U.S. History 2

Question 1

14. Which situation resulted from Senator Joseph McCarthy’s search for Communists within the United States during the 1950’s?
15. Thousands of American citizens who believed in communism were either jailed or deported.
16. The reputations of many people were ruined by false accusations of disloyalty
17. Many high-ranking government officials were exposed as spies of the Soviet Union.
18. Organized groups of Communists began a wave of violent political terrorism.

Answer 1

Explanation: During the 1950’s the policy of “blacklisting” resulted in many Americans inside and outside the government loosing their jobs, without just cause, based solely on hearsay and innuendo.

Question 2

25. The Great Society of Lyndon Johnson is most similar to which other Presidential program?
26. Warren Harding’s Return to Normalcy
27. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal
28. Ronald Reagan’s New Federalism
29. George Bush’s Thousand Points of Light

Answer 2

Explanation: The Great Society programs of LBJ are similar to the New Deal programs of FDR in that both are an attempt to aid and assist the poorest Americans. Johnson’s Medicare program extended health care to the poorest and the office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was targeted at providing low-cost housing and economic aid to the nation’s urban centers. These compare well to FDR’s New Deal era programs like Social Security to protect the elderly and Works Progress Administration to provide jobs for the unemployed.

Question 3

2. The “clear and present danger” ruling of the Supreme Court in Schenck v. United Statesillustrates the continuing conflict between
3. free speech and governmental authority
4. the use of search warrants and the rights of the accused
5. state powers and Federal powers
6. religious freedom and separation of church and state

Answer 3

Explanation: Schenck’s speech was anti-government and ant-war (WWI). The ruling established the ability of the government to suppress speech and press that present a danger to it or its efforts.

Question 4

20. Which action designed to oppose a political or business policy is closest to the approach used by Martin Luther King, Jr.?
21. a war protester accepting a jail term rather than registering for the draft
22. a union picketer assaulting a strikebreaker
23. a government employee resisting arrest for failure to pay income taxes
24. dissatisfied workers destroying machinery in their factory

Answer 4

Explanation: This reflects the practice of “civil disobedience” advocated by Dr. Martin Luther King jr.. The idea behind this protest is to disobey laws that one considers unjust. In this example the selective service laws are being disobeyed by the war protestor. In the case of Dr. King and the civil rights struggle, laws on segregation were disobeyed by black protestors sitting at all-white lunch counters or riding segregated busses, etc..

Question 5

30. In the United States, most new jobs created during the 1980’s were jobs that
31. were classified as managerial
32. provided services rather than produced goods
33. depended on heavy manufacturing
34. were farm related

Answer 5

Explanation: Goods are actual products that are produced in factories or shops, such as toasters or clothing. Services are work done for others as part of a job or business, such as a haircut or consultation. The decline of manufacturing jobs in the United States as many companies relocated plants overseas in order to take advantage of lower costs was coupled with an increase in the service sector of the economy.

Question 6

3. Which action best demonstrated the United States effort to isolate itself from European conflicts after World War I?
4. lowering tariff rates
5. attempting to improve relations with Asia
6. failing to sign international disarmament agreements
7. refusing to join the League of Nations

Answer 6

Explanation: The League of Nations was to be a worldwide peacekeeping body. Even though the league was the creation of United States President Woodrow Wilson, the US never became a member. Republican opposition to the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations doomed US membership on the basis of loss of sovereignty. Many Senators feared the Unites States being drawn into another wide scale conflict (like WWI) because of league participation involved acceptance of league decisions and actions. This rejection of league membership and the Treaty of Versailles are the beginnings of the isolation typical of US foreign policy during the 1920’s and 30’s.

Question 7

10. A major cause of the growth of state and Federal highway systems after World War II was the
11. increased use of mass transit systems
12. growing prosperity of inner-city areas
13. rapid development of suburbs
14. return of city dwellers to farm areas

Answer 7

Explanation: As GI’s came home from World War II, married and started families, the crowded US cities resulted in a suburban growth in areas surrounding these cities. Jobs remained in the cities and as such, workers drove from the suburbs to the cities for employment. This trend required the growth of infrastructure to facilitate these new lifestyles. The federal highway system of the 1950’s was a result.

Question 8

18. Both the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba (1961) and the invasion of Panama (1989) are examples of United States attempts to
19. eliminate unfriendly governments geographically close to the United States
20. cultivate good relations with Latin American nations
21. stop the drug trade
22. end the Cold War

Answer 8

Explanation: Concepts such as the Monroe Doctrine (1823) and the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904), have given the US a greater involvement in the affairs of Latin American nations. The US backed, failed attempt to unseat Fidel Castro as leader of Cuba in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and the arrest of convicted drug trafficker and Panamanian President Manuel Noriega, illustrated this on-going involvement.

Question 9

31. Which statement is an opinion rather than a fact?
32. Penalties for crimes vary from state to state.
33. Most European nations no longer use capital punishment.
34. Most murders in the United States occur within families or among acquaintances.
35. Executions are a major deterrent to violent crime.

Answer 9

Explanation: The fact that there is no long-range data linking capital punishment and violent crime mean that statement 4 is an opinion and not a fact. The death penalty debate is centered on many issues such as this idea about executions as deterrents. Many people argue the merits or ills of the death penalty not on a basis of evidence or statistic, but more as a matter of opinion, emotion and personal values.

Question 10

21. The major goal of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s was to
22. establish a separate political state for African Americans
23. gain passage of an equal rights amendment to the Constitution
24. end segregation based on race
25. permit unlimited immigration to the United States

Answer 10

Explanation: Jim Crow laws were legalized segregation. Upheld as legal in the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896, Jim Crow laws would persist in the South up until the culmination of the black civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60’s.

Question 11

8. A significant cause of the Great Depression of the 1930’s was that
9. some banking policies were unsound and had led to the overexpansion of credit
10. a decrease in protective tariffs had opened American business to competition from abroad
11. a wave of violent strikes had paralyzed the major industries
12. consumer goods were relatively inexpensive

Answer 11

Explanation: During the “roaring twenties” many people bought new consumer good such as cars and washing machines on credit. Many also invested in the growing US stock market with borrowed money (stocks bough “on margin”). This increased debt, combined with a lack of oversight by any government agencies, was a contributing factor to the great depression.

Question 12

16. Most Americans who opposed sending United States troops to fight in the Vietnam War believed that
17. nuclear weapons should be used to end the war
18. the war should be extended into China
19. the United States should not police the world
20. international trade would be interrupted

Answer 12

Explanation: Many of the protestors opposed to US involvement in the Vietnam conflict believed the United States was overstepping its role by involving itself in Vietnam’s internal struggles. Many disagreed with the government’s assertion of the domino theory and believed that is was not the US’s role to play “policeman”.

Question 13

“Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” -Brown v. Board of Education

24. The effect of this Supreme Court ruling was to
25. establish affirmative action programs in higher education
26. require the integration of public schools
27. desegregate the armed forces and the military academies
28. force states to spend an equal amount on each public school student

Answer 13

Explanation: The Supreme Court’s ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) established that “separate but equal” facilities were legal (thereby upholding the Jim Crow laws of Southern states) and was later overturned in the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruling. The Brown decision paved the way for the integration of US schools with “all due speed”.

Question 14

26. In situations where the President is suspected of wrongdoing, such as the Watergate scandal, the official role of the House of Representatives is to
27. investigate and bring charges against the President
28. conduct the impeachment trial
29. provide attorneys to defend the President
30. determine the punishment if the President is convicted

Answer 14

Explanation: The Constitution provides provisions for the impeachment of officials such as the president, vice-president and Supreme Court justices. During the impeachment process, the House acts as the prosecuting body, indicting the official and acting as the prosecutor during the trial. The Senate acts as the jury, deciding guilt by a 2/3 majority vote. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court sits as the presiding judge in the proceeding

Question 15

1. After World War I, the opposition of some Members of Congress to the Versailles Treaty was based largely on the idea that the Treaty
2. did not punish the Central Powers harshly enough
3. did not give the United States an important role in world affairs
4. would require the United States to join the League of Nations and might result in a loss of United States sovereignty
5. would require the United States to assume the cost of rebuilding the war-torn European economies

Answer 15

Explanation: The League of Nations was to be a worldwide peacekeeping body. Even though the league was the creation of United States President Woodrow Wilson, the US never became a member. Republican opposition to the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations doomed US membership on the basis of loss of sovereignty. Many Senators feared the Unites States being drawn into another wide scale conflict (like WWI) because of league participation involved acceptance of league decisions and actions.

Question 16

23. When necessary to achieve justice, which method did Martin Luther King, Jr., urge his followers to employ?
24. using violence to bring about political change
25. engaging in civil disobedience
26. leaving any community in which racism is practiced
27. demanding that Congress pay reparations to African Americans

Answer 16

Explanation: The practice of “civil disobedience” was advocated by Dr. Martin Luther King jr.. The idea behind this protest is to disobey laws that one considers unjust. For example, laws on segregation were disobeyed by black protestors sitting at all-white lunch counters or riding segregated busses, etc..

Question 17

17. The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan represented attempts by the United States to deal with the
18. national debt
19. spread of communism
20. President’s political opposition
21. arms race

Answer 17

Explanation: The Truman Doctrine was request to the US Congress for assistance for Greece and Turkey (weapons, food, aid) in their on-going struggle against Communism within their nations. The Marshall plan was billions of dollars in US aid for the war revenged nations of Europe, following the Second World War. The intention of the Marshall plan was to provide an incentive for the nations of Europe to reject a move to communism and allow a stable transition to democratic governments.

Question 18

28. In the United States, industrial unions of the 1880’s and of the 1980’s had similar goals in that both campaigned for
29. national health insurance
30. better unemployment insurance
31. greater job security and higher wages
32. wage and price freezes

Answer 18

Explanation: In the 1880’s unions feared that that increased immigration was creating a flood of unskilled workers who would accept lower wages and poorer conditions, they opposed immigration as a way of increasing the value of native workers. The unions of the 1980’s feared the flight of US manufacturing jobs overseas, where wages were lower and organized labor less developed.

Question 19

22. An original purpose of affirmative action programs was to
23. increase educational and employment opportunities for women and minorities
24. improve the Amencan economy by guaranteeing that employees will be highly skilled
25. decrease social welfare costs by requiring recipients of public assistance to work
26. reduce the Federal deficit by increasing government efficiency

Answer 19

Explanation: The original approach to affirmative action in the 1960’s was to create a “level playing field” where minorities (such as blacks and women) would be able to compete for jobs with white males. The need was justified by the historic inequalities that had resulted in unequal access to education and job opportunities. By allowing race or sex to be a factor in determining school admission or hiring the government sought to equalize this access. Many schools and businesses instituted affirmative action programs based solely on “quotas” or required numbers of minority representation. The resulting effect was the perceived problem of hiring or admitting applicants whose level of qualification fell below other non-minority candidates who were passed over. The Supreme Court took action in the 1978 Bakke v. Regents Board of California case, in which it ruled that race can be a factor in determining admission or hiring, but it cannot be the only factor.

Question 20

19. Shortly after World War II, the cold war developed mainly as a result of the
20. United States refusal to send economic aid to European nations
21. Soviet domination of Eastern Europe
22. competition between the superpowers to explore outer space
23. continuation of the pre-World War II balance of power

Answer 20

Explanation: At the end of World War II the Soviet Union did not withdraw from the Eastern European nations that it had liberated from German control. Instead, the USSR set up communist governments in these nations, who were directly under the domination and control of Moscow. The US and Western European governments feared the USSR would attempt to expand the ‘Iron Curtain’ of communism further. The resulting fear, mistrust and confrontation, gave birth to the nearly 50 year long Cold War.

Question 21

4. Which factors were the major causes of the Red Scare and the Palmer Raids, which followed World War I?
5. success of the Communist Party in congressional and Presidential elections
6. race riots in Los Angeles and the revival of the Ku Klux Klan
7. failure of the United States to join the League of Nations and the unpaid German war debts
8. the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in Russia and workers’ strikes in the United States

Answer 21

Explanation: The Palmer Raids of the twenties and the surrounding ‘red scare’ (fear of Communism) also illustrated the acceptance of illegal searches, suspension of due process and suppression of rights in the battle against unpopular political ideals. In this case the ideals were those of Communism. The fear of a communist revolution in the United States was based upon the events of the Russian Revolution, in which a small-dedicated band of rebels had unified to topple the Czar. Also, the fact that a stated goal of Communism was a worldwide revolution gave rise to fears that rebellion may be at work here in the US.

Question 22

13. A similarity between the Red Scare of the 1920’s and McCarthyism in the 1950’s was that during each period
14. thousands of American citizens were expelled from the United States
15. the Communist Party gained many members in the United States
16. many government employees were convicted of giving secrets to the Soviet Union
17. the civil liberties of American citizens were threatened

Answer 22

Explanation: During the Palmer Raids of the 1920’s the headquarters of dissident and communist organizations were raided with out warrants. Also, 4,000+ people were arrested and help without trial or access to counsel, newspapers were shut down and some legal foreigners were deported. During the 1950’s the policy of “blacklisting” resulted in many Americans inside and outside the government loosing their jobs, without cause.

Question 23

27. Which statement is most accurate about the economy of the United States during the 1970’s and early 1980’s?
28. The increased cost of imported oil hurt economic growth.
29. The Federal budget was balanced.
30. Inflation declined sharply throughout these years .
31. The number of jobs in farming increased while service jobs decreased.

Answer 23

Explanation: The OPEC oil embargoes of the 1970’s negatively effected economic growth and contributed to higher prices, causing inflation.

Question 24

15. The successful launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957 signaled the beginning of
16. American fears that the Soviets had achieved technological superiority
17. the Cold War with the United States
18. Soviet aggression in Afghanistan and China
19. disarmament discussions between the superpowers

Answer 24

Explanation: The “Space Race” began in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first manmade satellite, Sputnik. The American government and the American people feared that control of space determine the winner in the cold war. The tension created by the cold war, along with the perceived technology gap, led the United States to pour billions of dollars into the development of a space program (NASA). The space race culminated with the quest for the moon, promised by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and coming to fruition with Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind” in 1969.