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A1 1990s Hedges

Page history last edited by Thomas Bouranis 14 years, 4 months ago

Deepak Kumar

Michael Berry

Thomas Bouranis

Clarissa Wormsbaecher

Tim Millerman

 

MYP Unit Question: How did culture, events and leadership shape and reflect post-WWII America?

The 1990s

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BUSINESS & THE ECONOMY(Michael Berry)

     The 1990s were a prosperous time in American history. At the beginning of the decade, the economy was in a slump and the national debt had been at its highest since the beginning of Eisenhower’s presidency. By the end of the decade, the national debt had decreased greatly and the stock market had reached new highs.

 

            This stock market bubble, in which the market increased by over three and a half times in 10 years, was fed by the dot-com boom or bubble. This was mainly due to large imaginations and little knowledge of the limits to the usage of the internet. Many small start-ups popped up purporting to sell goods such as groceries, pet supplies, and books through the Internet (“1990s: Commerce” 2). Many venture capital firms would invest in these dreams, and many of these ideas were allowed to grow. While some were legitimate, many were far-fetched. The main attraction to the venture capital firms was the virtually nonexistent startup cost. However, with the use of the internet as a method of trading stocks, many everyday people got into investing over the Internet, and invested in many of these startups as they launched their IPOs.

            One of the best symbols of this decadent spending and investing is the Mall of America – a giant temple of American consumerism, the largest shopping mall in the country (“1990s: Commerce” 4).

            With the advent of the internet and the popularization of personal computer, the company that designed the system that ran these computers, Microsoft, became incredibly wealthy. They had a near-monopoly on the operating-system market, and were even persecuted for it.

 

EDUCATION (Clarissa Wormsbaecher)

     During the 1990’s parents, business leaders, and politicians were not happy with test scores of students. The standardized test scores, for example from the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) were not as high as people wanted them to be. Then parents actually wanted to see that their students were learning something in schools. Due to low test scores and violence in schools many parents looked at different ways of schooling for their children. Different ways of schooling included home schooling, private schools, and alternative schools. Children could attend private schools with a tuition fee, although many Americans could not afford to pay the high fees. In the 1990’s there were around 40 million school aged children and 30 million of them were in public schools, but half of the parents whose students were in public schools said they would have their child attend a private school if they had the money. Alternative schooling usually meant teaching humanistic/progressive philosophies, but during this time more conservative and religious bases educations for alternative schools were being formed.

     In the 1990's parents were not only concerned about teaching in schools, but also about violence in schools. A study was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and they found that about 31.5 of young males in high school carried a weapon with them during the school day. Throughout the country there were incidents of shootings in high schools as well as middle schools. Also, day care centers even had incidents of their children bringing in weapons. Regular deaths of students and teachers shocked the nation. There was the shooting at the Columbine High School in 1999, and although the shooting happened because a school unrelated incident, this incident terrified the nation. Locker searches, police searches, and dogs that searched lockers were part of the regular routines. Also, metal detectors were becoming more common.                                             

    

 

FASHION (Tim Millerman) 

       During the 1990's, casual fashion became the norm on a greater level than any other time in the history of Western Culture. Typical attire went from dress suits and ties 50 years ago, to t-shirts and jeans of all sorts, in all conditions. Looking good was no longer the sole priority; now, comfort played an increasing role in the type of clothing selected and worn. It is believed that the tradition started from the tradition of "casual Fridays," started that decade, where every Friday, employees could opt out of standard formal attire in favor of a more casual or snappy-casual shirt with kakhi pants. As the decade went on, every day became a casual dress day, and only the most formal employers or a major business transaction would require a business suit. Meanwhile, the younger generation, the Generation X, dared to experiment with self-expression through clothing like never before, doing odd, daring things to their dress which would help express themselves. Some dressed with popular-again brands like Abercrombie and Fitch or American Eagle, while others, such as goths, dressed with an emphasis on black, and everyone else in between dressed in so many other countless ways. Hairstyles varied considerably, with some guys growing their hair to their shoulders, women getting buzzcuts, and vice versa. One thing that was faddish and tried and experimented with heavily during that time especially was bodily decoration. A generation had developed that found renewed interest in tattoos of all forms, as well as body piercings which could be made on practically any part of the body.

 

FILM AND THEATER  (Thomas Bouranis) 

          The 1990's saw an increase of special effect films. With the advancement in computer graphics, films Total Recall (1990), which featured the first fully CGI character, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), setting the standard for all science fiction and fantasy films to come, paved the way for enhanced computer characters, settings, and props used throughout the decade. Films that relied heavily on these effects, most notably the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (1993), the ship in Titanic (1997), many of the characters, settings and props in Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (1999), and the first all CGI film Toy Story (1995), became the highest grossing films of the decade, with Titanic becoming the first film to gross $1 billion, the number one film for over 20 years.

 

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          However, not all films needed high effects budgets to become popular. Films like Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction (1994), as well as Fight Club and The Sixth Sense (1999) were able to attract moviegoers on sheer storytelling alone. Furthermore, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction began the age of independent film makers, with large movie studios even creating their own "independent" companies to give the audience the flavour of independent films.

          Animated family films once again became popular in the 1990s, under the flag of the "Disney Renaissance." This movement by the Walt Disney Corporation to improve the quality of their animated films, after a slowdown in the 1980s, produced such films as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, and Tarzan, which were critically acclaimed and very popular throughout the decade.

          Movies also began to be owned in new ways as well. DVDs began to take over the old market of VHS, supplying superior sound and visual quality. With media on this new, electronic form, as well as the introduction to the civilian internet, file sharing, and DVD pirating developed and grew more common as the decade progressed.

          Finally theatre began to change in the 1990s as well. Rather than independently written plays and musicals, theatre began to draw increasingly from cinema; for example, The Lion King, based on the Disney film of the same name, becoming one of the most popular shows.

 

FOOD & DRINK (Michael Berry) 

     Starbucks was a major influence in the cuisine of the 1990s, as well as the culture behind it. In 1990, Starbucks had 84 stores, and by 2000, they had 3300 stores. This massive growth is indicative of much in the era. Starbucks was the number-one specialty coffee store in the U.S. by the late 1990s (Edelman 4). It cultivated a culture to the cuisine of the country by establishing a popular high-end chain that provided a place not only to get food but also for people to meet and converse.

     Many of the chain restaurant mainstays of the past decades continued to lead the industry in profits, market share, and popularity. These include McDonalds, Burger King, and Subway.

     During the 1990s, the negative effects of fast food culture of the past decades is seen profusely. In 1994, a study done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that 1/3 of America's adult population was obese (20% overweight), and that this number was rising rapidly(Trager). This study, as well as other symptoms of an unhealthy cuisine culture, led to actions such as the restriction of the content of school lunches, and the introduction of nutrition education. 

     Despite these changes to the school system, much of the adult population was addicted to fast food. Much of the country remained stuck with fast food as a large food source with the busier and busier lives they led. In addition,the hours of TV children watched exposed them to so many commercials that schools couldn't quite compete. Some of these commercials are depicted below.

 

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PRINT CULTURE (Michael Berry)

     Print Culture during the 1990s was revolutionized in several ways. Increasingly, print culture was no longer put into print. With the popularization of books on tape, many people no longer read but rather listened to printed works ("Print Culture" 1). In addition, with the advent of the Internet there was a whole new communication medium, as well as an advertising medium and a publication medium. This decade also saw the advent of the "e-Book" as many people rushed to the internet for reading and publishing books ("Print Culture" 2). Despite all these new advances, however, many people stuck to the known, understood print medium, reading bestsellers like Amy Tan, Tom Clancy, and John Grisham (Whitley).

     Two major trends emerged in Print Culture that epitomize the 1990s: the Harry Potter book series and the popularization of the Dilbert comic strip. The Harry Potter series is a throwback to the past in a time of increasingly online and digital movement. Despite all the technologies, Harry Potter became wildly popular through print. It is accredited with bringing new life to children's reading (Routledge 2). The stories also teach the virtues of humility and innocence, a powerful influence on the growth of a generation.

     Dilbert, meanwhile, is a comic strip that became popular in the early 1990s, and depicts workplace life in the 1990s. Many white-collar, cubicle workers find a great amount of truth in the comic strip. It is a valuable resource to understanding the mainstream culture in addition to the working conditions of many in the 1990s. Tom Brown claims that, “Dilbert is about human rights, human purpose, and human potential. It's what the human resources profession is about, or ought to be, as well." Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert was a modern muckraker.

(Printed February 5 1995)

 

SPORTS & GAMES (Clarissa Wormsbaecher) 

     In the 1990’s popular sports included baseball, basketball, golf, football, and hockey. Famous people related to baseball were Cal Ripken Jr., Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa. Without a doubt, basketballs most famous player was Michael Jordan, who is still recognized today for his amazing basketball abilities. Golf was becoming more of an older or more boring sport until a new player, Tiger Woods, joined the game. Tiger Woods was an amazing player, but Jack Nicklaus was still known as the greatest golfer at that time and through the whole decade. Football was popular for all ages and almost everyone knew of Peyton Manning who started as a college player and then played at the professional level. It was during this decade that ice hockey became a national sport because all states finally had an ice hockey team.

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     The Media did not only show sports games or different events related to sports on television, but they also reported many of the new found crimes and the violence having to do with people who were famous in some sporting games. A large scandal was that O.J. Simpson, a large football star, was being charged with murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. In the end Simpson was not convicted of this charge. Another scandal was that Mike Tyson, a boxer, was charged for rape and he was so aggressive during a match that he bit off an opponent’s ear.

Some of the largest scandals dealt with drug abuse, especially steroid use to build muscle. There was crime in all level of sports, even at the Olympic level. Tonya Harding, a figure skater, attacked a competitor of hers, Nancy Kerrigan, which was supposed to keep her out of the Olympic Games, but that failed.

     Women were previously involved in sports, but now they were actually becoming recognized for what they were doing. In 1991 the United States Women’s Soccer Team won the first Women’s World Cup. This happened again in 1999. Brandi Chastain shot the final pentaly kick that won the game. She ripped off her jersey, revealing her sports bra, and she held up her fist showing their strong win. This represented that women were just as active in sports as men were, and they also did not always carry themselves well. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, the American gymnasts, many of them who are women, won the team gold. At the 1998 Winter Olympics, the American women hockey players took gold. In 1997, the WNBA, Women’s National Basketball Association was founded, and they became very big. Also, Venus and Serena Williams, two African American sisters began to lead world tennis. These women were so famous, they became household names. Other women include Mia Hamm  (soccer), Lindsay Davenport (tennis), Picabo Street (skiing), Sheryl Swoopes (basketball), Bonnie Blair and Tara Lipinski (ice skating), Betsy King (golf), and Chamique Holdsclaw (basketball).
     In the 1990s, new types of sports called extreme sports were becoming more popular. These were sports that were not considered main-stream and were a little dangerous. These sports included, skateboarding, extreme biking, inline skating, bungee jumping. For these sports there was an even called the X Games, which first started in 1995 which was like an Olympics for these sports. During this decade, in-line skating was supposed to be the fastest growing sport in the world.  Below is a video clip of in-line skating during the 1995 X Games.

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MUSIC  (Tim Millerman)

In the music world, the driving force behind new music being created in the 90’s was a dynamic one. There was no longer such a thing as a defined genre of music, as alternatives to now classics genres of music appeared—alternative rock, alternative jazz, alternative everything. What genres that had existed had crossed over, melded various elements of one another in the decidedly experimental music world of the decade. Country music, for instance, was blended with popular music elements to produce modern country, with singers such as LeAnn Rimes and Shania Twain at the forefront of that movement. Meanwhile, in the rock world, experimental bands took rock-and-roll and classic rock, added expression of the angst of their generation, and borrowed also from electronic and other heavier, rougher types of music. One phenomenon of the alternative rock emergence was Grunge rock and its culture, lead by Kurt Cobain and his band Nirvana. Also, new venues of sharing and celebrating the musical experience of the time, such as Lollapalooza were created, in the legacy of Woodstock ’69, as well as  Rave parties, with high-intensity electronic music and light shows. Other big movements included boy bands, such as N*SYNC, and pop diva Brittney Spears.

 

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Grunge)

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Muse - Muscle Museum (Alternative Rock)

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Darude - Sandstorm (Electronic Rave)

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N*SYNC - I Want You Back (Pop)

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"THE WAY WE LIVED" (Deepak Kumar)

During the 1990's, the American culture was almost as well defined as it is today. People had a proper family, went to work, and had most of the similar material views on life as we do today. One major evolution occured in the 1990's, however. The biggest technological advance in American History, the Internet, was invented. The Internet provided more connection between people than ever before. Now, for the first time in life, people could talk and connect with anyone in the world that was too connected to the Internet. People began to "shop, fall in love, and waste time" on the Internet (Pendergast). While the Internet did provide a staple to American culture unlike anything known before, life still went on around it.

 

 

American children in this decade fell in love with the "Pocket Monsters", or more commonly known as Pokemon. This provided a large craze in all American children of all ages. This large uprising in the video game era was not only unexpected, but also rocketed a brand new market in America. Game makers all around the world began to work on making more powerful and fun games, and thus, the large video game market was created.

 

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GOVERNMENT & POLITICS (Thomas Bouranis)

          The political atmosphere of the 1990's was decidedly different than that of the rest of the 20th Century following World War II. Unlike these eras, the Superpower Struggle between the United States and USSR did not cast its shadow over the political stage. By January 1st,1990 all territories of the Soviet Union had begun their transition away from Soviet-style governments. It continued to rot away at its edges until the end of 1991, when the USSR ceased to exist ("Overview").

          This radical change in global politics, the ending of the conflict that had begun in the ashes of World War II, marked a new era for the United States, and for the world. The great conflict, fought on various fronts but orchestrated by only two powers, had shattered into dozens of minor conflicts with many opponents, fighting one another in ethic disputes that had been ignored, but not forgotten, under the shadow of the Cold War. The splintered USSR no longer had security over its nuclear arms, and proliferation became widespread, putting nuclear power not in the hands of two global superpowers, but instead in control of many countries. The forced “peace” of mutually assured destruction was no more, and the threat of small scale nuclear war inched ever higher ("Overview").

          With the end of the War, and for the first time in its history, ("Overview") America was without a clear adversary, be it the British, French, Spanish, Germans, or recently, Soviets. However, this fundamental change did not last long. In the wake of the collapse, smaller nations fought to be the next world player. On this note, in August of 1990, Iraq, under the leadership of their president, Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait due to a border dispute. World War II veteran and United States President, George Bush, equating Hussein's actions with Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia ("Overview"), retaliated with force; thus began the Gulf War, the United State's first conflict in the post-Cold War era. With superior military force the United States and its allies quickly retook Kuwait. While the war was won, its influence continued to be felt throughout the decade and into the future, as the United States expended resources keeping Hussein in check, and shifted the focus of global politics to the Middle East.

 

Operation Desert Storm

 

          Two years later, Democrat William "Bill" Clinton took over the presidency. A long shot, against the Republican Party's political clout stemming from the victorious Gulf War, it was in the end Clinton's masterful campaigning skills and focus on the economy that led to his victory ("Overview"). Throughout his presidency he maintained his campaign promises to re-work health care, a bill that flopped in Congress, and raise taxes to lower the budget deficit. Residing over the longest period of peacetime since World War II, Clinton both expanded the economy and lowered public debt, the combination of these two factors resulting in a decrease from 65% to 55% national debt per GDP.

 

 

          Following his first term, Clinton ran another masterful campaign portraying himself as a moderate, appealing to Republicans alienated by their increasingly extremist party ("Overview"). With his final term, however, came the scandal surrounding himself, and secretary Monica Lewinsky, resulting in his impeachment and acquittal, causing many voters to again lose faith in both Clinton and his party.

 

 

LEADERSHIP   (Thomas Bouranis)

     The 1990’s began with the end of an era. This clear shift was marked by the end of the Cold War, the end of Reaganomics, and the end of the conservative 1980’s.

 

     Looking at the beginning of the decade however, one would never have guessed that would be the case. The President at the start of the 1990’s was George H. W. Bush, a republican from Texas. At this moment, things were looking good for the President. The economic policies of Reagan before him still held strong in the Cold War era world, with massive defense spending and tax cuts, keeping his approval ratings high. With the fall of the Soviet Union, however, Bush’s policy was ever so slowly beginning to wear away. But for the time being he remained strong. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1991, Bush drew upon his experiences in World War II and equated his actions with Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia. Gathering forces from around the globe, Bush instigated Operation Desert Storm to drive the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. In a sweep that was seen by many as vastly successful, Bush was able to force Hussein to retreat, and won what would later be known as the Gulf War. Riding on this military victory, Bush’s public approval soared, and with elections coming up, a second term seemed on the horizon.

 

President George H. W. Bush

 

     However, the democratic governor from Arkansas would quickly change the political landscape. A master campaigner, he used every tool available to him to point out Bush’s main shortcoming: his economic policy. In the time since the end of the both the Gulf and Cold Wars, military spending had remained the same, and in this time of peace, was becoming more and more difficult to justify. In the end, this man’s ability to campaign won out over Bush’s political victories. This man was Bill Clinton.

 

President William J. "Bill" Clinton

 

     Clinton was born in Arkansas in 1946. As a young man, he led a troubled family life, with an abusive, alcoholic step-father. However, in actions that would mark him as a man willing to stand up for what he believed in, at 15 he stood up to his step-father and refused to take anymore abuse from him. As he grew older, Clinton continued to stand up for his beliefs. At Georgetown University, he was strongly against the Vietnam War and helped in the civil rights struggle. He delivered food and medicine to those who needed it in the unrest following Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination. He later attended Oxford University, where he also wrote to the Arkansas ROTC colonel about avoiding the Vietnam War draft, an action that would later come back to haunt him as President. In 1978, he became the youngest governor of Arkansas to date, and in 1992, he set his eyes on the presidency.

 

Young Bill Clinton shakes hands with then-President John F. Kennedy

 

     Clinton’s administration covered the majority of the 1990’s, from 1992 to 2000. He was a President of firsts. He was the first democrat elected to a second term since Roosevelt. He was the first peacetime President since World War II. He was the first President of the Baby Boomers. And finally, he was the first president to lower the budget deficit since the institution of Reaganomics. Clinton worked hard to institute liberal reforms, such as raising taxes and lowering military spending. In 1993, he changed the relation of North American countries and passed NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, many projects did not go his way. His “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding gays in the military was widely considered a failure, as well as his healthcare policy. However, he overcame these issues, and propelled himself into a second tem, and though he accomplished much, it was also marked by avid controversy.

 

     During an investigation into a shady land deal by the Clintons in Arkansas, Kenneth Starr uncovered a far more serious issue. The investigation found Clinton to be having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. To make matters worse for himself, Clinton lied under oath that he “did not have sexual relations with that woman.” For these reasons, in 1998, Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives, but was later acquitted. Furthermore, his draft dodge came into question as well, with many Americans questioning his honesty to the American people as a result. However, Clinton also found success in his second term. He used his economic policy to create for the first time a surplus in the United States economy. He used his diplomatic skills to prevent civil war in Catholic-Protestant divided Ireland. He increased welfare, lowered crime, and brought the Democratic Party out of the 1960’s into the modern world.

 

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     Though his administration was filled with controversy, his 66% approval rating at the end of his terms was the highest of any post-WWII President, and is regarded by many as one of the more successful ones in the history of the United States.

 

LAW & JUSTICE (Deepak Kumar)

     The 1990's were a time of change and advancements, and the style of Law and Justice was no different. The American view on the law completely changed; new mediums of evidence were formed, new supreme court justices were appointed, and one of the most heinous political scandals was uncovered. The law and justice system took an extremely drastic turn during this decade.

 

     One major change that occured during the 1990's was the new medium of evidence that was allowed. A large portion of DNA testing was introduced in the 1990's, and therefore DNA was a new piece of evidence unknown to the public before. DNA allowed progress that was unthinkable. With DNA technology, we would no longer be in the shadows of doubt when it came to the final verdict. DNA technology played roles in several cases, such as the OJ Simpson case and several more sexual offense cases.

 

     Another large event that occurred during this time was the Clinton scandal. The President at the time was involved in a large sexual scandal that gripped the country in more ways than one. Details aside, the government and people of America were severely troubled by this new scandal. They believed that if someone as “pure” as Clinton could be corrupted, then everyone could. The country was in a state of rage and panic. Their rage threw Clinton into a political and legal war, to the point where he was technically impeached as president. However, Congress, with their power, managed to acquit him of all charges against his person. Even so, the American Public could never view him the same.

            The 1990’s were a time of change and advancements. With the change that occurred, so too did the legal system and its methods. Its cases evolved, and the complexity of its structure changed.

 

 

RELIGION (Clarissa Wormsbaecher)

     A majority of the population continued to be Protestants and Catholics with about 95% of people believing in God, but there was a rising number of people who classified themselves as Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus. Also, about 40 percent of people said they attended church services on a regular basis. This was about the same amount of people who also attended church in the previous few decades.

     Some people who shared “common commitment to traditionally conceived Judeo-Christian values and behavioral norms” began to believe that their religion and culture lost its values because the public accepted homosexuals, different lifestyles that were not traditional, and the religious outlawing of abortion failed. The people who had the “common commitment to traditionally conceived Judeo-Christian values and behavioral norms” all interpreted that the Bible was against all of those things, and that was their interpretation of it while there were also other people who Believed differently and interpreted the Bible differently.

     Everyone is supposed to be entitled to their own beliefs, but in the 1990's not everyone was accepting of the different religions that were becoming more popular. Religious differences during the 1990s caused some violence. For example the well known shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 were due to religious differences. Also, in 1995 there was the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Anti-Semitic groups, hate groups, and “right to live” advocates attacked doctors who performed abortions and said their actions were justified by the Bible. Violence such as attacks on society and groups of homosexuals was also said to be justified by the Bible.    

 

Positive Political Cartoon

 

 

 

This cartoon portrays the American farmer as he leads out of the great farming crash in the 1980's and moves towards the powerful, glowing, 1990's.

 

Negative Political Cartoon

This Cartoon portrays the negative aspects of alcoholism in the 1990's.

 

 

 

MYP Unit Question: How did culture, events and leadership shape and reflect post-WWII America?

 

          The 1990’s were the beginning of a new era, in more ways than one. First, the Cold War, the prevailing conflict throughout the 20th century, had gone. This event, which had spanned nearly half the century, had affected so much of the culture, mindset, and lifestyles of the people of that era, that its vanishing marked a new period for America. Prior to the 1990’s, it was but 2 superpowers that dominated global politics; now there was a hodgepodge of smaller different forces opposing both the United States and one another. This conglomerate of factions muddled the world stage in a way that was never possible in the U.S.S.R. vs. U.S. years. It caused a need for new strategies, an increase in globalization, reviving new ways of thinking that had not been used in the Cold War years.

            The second way the United States entered a new era in the 1990’s was through its leadership. In the years prior, the political landscape had been dominated by republican presidents, while the occasional democrat never even received a second term. All that changed in the 1990s, with the Clinton administration from 1992 to 2000. His liberal reforms set the stage for the new millennium. Moving away from the conservative “Reaganomics” of the 1980s, Clinton established economic reform, raising taxes, lowering government spending, decreasing the budget deficit, and encouraging intra-continental trade through NAFTA. While many of his other reforms were failures, including “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for gay rights, and his healthcare insurance plan, he still changed the way Americans would look at the Democratic Party, and brought it into the modern world.

            Finally, the introduction of the Internet to the public caused a culture change in the 1990s that continues to this day. The Internet changed the way people related to one another. No longer did one have to send a letter and wait up to weeks for a reply; the introduction of electronic mail (e-mail) allowed for communication at the speed of light. The Internet bolstered globalization, connecting people around the world in a way that would have been impossible before the 1990s. The concept of anonymity empowered people, and encouraged the growth of blogs and other methods of personal expression. Finally, information gathering became easier as well. The first “web crawlers,” the predecessors to search engines appeared, allowing one to scan the growth ‘net for news and information.

            All of these fundamental changes set the 1990s apart from all other decades of the 20th century. The cultural and political changes of the 1990s put the decade closer to today than the past. Because of these changes, the 1990s began a new era of American life. While it may not be chronologically, the 1990s is, arguably, truly the first decade of the 21st century; the era of the modern United States of America.

 

 

Works Cited

 

 

Adams, Scott. "Dilbert." Cartoon. 5 Feb. 1995. Web. 28 May 2010. <http://dilbert.com/fast/1995-02-05>. 

 

"Bill Clinton." American Decades 1990-1999. Tandy McConnell, ed. Gale Group, 2001.
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Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America. Eds. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3: 1940s-1950s. Detroit: U*X*L, 2002. Print.
 
 "Overview." American Decades. Vol. 10: 1990-1999. Gale Virtual Reference Library. 8 June 2010.

 

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Gianoulis, Tina. "Extreme Sports." Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America. Vol. 5: 1980s-1990s. Gale Virtual Reference Library. 8 June 2010. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CCX3425100771&v=2.1&u=lom_inac&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w>.

 

 

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