippies dropped out of society. The counterculture declined as some hippie communities became a place where criminal activity was common.

LBJ began his war on poverty-Great Society- where a number of continuing programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and Head Start began. Vietnam hurt their effectiveness.

CIVIL RIGHTS-Civil Disobedience at first

The success of Brown v. Board of Education (desegregating public schools) convinced many African Americans to challenge all forms of segregation. Dr. Martin Luther King began using the tactic of nonviolent passive resistance as a means to draw attention to the obvious inequities in American life. Rosa Parks began the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Martin Luther King’s Letter’s from a Birmingham Jail called for all African-Americans to become involved. Boycotts, Sit-Ins, Freedom Rides, and peaceful protests won many converts to the cause of Civil Rights for all. Several organizations participated in this approach including SNCC, SCLC, NAACP, and CORE. Legislatively, the Civil Rights movement was successful in gaining the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1964, and the Voting Rights Act (1965). By the mid 1960s, nonviolence was criticized by some for failing to improve economic conditions. Young African Americans called for Black Power-Stokely Carmichael, an idea that stressed pride in the African American culture and opposing cultural assimilation. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam believed that Blacks should separate themselves from whites and form their own self-governing communities. The formation of the Black Panthers was the result of a new generation of militant leaders preaching Black nationalism and economic self-sufficiency. The group believed that a revolution was necessary to gain equal rights.

NOTE 12 - THE UNITED STATES SINCE THE VIETNAM WAR - UNIT 12

RISE OF CONSERVATISM

Resulting from the influence of the Progressive movement and the New Deal, Liberals believe that government should regulate the economy to protect people from the power of large corporations and wealthy elites. They believe the government should help the disadvantaged through social programs and taxing the wealthy. They believe most social problems have their roots in economic inequality. Conservatives believe that the free enterprise system (with little government intervention) is the way to organize society. They oppose high taxes and government programs that transfer wealth from the rich to the less wealthy. They believe that most social problems result from issues of morality and character. The revival of conservative ideas occurred for two reasons. Some Americans felt that liberal ideas were leading the U.S. toward communism. Because communism rejected religion, Americans with deep religious faith saw communism as a struggle over values. Liberalism, which focused on economic welfare, lost the support of many religious Americans who turned to conservatism. In 1964, the new conservative movement had enough influence to enable conservative Barry Goldwater to win the Republican nomination for president. From that defeat to the landslide victory of conservative Ronald Reagan in 1980, American society moved decisively in a conservative direction. Many Americans looked to conservative ideas out of fear that society had lost touch with traditional values during the 1960s and 1970s. The Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade (legalizing abortion) and the limitation of prayer in public schools shocked deeply religious Americans. Ronald Reagan offered hope to these conservative voters. President Reagan adopted a new foreign policy that rejected containment and détente in favor of a new stance toward the USSR of “peace through strength”. He launched the largest peacetime military buildup in American history, including the funding of the controversial Space Defense Initiative (Star Wars). Reagan believed that the U.S. should support guerrilla groups trying to overthrow Communist or pro-Soviet governments. This became known as the Reagan Doctrine, and led to U.S. involvement in the Middle East and Central America. This policy led to the Iran-Contra Crisis during his second administration. In December 1987, Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate -Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that called for the destruction of nuclear weapons. The USSR reduced military spending, which eventually led to economic and political reforms and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM

By the late 1980s, the Soviet economy suffered from inefficient central planning and huge expenditures on the arms race. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev instituted Perestroika (restructuring) to help save the economy by allowing some private enterprise and profit-making. Gorbachev’s other principle Glasnost (openness) allowed for more freedom of religion and speech. Glasnost spread to Eastern Europe in 1989. Peaceful revolutions replaced Communist rulers with democratically elected governments in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The revolution spread to East Germany where on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was finally opened. Within a year, East and West Germany had reunited. In August 1991, a group of Communist officials staged a coup against Gorbachev. With the leadership of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the coup was put down and Gorbachev was released. Gorbachev announced the end of the Soviet Union and most former Soviet republics joined a federation called the Commonwealth of Independent States. Despite the end of communism in Eastern Europe, China’s communist leaders were determined to remain in power. China continued to repress political speech and dissent. In May 1989, Chinese students and workers held demonstrations for democracy. In early June, government tanks and soldiers ended the protests in Tiananmen Square, in China’s capital of Beijing. The attack left many people dead, and pro-democracy activists were arrested later and sentenced to death.

George Bush began the Persian Gulf War with a coalition against Saddam Hussein for the invasion of Kuwait. Bush lost the 1992 election due to a dropping economy and his “read my lips” tax statement.

Bill Clinton sent troops into Bosnia and Kosovo to prevent genocide in the region.

Clinton tried and failed to institute a Health Care Plan for the US. The economy improved and a surplus was established, paying off some of the national debt. He and the Republican Congress, led by Newt Gingrich, reached a stalemate on several economic issues and effectively shut the government down. Clinton became the second US President to be impeached (innocent verdict) over lying to Congress about the Monica Lewinsky incident. Also impeached for obstruction of justice.

TECHNOLOGY AND THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMY

In 1946, the world’s first electronic digital computer, called ENIAC was created. Weighing over 30 tons, the machine took up as much floor space as a medium-sized house. The development of integrated circuits and microprocessors led to the development of the Personal Computer in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Digital electronics made worldwide communications possible with the creation of the Internet, a global information system. The roots of this networking system began with the U.S. Defense Department’s Advanced Research Project Agency in 1969. Known as ARPANET, this system linked government agencies, defense contractors, and scientists at various universities. The use of the Internet expanded by almost 300% between 1977 and 2000. The Internet also created a “” economy selling products and advertising online. Computer networks could link employees within an office or branch regardless of distance. By the late 1990s, many workers used a home computer and electronic mail to “telecommute” - do their jobs at home via their computer. Computer technology and the Internet helped to create a global economy. Several new trading regions, or blocs, were formed partly in response to the new possibilities created by computer technologies. (1) In 1994, NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was created to increase international trade between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. (2) In 1993, the European Union (EU) was created to promote economic and political cooperation among European nations. The EU formed a common bank and a common currency (euro) for member nations, lifting trade barriers between members and setting import policies for outside countries. (3) The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was an attempt to create a Pacific trade community to rival the EU, however political differences kept its members from working together. (4) The World Trade Organization (WTO) administered international trade agreements and helped settle trade disputes.

RISE OF TERRORISM

George Bush defeated Al Gore in the disputed presidential election of 2000. The Supreme Court essentially decided that a recount would not take place in Florida.

The attack on America September 11th, 2001 led to American involvement in Afghanistan in an attempt to root and defeat the terrorists who committed this and similar acts. Underlying the anger of Muslim fundamentalists is a long list of grievances against the U.S. and other Western Nations: (1) U.S. investment in oil-rich countries; (2) spread of Western ideas; (3) American support of Israel; (4) American Cold War activities in the Middle East. Muslim fundamentalists seek a return to traditional Muslim religious laws, a strict interpretation of the Quran, and the overthrow of pro-Western governments in the Middle East.

The United States, under George Bush, invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam Hussein. This war continues after 5 years.

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