AP® U.S. History Study Guide - Period 9: 1980-Present

Period 9: 1980-Present

Overview

  • This period spans from 1980 to the present.
  • It accounts for 5% of recommended instructional content for an AP class.
  • It does not appear on the DBQ.

Key Concepts

  • Key Concept 9.1: A newly ascendant conservative movement achieved several political and policy goals during the 1980s and continued to strongly influence public discourse in the following decades.
  • Key Concept 9.2: Moving into the 21st century, the nation experienced significant technological, economic, and demographic changes.
  • Key Concept 9.3: The end of the Cold War and new challenges to U.S. leadership forced the nation to redefine its foreign policy and role in the world.

Timeline

  • 1981: IBM released the first personal computer.
  • 1983: President Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative.
  • 1989: The Berlin Wall was torn down, symbolizing the end of the Cold War.
  • 1991: The World Wide Web goes public.
  • 1991: The Soviet Union collapses after Mikhail Gorbachev resigns.
  • 1998: President Bill Clinton impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.
  • 2001: Terrorists execute a series of attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
  • 2002: The United States launches "Operation Enduring Freedom" to root out al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
  • 2003: The United States invades Iraq.
  • 2011: The last U.S. troops leave Iraq.

1980 Election

  • AP® U.S. History Period 9 covers from 1980 to the present.
  • It focuses on:
    • The rise of the conservative movement beginning in the 1980s.
    • Technological and economic changes.
    • The end of the Cold War.
  • The conservative movement from the 1980s to the present traces its origins to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.
  • The Reagan administration enacted significant tax cuts and deregulated many industries.
  • Conservatism at the federal level inspired similar efforts at local and state governments.
  • Governments at all levels began to reduce funding for social programs and limit the scope of government authority.
  • At the same time that the Reagan administration was reducing domestic spending, it was pursuing an interventionist foreign policy.
  • U.S. military spending increased in the 1980s and has continued to increase up to the modern day, as the United States continues to assert a role in international affairs.
  • Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, most of U.S. foreign policy has focused on fighting terrorism around the world.
  • President Ronald Reagan Quote, 1987:
    • "There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Key Terms

  • Cold War: A period of diplomatic tension between the United States and the Soviet Union that pitted capitalism against communism.
  • Ronald Reagan: The Reagan administration reduced government spending, extended tax cuts, and cut many welfare and social spending programs.
  • Terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: A coordinated series of terrorist attacks that remain the deadliest terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. These attacks led to wide-ranging changes in almost all aspects of American life.