Chapter 42

1. Chapter 42 The American People Face a New Century

2. APUSH Historical Thinking Skill The Conservative Era (1980-????)Age of Globalization (1990-????)Age of Technology (1990-????)Age of Terrorism (2001-????)Demographic Change Era (2008-????) PERIODIZATION

3. I. Economic Revolutions • Steel 1800s • US Steel • Mass consumer goods 1900s • Automobiles (GM) • Electronics (GE) • Information / communication 1950s • Computers (IBM) • Software (Microsoft) • Internet (Goggle) • Biological/genetic engineering • cloning

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5. II. Affluence and Inequality • Americans an affluent people • Higher standard of living than 2/3 people • But no longer the world’s wealthiest people • Widening income inequality • The tax and fiscal policies favored the wealthy • More global economic competition • Fewer high-paying manufacturing jobs • The decline of unions • Educated men and women to marry one another Limited Educational opportunities • Poor schools in poor areas • Increasing college costs

6. Money Magazine July 2014

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15. III. The Feminist Revolution • Women in the workplace: • 1900 women made up about 20% of the workforce • 2000 women made up ~47% of workers • Wider range of jobs, more educational opportunities • Yet many feminists remained frustrated: • Women continued to received lower wages • Concentrate in low-prestige, low-paying occupations • Sexual discrimination • Role of motherhood • Most voted for Democrats: • “Gender gap”

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21. IV. New Families and Old • Traditional family suffers • ~50% of marriages ended in divorce • Divorce rates peaked in 1980s • People marrying later • ~41% of births to unwed mother • Teen births peaked in 1990s • ~25% of children live with one parent • The pauperization of many women & children • More “parent-substitutes” • To day care centers, schools, TV, internet • Viable families now assumed a variety of forms • Single parent, step, grandparent, multigenerational • Gay marriages/parents

23. V. The Aging of America • Americans were living longer • Medical advances lengthened & strengthened lives • One American in eight was over 65 in 2009 • Political, social, and economic concerns • They vote more than anyone • Increasing Medicare / Social Security costs • “Third rail” of politics

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26. VI. The New Immigration • 1 million immigrants per year (~0.33%) • Less European, more Asian and Latin American • Reasons to immigrate to America • Same reason as before • Left countries with rapidly growing populations • For new jobs and economic opportunity • Southwest felt the immigrant impact more Latinos • Mexican-American have created a cultural zone • Critics of immigration • Robb citizens of jobs, increase taxpayers expense • Unscrupulous employers take advantage

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34. VII. Beyond the Melting Pot • Latinos - increasingly important minority • Largest minority, since 2003 • Increasing political power • Asian Americans • America’s fastest growing minority, since mid-1980s • Political influence small but growing • Indians, the original Americans • Half have left the reservations to live in cities • Special legal status allowed gambling • Poverty/Unemployment/alcoholism problems

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36. VIII. Cities and Suburbs • American cities • Crime since late 1980s • “Urban flight” was swift • “Urban age” (1920-1990) • U.S. A suburban nation • Economy & Jobs became suburbanized • Fragmentation and isolation in American life • Divided by wealth and race • Suburbs grew faster in the West and Southwest • Some major cities exhibited signs of renewal • New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles

38. IX. Minority America • Racial tensions exacerbated urban situations • LA riots of 1992 and 1995 • Minorities mostly lived in cities • Successful minorities moved to suburbs • Leaving behind urban problems • Unemployment • Drug addiction, • Single parent homes • Poverty • Poor educational opportunities • More blacks elected to state, local, fed offices • Assault against affirmative action

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40. X. E Pluribus Plures • Tradition and “multiculturalism” • “Cultural pluralists” vs “Eurocentric” • Classrooms became battlegrounds • Melting pot vs salad bowl

41. XI. The Postmodern Mind • Americans more books, music, and education • Educated people advance economy & culture • Postmodernism • A distrust of rational, scientific descriptions • Influences philosophy, art, architecture, and more • Postmodern literature • Burroughs, Vonnegut, Chabon, Wallace, Morrison • Postmodern theater • Tony Kushner, Angels in America (1991) • Jonathan Larson Rent (1996) • Nilo Cruz Anna in the Tropics (2003)

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45. XII. The New Media • Internet • Created by gov’t for Cold War intelligence sharing • Spread into American homes, schools, offices • Reshaped the economy, education, corporate world • Internet democratizing effect • More interaction • Social-networking • Internet lowering effect • Americans became ever less willing to read • 24-hour news cycle a reality • Allowed little people to have a big voice

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47. XIII. The American Prospect • Problems that confronted the Republic • Women don’t have first-class economic citizenship • Civil rights for different groups • Political paralysis (divided gov’t, hyperpartisanship) • Americans fear for their economy • Environmental worries Energy costs / reliability • Urban sprawl/renewal • Terrorism (security vs privacy) • American role nurturing progress abroad

48. Can you use ‘history’ to… Predict the future? Prepare for the future? Improve the future?