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AP US History AMSCO Guided Notes

8.14: Society in Transition

AP US History
AMSCO Guided Notes
8.1 Contextualizing Period 8
8.2 The Cold War from 1945 to 1980
8.3 The Red Scare
8.4 Economy after 1945
8.5 Culture after 1945
8.6 Early Steps in the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1960
8.7 America as a World Power
8.8 The Vietnam War
8.9 The Great Society
8.10 The African American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s
8.11 The Civil Rights Movement Expands
8.12 Youth Culture of the 1960s
8.13 The Environment and Natural Resources from 1968 to 1980
8.14 Society in Transition
8.15 Continuity and Change in Period 8

AP US History Guided Notes

AMSCO 8.14 - Society in Transition

Learning Objectives

  1. Explain the causes and effects of continuing policy debates about the role of the federal government over time.
  2. Explain the effects of religious movements over the course of the 20th century.
I. American Society in Transition

1. What major demographic changes occurred in American society during the 1970s?

2. How did the racial and ethnic composition of the United States change by 1990, and what model replaced the melting pot?

II. The Nixon Presidency

A. Nixon's Southern Strategy

1. What was Nixon's Southern Strategy and how did he attempt to appeal to conservative voters?

2. What were the long-term political consequences of Nixon's Southern Strategy for the Republican Party and civil rights legislation?

B. The Election of 1972

1. What factors contributed to Nixon's landslide victory in 1972?

2. What voting patterns in 1972 indicated a major political realignment, and which regions and groups were shifting toward the Republican Party?

III. Watergate Scandal

A. White House Abuses

1. What illegal activities and abuses did the Nixon administration conduct, and what was the justification given for these actions?

2. What were the purposes of the 'plumbers' group and the 'enemies list' created by the Nixon White House?

B. Watergate Investigation

1. What evidence emerged during the Watergate investigation that linked President Nixon to the cover-up?

2. How did the discovery of the Oval Office taping system and the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Nixon affect the investigation?

3. What role did Vice President Agnew's resignation play in the unfolding Watergate crisis?

C. Resignation of a President

1. What were the three articles of impeachment voted by the House Judiciary Committee against Nixon?

2. Why did Nixon resign in August 1974, and what was the significance of Gerald Ford becoming president?

D. Significance

1. How did the outcome of Watergate demonstrate both the strengths and weaknesses of the constitutional system of checks and balances?

2. What impact did Watergate have on Americans' faith in the federal government?

IV. Gerald Ford in the White House (1974-1977)

A. Pardoning of Nixon

1. Why did President Ford pardon Nixon, and what was the public reaction to this decision?

B. Investigating the CIA

1. What abuses was the CIA accused of during Ford's presidency, and how did Ford respond?

C. Bicentennial Celebration

1. How did the 1976 bicentennial celebration affect American attitudes toward recent national crises?

V. The Election of 1976

1. How did Watergate affect the 1976 presidential election and the Republican Party's chances?

2. What strategy did Jimmy Carter use to win the Democratic nomination and the presidency?

3. What voting groups and regions did Carter win in 1976, and what did this reveal about the political realignment?

VI. An Outsider in the White House

A. Loss of Popularity

1. What crises damaged President Carter's popularity and approval ratings during his presidency?

2. What did Carter blame for America's problems in his 'national malaise' speech, and how did the public respond?

VII. The Burger Court

1. How did the Burger Court differ from the Warren Court, and what major decisions angered conservatives?

2. What was the significance of Roe v. Wade (1973), and how did it shape conservative politics in the following decades?

VIII. Conservative Resurgence

A. Conservative Religious Revival

1. How did televangelists and religious leaders use their platforms to influence American politics in the late 1970s?

2. What issues did the Moral Majority and religious fundamentalists campaign for, and what sparked the right-to-life movement?

B. Deregulation of Business

1. What strategies did business interests use to influence government policy in the 1970s, and what were their goals?

C. Elimination of Racial Preferences

1. Why did many Whites oppose affirmative action in the 1970s, and what did they call this opposition?

2. How did the Supreme Court's decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) affect the future of affirmative action?

D. Taxpayers' Revolt

1. What was Proposition 13, and how did it reflect conservative economic ideas about taxes and government revenue?

IX. A New Era in American Politics

1. What factors combined with the rise of conservatism to reshape American politics after 1980?

Key Terms

Richard Nixon

silent majority

Southern strategy

Watergate

"plumbers"

impeachment

Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

imperial presidency

Burger Court

United States v. Nixon

Roe v. Wade

televangelists

Moral Majority

religious fundamentalists

think tanks

reverse discrimination

Regents of University of California v. Bakke

Proposition 13

Arthur Laffer