Deck 28: A Divided Nation

Question 1

The borderlands of the Southwest

A) had only rarely been a source of tension for Americans since the passage of the Hart-Celler Act.
B) emerged as an area of renewed anxiety for some Americans in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
C) only infrequently enjoyed close cultural and community connections to Mexico.
D) seemed less of a national security threat than the borderlands of the Pacific Northwest.
E) were not largely affected by the September 11 attacks because of their location.

Answer 1

emerged as an area of renewed anxiety for some Americans in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Question 2

During Hurricane Katrina the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was not prepared to respond efficiently. Why was this so damaging for the George W. Bush administration?

A) because it was supposed to be specially competent in dealing with disaster
B) because he had wanted to eliminate FEMA in the past
C) because it confirmed climate change was a real problem that needed to be addressed
D) because he had tripled FEMA's budget to avoid catastrophes
E) because people felt the military was fighting somebody else's war instead of helping U.S. citizens in need

Answer 2

because it was supposed to be specially competent in dealing with disaster

Question 3

The Hurricane Katrina disaster highlighted which of the following to Americans in 2005?

A) That poverty continued to be an unresolved issue.
B) That natural disasters would not hit them again for centuries.
C) That the national government was ready to respond quickly in case of disaster.
D) That racial segregation was an issue of the past.
E) That people could not rely on the benevolence of their neighbors.

Answer 3

That poverty continued to be an unresolved issue.

Question 4

Which of the following is true about the 2004 presidential election?

A) John Kerry won by using his amicable personality.
B) George W. Bush won in a landslide.
C) Fewer people voted in this election than the 2000 election.
D) Bush generated more enthusiasm among supporters than Kerry.
E) John Kerry won Iowa and New Mexico.

Question 5

What in twentieth-century American history had the biggest impact on Barack Obama's presidential victory in 2008?

A) World War II
B) the civil rights movement of the 1960s
C) the Cold War
D) the Great Depression
E) the Great Society

Question 6

During his first year in office, George W. Bush

A) raised tax rates for wealthy Americans.
B) sponsored legislation to protect the environment.
C) supported the accelerated reduction of nuclear weapons.
D) had the full support of Congress, which had a commanding Republican majority.
E) persuaded Congress to enact the largest tax cut in American history.

Question 7

Which of the following is true of the Bush and Obama administrations' efforts to police the southwest border?

A) They publicly supported protests against illegal immigration.
B) They paid private militias through the Department of Homeland Security to provide extra enforcement at border crossings.
C) They increased the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents.
D) They denied the importance of illegal immigration.
E) They prohibited the use of regional unofficial militias to patrol the border.

Question 8

Why did Goldman Sachs have to pay a fine of half a billion dollars in 2010?

A) It had underwritten most of the subprime mortgages during the real estate boom.
B) It had failed to document its business structure to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
C) It had knowingly sold toxic mortgage-based securities and then bet on their failure.
D) It had illegally financed the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.
E) It had failed to reform its management and business practice in the wake of the mortgage crisis.

Question 9

As a U.S. senator, what did Barack Obama oppose?

A) the invasion of Afghanistan
B) universal health care
C) governmental involvement in reducing global warming
D) the Iraq War
E) gun control

Question 10

In a Supreme Court decision in 2003, the right to use affirmative action in college admissions was

A) found unconstitutional.
B) reaffirmed.
C) supported by President Bush.
D) declared unnecessary in the twenty-first century.
E) left intentionally vague.

Question 11

What did President George W. Bush's frequent references to freedom and liberty in his second inaugural address indicate?

A) He was more determined than ever to impose American democracy on the Middle East.
B) He was willing to expand his foreign policy focus from Iraq to North Korea.
C) He had decided to push for the repeal of the USA Patriot Act.
D) He wanted to restore support for the Iraq War with a focus on liberation, not terror.
E) He was the nation's staunchest defender of civil liberties for gays and lesbians.

Question 12

Why is the characterization of the war on terror as a "clash of civilizations"-the West versus Islam-unhistorical?

A) It denies the militancy of Christian sects.
B) It ignores the militant tendencies of Buddhism.
C) It denies a long past of cultural exchanges between the two.
D) It exaggerates the diversity of Islamic countries.
E) It undermines the liberation struggle of the Arab Spring.

Question 13

Which of the following did Barack Obama and Donald Trump's presidential campaigns have in common?

A) Both appealed to the voters' feeling that the country was moving in the wrong direction.
B) Both failed to use social media.
C) Both used a past political figure to represent them.
D) Both used their heritage to appeal to voters.
E) Both campaigned for the Republican Party.

Question 14

What was the response to the 2006 House of Representatives bill that criminalized the offering of assistance to illegal immigrants?

A) silence from the mainstream media
B) mass protests staged by legal and illegal immigrants nationwide
C) "self-deportation" en masse
D) mass arrests of people distributing water to immigrants in Texas
E) many Americans assisted in deporting thousands of illegal immigrants

Question 15

How did the mortgage crisis affect minorities during the Great Recession?

A) They were not given loans.
B) They were pushed into subprime mortgages.
C) They made great gains in homeownership.
D) The Great Recession had little effect on them.
E) Banks, such as Wells Fargo, charged lower fees to blacks and Hispanics.

Question 16

Why did more American women hold paying jobs in mid-2009 than men?

A) A significant proportion of American men were serving with the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
B) The boom in the service and retail sectors of the economy at the time had significantly pushed employment among women.
C) The much larger proportion of women among immigrants tipped the balance.
D) Men were more likely to lose their jobs during the great recession.
E) Employers were increasingly discriminating against white men.

Question 17

What made Barack Obama's presidential campaign "the first political campaign of the twenty-first century"?

A) its widespread use of the Internet to raise money and communicate directly with voters
B) its use of televised debates
C) its use of television advertisements
D) its use of direct calling
E) its use of direct mailings

Question 18

Undocumented immigrants

A) are no longer a problematic issue.
B) lowered wages at the bottom of the economic ladder.
C) chose to live in California.
D) mostly arrived from eastern Europe.
E) failed to participate in the U.S. economy by spending money and paying taxes.

Question 19

Which of the following statements about John Kerry and the 2004 presidential campaign is true?

A) He was a Vietnam War veteran.
B) He was very in touch with the people and embraced by the common man.
C) He was from California.
D) He had bipartisan support from Republican John McCain.
E) He voted against the Iraq War in the Senate.

Question 20

Conservative Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in the Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges rulings,

A) described the Constitution as a document bound by the "original intent" of the nation's founding fathers.
B) suggested constitutional interpretation must normally rest on a narrow reading of the text.
C) reaffirmed the liberal view of the Constitution as a "living document" whose protections expand as society changes.
D) offered no explanation for the Court's upholding of state laws banning same-sex marriages.
E) upheld the conservative view of reading the "original intent" of the founders and amendment authors.

Question 21

President Barack Obama surprised both his supporters and his opponents with

A) his conduct in the war on terror from Guantanamo Bay to Libya.
B) his nominations to the Supreme Court.
C) his lack of special legislation to address the plight of African-Americans.
D) "Obamacare."
E) revelations about his affair with a White House intern.

Question 22

How did Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme serve as a metaphor for the American economy?

A) The American economy's growth was based on borrowing from others and spending money people did not have.
B) Hard work and wise investments were key to the growth of the American economy.
C) The American economy did not grow because there was a lack of investors from the United States and overseas.
D) The American economy could withstand significant changes to products in the market, as long as the companies themselves remained solvent.
E) Open and honest communication between investors and companies was a key factor in stimulating economic growth in America.

Question 23

In 2008, what bank did the Bush administration allow to fail?

A) AIG
B) Citigroup
C) Bank of America
D) Fannie Mae
E) Lehman Brothers

Question 24

How did the 2013 Supreme Court ruling invalidate the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

A) The entire act was declared unconstitutional, since evidence of racial bias in southern election law no longer met the Court's burden of proof standard.
B) The southern states cited in the original law no longer needed approval from the Justice Department before changing their election laws.
C) The Court threw out the law's original provision providing federal protection for African-American voters at the polls in four southern states.
D) Limitations were removed from the range of acceptable voter identification required for same-day registration at the polls.
E) The Court declared that literacy tests were no longer necessary.

Question 25

How did Obama appeal to the young population during his presidential campaign?

A) by opposing the war in Iraq
B) by joining the sexual revolution movement
C) by promising change
D) by promising more unionization to workers
E) by promising to be tough on illegal immigrants

Question 26

Into which of the following did British Petroleum spill oil in 2010?

A) Hawaiian coast
B) Balkans
C) Gulf of Mexico
D) Mediterranean Sea
E) Pacific Ocean

Question 27

What important piece of legislation tried to target the origins of the great recession in 2010?

A) "Obamacare"
B) TARP-the Troubled Asset Relief Program
C) the bailout of the nation's automakers
D) the bank regulation reform law
E) the No Child Left Behind Act

Question 28

In his eulogy for the shooting victims at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, to what larger trend did Barack Obama connect the tragic events?

A) a growing hostility toward immigrants
B) a renewed hatred of organized religion
C) a history of random acts of violence against no one in particular
D) a long history of violence aimed at churches as a means of oppression
E) a newfound movement rooted in ideas of racial inequality

Question 29

What did congressional Republicans denounce as a "government takeover" in March 2010?

A) a financial reform bill that required the breakup of big banks
B) Western state officials assuming control of national parks within their borders
C) a sweeping health care bill that required all Americans to purchase health insurance
D) an executive order that mandated an expansion of Medicare and Medicaid in twenty-three states
E) a labor bill requiring unions to appoint government officials to executive positions

Question 30

In addition to deregulation, what contributed to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010?

A) a hurricane
B) global warming
C) globalization
D) a strike by oil rig workers
E) marine life

Question 31

Which of the following statements about President Obama's inaugural address are true?

A) He promised a foreign policy based on unilateral force.
B) His address harked back to the Progressive-era ideal of reform and regulation through experts.
C) He blamed a culture of "dependency and victimhood" for helping to bring on the economic crisis.
D) He spoke about freedom repeatedly.
E) He spoke of the need to combat income inequality and lack of access to health care.

Question 32

The problem of inequality in America after 2010

A) finally lost momentum with the economic recovery.
B) declined as union power rose.
C) grew due to rising unemployment and stagnant home sales.
D) resulted from corporations paying wages at or below minimum wage.
E) declined as market regulations opened new opportunities for small businesses.

Question 33

In the 2008 election, when Barack Obama "redrew the nation's political map," he

A) only won in Democratic strongholds.
B) did extremely well in cities in the American South and Southwest, but not in suburbs.
C) only won in the North and West.
D) won in reliably Republican states as well as in Democratic strongholds.
E) won 53 percent of the popular vote and a large majority in the electoral college.

Question 34

What was the result of Lawrence v. Texas?

A) The Supreme Court overturned the law on a procedural technicality, making sexual acts between persons of the same sex legal.
B) The Supreme Court declared the criminalization of homosexual acts unconstitutional.
C) The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state "religious liberty" laws.
D) The Supreme Court declared homosexual acts were unconstitutional.
E) The Supreme Court decided same-sex marriages were constitutional.

Question 35

The outcome of the presidential election of 2008 would have been less decisive if

A) the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, wasn't African-American.
B) the Republican candidate, John McCain, had not been so old.
C) Sarah Palin had been selected as vice president on John McCain's ticket.
D) voter turnout had not been so low.
E) President Bush's popularity had not suffered from the recession and the war on terror.

Question 36

According to Justice Kennedy in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, where can new ideas about freedom arise?

A) slave narratives
B) along the U.S. border with Mexico.
C) the Constitution
D) the Declaration of Independence
E) pleas of protest

Question 37

Sonia Sotomayor

A) was not supported by Obama in her candidacy to the Supreme Court.
B) was a candidate to become Supreme Court justice, but did not win the position.
C) was the first Hispanic to be appointed to the Supreme Court.
D) was the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court.
E) was appointed by Bush to the Supreme Court.

Question 38

Why did the number of Americans receiving food stamps rise after 2008?

A) President Obama had eased eligibility requirements.
B) The Midwestern farm lobby had pushed for an expansion of the program.
C) The number of needy Americans skyrocketed with the recession.
D) Americans had become increasingly comfortable with handouts.
E) Illegal immigrants became eligible for food stamps in 2009.

Question 39

Which of the following contributed to the banking crisis of 2008?

A) The Federal Reserve Bank had kept interest rates at unprecedentedly high levels.
B) Banks and other lending institutions eliminated "subprime" mortgages.
C) Wall Street bankers withdrew themselves from the mortgage market.
D) The Federal Reserve Bank and other regulatory agencies slowed the speculative frenzy.
E) Public and private policies favored economic speculation and get-rich-quick schemes.

Question 40

In 2008, testifying before Congress, Alan Greenspan, the former head of the Federal Reserve Bank.

A) argued that regulation would damage banks, Wall Street, and the mortgage market.
B) admitted that his conviction that free markets would produce the best results was flawed.
C) argued that the federal government should allow unregulated economic competition.
D) argued that banks and investment firms should regulate themselves.
E) called for deregulation and artificially low interest rates.

Question 41

How were the two candidates on the Republican Party ticket in 2012 different from those who ran in years past?

A) Neither was wealthy.
B) Neither actively campaigned.
C) Both fully supported same-sex marriage.
D) Neither was a traditional Protestant.
E) Both criticized the National Rifle Association.

Question 42

Which of the following was a liability for President Obama as he entered his reelection campaign of 2012?

A) He had authorized a constitutionally questionable raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
B) The U.S. Supreme Court had struck down most of the Affordable Care Act.
C) He had failed to provide an authentic Hawaiian birth certificate to prove the legitimacy of his presidency.
D) Unemployment remained high even though the recession was officially over.
E) Americans disapproved of the troop withdrawal from Iraq late in 2011.

Question 43

In 2012, how many people in the United States were murdered with guns?

A) about 100
B) about 1,000
C) nearly 5,000
D) nearly 10,000
E) more than 20,000

Question 44

Prior to the twentieth century, what was humanity's primary economic activity?

A) developing medical solutions
B) acquiring food, clothing, and shelter
C) printing books
D) inventing time-saving technologies
E) investing in stocks

Question 45

The claims of the conservative Tea Party focused on

A) the president wanting to repeal the Fourteenth Amendment birthright to citizenship.
B) a denunciation that racial inequality continued to exist.
C) reducing the overbearing power the Obama administration was giving to the states.
D) the growth of the federal government and immigration policies.
E) banning free trade agreements with foreign nations.

Question 46

Khizr Khan confronted Trump for

A) being a TV star.
B) mistreating women.
C) disrespecting minorities.
D) not serving in the U.S. military.
E) using social media.

Question 47

To which of the following rights did Khizr Khan think Trump need to pay attention?

A) equal protection under the law
B) the right to bear arms
C) freedom of the press
D) rights of life and property
E) voting rights

Question 48

What is one key factor that explains the unprecedented amount of money that was spent on the presidential and congressional elections of 2012?

A) In 2010, the Supreme Court removed restrictions on corporate political donations.
B) Door-to-door donations increased through grassroots campaigns.
C) Social media made it easier for supporters to donate.
D) Celebrity endorsements and donations became a popular new trend.
E) Political action committees were abolished.

Question 49

What did President Obama do in his second term that involved dealing with a historic enemy of the United States?

A) He apologized to the governments of Colombia and Honduras for the use of unauthorized military force in the war on drugs.
B) He moved to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.
C) He established diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
D) He supported a military coup in Egypt that ended badly for the United States.
E) He brokered peaceful relations with Iran.

Question 50

How did Obama use "human rights" as a political weapon?

A) He threatened to withdraw aid from Israel if it did not end its occupation of the West Bank.
B) He temporarily moved the American Fifth Fleet out of its base in Bahrain until the government there agreed to stop jailing peaceful political dissenters.
C) He condemned China, but said virtually nothing about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and other nations that were U.S. allies in the war on terror.
D) He accused congressional Republicans of aiding the rise of ISIS with their refusal to fund additional ground troops in Iraq.
E) He threatened to send more ground troops to Iraq unless the government passed legislation to protect "human rights."

Question 51

Which of the following statements describes the Occupy movement?

A) It remained small and local.
B) It eventually died out and failed to inspire any other similar movements.
C) It failed to manage the use of new technologies.
D) It began as a grassroots protest against "Obamacare."
E) It tapped into a widespread feeling of alienation, especially among the young.

Question 52

The Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare,"

A) allowed for most businesses to stop providing health insurance to employees.
B) was supported by Democrats and Republicans.
C) allowed health care companies to deny insurance to applicants with existing illnesses.
D) treated every citizen under the same provisions.
E) required all Americans to purchase health insurance.

Question 53

According to author Eric Foner, what was a key component of the dominant definition of freedom in the twenty-first century?

A) economic security
B) the ability to fulfill potential unrestricted by authority
C) active participation in the democratic process, both as voters and candidates
D) fair treatment and equal pay for workers
E) universal health insurance

Question 54

Which of the following was a job category for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted strong growth in 2012?

A) childcare
B) financial services
C) technology
D) higher education
E) social sciences

Question 55

What statement best describes ISIS?

A) It was an American military group that promoted peace in the Middle East.
B) It was a national oil drilling company seeking to expand into foreign markets.
C) It was a multiethnic coalition with the goal of promoting freedom of religion.
D) It was a self-proclaimed Islamic State that conducted campaigns of exceptional brutality.
E) It was a group of Christian activists looking to gain territory in Europe.

Question 56

What statement regarding President Obama and immigration is true?

A) More illegal immigrants than ever entered the United States while Obama was president.
B) Obama's outspoken disdain for illegal immigrants gained him Republican supporters.
C) Obama refused to deport any illegal immigrants during his time in office.
D) The recession during Obama's term in office created excellent opportunities for Mexican immigrants to take low-paying jobs.
E) Obama's administration deported far more illegal immigrants than George W. Bush's.

Question 57

By the early twenty-first century, what was the status of union membership in the private sector?

A) Union membership steadily increased from 1900 to 2000.
B) Military troops were used to prevent unions from meeting.
C) Less than 10 percent of workers in the private sector belonged to unions.
D) These private-sector unions were more powerful than ever.
E) Unions had been completely banned.

Question 58

Which of the following statements describes the Black Lives Matter movement?

A) It focused on narrow platform policy rather than a broad claim to black humanity.
B) Members demanded that police practices be changed and officers using excessive force be held accountable.
C) Everybody sided with the movement.
D) It emerged in response to the deaths of armed black men at the hands of police and other authorities.
E) It failed to make use of current technology and social media to organize.

Question 59

In the early twenty-first century, how many nations had American soldiers stationed within their borders?

A) 20
B) 45
C) 80
D) 175
E) 215

Question 60

Which of these developed nations placed the most emphasis on religion?

A) Italy
B) Great Britain
C) Germany
D) France
E) United States

Question 61

Boumediene v. Bush was a victory for George W. Bush.

Question 62

Senator Bernie Sanders

A) had the support of the Democratic Party's establishment.
B) lost to Donald Trump in the presidential election.
C) planned to dismantle the entire welfare system.
D) denounced the Occupy Wall Street movement.
E) restored the word "socialism" to the political vocabulary.

Question 63

Which of the following shows how Trump felt about environmental issues?

A) He withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change.
B) He promised to stop the coal industry.
C) He reduced fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
D) He curbed regulations aimed at controlling emissions.
E) He supported research on renewable energy.

Question 64

By 2007, polls showed that a large majority of Americans considered the invasion of Iraq a mistake.

Question 65

The USA Patriot Act is a remarkably short and concise document.

Question 66

What allowed Donald Trump to be chosen as the Republican presidential candidate?

A) Other candidates within the party believed he had no chance at winning the nomination.
B) The Democratic establishment supported his candidacy.
C) He had the support of the liberals from the North.
D) He inspired the youth.
E) He got the support of immigrants.

Question 67

National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden was charged with

A) publishing fake information.
B) violating the Espionage Act.
C) robbery.
D) embezzlement.
E) domestic violence.

Question 68

Which of the following groups voted overwhelmingly for Trump?

A) residents of large cities
B) residents of rural areas and small towns
C) blacks
D) immigrants
E) Democrats

Question 69

What does the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum commemorate?

A) the thousands of victims of lynching
B) the soldiers who died during the Iraq War
C) the soldiers who died during the Afghanistan War
D) the victims of gun violence
E) the victims of 9/11

Question 70

Lawrence v. Texas upheld that sexual acts between persons of the same gender were not a criminal act.

Question 71

March for Our Lives

A) was the follow-up to the Occupy Wall Street movement.
B) was organized by high school students to demand gun control.
C) took place after Trump's inauguration and was mostly led by women.
D) was organized by Mexican immigrants demanding citizenship.
E) was organized in support of religious freedom.

Question 72

Matching
___ 1. George W. Bush
___ 2. Hillary Clinton
___ 3. Barack Obama
___ 4. Colin Powell
___ 5. John McCain
___ 6. Nancy Pelosi
___ 7. Michael Brown
___ 8. Sonia Sotomayor
___ 9. John Roberts
A) sponsored a bill banning the use of torture
B) Bush's secretary of state
C) House majority leader
D) Obama appointee to the Supreme Court
E) unarmed black eighteen-year-old shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri
F) Democratic presidential candidate in 2008
G) compassionate conservative
H) chief justice of the Supreme Court
I) elected president in 2008

Question 73

Trump's victory signified that the contested issue of who is entitled to full freedom and equality in America remained unresolved.

Question 74

Matching
___ 1. General Motors
___ 2. "toxic assets"
___ 3. Hurricane Katrina
___ 4. subprime mortgage
A) significantly reduced workforce
B) 2008 financial crisis
C) housing bubble
D) revealed the deep poverty in America

A) sponsored a bill banning the use of torture
B) Bush's secretary of state
C) House majority leader
D) Obama appointee to the Supreme Court
E) unarmed black eighteen-year-old shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri

Question 75

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry served in the first Gulf War.

Question 76

How did federal courts react to Trump's ban on travel to the United States from Muslim-majority countries?

A) They declared it unconstitutional because it violated religious freedom.
B) They declared it unconstitutional because it violated individual liberty.
C) They upheld its validity.
D) They declared it unconstitutional based on a legal technicality.
E) They stated it was constitutional because Muslims were a danger to the nation.

Question 77

Despite the fact that there were 20 million new voters in the presidential election of 2004, only three states changed their electoral votes compared to 2000.

Question 78

On which of the following issues did Trump focus during the midterm 2018 campaign?

A) successful economic recovery
B) low unemployment
C) gender equality
D) political freedom
E) immigrants and crime

Question 79

Illegal immigrants coming to the United States raised wages at the bottom of the economic ladder but failed to spend money and pay taxes.

Question 80

How did Trump intend to promote American manufacturing?

A) by promoting free trade
B) by lowering tariffs on imported goods
C) by raising taxes paid by large corporations
D) by raising tariffs on imported goods
E) by dismantling NATO