Unit 5  Social Studies Notes for Grade 8

April 29, 2013

Unit 5-

Chapter 13: A Time of Shocks

Aim:  discuss the events that occurred between the years of 1964- 1980

1. Civil Rights Act of 1964- Made racial discrimination illegal in hotels, restaurants, and businesses that serve the public.

2. President Lyndon Johnson called his reform program The Great Society. As part of his program, Johnson called for a “war on poverty”.

3. Job Corps, Headstart, and VISTA were programs that dealt with poverty.

4. Alan Shepard was the first American to enter space.

5. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth.

6. Thurgood Marshall was the first black American to serve on the Supreme Court.

7. Ghetto is a crowded area where mostly minorities live.

8. White backlash was the resistance of whites to civil rights laws.

9. Martin Luther King, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, was shot and killed by a sniper in 1968.

10. Indo-China was a colony of France between the mid-1800s and WWII.

11. Ho Chi Mink was the leader of the Independence Movement for Indo China. He was a Vietnamese Communist.

12. Indo- China was divided into 3 countries: Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Vietnam was further divided into North Vietnam, which would be controlled by the Communists and South Vietnam, which was controlled by the anti-Communists.

13. The US supported the anti-Communist government of South Vietnam.

14. The Domino Theory was the idea that the fall of one Southeast Asian country to communism would cause the other countries to fall.

15. President Eisenhower and President Kennedy sent troops, aid, and advisers to help South Vietnam. BY the time Lyndon Johnson became President, the South Vietnamese were almost entirely dependent on American military and economic aid.

16. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was an act that gave the President authority to take military action in Vietnam.

17.  Tet Offensive was a large offensive attack launched by the Communists throughout South Vietnam.

18. Many Americans opposed the war in Vietnam and President Johnson said he would stop the bombing of North Vietnam and would try to settle the war through peace talks.

19. Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated by a Jordanian immigrant.

20. The candidates for president in the 1968 election were Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, and George Wallace. Nixon won.

21. Vietnamization was Nixon’s plan was Nixon’s plan that permitted American troops to withdraw gradually from Vietnam.

22. Détente was a relaxing of tensions between the United States and Communist countries during Nixon’s administration. It became the cornerstone of American foreign policy under Nixon.

23. In 1973, the US pulled its troops out of Vietnam. Vietnam and Cambodia were controlled by the Communists.

May 1, 2013

24. SALT I Treaty between the US and the Soviet Union limited the building of offensive weapons for 5 years.

25. President Nasser of Egypt waged a “holy war” on Israel. Israel won the war. Several more wars were fought.

26. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) was Arab countries who tried to get better prices for oil.

27. President Richard Nixon put a 90 day freeze on wages and prices to try to end inflation.

28. President Nixon resigned from office because of his part in the Watergate scandal.

29. Perjury is lying under oath.

30. When President Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford, the Vice-President became President.

31. Jimmy Carter became President in 1977.

May 6, 2013

32. Solar energy is energy that comes from the power of the sun.

33. The Camp David Accords were agreements establishing peace between Egypt and Israel.

34. PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was an armed group of Palestinians that demanded the return of their homeland and the destruction of Israel.

35. Human rights are the basic rights to which all humans are entitled.

36. SALT II was the Arms Limitation Treaty negotiated during Carter’s presidency. This was agreed on to limit the arms race so there would be equality in missile systems between the two countries.

37. The American Embassy in Tehran was seized and more than 50 Americans were taken hostage. They spent 444 days in captivity.

38. The captives were released when Ronald Reagan took the Oath of Office as President.

May 21, 2013

Chapter 14- The Reagan Years 1981-1988

39. Ronald Reagan was a Democrat, but in the 1950s he changed his political views and became a Republican. He views became conservative. He was known as a movie and television actor and also as a governor California.

40. Ronald Reagan became President of the US in 1980, defeating Jimmy Carter.

41. John Hinckley tried to assassinate him. He was shot, but recovered and returned to the White House.

42. Federal Budget is the official estimate of the amount of money the government will take in and the amount it will spend over a 12 month period.

43. Reagan won the support of Congress for his programs and also got Congress to pass an income tax cut of 25% over 3 years, the largest tax cut in American history.

44. Reagan was committed to reducing federal regulation of business. To reduce the size of the federal government, he wanted to shift certain programs from the federal government to the states, for example, welfare and health care programs. He called his plan “New Federalism”.

May 28, 2013

45. Reagan got an increase for defense spending for production of arms including for a new missile. A missile is a weapon that can be launched from the ground, sea, or air against a target many miles away.

46. Reagan persuaded Congress to approve the beginning of research on a new defense program called Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), known popularly as Star Wars. This program would act as a shield against missiles fired at the United States.

47. Federal Budget Deficits is when the government has spent more than it has taken in.

48. National debt is the total amount the government owes.

49. In 1984, Reagan won a sweeping vote and was re-elected President. He had improved the economy and the US had regained respect around the world.

50. Tax loop holes were special rules that allowed some businesses and individuals to avoid paying some of their taxes.

51. Tax Reform Act of 1986 lowered the tax rate of people with higher incomes but closed many of the loopholes that allowed them to avoid paying taxes.

52. Even though the economy was good in the 1980s, farmers suffered the worse time since the Great Depression, and also in 1988 the country suffered the worst drought.

The oil producing states were hit hard and the number of American families living in poverty was high. There was a low rate for unemployment, except for blacks and teenagers.

53. Undocumented aliens were foreign visitors who lacked papers and documents to show that they entered the country legally.

54. The Immigration Reform Act of 1986 enabled undocumented aliens living in the US since 1981 to become legal residents. It made it a crime for employers to hire immigrants who did not have documents to prove that they entered the country legally.

55. A trade deficit is when a nation imports or buys from other countries more goods that they can export or sell to other countries. Buying so much from foreign countries resulted in fewer Americans being employed in the manufacturing of these goods.

56. Omnibus Trade Bill 0f 1988 allowed the President to act against countries with unfair trade policies, and also provided assistance for US industries that were hurt by imports.

57. Black Monday- October 1987 the stock market took a deep plunge and crashed. It did not lead to a depression because the economy was strong.

58. The Columbia was a space manned mission sent into space. It was different from other space vehicles because it was a space shuttle. It was able to be landed by a pilot and reused in other space missions. The Challenger and Discovery were two other space shuttles.

59. The Challenger exploded in mid -air after launching. Seven crew members were killed. Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher was among them. She was going to teach lessons from space. She was the first ordinary citizen chosen by NASA to go into space.

60. During Reagan’s term of office, there was trouble in the Central American countries of El Salvador and Nicaragua. In El Salvador, the US backed the government against the rebels because they wanted to stop the spread of Communism.

61. In Nicaragua, the Sandinistas controlled the government. The Contras were rebel groups trying to overthrow the government. We supported the Contras because Sandinista government had close ties to the Soviet Union and Cuba.

62. When Communist forces took over the government of Grenada, the US sent in troops to restore the government.

63. There was trouble in the Philippines against the corrupt government of Fernando Marcos. He was exiled and Corazon Aquino became President.

May 30, 2013

64. President Reagan believed the Soviet Union was the cause of much of the trouble in world. He allowed American farmers to sell grain that was surplus to the Soviet Union, but discouraged the sale of high technology products because he thought they strengthened the Soviet military.

65. In Poland, workers started a union called “Solidarity”. Moscow urged the Polish government to impose martial law and “Solidarity” was crushed. The US denounced this action.

66. INF Treaty of 1987 (Intermediate- Range Nuclear Forces Treaty) was signed by the US and the Soviet Union. It was the first time that an entire category of nuclear weapons had been eliminated. President Gorbrachev and Reagan signed the agreement.

67. Terrorism is the organized use of violence against innocent civilians in an attempt to advance one’s political goals.

68. 1980s saw a rise in international terrorism- bombs on planes, airliners seized, people gunned down, hostages seized. Support for terrorists come from the Middle East countries of Libya, Syria, and Iran. The US opposed dealings with terrorist countries.

69. Mexican Americans become the largest group of Hispanics. They became migrant workers on farms in California and Texas. They received low pay and worked in poor conditions. Cesar Chavez organized these farm workers. He formed a union called the United Farm Workers. He believed in non-violence.

70. Puerto Ricans were the second largest Hispanic group. They are US citizens. Puerto is a Common Wealth of the US.

71. NOW- National Organization for Women with other groups led the Women’s Liberation Movement.

72. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination against gender as well as race. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act required equal pay for equal work for men and women. Sandra Day O’ Connor became the first woman justice of the US Supreme Court.

73. Native Americans- AIM (American Indian Movement) was organized to restore and strengthen the reservation system and tribal life.