The Changing Political Environment

Question 1

what are some powers of the president?

Answer 1

propose legislation, submit the annual budget, sign legislation and act as chief executive

Question 2

what was the “return to normalcy”

Answer 2

People expected a return to life beofre war, in reality is was just the promise for a steady and stable way of life

Question 3

how much had unemployment rose between 1919 and 1921

Answer 3

from 950,000 in 1919 to 5,010,000 in 1921

Question 4

What was the red scare?

Answer 4

The widespread fear of potentail infiltration by communists or ‘reds’

Question 5

When was the first ‘Red Scare’?

Answer 5

1917 to 1920 and was marked by a widespread fear of Bolshevism after the Russian Revolution

Question 6

What influence the political landscape after 1945?

Answer 6

• anti communism
• counter culture
  -climate of fear
• joseph mccarthy
• liberalism
• conservative reaction

Question 7

What powers were given to the FBI due to anti communism

Answer 7

they could investigate and question people by the Loyalty boards or HUAC, open letters, tap phones and bug offices and homes

Question 8

How many books were removed from the libaries to avoid seeming communist

Answer 8

1/3 of books > including work of Karl Marx for example

Question 9

What was counter culture?

Answer 9

young people were tryning to remake society by rejecting the values of their parents generation and distrusting the political machine

Question 10

What did the younger people advocate for instead?

Answer 10

They wanted to live without government telling them what to do

Question 11

what did racial student groups want?

Answer 11

they wanted to create a more equal world, closer to the American dream

Question 12

What happened on the 4th May 1970?

Answer 12

Ohio National guardsmen shot 4 unarmed students and injured 9 during a student protest at the invasion of Cambodia

Question 13

What happended on August 27th 1970?

Answer 13

A bomb was detonated outside an army research base in Madison, Wisonsin. It killed 1 researcher, injured 4 and caused $60 million of damage

Question 14

What events built a climate of fear?

Answer 14

• On 31st July 1948 Elizabeth Bentley told HUAC she has been part of Moscow led spy ring
• Trials of Alger Hiss in 1949 resulted him in having to retrial as the jury were indecisive, he was later found guilty
• 1949 China became communist and held first nuclear weapon test

Question 15

Who was Joseph Mccarthy?

Answer 15

Between 1950-54 he headed the second red scare.

Question 16

What was liberalism?

Answer 16

foward thinking, concerns about welfare, supported equality, civil rights and social welfare

Question 17

What was the conservative reaction?

Answer 17

Many older Americans were bewildered by the counter culture and saw it as creating challenges and challenging family values

Question 18

what was watergate?

Answer 18

Nixon was caught spying on the Democratic party: On the 17th June a hotel security guard noticed the door handles had been tampered with. They arrested 5 democratic men and found $2300 in sacks. The dollar bills had serial numbers that traced back to Nixons ‘plumbers’. Nixon taped every conversation for security purposes so had evidence against him of mass corruption

Question 19

Why was there an economic crisis in the 1970s?

Answer 19

• wages stayed the same but
  prices went up
• 7.9% unemployment
• poverty rate rose to 5.1%
• 1973 Arab Israeli War
• Oil prices increased by 70%

Question 20

What was the crisis of confidence?

Answer 20

The American public felt like Jimmy Carter was blaming them for the economic downfall