4.5.3 Test (TS): Contemporary Issues
U.S. History since the Civil War Sem 2 (S2607166)
Carly Margulies
Points possible: 60
Date: ____________
The Big Question What technological, social and cultural changes have come to characterize contemporary American life? Section 1: Short Answer (30 points)
Write two to three sentences in answering the questions. Be specific and give examples A. The relations between the United States and the Soviet Union began to change in the 1980’s as new leadership appeared in both countries. Superpower relations were changing as a result. Read the short segment of a speech by the president of the U.S. and then write a short commentary (35 sentences) in which you discuss U.S. foreign policy in the 1980’s and the historical background of the time period.
(10pts)
But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and wellbeing unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself.
After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor...Mr.
Gorbachev, come to Berlin...tear down this wall. —President Ronald Reagan Berlin, Germany|1987
America has always been a country based on freedom while the soviet union is a communistic country that believed in control over the common people. Taking down the Berlin Wall was very beneficial to European countries in a sense that it allowed states to gain more freedom and independence from superiors. I believe that Ronald
Reagan’s statement is very accurate because of the happenings in the soviet union. B. Discuss briefly in ONE paragraph new