Unit 12 Review: The Reagan Era in US History

Ronald Reagan

He was a strong anti-communist who supported free enterprise, less government, lower taxes, and traditional values.

Strategic Defense Initiative (STAR WARS)

President Ronald Reagan's project, a defense system that was supposed to shoot lasers at any missiles that attacked the US, which was shut down after negotiating with the Soviet Union.

Federal Spending/Budget

Reagan increased federal spending by almost 50% for military defense spending. He used supply-side economics by lowering government taxes in hopes of boosting the economy.

Moral Majority

A Christian-based conservative group founded by Jerry Farewell, consisting of evangelical Christians and Christian Fundamentalists, aiming to decrease the divorce rate, increase individual responsibility, decrease out of wedlock births, and revive prosperity and patriotism. It played a significant role in American politics during the 1980s.

Televangelism

The practice of services on television that started to become popular during the Reagan era.

US Supreme Court

During the Reagan/Bush era, the supreme court became more conservative by appointing 5 new justices who aimed to revisit past court rulings.

Reaganomics/Supply-side economics

Ronald Reagan's economic strategy believing that lowering taxes would boost the economy by allowing people to expand businesses and create more jobs, although it increased the national debt.

Perestroika

A policy enacted by Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev that meant the restructuring of the Soviet Society, indicating less government control of the economy and allowing some private businesses to profit. It aimed at restructuring the Soviet economy and government.

Panama

The US decided to give Panama control over the Panama Canal by the year 2000, following the invasion of Panama to take dictator Manuel Noriega to stand trial.

Nicaragua

A group called the Contras was fighting the communist government Sandinista in Nicaragua.

Boland Amendment

A law passed by Congress that restricted U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua.

Mikhail Gorbachev

The leader of the Soviet Union who enacted perestroika and glasnost, contributing to the fall of the Soviet Union.

Glasnost

A policy of openness initiated by Gorbachev that allowed for more transparency and freedom of expression in the Soviet Union. It led to more revolutions in Eastern Europe.

Tiananmen Square

The site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers protested for democratic reforms in 1989, leading to a violent crackdown by the government.

Grenada

An island nation where the U.S. intervened to overthrow a communist government and establish an anti-communist regime.

INF Treaty

The Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by the U.S. and the Soviet Union to eliminate a class of nuclear weapons.

START

Strategic Arms Reduction Talks aimed at reducing the number of nuclear missiles held by the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

SDI/STAR WARS

Strategic Defense Initiative, Reagan's proposed missile defense system. It was supposed to be a space station that would shoot down missiles using lasers.

Iran-Contra Scandal

A political scandal involving the secret sale of arms to Iran to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua, which almost ended Reagan's presidency.

Collapse of the USSR

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, marked by Gorbachev's resignation and the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe.

Fall of the Berlin Wall

The event on November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall was torn down, symbolizing the end of communist control in Eastern Europe.

Military Defense Spending

The category in which Reagan increased federal spending during his presidency.

Sandra Day O'Connor

The first female Supreme Court justice appointed by President Reagan.

Reagan/Bush Era Justices

The justices appointed during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush presidencies, including Sandra Day O'Connor, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, and Clarence Thomas.