Skip to content

Choose a Chapter | Purchase the eBook

1 The Collision Of Cultures
2 Britain And Its Colonies
3 Colonial Ways Of Life
4 The Imperial Perspective
5 From Empire To Independence
6 The American Revolution
7 Shaping A Federal Union
8 The Federalist Era
9 The Early Republic
10 Nationalism And Sectionalism
11 The Jacksonian Impulse
12 The Dynamics Of Growth
13 An American Renaissance: Religion, Romanticism, And Reform
14 Manifest Destiny
15 The Old South
16 The Crisis Of Union
17 The War Of The Union
18 Reconstruction: North And South
19 New Frontiers: South And West
20 Big Business And Organized Labor
21 The Emergence Of Urban America
22 Gilded-age Politics And Agrarian Revolt
23 An American Empire
24 The Progressive Era
25 America And The Great War
26 The Modern Temper
27 Republican Resurgence And Decline
28 New Deal America
29 From Isolation To Global War
30 The Second World War
31 The Fair Deal And Containment
32 Through The Picture Window: Society And Culture, 1945–1960
33 Conflict And Deadlock: The Eisenhower Years
34 New Frontiers: Politics And Social Change In The 1960s
35 Rebellion And Reaction In The 1960s And 1970s
36 A Conservative Insurgency
37 Triumph And Tragedy: America At The Turn Of The Century

Chapter 37: Triumph And Tragedy: America At The Turn Of The Century

Chapter Outline

  1. The nation in the 1990s
    1. Demographic changes
      1. Aging population
      2. Growth of Sunbelt
      3. Metropolitan growth
      4. Working women
      5. Decline of family unit
      6. African-American poverty
    2. Computer revolution
      1. First-generation computers
      2. Microprocessor
        1. Personal computer
        2. Bill Gates
      3. Internet
  2. Cultural conservatism
    1. Disappointment with Reagan and Bush
    2. Religious right
      1. Christian Coalition
      2. Political activism
  3. Bush to Clinton
    1. Background to 1992 election
      1. Disruptions in foreign policy
        1. Gulf War
        2. Collapse of the Soviet Union
      2. The economy
        1. Joblessness
        2. Foreign trade imbalance
      3. Controversy over Clarence Thomas
        1. Thomas’s conservatism
        2. Charges of Anita Hill
        3. Senate hearings
        4. Resurgence of women’s movement
        5. Gender gap
      4. Tax increases
    2. Election of Bill Clinton
      1. Personal background
        1. Governor of Arkansas
        2. Moderate
        3. “Slick Willie”
      2. Election results
  4. Domestic policy in Clinton’s first term
    1. Economic policies
      1. Deficit reduction
      2. NAFTA
    2. Health care reform
      1. Universal medical coverage
      2. Opposition
      3. Defeat
    3. Militia movement
      1. Siege at Waco, Texas
      2. Oklahoma City bombing
  5. Republican insurgency
    1. Democrats’ defeat in election of 1994
    2. Contract with America
      1. Newt Gingrich
      2. Ten-point contract
      3. Results
        1. Few new laws
        2. Gingrich unpopular
        3. Clinton moves to center
    3. Legislative breakthroughs in 1996
      1. Increments in minimum wage and health care
      2. Welfare reform
    4. 1996 election
      1. Bob Dole
      2. Results
  6. Economic and social trends of the 1990s
    1. The economy
      1. Prosperity
      2. Soaring stock market
      3. Globalization
    2. Race initiatives
      1. Supreme Court
        1. Election districts
        2. Affirmative action
      2. California Proposition 209
    3. Scandals
      1. Whitewater
        1. Allegations
        2. Special prosecutor
      2. Charges of sexual harassment
      3. Impeachment of Clinton
        1. Starr Report
        2. Charges
        3. Trial
        4. Acquittal
  7. Foreign affairs
    1. Background
      1. Low priority for Clinton
      2. Continuity in Somalia
    2. Middle East
      1. Inclusion of PLO in talks
      2. Israel-PLO agreement
      3. Assassination of Rabin
      4. 1998 agreement of Arafat and Netanyahu
    3. Balkans
      1. Implosion of Yugoslavia
      2. Peace plan
      3. Kosovo
        1. 1998 flare-up
        2. Ethnic cleansing
        3. NATO air strikes
    4. Globalization
      1. International commerce
      2. American exports
      3. Dependence on global economy
        1. Foreign investors
        2. Outsourcing
        3. Multinational corporations
  8. Election of 2000
    1. Candidates
      1. Al Gore
      2. George W. Bush
    2. Issues
      1. Role for federal government
      2. U.S. role in the world
    3. Election results
      1. Controversy in Florida
      2. Bush v. Gore
      3. Final outcome
        1. Bush victory
        2. Gore plurality
        3. Partisan balance
        4. Electoral divisions
  9. George W. Bush presidency
    1. First months
      1. Experienced advisers
      2. Economic recession
        1. Speculative and ethical excesses
        2. Internet bubble
        3. Market collapse
      3. Tax cut
    2. Global terrorism
      1. American dominance
      2. Ethnic, religious, cultural divisions
      3. Anti-American rage
      4. Secret war against terrorism in 1990s
    3. Education reform
      1. No Child Left Behind standards
      2. Criticism of lack of funding
    4. Bush and the environment
      1. Rejection of Kyoto Protocol
      2. For economic development
      3. Protection of the environment
    5. September 11, 2001
      1. Aerial attacks
        1. World Trade Center
        2. Pentagon
        3. Failure in Pennsylvania
      2. Reactions
        1. Shock, chaos, grief, anger
        2. Unity and patriotism
      3. Al Qaeda network
        1. Source of terrorists
        2. Led by Osama bin Laden
        3. Provided haven by Taliban
    6. War on terrorism
      1. International coalition
      2. Operation Enduring Freedom
        1. Attacks on Afghanistan
        2. Collapse of Taliban regime
        3. Peace agreement in Afghanistan
      3. Domestic threat
        1. Office of Homeland Security
        2. USA Patriot Act
          1. Wider government powers
          2. Civil liberties concerns
    7. Middle East problems
      1. Palestinian intifada
      2. Israelis elect Sharon
    8. The Bush Doctrine
      1. Change from containment
      2. Preemptive military action
    9. Second Gulf War
      1. Weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
      2. U.N. inspectors in Iraq
      3. Military preparations
        1. Opposition
        2. Coalition of the willing
      4. Operation Iraqi Freedom
        1. Invasion
        2. Quick victory
      5. Winning the peace
        1. Postwar problems
        2. Mounting deaths
      6. Iraqi insurgency and terrorism
      7. U.S. admits no WMDs
      8. American torture
      9. Capture of Saddam Hussein
  10. Second Administration of George W. Bush
    1. Election of 2004
      1. Fierce partisanship
      2. John Kerry
      3. Results
        1. High voter turnout
        2. Ohio the key
        3. Bush victory
    2. Mixed legislative accomplishments
    3. Supreme Court nominees
      1. John G. Roberts
      2. Harriet E. Miers
      3. Samuel Alito Jr.
    4. Hurricane Katrina
      1. Devastation
        1. Gulf Coast
        2. New Orleans
      2. FEMA failures
      3. Human causes of disaster
        1. Poor planning of levees
        2. Weak wetlands protection
        3. Rerouting of Mississippi River
    5. Bush’s persistent weaknesses
      1. Low job approval rating
      2. Rising gas prices
      3. Lack of legislative success
      4. Unending Iraq involvement

Section Menu

Organize

Learn

Connect

Multimedia

Norton Gradebook

Instructors now have an easy way to collect students’ online quizzes with the Norton Gradebook without flooding their inboxes with e-mails.

Students can track their online quiz scores by setting up their own Student Gradebook.