Analyze why the conservative right movement became so influential in the 1970s and 1980s. Discuss the movement's political and social agenda and its effects on American society.
What will be an ideal response?
The ideal answer should include:
- Grassroots conservatism: during the 1960s and 1970s, many white middle-class men and women became "kitchen table" activists, beginning a transformation of the American political system that culminated in Ronald Reagan's election as president in 1980; grassroots activists focused directly on moral issues defined by evangelical Christians
- Anger over taxes and economic context: American conservatives resented rising property taxes and high inflation; 1978 homeowners' "revolt" led to a sharp reduction in the property tax rate; many white taxpayers begrudged the tax hikes required to fund the welfare programs that benefitted minorities and expanded social services for the poor while slowing down economic development at the same time; Reagan appealed to conservatives because he cut state welfare rolls as governor of California and funneled a large share of state tax revenues back to local governments; Reagan promised to increase spending power by cutting taxes and shrinking the government
- Cultural conservatism: issues defined by a backlash against the antiwar movement, counterculture, women's liberation, and urban uprisings; emphasis on family values that opposed sex education, obscenity, abortion rights, gay liberation, teaching of evolution, and the Equal Rights Amendment; conservatism reshaped by "born-again" evangelical Christians; supported a revival in Cold War patriotism, a return to school prayer, the death penalty, and increased spending for national defense; values defended by lobbying groups such as the Moral Majority, Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, and the National Right-to-Life Committee
- Demographic changes: rise in "born-again" evangelical Christians, who included educated professionals and middle-class suburbanites; white Southerners and blue-collar workers defected to the Republican Party during the 1980 presidential election
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b. Russia sold Alaska to the United States. c. A United States naval squadron seized and laid claim to the Midway Islands. d. The first transcontinental railroad was completed, linking the east and west coasts of the United States.
What was the importance of trade to the native civilizations that emerged along the Nile south of Egypt?
What will be an ideal response?
Texas was originally a part of Mexico, but established itself as an independent republic after ___________ defeated Mexican dictator Santa Anna.
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
Intifada is defined as
A) the term used by Muslims for a holy war. B) Arabic laws, which prevent women from working or showing their faces in public. C) "shaking off," a term used by Palestinians to refer to uprisings against Israeli occupation. D) prayers to the east every morning at sunrise for Muslims. E) prayers to the west every afternoon at sundown.