2nd Semester Final Exam Study Guide

Question 1

What were fireside chats?

Answer 1

They were radio addresses that told people what the President’s plans were for recovery

Question 2

What were the First Hundred Days?

Answer 2

They were often referred to as the First New Deal. It was a time to recover from war and build the economy up

Question 3

What was the FDIC

Answer 3

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, this program was to gain support and trust from the public in banks. It guaranteed up to $5,00 in deposits. It is still a running agency today

Question 4

What was the SEC?

Answer 4

The Security Exchange Commission made it a requirement that companies publish their statistics. It also regulated the activities of stockbrokers.

Question 5

What was the NIRA?

Answer 5

The National Industrial Recovery Act increased production in factories and other businesses while increasing employee wages.

Question 6

What was the PWA?

Answer 6

The Public Works Administration was created to oversee the new construction happening in America and to create jobs. It ended up failing and not having much impact of the economy.

Question 7

What was the AAA?

Answer 7

The Agricultural Adjustment Administration was meant to lower the production and price of crops.

Question 8

What was the TVA?

Answer 8

The Tennessee Valley Authority built dams, bridges, and roads. They also helped keep the national forests alive and well. This program helped create jobs.

Question 9

What was the CCC?

Answer 9

The Civilian Conservation Corps was created to provide work for the unemployed. They did this by giving young men jobs to plant trees and work on other conservation projects.

Question 10

What was the REA?

Answer 10

The Rural Electrification Administration helped give electricity to farmland. Before this program was created, less than 20% of farms had electricity and afterwards almost 90% did.

Question 11

What was the NLRA?

Answer 11

The National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act, named after the senator that sponsored it, protected unions and the right to form unions. This later created the National Labor Relations Board. It did get overturned because it gave too much power to the President.

Question 12

What was the SSA?

Answer 12

The Social Security Act was created to help those who needed help. For instance, it gave money and other forms of support to the unemployed, elderly, mothers, children, and the blind.

Question 13

How did Stalin’s 5-Year Plan lead to millions of deaths?

Answer 13

This 5-year plan took private farming land and forced the farmers to move to collective, public forms. If you resisted, you would be killed. Because of this change, there was less food being farmed and grown. This led to a famine, which it why so many people died.

Question 14

What was Stalin’s Great Purge?

Answer 14

In 1936 the Soviet secret police arrested and executed many public officials. This was to see who was loyal to Stalin.

Question 15

What was the purpose of the Neutrality Acts?

Answer 15

They were created to keep America out of war.

Question 16

What nation did Germany attack, officially beginning World War II.

Answer 16

Germany invaded Poland.

Question 17

What Japanese action brought America into the war?

Answer 17

The attack on Peal Harbor brought America into the war.

Question 18

What is a war bond?

Answer 18

Americans could give a loan to the government during the war. After the war, the government would pay these loans back, but this was a good way to get money fast.

Question 19

What Supreme Court case affirmed the government policy of interning Japanese Americans?

Answer 19

Korematsu vs. United States was the case that decided that the American government had the right to keep Japanese Americans in interment camps.

Question 20

Who was the African American labor leader who met with Roosevelt?

Answer 20

A. Philip Randolph met with Roosevelt to confront him about the little that the government has helped to fight discrimination.

Question 21

What happened to the SS. St. Louis?

Answer 21

It was carrying Jews and tried to get into many countries. With the low amount of food and water, the ship went back to Europe. Many passengers got off in France, but many of the passengers were killed in concentration camps soon later.

Question 22

Who were the Braceros?

Answer 22

They were Mexican laborers brought to America.

Question 23

Where did American troops first fight against the Germans?

Answer 23

They first fought in North Africa.

Question 24

Which giant battle in the Soviet Union stopped Nazi advances into Russia?

Answer 24

The Battle of Stalingrad stopped the Nazi advance into Russia.

Question 25

Where did the D-Day invasion take place?

Answer 25

It took place in France in order to regain control.

Question 26

How many Jews were victims of the Holocaust? What percentage of the world Jewish population did this represent?

Answer 26

Around 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. it was about 40% of the world’s Jewish population.

Question 27

Who were the Code Talkers?

Answer 27

Code Talkers were Indigenous Navajo. Because it is not a written language, and very few knew it, it was very hard, if not impossible to decode.

Question 28

What were the important weapons at the Battle of Midway?

Answer 28

The American planes and 3 aircraft carries attacked and demolished the Japanese fleet.

Question 29

What was the Manhattan Project?

Answer 29

It was a project that created the atomic bomb.

Question 30

Which 2 cities were bombed with the Atom bombs?

Answer 30

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the cities targeted by the atomic bombs

Question 31

What is the U.N Security Council?

Answer 31

It consists of 15 member countries and 5 of them are permanent. It is a team that is meant to create peace and security for the nations and can use military force if needed. If a permanent member doesn’t agree or like a resolution, they have the power to veto it.

Question 32

Where did the victorious Allies try German war criminals?

Answer 32

Nazi officials were just part of the people tried for war crimes at Nuremberg. They also punished any Japanese officials who committed war crimes.

Question 33

What help did veterans gain through the GI Bill?

Answer 33

It short, it gave federal money and policies to veterans returning from war in order to help them transition to normal life.

Question 34

What was the Iron Curtain?

Answer 34

It was an imaginary barrier between Eastern and Western Europe from 1945 to 1990.

Question 35

What are Superpowers?

Answer 35

A nation so powerful that it influences or controls less powerful states.

Question 36

What is Containment?

Answer 36

It was a United States policy to attempt to restrict Soviet Union influence around the world.

Question 37

What was the Truman Doctrine?

Answer 37

It would give economic and military assistance to countries trying to fight communism.

Question 38

What was the Marshall Plan?

Answer 38

It was a plan to give aid to European countries after World War II.

Question 39

What is McCarthyism?

Answer 39

It is publicly accusing someone of something without any evidence or proof. This was named after a senator who accused people of supporting communism but didn’t have any proof.

Question 40

What was the Rosenberg Trial?

Answer 40

A couple was charged and executed for sharing atomic bomb secrets with the Soviet Union. They were the only American civilians who were put to death for spying during the Cold War.

Question 41

What was the HUAC?

Answer 41

It was created to investigate subversive organizations in the United States. Its main focus in 1947 was communists in Hollywood.

Question 42

What was De facto segregation?

Answer 42

When people were segregated, not by law but by practice.

Question 43

What was De jure segregation?

Answer 43

When people were segregated by law.

Question 44

Who was Jackie Robinson?

Answer 44

He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers after playing in the Negro Leagues.

Question 45

What was the Brown v. Board of Education?

Answer 45

This case outlawed segregation in public schools.

Question 46

What was the Warren Court?

Answer 46

Chief Justice Earl Warren and his Supreme Court were known for their civil rights and free speech activism.

Question 47

What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

Answer 47

It was a boycott starting with Rosa Parks refusing to move from her bus seat. This ended up with the integration of the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama.

Question 48

What were Freedom Rides?

Answer 48

Civil rights protests in which Black people and White people rode interstate buses together in 1961 to test whether southern states were complying with the Supreme Court ruling against segregation on interstate transport.

Question 49

What was Freedom Summer?

Answer 49

It was a campaign created by CORE and SNCC to register Black voters, specifically in Mississippi.

Question 50

What was the U-2 Incident?

Answer 50

There was a U-2 plane that was flying over the Soviet Union when it got caught. The pilot was given poison to drink in case of getting captured, but he was captured before he got the chance to take it. The leader of the Soviet Union was angry and blamed the U.S. for spying.

Question 51

What was the Berlin Airlift?

Answer 51

When the Berlin Blockade occurred, the Berlin Airlift helped give supplies to West Germany by plane over the course of 10 and 1/2 months.

Question 52

“Who lost China”

Answer 52

Some Republican leaders accused Truman because he supported the less popular leader.

Question 53

What was the 38th Parallel?

Answer 53

It divided North and South Korea, it was also the place where many battles and fighting took place during the Korean War. This is also the place of the DMZ.

Question 54

Why did Truman fire MacArthur?

Answer 54

MacArthur wanted to expand the conflict, while Truman wanted to resolve things. When MacArthur publicly questioned President Truman, he got fired.

Question 55

Who was Robert Kennedy?

Answer 55

He was appointed as Attorney General when Kennedy was in office. John F. Kennedy would talk and seek Robert’s advice for things like the Cuban missile crisis.

Question 56

Who was the First American in Space?

Answer 56

Alan Shepard was the first American to go into space. When he went into space, he completed a short spaceflight.

Question 57

Who was Fidel Castro?

Answer 57

He helped make Cuba a communist country with a planned economy. This scared the U.S. because they had a communist neighbor who was just 90 miles away.

Question 58

What were the findings of the Warren Commission?

Answer 58

It was created to understand Kennedy’s assassination. Many people did not agree with its findings, which were that the assassin acted alone.

Question 59

What was the Daisy Commercial?

Answer 59

It was part of President Johnson’s campaign and practically scared people into voting for him. It was a commercial that showed a young girl playing outside and then a nuclear bomb droppped.

Question 60

What was the Gideon v. Wainwright case?

Answer 60

Gideon did not have enough money for a lawyer, so he had to defend himself. When he appealed his case the court realized that his 6th Amendment right was violated. This made every person who was unable to afford a lawyer the right to a public attorney.

Question 61

Who was Ho Chi Minh?

Answer 61

He was the president of North Vietnam. He wanted Vietnam to be independent and wanted support from the U.S. An issue with this was that he had a communist ideology.

Question 62

What was the Domino Theory?

Answer 62

The belief that if Vietnam were to become a communist country, so would the rest of Southeast Asia.

Question 63

What was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

Answer 63

An American surveillance ship that was spying on the Vietnamese was fired at. A couple of days later another surveillance ship believed they were under attack. It was later found out that there was no one firing at them.