Deck 22: Hardship and Hope: the Great Depression of the 1930s

Question 1

Which of the following states was part of the Dust Bowl?

A) Ohio
B) North Dakota
C) Iowa
D) Oklahoma

Answer 1

Oklahoma

Question 2

By 1929, the 200 biggest American corporations controlled nearly __________ percent of all industry.

A) 15
B) 25
C) 50
D) 75

Answer 2

50

Question 3

What enticed farmers to plow under millions of acres of grasslands to plant wheat in the early twentieth century?

A) high grain prices during World War I
B) government subsidy programs
C) the collapse of the ranching industry
D) inducements provided by railroad companies

Answer 3

high grain prices during World War I

Question 4

What caused the sudden derailment of FDR's political plans in 1921?

A) He was embroiled in a financial scandal.
B) The press learned of his extramarital affairs.
C) He suffered a heavy defeat in a gubernatorial election.
D) He was stricken with polio.

Question 5

By 1932, black unemployment had reached __________ percent.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 65

Question 6

What was the purpose of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation?

A) to prevent foreclosures on family homes
B) to make government credit available to banks
C) to subsidize farm prices
D) to provide funds for urban renewal

Question 7

Herbert Hoover favored __________.

A) high taxes on the very wealthy
B) eliminating the income tax
C) social welfare programs for the poor
D) strict regulation of industry

Question 8

Which of the following was true of African Americans during the Depression?

A) They remained loyal to the Republican party.
B) They made substantial gains in civil rights in the South.
C) They experienced lower levels of unemployment than whites.
D) They faced increasing violence.

Question 9

Italy, Germany, and Japan responded to the Depression by __________

A) increasing military spending
B) cutting all government programs
C) eliminating national debt
D) reducing the size of their armies

Question 10

Before the1930s, the United States __________.

A) had no appreciable middle class
B) had the lowest average unemployment rate in the world
C) provided no welfare state benefits
D) had never experienced a significant economic downturn

Question 11

Who did the public blame for the military assault on the bonus marchers?

A) Douglas MacArthur
B) Herbert Hoover
C) Calvin Coolidge
D) Franklin Roosevelt

Question 12

Many families adapted to hard times by __________.

A) abandoning traditional gender roles
B) abandoning their children
C) moving overseas
D) going back to school for more job training

Question 13

Which of the following was a consequence of the Great Depression?

A) The communist economy of the Soviet Union came perilously close to collapse.
B) The world's powerful nations all increased their military spending.
C) The United States, England, and France all abandoned capitalism.
D) The world's powerful nations all moved toward greater government intervention in their economies.

Question 14

Why was the Soviet Union immune to the Great Depression?

A) Japan and China greatly supported its economy.
B) Its trade connections with Europe were very strong.
C) It had huge reserves of capital.
D) It had already abandoned capitalism.

Question 15

Between 1931 and 1934, over 500,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans __________.

A) were deported
B) served in the United States armed forces
C) were lynched
D) worked in northern factories

Question 16

In contrast to Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born into a(n) __________.

A) family of wealth and privilege
B) poor farming family
C) middle class family
D) immigrant family

Question 17

The "Scottsboro Boys" were accused of __________.

A) rape
B) murder
C) robbery
D) vagrancy

Question 18

How do most economists explain the Great Depression?

A) Weakness in the agricultural sector led to the Depression.
B) Mismanagement of banks led to the Depression.
C) There is no widely shared explanation.
D) Poor government policies led to the Depression.

Question 19

In 1913, Roosevelt __________.

A) was appointed as secretary of the navy
B) was elected as vice president of the United States
C) successfully ran for governor of New York
D) was elected to the New York Senate

Question 20

The songs of __________ immortalized the plight of refugees of the Dust Bowl.

A) Richard Rogers
B) John Steinbeck
C) Woody Guthrie
D) Dorothea Lange

Question 21

To stop the run on banks, FDR announced __________.

A) the closure of five large banks
B) the establishment of a new Bank of the United States
C) the nationalization of the banking system
D) a bank holiday

Question 22

The Townsend Plan was meant to help __________.

A) urban youth
B) recent immigrants
C) elderly Americans
D) African Americans

Question 23

The Civilian Conservation Corps involved the government doing which of the following?

A) building a network of superhighways
B) raising electricity rates in the region
C) planting trees, stocking rivers and lakes, and preserving historic sites
D) occupying the Tennessee Valley to ensure regional stability

Question 24

Who was left out of Social Security?

A) Construction workers
B) Lawyers
C) Housewives
D) Factory workers

Question 25

Which of the following was true of the New Deal?

A) It drew on Progressive Era reform impulses for inspiration.
B) It shrunk the size of government.
C) It was opposed by a majority of the American people.
D) It ended the Great Depression.

Question 26

The Social Security Act established a system of __________.

A) federally funded public universities
B) public works projects
C) farm subsidies
D) unemployment insurance

Question 27

Huey Long rose to national fame as the governor of __________.

A) California
B) Louisiana
C) South Carolina
D) NewYork

Question 28

The __________ Amendment repealed prohibition.

A) Nineteenth
B) Twentieth
C) Twenty-First
D) Twenty-Second

Question 29

Roosevelt's "fireside chats" were meant to __________.

A) reassure the American people
B) put pressure on Congress
C) influence wealthy and powerful individuals
D) reinforce the awesome power of the presidency

Question 30

How did the repeal of prohibition help the economy?

A) It saved the cost of enforcement.
B) It improved public morale.
C) It provided additional tax revenue.
D) It opened up new export markets.

Question 31

__________ was appointed to head the Federal Emergency Relief Agency.

A) Harry Hopkins
B) Herald Ikes
C) Herbert Hoover
D) Eleanor Roosevelt

Question 32

Which of the following was true of the WPA?

A) It provided millions of jobs for the unemployed.
B) It was enormously unpopular.
C) It was struck down as unconstitutional in 1934.
D) It primarily benefited the wealthy.

Question 33

What was the intent of the Agricultural Adjustment Act?

A) It sought to encourage farmers to move to cities.
B) It sought to increase American grain production.
C) It sought to end the sharecropper system.
D) It sought to prop up crop prices.

Question 34

Huey Long proposed a plan for __________.

A) the radical redistribution of wealth
B) the deportation of ten million immigrants
C) a temporary ban on new immigration by non-Europeans
D) the refinancing of the national debt

Question 35

The TVA was an experiment in __________.

A) centralized economic planning
B) government-owned utilities
C) collective farming
D) nationalized transportation networks

Question 36

Which of the following provided direct aid to needy people?

A) FERA
B) CCC
C) AAA
D) TVA

Question 37

Why did FDR avoid the overt cultivation of African American voters?

A) He did not want to damage America's international reputation.
B) He was deeply racist.
C) He did not want their votes.
D) He did not want to alienate southern Democrats.

Question 38

Father Coughlin was an admirer of __________.

A) Adolf Hitler
B) Joseph Stalin
C) Eugene Debs
D) the Ku Klux Klan

Question 39

The Wagner Act __________.

A) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
B) helped eliminate racial discrimination in hiring
C) gave a huge boost to labor unions
D) was applauded by industrial leaders

Question 40

John Collier was committed to __________.

A) implementation of the Dawes Act
B) the deportation of all Native Americans
C) Indian assimilation
D) the goal of Indian self-government

Question 41

What new labor strategy was initiated by rubber industry workers in Akron, Ohio, in 1936?

A) the lockout
B) the protest march
C) the sit-down strike
D) the picket line

Question 42

How did Herbert Hoover respond to the Depression?

Question 43

What led to the Flint strike of 1936? What were the strike's consequences?

Question 44

What was the Civilian Conservation Corps and what did it achieve?

Question 45

What were the root causes of the Great Depression?

Question 46

Why did FDR want to make changes to the Supreme Court?

A) He was worried the Court would strike down key elements of the New Deal.
B) There was considerable evidence the Court had become corrupt.
C) The Court had moved far to the political left.
D) The Court did not have any female or minority members.

Question 47

FDR's __________ cost him considerable political capital and empowered his opponents.

A) attacks on economic elites
B) fireside chats
C) support of Social Security
D) "court packing" plan

Question 48

Describe the political career of Huey Long.

Question 49

In the 1936 election, FDR received his strongest support from __________.

A) urban elites
B) the Protestant middle class
C) the lower end of the socioeconomic scale
D) bankers and financiers

Question 50

Which of the following was true of the 1936 Flint strike?

A) Both men and women participated in the strike.
B) FDR sent in federal troops to end the strike.
C) The governor of Michigan sent in National Guard troops to end the strike.
D) The strike was led by U.S. Steel workers.

Question 51

John Lewis helped found the __________.

A) International Workers of the World
B) Knights of Labor
C) Congress of Industrial Organizations
D) American Federation of Labor

Question 52

Federal One provided financial support for __________.

A) writers
B) plumbers
C) farmers
D) construction workers

Question 53

FDR was the first __________.

A) New Yorker to become president
B) patrician president
C) Catholic president
D) media-savvy president

Question 54

In a historic shift, __________ backed FDR in the election of 1936.

A) farmers and agricultural workers
B) women
C) hispanics
D) black voters in northern cities

Question 55

Which of the following best characterizes FDR's campaign strategy in 1936?

A) He presented himself as the champion of masses.
B) He presented himself as the pro-business candidate.
C) He presented himself as a supporter of minority rights.
D) He presented himself as the only experienced candidate.