Unit 3: Turmoil at Home and Abroad (1970-1980)
Unit Overview: Turmoil at home and abroad
This unit covers the years 1968-1979. Important events/themes in this unit:
The Watergate Scandal and Nixon's resignation
"Vietnamizing" the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon
The Arab-Israeli War (1973) and Oil Embargo
Feminist Movement and Roe v Wade
Administration of Jimmy Carter and "Stagflation"
The Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979
Unit Essay: A Decade of Crisis
In order to get credit for this project you must write an essay on the following topic:
A Decade of Crisis
While the 1960's could appropriately be described as a decade of Revolution, the next decade, the 1970's could appropriately be described as a decade of crisis. Beginning with the Watergate Scandal in 1972 that forced Nixon to resign, 1973 saw an oil shortage, in 1975 the South Vietnamese government fell, and later came the Iran Hostage Crisis and "stagflation". With calamities and major problems seemingly appearing each year, America could barely get over one crisis before the next appeared. Using three events from the 1970's, write an essay of 600 words or more that explains why the 1970's could appropriately be called a decade of crisis.
Burning of the American Flag at the embassy in Iran, 1979
Some events that you should consider for your essay:
Unit Videos:
Vietnam, a Televised History Part 7 (55:42)
Vietnam, a Televised History Part 11 (55:41)
Commanding Heights Episode 1 (1:55:31)
Unit Lectures:
Unit Primary Sources:
US History Recon B Unit 3 Key Terms
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 3 Key Terms:
1. Vietnamization
2. Operation Menu
3. Detente
4. Oil Crisis of 1973
5. Watergate
6. Pentagon Papers
7. War Powers Resolution of 1973
8. Fall of Saigon
9. Khmer Rouge
10. Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act
11. Gloria Steinem
12. Equal Rights Amendment
13. Roe v Wade
14. Election of 1976
15. 1979 Energy Crisis
16. Iran Hostage Crisis
17. stagflation
18. moral majority
19. Camp David Accords
20. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:
William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)
Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)