As the United States transitioned to a new century filled with challenges and possibilities, it experienced renewed ideological and cultural debates, sought to redefine its foreign policy, and adapted to economic globalization and revolutionary changes in science and technology. Topics may include
Reagan and Conservatism
The End of the Cold War
Shifts in the Economy
Migration and Immigration
Challenges of the 21st century
Image Source: Piece of the Berlin Wall displayed at the Newseum museum, Arlington, Virginia, a photograph taken by Carol M. Highsmith, ca. 2000. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
9.1: A newly ascendant conservative movement achieved several political and policy goals during the 1980s and continued to strongly influence public discourse in the following decades.
9.2: Moving into the 21st century, the nation experienced significant technological, economic, and demographic changes.
9.3: The end of the Cold War and new challenges to U.S. leadership forced the nation to redefine its foreign policy and role in the world. The end of the Cold War and new challenges to U.S. leadership forced the nation to redefine its foreign policy and role in the world.
Unknown photographer. Ronald Reagan Campaigns for Barry Goldwater in Los Angeles in 1964. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
Highsmith, Carol M. White House. President Ronald Reagan Walking and Talking with Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. Washington, D.C., July 31, 1986. Photograph. Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Maher, Steven. Live Aid logo: The Day the Music Changed the World, July 13, 1985. Founded by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof.
Unknown photographer. Ronald Reagan head and shoulders portrait. 1981. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C..
Trikosko, Marion S. Iran Hostage Crisis Student Demonstration, Washington, D.C. November 9, 1979. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
The End of the Cold War
The End of the Cold War
Trikosko, Marion S. President Ronald Reagan, His Wife, Nancy Reagan, and Others at a Press Conference. s.l., November 14, 1979. Photograph. US News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Unidentified photographer. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Washington DC. December 8, 1987. Photograph. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Unidentified photographer. President Ronald Reagan Making His Berlin Wall Speech at Brandenburg Gate West Berlin. Federal Republic of Germany. June 12, 1987. Photograph. White House Photographic Collection. Reagan White House Photographs, January 20, 1981-January 20, 1989. National Archives.
Jenkins, Michael R.., photographer. Chinese activist in front of the U.S. Capitol. June 5, 1989. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
Shifts in the Economy
Shifts in the Economy
Highsmith, Carol M. Wall Street Bull, New York, New York. Between 1980 and 2006. Photograph. Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Keating, Maureen. President Bill Clinton Delivering the State of the Union Address with Vice President Al Gore and Minority Whip Newt Gingrich Sitting behind Him. Washington D.C. January 24, 1995. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Migration and Immigration
Migration and Immigration
Okamoto, Yoichi. President Lyndon B. Johnson Speaking from the Podium at the Bill Signing. October 3, 1965. Photograph. LBJ Library.
Ford, Ed. Americanized Chinese Gals on Mott St. New York, April 27, 1965. Photograph. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Highsmith, Carol M. Domino Players in a Cuban-American "Little Havana" Neighborhood of Miami, Florida. Between 1980 and 2006. Photograph. Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Long, Lucy M. Music and Dance Performance, First Korean School, Silver Spring, Maryland. 1982. Photograph. American Folklife Center. Library of Congress.
Unknown photographer. El Centro Sikh Temple. 1951. Photograph. Personal Records of David Rai. UC Davis Library Archives and Special Collections.
May 1943. Photograph. Farm Security Adminstration/Office of War Information. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Unknown photographer. Mexican Workers Recruited and Brought to the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Nebraska and Minnesota by the FSA Farm Security Administration, to Harvest and Process Sugar Beets under Contract with the Inter-mountain Agricultural Improvement Association. May 1943. Photograph. Farm Secuirty Adminstration/Office of War Information. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Challenges of the 21st century
Challenges of the 21st century
Highsmith, Carol M, photographer. Mississippi Coast after Hurricane Katrina. April 12, 2006. Photograph. Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Unknown photographer. Fire Fighting in the Aftermath of the September 11th Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Center, New York City. September 2001. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Highsmith, Carol M. 2009 Inaugural Parade, January 24th. Barack and Michelle Obama Walk in Front of the New Presidential Inaugural Car, Pennsylvania Avenue at 15th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. January 20, 2009. Photograph. Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Copyright deposits for “Here Comes the Judge,” by Alen, Astor, Markham, and Harvey, 1968, and “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” by Gil Scott-Heron, 1971. Photograph by Heather Darnell. Library of Congress Music Division.
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Invitation to the inauguration of President George W. Bush. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC09705.09. Highsmith, Carol M. World Trade Center, New York, New York. Between 1980 and 2001.
Photograph. Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Souza, Pete. Official Portrait of President Barack Obama in Oval Office. December 6, 2012. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Reagan Speech: "Tear down this wall," 1987
Reagan Speech: "Tear down this wall," 1987
A Spotlight on a Primary Source by
Ronald Reagan
Piece of the Berlin Wall displayed at the Newseum, Arlington, Virginia (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)President Ronald Reagan’s "Tear Down This Wall" speech marked his visit to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on June 12, 1987, following the G7 summit meeting in Venice. As Reagan spoke, his words were amplified to both sides of the Berlin Wall, reaching both East and West Germans. The President noted recent Soviet progress toward "a new policy of reform and openness," but wondered, "Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it?" Reagan declared that the Berlin Wall offered the Soviets and their president, Mikhail Gorbachev, an opportunity to make a "sign" of their sincerity and "advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace." The "sign" Reagan proposed was simple: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being 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.
And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.
Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Ronald Reagan, "Tear Down this Wall" speech at the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall, West Berlin, June 12, 1987.
