Download present day study guide 2016

DEVELOPMENTS IN AMERICA
SINCE 1975 STUDY GUIDE
1. The creation of Israel has caused a tremendous amount of conflict in the
Middle East.
a. The United Nations created Israel because they felt the Jewish people
needed a homeland after the suffering they endured during the Holocaust.
b. The United States has tried to bring Peace to the Middle East by holding
several peace talks with Arab countries and Israel.
2. The U.S. is disliked by many in the Middle East for the following reasons
A. The U.S. supports the country of Israel, which many believe was wrongfully
taken from the Palestinian Muslims and given to the Jews.
B. The U.S. has tried to control countries in the Middle East for their own good,
including putting Saddam Hussein in power and then removing him from power
in Iraq.
C. The U.S. has used drones to kill terrorists in many Middle Eastern countries,
sometimes killing innocent civilians.
3. End of the Cold War
a. One by One the communist domination of Eastern Europe began to
fall.
i. Countries began to protest their communist governments
until the governments fell from power.
1. The biggest example was the fall of the Berlin Wall. This
was the beginning of Germany becoming one country
again.
2. Ronald Reagan (United States president at the end of
the Cold War) and Mikhail Gorbachev helped end the
Cold War by reducing the number of nuclear
weapons in each country.
ii. The last country to fall was the Soviet Union
1. The Soviet Union collapsed into Russia and 14 other
countries in 1991 because their economy took a turn for the
worst.
2. The Russian people would elect a new, noncommunist government, and the Cold War was over.
3. Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the Soviet Union
and he believed in freedom of speech.
4. Persian Gulf War – First Time in Iraq
a. Was a war between the United States and Iraq.
b. The United States President during the Persian Gulf War was George
H.W. Bush (the father).
c. Saddam Hussein was the leader of Iraq during the Persian Gulf War.
d. The Persian Gulf War was fought because Saddam Hussein, and the
country of Iraq, invaded Kuwait to capture its oil fields.
e. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait because he wanted oil and access to the
ocean. He wanted access to the Ocean because it would allow his military
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
to move more freely, it would also open up trade opportunities for his
country.
The US got involved in Kuwait because they sold us a lot of our oil.
An American led coalition was able to win the war in seven weeks.
They pushed Iraq out of Kuwait.
i. Coalition – is a group of allies that work together to achieve a
goal.
Reasons why we won the war so quickly
i. Better weapons
ii. Our soldiers were more highly trained.
Even though we won the war Saddam got to stay in power.
This was a major concern for us.
5. WAR ON TERROR
a. The War on Terrorism was used to find the people responsible for
attacking the US and to prevent future terrorist attacks.
b. Which of the following are true about the War on Terror?
i. It began because of the terrorist attacks that took place on
September 11th 2001.
ii. It started mostly in Afghanistan, but now includes attacks on
terrorists in many countries.
c. There were three events that took place on September 11, 2001.
These events would eventually lead to the War on Terror.
i. The Twin Towers in New York City were run into by two
hijacked airplanes
ii. The Pentagon in Washington D.C. was attacked by a
hijacked airplane
iii. A hijacked airplane was meant for the white house but it
crash-landed in Pennsylvania
d. Osama Bin Laden is responsible for the September 11th terrorist
attacks.
i. He was the leader of the terrorist group known as al-Qaeda.
ii. Bin Laden and his followers are against the United States’
involvement in the Middle East.
e. George W. Bush (Son) would declare a War on Terror and was
determined to capture Bin Laden.
i. War in Afghanistan
1. The September 11 terrorist attacks caused the United
States to declare a war on terror and they began by
attacking the terrorists in Afghanistan.
2. The United States thought that Afghanistan was hiding
Bin Laden.
3. The United States won the war in three months but
didn’t find Bin Laden.
4. So in 2003 Bush began looking for Bin Laden in Iraq.
ii. War in Iraq (Second time in Iraq)
1. The US invaded Iraq in 2003 to find Bin Laden and to
find and destroy Iraq’s what we thought was a secret supply
of Weapons of Mass Destruction (nuclear weapons).
2. The United Nations and the United States especially
George W. Bush (Son) didn’t believe that Saddam
Hussein had destroyed his most dangerous weapons.
a. However, after they got there they realized that
there were no weapons of mass destruction.
3. In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq and defeated
Hussein’s army and arrested him.
a. However, they still didn’t find Osama Bin
Laden.
4. The War in Iraq lasted for eight years because it took
many years to try and setup a peaceful government
after Saddam Hussein was gone.
5. Osama Bin Laden was found after ten years of searching in
Pakistan on May 2, 2011, where he was killed by the
Obama administration.
6. Technology
a. Computers – changed American society when they were brought into
homes in the late 1970’s
i. Computers play a big role in most businesses.
ii. Computer control makes production quicker, safer, and less
expensive.
b. Internet – Is a global computer network that allows people to play games,
research
i. People now use the Internet to shop, send email, and get
information of all kinds.
ii. Allows an individual to get information and communicate
quickly.
c. New technologies have made the U.S. economy more productive.
7. Know where the Middle East is on the Map.