SECTION E: Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information

Question 1

Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.

Answer 1

• World War I
• World War II
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
• (Persian) Gulf War

Question 2

Why did the United States enter World War I?

Answer 2

• Because Germany attacked U.S. (civilian) ships
• To support the Allied Powers (England, France, Italy, and Russia)
• To oppose the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria)

Question 3

When did all women get the right to vote?

Answer 3

• 1920
• After World War I
• (With the) 19th Amendment

Question 4

What was the Great Depression?

Answer 4

• Longest economic recession in modern history

Question 5

When did the Great Depression start?

Answer 5

• The Great Crash (1929)

* Stock market crash of 1929

Question 6

Who was president during the Great Depression and World War II?

Answer 6

• (Franklin) Roosevelt

Question 7

Why did the United States enter World War II?

Answer 7

• (Bombing of) Pearl Harbor
• Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
• To support the Allied Powers (England, France, and Russia)
• To oppose the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan)

Question 8

Dwight Eisenhower is famous for many things. Name one.

Answer 8

• General during World War II
• President at the end of (during) the Korean War
• 34th president of the United States
• Signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (Created the Interstate System)

Question 9

Who was the United States’ main rival during the Cold War?

Answer 9

• Soviet Union
• USSR
• Russia

Question 10

During the Cold War, what was one main concern of the United States?

Answer 10

• Communism

* Nuclear war

Question 11

Why did the United States enter the Korean War?

Answer 11

To stop the spread of communism

Question 12

Why did the United States enter the Vietnam War?

Answer 12

To stop the spread of communism

Question 13

What did the civil rights movement do?

Answer 13

Fought to end racial discrimination

Question 14

Martin Luther King, Jr. is famous for many things. Name one.

Answer 14

• Fought for civil rights
• Worked for equality for all Americans
• Worked to ensure that people would “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content
of their character”

Question 15

Why did the United States enter the Persian Gulf War?

Answer 15

• To force the Iraqi military from Kuwait

Question 16

What major event happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States?

Answer 16

• Terrorists attacked the United States
• Terrorists took over two planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City
• Terrorists took over a plane and crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia
• Terrorists took over a plane originally aimed at Washington, D.C., and crashed in a field in Pennsylvania

Question 17

Name one U.S. military conflict after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Answer 17

• (Global) War on Terror
• War in Afghanistan
• War in Iraq

Question 18

Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.

Answer 18

• Apache
• Blackfeet
• Cayuga
• Cherokee
• Cheyenne
• Chippewa
• Choctaw
• Creek
• Crow
• Hopi
• Huron
• Inupiat
• Lakota
• Mohawk
• Mohegan
• Navajo
• Oneida
• Onondaga
• Pueblo
• Seminole
• Seneca
• Shawnee
• Sioux
• Teton
• Tuscarora
For a complete list of tribes, please visit bia.gov.

Question 19

Name one example of an American innovation.

Answer 19

• Light bulb
• Automobile (cars, combustible engine)
• Skyscrapers
• Airplane
• Assembly line
• Landing on the moon
• Integrated circuit (IC)