The Affluent Society Flashcards

1
Q

America’s economic prosperity in the 1950s was fueled by

A
  • (ALL OF THESE ANSWERS ARE CORRECT)
  • increased public funding of schools, housing, veterans’ benefits, welfare, and interstate highways
  • massive military spending inspired by the Cold War
  • the “baby boom” and rapid expansion of the suburbs
  • increased spending on social programs
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2
Q

Prosperity helped many Americans to ignore which of the following pressing issues during this period?

A
  • (ALL OF THESE ANSWERS ARE CORRECT)
  • the 20 percent of Americans who lived in poverty in the 1950s
  • the discrimination suffered by minorities
  • the discontent of many American women in their traditional roles
  • the discontent of returning veterans
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3
Q

Which portion of the nation grew most rapidly during the late 1940s and 1950s?

A

West

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4
Q

The prosperity of the 1950s was accompanied by

A

corporate mergers and the formation of conglomerates.

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5
Q

All of the following trends marked the American labor movement of the 1950s EXCEPT

A

greater success in organizing new workers than in winning benefits for workers already organized in strong unions.

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6
Q

According to many social observers, American culture in the 1950s seemed dominated by a(n)

A

absorption with consumer goods by a growing middle class.

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7
Q

In contrast to that of the central cities, life in suburbia became attractive to many American families in the 1950s because the suburbs seemed to provide

A

larger, safer, and more private homes.

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8
Q

According to the widely respected child-care expert of the late 1940s and 1950s, Dr. Benjamin Spock, mothers should

A

subordinate their activities and interests to the needs of their children.

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9
Q

According to the text, during the 1950s, television

A

heightened the sense of alienation and powerlessness among minority groups.

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10
Q

According to the text, the most widely revered heroes of the United States during the early 1960s were the nation’s

A

astronauts

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11
Q

Critics of the increasing influence of organized society argued that these changes

A

made Americans more focused on their own values and less on the concerns of society.

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12
Q

Both the beats and rock ‘n’ roll

A

tried to resist the conformity of American culture in the 1950s

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13
Q

When the governor of Arkansas and, later, an angry mob of citizens attempted to prevent the court-ordered racial integration of a high school in Little Rock, President Eisenhower responded by

A

sending federal troops to uphold the court order.

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14
Q

The Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott was significant in establishing a new form of racial protest and in elevating which black leader to prominence as a new leader in the civil rights movement?

A

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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15
Q

Joseph McCarthy’s influence in the nation waned quickly mainly as a consequence of

A

his behavior in the Army-McCarthy hearings.

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16
Q

The expression “more bang for a buck” was related to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles’s announced policy of

A

massive retaliation.

17
Q

In his farewell address in January 1961, Eisenhower warned the American people against

A

the influence of the military-industrial complex.

18
Q

Which of the following scientists made his most valued contribution during the 1950s?

A

Jonas Salk

19
Q

What outcome did UNIVAC correctly predict for CBS television news, marking a breakthrough in public awareness of computer technology?

A

Eisenhower’s election in 1952

20
Q

Which of the following events served to revitalize the environmental movement in the 1950s?

A

Echo Park

21
Q

To whom is the quote “what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa” attributed?

A

Charles Wilson