AP Notes, Outlines, Study Guides, Vocabulary, Practice Exams and more!

Chapter 30 - The Conservative Ascendancy

 

 

·         Stagflation

o   High inflation in a stagnant economy

o   Slowing of US economy

o   Inflation: reduction of purchasing power of the dollar

§  Wages don’t increase but dollars are worth less in the marketplace

o   Unemployment reached 9% by 1975

§  Greatest since the Great Depression

o   GDP slows in growth by 25%

·         OPEC and US Oil Consumption

o   1973: gasoline prices nearly doubled (40 to 70 cents)

o   US uses 70% of all oil produced

o   Have to move from US supply to other nation’s supplies

§  Dependent on other countries to get our oil and have our “American way of life”

o   1973:

§  US is importing 1/3 of its crude oil from Middle Eastern countries

§  OPEC forms

·         Mainly Arabic oil producing nations

o   Conflict with US ally of Israel

§  Embargo from OPEC

·         Expand oil trade with Mexico

·         Oil crisis!

§  Hyper-inflation because oil is an inelastic product

·         Move to post industrial era

o   Leads to stagflation

o   Era where services are a bigger part of the economy

o   Hallmark

§  Country begins to look towards foreign countries for goods

·         Cheaper to import foreign goods than to make our own

o   Impact on labor (AFL-CIO)

§  Against this move in our economy

§  “nation of hamburger stands”

§  Labor needs industry to organize

§  1970-1982

·         AFL-CIO loses almost 30% of its membership

·         Industry is moving away from industrial jobs

o   Moving towards a service-based economy

·         Begins to gain members from teaching unions, other service unions

·         Sunbelt Migration

o   Sunbelt – southern and western states

o   People leaving industrial areas

§  “rust-belt”

o   Population doubles from 1940 to 1970 in sunbelt

§  Elderly begin to migrate to the South

§  Now have Medicare! Better retirement funds!

·         Pensions and retirement packages

·         Social security benefits

§  Baby boom is coming to an end

·         READ ABOUT ENDANGERED ENVIRONMENT

·         Fall of Saigon; 1975 (during Ford’s presidency)

o   North Vietnamese makes Vietnam a Communist economy

o   US did not meet their objective in the Vietnam War

o   Saigon is renamed Ho Chi Minh City

·         Carter and foreign diplomacy

o   Doesn’t want CIA to do operations to overthrow government, etc.

o   Egypt wants to take over the Sinai peninsula

§  Israel agrees to stop pushing into the peninsula

§  Demilitarization between the two sides

·         Camp David Accord

o   Two advisers for foreign policy – Zbigniew Brzezinski and Cyrus Vance

§  They both have differing opinions

·         Carter wanted to decrease defense spending

o   Federal debt goes through the roof

o   US falling on productivity

§  Money being take for defense spending

·         Let’s eliminate it!

o   National Security Adviser

§  Brzezinski

·         Cold warrior

o   Animosity towards the USSR

o   Secretary of State

§  Vance

·         Wants détente

o   More diplomacy and negotiations

o   Détente

§  Renewed peace with China

§  “hopefully will correlate into lesser defense spending”

·         Ease financial burden in the US

o   SALT II

§  Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II

§  Signed in 1979

§  Senate refuses passage because USSR invades Afghanistan

·         Didn’t want to sign a treaty with the USSR because they were “anti-containment”

o   Hostage crisis

§  Iran government formally ruled by Shah Pahzavi

·         Friendly to the US

§  Islamic fundamentalists overthrow him

§  US allows the Shah to come into the United States for medical treatment

·         Nationalists in Iran are angered

o   52 Americans held hostage for 444 days in US Embassy

§  Brzezinski:

·         We need to invade and take care of this

§  Vance:

·         We need to enter into negotiations with Iran and get our Americans back

§  Carter listens to Brzezinski

·         Bad idea!

·         Mission is a disaster

·         Nighttime helicopter mission

o   Sandstorm that night and aircraft crash

o   8 Americans die and Iranians are outraged

o   Camp David Accords signed in 1978

§  13 day retreat

§  Leaders of Egypt and Israel met

·         Mutual diplomatic relations

§  Not a long lasting peace

·         Leader of Egypt is eventually assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists

o   Carter platform was committed to human rights

§  Hard to achieve because of Brzezinski and Vance

o   El Salvador/Nicaragua/Apartheid

§  US will support anyone who is pro-US and anti-Communist

o   US gives missiles and backs an Islamic Fundamentalist group against the USSR in Afghanistan

§  Cold war isn’t over!

·         Conservative Ascendency

o   Historical causes

§  New Deal – 1970s

·         Tax hikes to fund government programs

o   Some programs benefited minorities

§  When minorities are making gains at typical “American’s” expense, problems occur

o   Expanded social services for poor

§  Tax hikes, more money out of working man’s pocket

o   Environmental protection

§  Spend a lot of money to conserve the environment

o   Health care/planned parenthood

§  Great idea, but average Americans get upset!

§  Voting increases in conservative citizens

o   Wedge issues

§  Affirmative action

·         A policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities

o   Taking place in education programs, work places, government contracts

·         The New Right charged government at all levels of favoring minorities, the jobless, and criminals over the law-abiding, hard-working, tax-paying majority

§  Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

·         Stated that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex”

·         New Right argued that the supporters of the ERA were “a bunch of bitter women seeking a constitutional cure for their personal problems”

o   The felt it would cancel protective labor legislation

o   Had a steady campaign against abortion as well

·         Against more affirmative action

§  Homosexuality/Morality

·         New Right: moral majority – advocated laws against homosexuality and pornography

§  Abortion/Roe v. Wade

·         New right was against abortion

·         “the beginning of life supersede a woman’s right to control her own body”

·         Roe v. Wade

o   Legalizes abortion

o   Divided pregnancy into 3 trimesters

§  1st – abortion is legal

§  2nd – consult a doctor

§  3rd – only can have a special circumstance

o   Wasn’t voted for or enacted by legislatures

Subject: 
Subject X2: 

Need Help?

We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums.

If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form.

Need Notes?

While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!