Unit 9: (1980-Present) Contemporary America

Unit 9 Key Concepts (Period: 1980-Present): 

Key Concept 9.1 — A newly ascendant conservative movement achieved several political and policy goals during the 1980s and continued to strongly influence public discourse in the following decades.

Key Concept 9.2 — Moving into the 21st century, the nation experienced significant technological, economic, and demographic changes.

Key Concept 9.3 — The end of the Cold War and new challenges to U.S. leadership forced the nation to rede ne its foreign policy and role in the world. 

Chapters in Text: 40-42

Content: 1980 Election; Reagan’s Domestic and Foreign Policies; Poverty and rising disparity of wealth; Bush and the End of the Cold War; Gulf War; Clinton as a The New Democrat; technology and economic effects; 9/11 and the Domestic and Foreign Effects; Iraq and Afghanistan Wars; President Obama and a Change/Hope?

Assessments for the 4th Quarter

1. Assessment: Take Home Test (~22 points)
2. HW: 3 Turning Point Events (9 points)

**Extra Credit: 

1. Completion of the Extra Credit Template (see General Info and Materials tab of website) for the Unit Key Concepts (Up to 10 % points added onto your Assessment Grade for the Unit.) You must complete all 3 Key Concepts for full extra credit.

Primary Sources:

Photocopy

(1) Reagan’s Acceptance Speech at the Republican National Convention (July, 1980)-

Within Voices of Freedom  (little text)

(2) Jerry Falwell’s Listen America (1980)

(3) Puwat Chaukomnoetkanok’s Triple Identity: My Life as an Immigrant in America (1990)

(4) The National Security Strategy of the United States (2002)

(5) Senator Robert Byrd’s Speech to Congress (Feb. 2003)

Link to Video Homework:

Many Rivers to Cross, Episode 6: A More Perfect Union

America: The Story of US: Millennium Episode