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Unit 9, Period 9 (1980 to the present): Entering a New Era

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did globalization, technology, and demographic change transform the United States economy and society after 1980?

Topics 9.4 and 9.5 A Changing Economy, Migration, and Settlement: the forces of globalization, the digital revolution, and the new immigration that reshaped the United States since 1980.
A focused answer to AP US History Topics 9.4 and 9.5, covering a changing economy and globalization: the shift from manufacturing to services and technology, the digital revolution, free trade and globalization, growing inequality, and the new immigration from Latin America and Asia and its political debates.
12 min answer →

How do you use the reasoning skill of causation to analyze the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, and the changes of the contemporary era?

Topic 9.7 Causation in Period 9: using the historical reasoning skill of causation to analyze the developments of the contemporary era.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.7, teaching the historical reasoning skill of causation through Period 9: explaining the causes of the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, and the transformations of globalization and technology, and how to frame a causation essay for the DBQ or LEQ.
12 min answer →

What broad forces have shaped the United States from the conservative resurgence of 1980 to the present?

Topic 9.1 Contextualizing Period 9: the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, globalization, and the technological and demographic changes that have shaped the United States since 1980.
Sets the scene for AP US History Period 9, covering the rise of conservatism under Reagan, the end of the Cold War, globalization and a changing economy, the digital revolution, demographic change, and how to write contextualization for a DBQ or LEQ on the contemporary era.
12 min answer →

How did a conservative movement come to power in 1980, and how did Reagan reshape American politics and government?

Topic 9.2 Reagan and Conservatism: the rise of the New Right, the policies of the Reagan administration, and the conservative reshaping of American politics.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.2, covering Reagan and conservatism: the roots of the conservative resurgence and the New Right, Reaganomics and supply-side economics, deregulation and the military buildup, the role of the religious right, and the limits and legacy of the conservative movement.
12 min answer →

Why did the Cold War end, and how did its end reshape the United States and the world?

Topic 9.3 The End of the Cold War: the renewed Cold War of the 1980s, the role of Gorbachev's reforms, the fall of communism in Europe, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.3, covering the end of the Cold War: the renewed superpower tensions of the early 1980s, the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the debate over why the Cold War ended.
12 min answer →

How did the September 11 attacks and the challenges of the new century reshape the United States and its role in the world?

Topic 9.6 Challenges of the 21st Century: the post-Cold War world, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the financial crisis, and growing political polarization.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.6, covering the challenges of the new century: the post-Cold War world and the Persian Gulf War, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2008 financial crisis, the election of Barack Obama, and rising political polarization.
12 min answer →