Acts

Question 1

Dawes Act

Answer 1

the law authorized the President to break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a tribe, into small allotments to be parceled out to individuals

Question 2

Civil Service Act of 1883

Answer 2

provided that federal government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit and that government employees be selected through competitive exams

Question 3

Sherman Antitrust Act

Answer 3

authorized the federal government to institute proceedings against trusts in order to dissolve them. Any combination “in the form of trust or otherwise that was in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states, or with foreign nations” was declared illegal

Question 4

Chinese Exclusion Act

Answer 4

the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. In the spring of 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Chester A. Arthur. This act provided an absolute 10-year ban on Chinese laborers immigrating to the United States

Question 5

Hepburn Act

Answer 5

intended to give power to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to regulate railroad shipping rates.

Question 6

Pure Food and Drug Act

Answer 6

prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce and laid a foundation for the nation’s first consumer protection agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Question 7

Cayton Act

Answer 7

the act of selling the same product to different buyers and charging different prices based on who is purchasing the goods. The law prohibits such practices if they substantially lessen competition, as this practice may incidentally create a monopoly.

Question 8

Selective Service Act

Answer 8

authorized the Federal Government to temporarily expand the military through conscription. The act eventually required all men between the ages of 21 to 45 to register for military service.

Question 9

Espionage Act

Answer 9

prohibited obtaining information, recording pictures, or copying descriptions of any information relating to the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information may be used for the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation.

Question 10

Sedition Act

Answer 10

made it a crime for American citizens to “print, utter, or publish… any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the government. The laws were directed against Democratic-Republicans, the party typically favored by new citizens.

Question 11

Emergency Banking Act

Answer 11

allows the twelve Federal Reserve Banks to issue additional currency on good assets and thus the banks that reopen will be able to meet every legitimate call. The new currency is being sent out by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to every part of the country.”

Question 12

Glass-Segal Act

Answer 12

effectively separated commercial banking from investment banking and created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, among other things. It was one of the most widely debated legislative initiatives before being signed into law by President Franklin D

Question 13

National Industrial Recovery Act

Answer 13

a law passed by the United States Congress in 1933 to authorize the President to regulate industry in an attempt to raise prices after severe deflation and stimulate economic recovery

Question 14

Economy Act

Answer 14

cut the salaries of federal workers and reduced benefit payments to veterans, moves intended to reduce the federal deficit in the United States

Question 15

Agricultural Adjustment Act

Answer 15

reduced agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant on part of their land and to kill off excess livestock

Question 16

Wagner Act

Answer 16

guarantees workers the right of collective bargaining sets down rules to protect unions and organizers

Question 17

Social Security Act

Answer 17

established a system of old-age benefits for workers, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, aid for dependent mothers and children, the blind, and the physically handicapped.

Question 18

Housing Act

Answer 18

Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, U.S. federal legislation that protects individuals and families from discrimination in the sale, rental, financing, or advertising of housing.

Question 19

Smith Act

Answer 19

a federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the US government and required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government.

Question 20

Neutrality Acts

Answer 20

sought to ensure that the United States would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts. The Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1936 barred Americans from lending money to warring nations or selling them arms.

Question 21

Lend Lease Acts

Answer 21

authorized the providing of materials to nations that protected the United States. There were no limits on weapons loaned or sums of money or the use of American ports. It allowed the president to transfer materials to Britain WITHOUT payment as required by the Neutrality Act.

Question 22

Taft-Harley Act

Answer 22

prohibited jurisdictional strikes, wildcat strikes, solidarity or political strikes, secondary boycotts, secondary and mass picketing, closed shops, and monetary donations by unions to federal political campaigns

Question 23

McCarren-Walter Act

Answer 23

a federal immigration law passed by Congress that did not allow anyone considered a political subversive to migrate to the US and gave special preference to those fleeing Communist countries.

Question 24

National Defense Act

Answer 24

Compromise made that would allow for gradual expansion of army and navy with federal funding in the wake of US involvement in WWI

Question 25

National Defense Education Act

Answer 25

established the legitimacy of federal funding of higher education and made substantial funds available for low-cost student loans, boosting public and private colleges and universities.

Question 26

Civil Rights Act

Answer 26

prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.

Question 27

Voting Rights Act

Answer 27

aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States

Question 28

Hart-Cellar Act

Answer 28

transformed immigration policy in the United States. The 1965 Hart–Celler Act overhauled immigration policy in the United States by increasing access for new immigrant groups and producing a demographic revolution in the U.S. population.

Question 29

Rehabilitation Act

Answer 29

the first law to provide equal access for people with disabilities by removing architectural, employment, and transportation barriers.

Question 30

War Powers Act

Answer 30

A resolution of Congress that stated the President can only send troops into action abroad by authorization of Congress or if America is already under attack or serious threat.

Question 31

Comprehensive Crime Control Act

Answer 31

The bill’s main sections cover bail, sentencing reform, forfeiture of assets, the insanity defense, penalties for drug law offenses, federal grants and other assistance in the area of criminal justice, and transfers of surplus Federal property to States or localities.