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Resurgence of Conservatism 1980-1992
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Timeline (1979-1985) USA 1979 1980 1981 1983 1985 World Presidents
Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority” Movement begins 1981 American hostages released in Iran Launch of Columbia, first space shuttle 1983 U.S. Marine barracks Bombed in Lebanon Carter Reagan USA Presidents 1979 1980 1981 1983 1985 World 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of Soviet Union 1979 Iranian Revolution Establishes Islamic Republic Soviets invade Afghanistan 1980 War begins between Iran &Iraq
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Timeline ( ) 1991 Persian Gulf War occurs between Iraq and UN coalition 1987 INF Treaty between U.S. and USSR reduces land-based intermediate-range nuclear missiles 1986 Iran-Contra scandal enters the news 1988 More than 35,000 Cases of Aids G. Bush USA Presidents 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 World 1989 Tiananmen Square protests for democracy break out in China Several Communist governments collapse 1986 Dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos overthrown in the Philippines 1991 Soviet Union dissolves 1990 Germany reunified
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The New Conservatism Preview Of Events 1964 1972 1976 1979 1980 1979
Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority” movement begins 1972 Nixon wins re-election Preview Of Events 1964 1972 1976 1979 1980 1964 Conservative Barry Goldwater is defeated for presidency 1976 Reagan wins presidential election 1976 Reagan challenges Ford for nomination
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Conservatism and Liberalism
In 1977, there was a blackout that caused riots in New York Midge Decter wrote an article blaming liberalism for riots and the article caused a debate among American politics On one side of the debate was liberals and on other side was conservatives This debate is still going strong at present Liberal ideas generally dominated American politics in the 1900’s, until the 1970’s Conservatism became more popular in the 1970’s In 1980, Ronald Reagan, who was a strong Conservative, was elected as President
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liberal Believe government should regulate economy to protect
people from the power of large corporations and wealthy elites Supporters of free speech and privacy Believe most social problems have roots in economic inequality Think the Government should Leave social behavior alone liberal Believe government should not support or endorse any religious beliefs Believe government should help disadvantaged Americans through social programs and taxing the rich
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conservative Believe the more government General
regulates economy, the more it will interfere in other areas General mistrust of Government, especially Federal Believe government regulating economy makes it less efficient, resulting in poverty Oppose high taxes and programs that transfer wealth to poor conservative Believe religious faith vital to sustaining society, and it is the only way to fix its morals Believe free enterprise is best Support original intent of Constitution Believe government should be divided into branches and split between state and federal to limit intrusion
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Conservatism and the Cold War
Two major reasons that Conservatism began to revive Struggle against communism revived the debate about the role of the government in economy Some though liberal economic ideas were leading the U.S toward communism Thought the U.S. had failed to stop the spread of Soviet power because liberals did not fully understand the need for a strong anticommunist foreign policy Americans viewed the Cold War in religious terms Communism rejected religion and emphasized the material side of life To many Americans, the struggle against communism was a struggle between good and evil
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William F. Buckley Conservatism and the Cold War
In 1960, young conservative leaders met at his family estate and founded Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) Founded the conservative magazine National Review, in 1955 William F. Buckley Reached a wider audience because he debated in front of college students and appeared on radio and television shows His magazine helped to revive conservative ideas in U.S.
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The Rise of the Sunbelt
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The Sunbelt People in the West resented government regulations
that limited ranching, controlled water use, and restricted development of natural resources High taxes and government regulations threatened the growth of the Sunbelt, so people there opposed Federal Government Made up of the West and the South White Southerners were angry at the Democrats for supporting Civil Rights, so became Republican The Sunbelt By 1980, the population of the Sunbelt had surpassed the Northeast During the 50’s and 60’s the South and West were more conservative, but the West voted Republican and South Democrat, so Democrat won because of the Northeast During WWII many people began moving to the South and to the West to work in war factories
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The Rustbelt Nickname for the Northeast,
from about WWII until the 80’s because industry was in decline Cities were often congested and polluted The Rustbelt Had more unemployed people than any other region Unemployment and pollution caused people in the Northeast to look to the Federal Government for programs and regulations to solve their problems
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Suburban Conservatism
Crime was high in cities, so people moved to suburbs Life was still difficult, so they weren’t achieving “The American Dream” like they wanted Inflation of the 1970’s High taxes were the biggest problem Americans resented the high taxes that they had to pay, because they themselves were losing economic ground Proposition 13 – referendum on the state ballot that lowered property taxes – launched by Howard Jarvis Many Americans flocked to conservatism because they were mad at the federal government for the high taxes
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The Religious Right Deeply religious people were shocked by the 1960’s and 1970’s Roe v. Wade legalized abortion Supreme court limited prayer in schools The feminist movement and equal rights threatened traditional family In the 1960’s, University students’ contempt for authority seemed to indicate a general breakdown in American values and morality
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Evangelical Christians
Believe they are saved from their sins through conversion (“born again”) and a personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ They owned their own newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television networks Evangelical Christians Many kinds of Conservative Christians, but this group was biggest Protestant ministers such as Billy Graham and Oral Roberts built national followings By the late 70’s, about 70 million Americans described themselves as “born again”
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Televangelists Included Marion “Pat”
Robertson, who founded the Christian Broadcasting Network Included Jerry Falwell, who used his television show The Old-Time Gospel Hour to found the “Moral Majority” movement Evangelical ministers on television Televangelists Using television and mail campaigns, the “Moral Majority” built up a network of ministers to register new voters who backed conservative candidates and issues Allowed Evangelical ministers to reach a nationwide audience
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