Contemporary America

By the 1980s, the Cold War was coming to a close. Although tensions continued, there were signs the Soviet Union was deteriorating. Speaking of tensions, the US in the 1980s was no source of Kumbaya, either. President Reagan faced deteriorating economic and social conditions. His successors would be free from Cold War tensions only to face a new threat in the form of rising terrorism.   

• Who Ended the Cold War? 

• Reagan & the Rise of Conservatism 

• Advise Reagan 

• President Report Cards 

• Debating NAFTA (students assess the impacts in Canada, Mexico and the US and determine if they think the agreement should be revised)

• Hurricane Katrina interactive