Key Points 5-9 Flashcards
(177 cards)
1
Q
The United States became
A
more connected with the world, pursued an expansionist foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere, and emerged as the destination for many migrants from other countries.
2
Q
Popular enthusiasm for U.S. expansion, bolstered by economic and security interests, resulted in
A
the acquisition of new territories, substantial migration westward, and new overseas initiatives.
3
Q
The desire for access to natural and mineral resources and the hope of many settlers for economic opportunities
or religious refuge led to
A
an increased migration to and settlement in the West.
4
Q
Advocates of annexing western lands argued that
A
Manifest Destiny and the superiority of American institutions compelled the United States to expand its borders westward to the Pacific Ocean.
5
Q
The U.S. added large territories in the West through victory in the Mexican– American War and diplomatic negotiations, raising questions about
A
the status of slavery, American Indians, and Mexicans in the newly acquired lands.
6
Q
Westward migration was boosted during and after the Civil War by
A
the passage of new legislation promoting western transportation and economic development.
7
Q
U.S. interest in expanding trade led to
A
economic, diplomatic, and cultural initiatives to create more ties with Asia.
8
Q
In the 1840s and 1850s, Americans continued to debate questions about
A
rights and citizenship for various groups of U.S. inhabitants.
9
Q
Substantial numbers of international migrants continued to arrive in the United States from Europe and Asia, mainly from
A
Ireland and Germany, often settling in ethnic communities where they could preserve elements of their languages and customs.
10
Q
A strongly anti-Catholic nativist movement arose that
A
was aimed at limiting new immigrants’ political power and cultural influence.
11
Q
U.S. government interaction and conflict with Mexican Americans and American Indians increased in regions
A
newly taken from American Indians and Mexico, altering these groups’ economic self- sufficiency and cultures.
12
Q
Intensified by expansion and deepening regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic, cultural, and political issues led the nation into
A
civil war.
13
Q
Ideological and economic differences over slavery produced
A
an array of diverging responses from Americans in the North and the South.
14
Q
The North’s expanding manufacturing economy relied on
A
free labor in contrast to the Southern economy’s dependence on slave labor. Some Northerners did not object to slavery on principle but claimed that slavery would undermine the free- labor market. As a result, a free-soil movement arose that portrayed the expansion of slavery as incompatible with free labor.
15
Q
African American and white abolitionists, although
a minority in the North, mounted a highly visible campaign against
A
slavery, presenting moral arguments against the institution, assisting slaves’ escapes, and sometimes expressing a willingness to use violence to achieve their goals.
16
Q
Defenders of slavery based their arguments
A
on racial doctrines, the view that slavery was a positive social good, and the belief that slavery and states’ rights were protected by the Constitution.
17
Q
Debates over slavery came to dominate political discussion in the 1850s, culminating in
A
the bitter election of 1860 and the secession of Southern states.
18
Q
The Mexican Cession led to
A
heated controversies over whether to allow slavery in the newly acquired territories.
19
Q
The courts and national leaders made a variety of attempts to resolve the issue of slavery in the territories, including
A
the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas–Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision, but these ultimately failed to reduce conflict.
20
Q
The Second Party System ended when
A
the issues of slavery and anti-immigrant nativism weakened loyalties to the two major parties
and fostered the emergence of sectional parties, most notably the Republican Party in the North.
21
Q
Abraham Lincoln’s victory
on the Republicans’ free-soil platform in the presidential election of 1860 was accomplished without
A
any Southern electoral votes. After a series of contested debates about secession, most slave states voted to secede from the Union, precipitating the Civil War.
22
Q
The Union victory in the Civil War and the contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery and secession, but
A
left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.
23
Q
The North’s greater manpower and industrial resources, the leadership of Abraham Lincoln and others, and the decision to emancipate slaves eventually led to
A
the Union military victory over the Confederacy in the devastating Civil War.
24
Q
Both the Union and the Confederacy mobilized their economies and societies to
A
wage the war even while facing considerable home front opposition.
25
Lincoln and most Union supporters began the Civil War to preserve the Union, but Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation reframed
the purpose of the war
and helped prevent the Confederacy from gaining full diplomatic support from European powers. Many African Americans fled southern plantations and enlisted in the Union Army, helping to undermine the Confederacy.
26
Lincoln sought to
reunify the country and used speeches such as the Gettysburg Address to portray the struggle against slavery as the fulfillment of America’s founding democratic ideals.
27
Although the Confederacy showed military initiative and daring early in the war, the Union ultimately succeeded due to
improvements in leadership and strategy, key victories, greater resources, and the wartime destruction of the South’s infrastructure.
28
Reconstruction and the Civil War
ended slavery, altered relationships between the states and the federal government, and led to debates over new definitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African Americans, women, and other minorities.
29
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, while the 14th and 15th amendments granted African Americans
citizenship, equal protection under the laws, and voting rights.
30
The women’s rights movement was both emboldened and divided
over the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution.
31
Efforts by radical and moderate Republicans
to change the balance of power between Congress
and the presidency and to reorder race relations in
the defeated South yielded some
short-term successes. Reconstruction opened up political opportunities and other leadership roles to former slaves, but it ultimately failed, due both to determined Southern resistance and the North’s waning resolve.
32
Southern plantation owners continued to own the majority of the region’s land even after
Reconstruction. Former slaves sought land ownership but generally fell short of self-sufficiency, as an exploitative and soil-intensive sharecropping system limited blacks’ and poor whites’ access to land in the South.
33
The Union victory in the Civil War and the contested reconstruction of the South settled
the issues of slavery and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.
34
Segregation, violence, Supreme Court decisions, and local political tactics progressively stripped away
African American rights, but the 14th and 15th amendments eventually became the basis for court decisions upholding civil rights in the 20th century.
35
Technological advances, large-scale production methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged .
the rise of industrial capitalism in the United States
36
Large-scale industrial production—accompanied by massive technological change, expanding international communication networks, and pro-growth government policies—generated
rapid economic development and business consolidation.
| Concept Outline
37
Following the Civil War, government subsidies
| for transportation and communication systems helped
open new markets in North America.
38
Businesses made use of technological innovations, greater access to natural resources, redesigned financial and management structures, advances in marketing, and a growing labor force to dramatically
increase the production of goods.
39
As the price of many goods decreased, workers’ real wages increased, providing
new access to a variety of goods and services; many Americans’ standards of living improved, while the gap between rich and poor grew.
40
Many business leaders sought increased profits by
consolidating corporations into large trusts and holding companies, which further concentrated wealth.
41
Businesses and foreign policymakers increasingly looked outside U.S. borders
in an effort to
gain greater influence and control over markets and natural resources in the Pacific Rim, Asia, and Latin America.
42
A variety of perspectives on the economy and labor developed during a time of
financial panics and downturns.
43
Some argued that laissez- faire policies and competition promoted
economic growth in the long run, and they opposed government intervention during economic downturns.
44
The industrial workforce expanded and became more diverse through
internal and international migration; child labor also increased.
45
Labor and management battled over wages and working conditions, with workers organizing
local
| and national unions and/or directly confronting business leaders.
46
Despite the industrialization of some segments of the Southern economy—a change promoted by Southern leaders who called for a
“New South”—agriculture based on sharecropping and tenant farming continued
to be the primary economic activity in the South.
47
New systems of production and transportation enabled
consolidation within agriculture, which, along with periods of instability, spurred a variety of responses from farmers.
48
Improvements in mechanization helped
agricultural production increase substantially and contributed to declines in food prices.
49
Many farmers responded to the increasing consolidation in agricultural markets and their dependence on the evolving railroad system by creating
local and regional cooperative organizations.
50
Economic instability inspired agrarian activists to create the People’s (Populist)
Party, which called for
a stronger governmental role in regulating the American economic system.
51
The migrations that accompanied industrialization transformed
both urban and rural areas of the United States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.
52
International and internal migration increased
urban populations and fostered the growth of a new urban culture.
53
As cities became areas of economic growth featuring new factories and businesses, they attracted immigrants from
Asia and from southern and eastern Europe, as well as African American migrants within
and out of the South. Many migrants moved to escape poverty, religious persecution, and limited opportunities for social mobility in their home countries or regions.
54
Urban neighborhoods based on particular ethnicities, races, and classes provided
new cultural opportunities for city dwellers.
55
Increasing public debates over assimilation and Americanization accompanied t
he growth of international migration. Many immigrants negotiated compromises between the cultures they brought and the culture they found in the United States.
56
In an urban atmosphere where the access to power was unequally distributed, political machines thrived, in part by
providing immigrants and the poor with social services.
57
Corporations’ need for managers and for male and female clerical workers as well
as increased access
to educational institutions, fostered the growth of a distinctive middle class. A growing amount of leisure time also helped expand consumer culture.
Concept Outline
58
Larger numbers of migrants moved to the West in search of
land and economic opportunity, frequently provoking competition and violent conflict.
59
The building of transcontinental railroads, the discovery of mineral resources, and government policies promoted
economic growth and created new communities and centers of commercial activity.
60
In hopes of achieving ideals of self-sufficiency and independence, migrants moved to both
rural and boomtown areas of the West for opportunities, such as building the railroads, mining, farming, and ranching.
61
As migrant populations increased in number and the American bison population was decimated, competition for land and resources in the West among white settlers, American Indians, and Mexican Americans led
to an increase in violent conflict.
62
The U.S. government violated treaties with American Indians and responded to resistance
with military
| force, eventually confining American Indians to reservations and denying tribal sovereignty.
63
Many American Indians preserved their cultures
| and tribal identities despite
government policies promoting assimilation, and they attempted to develop self-sustaining economic practices.
64
The Gilded Age produced
new cultural and
| intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political debates over economic and social policies.
65
New cultural and intellectual movements both buttressed and challenged
the social order of the Gilded Age.
66
Social commentators advocated theories later described as Social Darwinism to justify
the success of those at the top of the socioeconomic structure as both appropriate and inevitable.
67
Some business leaders argued that the wealthy had a moral obligation to help
the less fortunate and improve society, as articulated in the idea known as the Gospel
of Wealth, and they made philanthropic contributions that enhanced educational opportunities and urban environments.
68
A number of artists and critics, including agrarians, utopians, socialists, and advocates of the Social Gospel, championed a
lternative visions for the economy and U.S. society.
69
II.
| Dramatic social changes in the period inspired
political debates over citizenship, corruption, and the proper relationship between business and government.
70
The major political parties appealed
to lingering divisions from the Civil War and contended over tariffs and currency issues, even as reformers argued that economic greed and self- interest had corrupted all levels of government.
71
Many women sought greater equality with men, often
joining voluntary organizations, going to college, promoting social and political reform, and, like Jane Addams, working in settlement houses to help immigrants adapt to U.S. language and customs.
72
The Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson that upheld racial segregation helped to
mark the end of most of the political gains African Americans made during Reconstruction. Facing increased violence, discrimination, and
scientific theories of race, African American reformers continued to fight for political and social equality.
73
Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to
new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.
74
The United States continued its transition from a rural, agricultural economy to
an urban, industrial economy led by large companies.
75
New technologies and manufacturing techniques helped
focus the U.S. economy on the production of consumer goods, contributing to improved standards of living, greater personal mobility, and better communications systems.
76
By 1920, a majority of the U.S. population lived in
urban centers, which offered new economic opportunities for women, international migrants, and internal migrants.
77
Episodes of credit and market instability in the early 20th century, in particular the Great Depression, led to
calls for a stronger financial regulatory system.
78
In the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Progressives responded to political corruption, economic instability, and social concerns by calling for
greater government action and other political and social measures.
79
Some Progressive Era journalists attacked what they saw as political corruption, social injustice, and economic inequality, while reformers, often from the middle and upper classes and including many women, worked to
effect social changes in cities and among immigrant populations.
80
On the national level, Progressives sought
federal legislation that they believed would effectively regulate the economy, expand democracy, and generate moral reform. Progressive amendments to the Constitution dealt with issues such as prohibition and woman suffrage.
81
Preservationists and conservationists both supported the
establishment of national parks while advocating different government responses to the overuse of natural resources.
82
The Progressives were divided over many issues. Some Progressives supported
Southern segregation,
while others ignored its presence. Some Progressives advocated expanding popular participation in government, while others called for greater reliance on professional and technical experts to make government more efficient. Progressives also disagreed about immigration restriction.
83
During the 1930s, policymakers responded to
the mass unemployment and social upheavals of the Great Depression by transforming the U.S. into a limited welfare state, redefining the goals and ideas of modern American liberalism.
84
Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal attempted to
end the Great Depression by using government power to provide relief to the poor, stimulate recovery, and reform the American economy.
85
Radical, union, and
| populist movements pushed Roosevelt toward
more extensive efforts to change the American economic system, while conservatives in Congress and the Supreme Court sought to limit the
New Deal’s scope.
86
Although the New Deal did not end the Depression, it left a legacy of reforms and regulatory agencies and fostered
a long-term political realignment in which many ethnic groups, African Americans, and working- class communities identified with the Democratic Party.
87
Innovations in communications and technology
| contributed to
the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns.
88
Popular culture grew in influence in U.S. society, even as debates increased over the effects of
of culture on public values, morals, and American national identity.
89
New forms of mass media, such as radio and cinema, contributed to
the spread of national culture as well as greater awareness of regional cultures.
90
Migration gave rise to new forms of art and literature that expressed ethnic and regional identities, such the
Harlem Renaissance movement.
91
Official restrictions on freedom of speech grew during World War I, as increased anxiety about radicalism led to
a Red Scare and attacks on labor activism and immigrant culture.
92
In the 1920s, cultural and political controversies emerged as Americans debated
gender roles, modernism, science, religion, and issues related to race and immigration.
93
Economic pressures, global events, and political developments caused
sharp variations in the numbers, sources, and experiences of both international and internal migrants.
94
Immigration from Europe reached its peak in the years before World War I. During and after World War I, nativist campaigns against
some ethnic groups led to the passage of quotas that restricted immigration, particularly from southern and eastern Europe, and increased barriers to Asian immigration.
95
The increased demand for war production and labor during World War I and World War II and the economic difficulties of the 1930s led many Americans to migrate
to
urban centers in search of economic opportunities.
96
In a Great Migration during and after World War I, African Americans escaping segregation, racial violence, and limited economic opportunity in the South moved to the
North and West, where they found
| new opportunities but still encountered discrimination.
97
Migration to the United States from Mexico and elsewhere
| in the Western Hemisphere increased, in spite of
contradictory government policies toward Mexican immigration.
98
Participation in a series of global conflicts
| propelled the United States into a position of
international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.
99
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, new U.S. territorial ambitions and acquisitions in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific accompanied heightened
public debates over America’s role in the world.
100
Imperialists cited
economic opportunities, racial theories, competition with European empires, and the perception in the 1890s that the western frontier was “closed” to argue that Americans were destined to expand their culture and institutions to peoples around the globe.
101
Anti-imperialists cited principles of self- determination and invoked both
racial theories and the U.S. foreign policy tradition of isolationism to argue that the U.S. should not extend its territory overseas.
102
The American victory in the Spanish–American War led to
the U.S. acquisition of island territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific, an increase in involvement in Asia, and the suppression of a nationalist movement in the Philippines.
103
World War I and its aftermath intensified ongoing debates about
the nation’s role in the world and how best to achieve national security and pursue American interests.
104
After initial neutrality in World War I, the nation entered the conflict, departing from the U.S. foreign policy tradition of
noninvolvement in European affairs, in response to Woodrow Wilson’s call for the defense of humanitarian and democratic principles.
105
Although the American Expeditionary Forces played
| a relatively limited role in combat, the U.S.’s entry helped
to tip the balance of the conflict in favor of the Allies.
106
Despite Wilson’s deep involvement in postwar negotiations, the U.S. Senate refused
to ratify the Treaty of Versailles or join the League of Nations.
107
In the years following World War I, the United States pursued a unilateral foreign policy that
used international investment, peace treaties, and select military intervention
to promote a vision of international order, even while maintaining U.S. isolationism.
108
In the 1930s, while many Americans were concerned about the rise of fascism
and totalitarianism, most opposed taking military action against the aggression of
Nazi Germany and Japan until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II.
109
U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the U.S. into a
position of global, political, and military leadership.
110
Americans viewed the war as a fight for the survival of
freedom and democracy against fascist and militarist ideologies.
This perspective was later reinforced by revelations about Japanese wartime atrocities, Nazi concentration camps, and the Holocaust.
111
The mass mobilization of American society helped end
the Great Depression, and the country’s strong industrial base played a pivotal role in winning the war by equipping and provisioning allies and millions of U.S. troops.
112
Mobilization and military service provided opportunities for women and minorities to improve their
socioeconomic positions for the war’s duration, while also leading to debates over racial segregation. Wartime experiences also generated challenges to civil liberties, such as the internment of Japanese Americans.
113
The United States and its allies achieved military victory through
Allied cooperation, technological and scientific advances, the contributions of servicemen and women, and campaigns such as Pacific “island-hopping” and the D-Day invasion. The use of atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and sparked debates about the morality of using atomic weapons.
114
The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the Allied victory and postwar peace settlements, allowed the United States
to emerge from the war as the most powerful nation on earth.
115
The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by
by asserting and working to maintain a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and international consequences.
116
United States policymakers engaged in a cold war with the authoritarian Soviet Union, seeking to limit the
growth of Communist military power and ideological influence, create a free-market global economy, and build an international security system.
117
As postwar tensions dissolved the wartime alliance between Western democracies and the Soviet Union, the United States developed a foreign policy based on
collective security, international aid, and economic institutions that bolstered non- Communist nations.
118
Concerned by expansionist Communist ideology and Soviet repression, the United States sought to contain communism through a variety of measures, including
major military engagements in Korea and Vietnam.
119
The Cold War fluctuated between periods of direct and indirect
military confrontation and periods of mutual coexistence (or détente).
120
Postwar decolonization and the emergence of powerful nationalist movements in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East led both sides in the Cold War to seek
allies among new nations, many of which remained nonaligned.
121
Cold War competition extended to Latin America, where the U.S. supported
non-Communist regimes that had varying levels of commitment to democracy.
122
Cold War policies led to public debates over
the power of the federal government and acceptable means for pursuing international and domestic goals while protecting civil liberties.
123
Americans debated policies and methods designed
| to expose
suspected communists within the United States even as both parties supported the broader strategy of containing communism.
124
Although anticommunist foreign policy faced little domestic opposition in previous years, the Vietnam War inspired
sizable and passionate antiwar protests that became more numerous as the war escalated and sometimes led to violence.
125
Americans debated the merits of
a large nuclear arsenal, the military-industrial complex, and the appropriate power
of the executive branch in conducting foreign and military policy.
126
Ideological, military, and economic concerns shaped U.S. involvement in the
Middle East, with several oil crises in the region eventually sparking attempts at creating a national energy policy.
Concept Outline
127
New movements for civil rights and liberal efforts to expand the role of government generated
a range of political and cultural responses.
128
Seeking to fulfill Reconstruction-era promises, civil rights activists and political leaders achieved some legal and political successes in
ending segregation, although progress toward racial equality was slow.
129
During and after World
War II, civil rights
activists and leaders, most notably Martin Luther
King Jr., combatted
racial discrimination utilizing a variety of strategies, including legal challenges, direct action, and nonviolent protest tactics.
130
The three branches of
| the federal government used measures including
desegregation of the armed services, Brown v. Board
| of Education, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to promote greater racial equality.
131
Continuing resistance slowed efforts at desegregation, sparking
social and political unrest across the nation. Debates among civil rights activists over the efficacy
of nonviolence increased after 1965.
132
Responding to social conditions and the African American civil rights movement, a variety of movements emerged that focused on issues of
identity, social justice, and the environment.
133
Feminist and gay and lesbian activists mobilized behind
claims for legal, economic, and social equality.
134
Latino, American Indian, and Asian American movements continued to demand s
social and economic equality and a redress of past injustices.
135
Despite an overall affluence in postwar America, advocates raised concerns about the prevalence and persistence of
poverty as a national problem.
136
Environmental problems and accidents led to
a growing environmental movement that aimed to use legislative and public efforts to combat pollution and protect natural resources. The federal government established new environmental programs and regulations.
137
Liberalism influenced postwar politics and court decisions, but it came under increasing attack from the left as well as
from a resurgent conservative movement.
138
Liberalism, based on anticommunism abroad and a firm belief in the efficacy of government power to achieve social goals at home, reached a high point of political influence by the
mid-1960s.
139
Liberal ideas found expression in
Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, which attempted to use federal legislation and programs to end racial discrimination, eliminate poverty, and address other social issues. A series
of Supreme Court decisions expanded civil rights and individual liberties.
140
In the 1960s, conservatives challenged
liberal laws and court decisions and perceived moral and cultural decline, seeking to limit the role of
the federal government and enact more assertive foreign policies.
141
Some groups on the left
| also rejected
liberal policies, arguing that political leaders did too little to transform the racial and economic status quo at home and pursued immoral policies abroad.
142
Public confidence and trust in government’s ability to solve social and economic problems declined in the 1970s in the wake of
economic challenges, political scandals, and foreign policy crises.
143
The 1970s saw growing clashes between conservatives and liberals over
social and cultural issues, the power of the federal government, race, and movements for greater individual rights.
144
Postwar economic and demographic changes had far-reaching consequences for
American society, politics, and culture.
145
Rapid economic and social changes in American society fostered a sense of
optimism in the postwar years.
146
A burgeoning private sector, federal spending, the baby boom, and technological developments helped
spur economic growth.
147
As higher education opportunities and new technologies rapidly expanded, increasing social mobility encouraged the migration of
the middle class to the suburbs and of many Americans to the South and West. The Sun Belt region emerged as a significant political and economic force.
148
Immigrants from around the world sought access to the
political, social, and economic opportunities in the United States, especially after the passage of new immigration laws in 1965.
149
New demographic and social developments, along with anxieties over the Cold War, changed
U.S. culture and led to significant political and moral debates that sharply divided the nation.
150
Mass culture became increasingly homogeneous in the postwar years, inspiring
challenges to conformity
| by artists, intellectuals, and rebellious youth.
151
Feminists and young people who participated in the counterculture of the 1960s rejected
many of the social, economic, and political values of their parents’ generation, introduced greater informality into U.S. culture, and advocated changes in sexual norms.
152
The rapid and substantial growth of evangelical Christian churches
and organizations was accompanied by
greater political and social activism on the part of religious conservatives.
153
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.
154
Conservative beliefs regarding the need for
traditional social values and a reduced role for government advanced in U.S. politics after 1980.
155
Ronald Reagan’s victory
in the presidential election
of 1980 represented
an important milestone, allowing conservatives to enact significant tax cuts and continue the deregulation of many industries.
156
Conservatives argued that liberal programs were
counterproductive in fighting poverty and stimulating economic growth. Some of their efforts to reduce the size and scope of government
met with inertia and liberal opposition, as many programs remained popular with voters.
157
Policy debates continued over
free-trade agreements, the scope of the government social safety net, and calls to reform the U.S. financial system.
158
the nation experienced significant technological, economic, and demographic changes.
Moving into the 21st century,
159
New developments in science and technology enhanced
the economy and transformed society, while manufacturing decreased.
160
Economic productivity increased as improvements in
digital communications enabled increased American participation in worldwide economic opportunities.
161
Technological innovations in computing, digital mobile technology, and the Internet transformed daily life, increased
access to information, and led to new social behaviors and networks.
162
Employment increased in
service sectors and decreased in manufacturing, and union membership declined.
163
Real wages stagnated for the working and middle class amid
growing economic inequality.
164
The U.S. population continued to undergo demographic shifts that had
significant cultural and political consequences.
165
After 1980, the political, economic, and cultural influence of the American South and West continued to increase as
as population shifted to those areas.
166
International migration from
Latin America and Asia increased dramatically. The new immigrants affected U.S. culture in many ways and supplied the economy with an important labor force.
167
Intense political and cultural debates continued over issues such as
immigration policy, diversity, gender roles, and family structures.
168
The end of the Cold War and new challenges to U.S. leadership forced the nation to redefine its
foreign policy and role in the world.
169
The Reagan administration promoted
an interventionist foreign policy that continued in later administrations, even after the end of the
170
Reagan asserted U.S. opposition to communism through
speeches, diplomatic efforts, limited military interventions, and a buildup of nuclear and conventional weapons.
171
Increased U.S. military spending, Reagan’s diplomatic initiatives, and political changes and economic problems in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were all
important in ending the Cold War.
172
The end of the Cold War
| led to new diplomatic relationships but also
new U.S. military and peacekeeping interventions, as well as continued debates over the appropriate use of American power in the world.
173
Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. foreign policy efforts focused on f
fighting terrorism around the world.
174
In the wake of attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States launched
military efforts against terrorism and lengthy, controversial conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
175
The war on terrorism sought to improve security within the United States but also raised questions about the
protection of civil liberties and human rights.
176
Conflicts in the Middle East and concerns about climate change led to debates over
U.S. dependence on fossil fuels and the impact of economic consumption on the environment.
177
Despite economic and foreign policy challenges, the United States continued as
the world’s leading superpower in the 21st century.
