Inquisitive Chapter 28

Which of the following statements about the presidential election of 2016 are accurate?

-Donald Trump garnered three million fewer popular votes than his opponent, Hillary Clinton -prior to the election, public opinion polls virtually guaranteed Clinton the election

As president, Donald Trump's first significant achievement was the successful repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

FALSE

When Hurricane Katrina came ashore in 2005 it devastated the coastline and showcased how poverty affects many of the citizens living in this city.

New Orleans

Whom did President Obama nominate as the first female Hispanic and third woman in the Supreme Court's history to replace Justice David Souter after he announced his retirement?

Sonia Sotomayor

By the middle of 2008, when the median family income was around $50,000, the average American family owed an $84,000 home mortgage, $14,000 in auto and student loans, $8,500 to credit card companies, and $10,000 in home equity loans. What effect did this amount of borrowing have on the country?

-Eventually many Americans defaulted on their loans and banks found themselves holding billions of dollars of worthless investments

In the presidential campaign of 2004, both parties spent tens of millions of dollars in advertising and mobilized new voters—nearly 20 million since 2000. But in the end, only three states voted differently than four years earlier. Name these three swing states. (The term "swing state" refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican presidential candidate.)

-New Mexico -New Hampshire -Iowa

Review the following video with author Eric Foner in which he discusses the speech given by Khizr Khan, the Pakistani-American father of a soldier killed in the Iraq War, at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The speech is representative of the long historical relationship between immigration, military service, and social change in the United States. According to the video, which of the following statements are accurate?

-The Vietnam war was influential in the movement to lower the legal voting age from 21 to 18 years old - Service by African-Americans in World War II helped to rekindle the civil rights movement

The 2018 midterm elections provided the first opportunity for the national electorate to be heard after Trump's 2016 presidential election. Which of the following statements accurately describe the results?

-The results revelaed sharp divides between particular groups of voters (young and old, male and female, rural and metropolitan) -For the first time, Native American women and Muslim women were elected to congressional seats - Democrats regained control the House of Representatives

Donald Trump's presidential campaign played on both racial and gender resentments spawned by the growing diversity of American society and the rapid changes in gender roles. Which of the following events from Trump's campaign reflect this divisive approach?

-Trump claimed his predecessor was not an American citizen - Trump condemned immigrants from Mexico as murders and promised to build a wall along the long border with Mexico - Trump was captured on camera boasting about harassing women

Which of the following statements accurately illustrate President Trump's response to the issue of climate change?

-Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change - Trump appointed an ally of the oil industry to lead the Environmental Protection Agency

When Barack Obama delivered a eulogy at the memorial service for the nine people murdered in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, he stated that "the church is and always has been the center of African-American life—has also always been a target of bombs and arson and shots fired at churches, not random but as a means of control, a way to terrorize and oppress, an act that he presumed would deepen divisions that trace back to our nation's original sin."What historical trend does Obama make reference to in his eulogy? Click here to review the full primary source excerpt from the textbook.

-attempts throughout history to oppress the African- American community through violence

Which of the following economic factors contributed to the housing bubble at the root of the 2008 recession?

-consumer indebtness caused by increased spending and borrowing -banks and lending institutions issuing more subprime mortgages -unregulated banking practices including the sale of faulty new financial products - unpredictably low interest rates

The Occupy Wall Street movement that burst onto the scene in 2011 was launched in protest of income inequality. The movement was also frustrated with which other aspects of the American economy related to income inequality?

-declining economic opportunity -widespread alienation of youth

American exceptionalism is the philosophical belief that the United States has a missionary role to play in saving the rest of the world by turning it into an image of America. In keeping with that theme, what percentage of Americans believes that they enjoy "special protection from God"?

-half of Americans

The National Security Administration (NSA) had taken to collecting user data on nearly every citizen and was not exposed until 2013 when Edward Snowden, a former employee, released thousands of documents that detailed the domestic spying programs. Identify the surveillance activities led by the NSA.

-monitoring virtually all telephone, instant messaging, and email traffic in the United States -tracking the location of numerous American cell phones -spying on the private communications of world leaders

Which of the following choices describe significant foreign affairs accomplishments of the Obama presidency?

-negotiated a nuclear agreement with Iran -formally ended American involvement in the Iraq war -authorized the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden

In 1875, the United States passed the Page Act—the first exclusionary immigration act—which banned prostitutes, Chinese laborers, and criminals from entering the country legally. This act was followed with others like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Which of the following are economic, political, and social effects of undocumented immigrants coming into the country today?

-the decrease wages at the bottom of the economic ladder -they take jobs many Americans are unwilling to fill

Identify the two main obstacles John McCain faced during the presidential election of 2008.

-the financial crisis -George W. Bush's low popularity

Like the business scandals of the 1920s, those of the Bush era damaged confidence in the ethics of corporate leaders. What striking parallels existed between these decades separated by eighty years?

-the get-rich-quick ethos of businesses -the passion for deregulation by the government

In spring 2018, hundreds of thousands of people nationwide gathered for demonstrations calling for --(1.)--- .The movement was inspired by students from a high school in --(2.)--- who witnessed a horrific mass shooting in February 2018. Due to many Americans' devotion to the Second Amendment, and the significant power of the --(3.)---, one of the country's most influential lobbies, no new regulations have taken effect since the demonstrations.

1. Gun Control 2. Florida 3. National Rifle Association

--(1.)--- the self-proclaimed Islamic State, first appeared in Iraq, where it quickly captured territory before moving west toward --(2.)--- to assist in the civil war taking place there. Its tactics defied conventional military engagement, and its use of --(3.)--- to publicize its brutality and beheadings both shocked the world and inspired recruits to the organization.

1. ISIS 2. Syria 3. Social Media

During his two terms in office, President Bush's foreign policy --(1.)--- American allies, and the long-term military engagements in the Middle East combined with tax cuts for the --(2.)--- percent left the country with a growing deficit. By the end of his time in office, George W. Bush had an approval rating of ---(3.)--- ,the lowest of any president since the mid-twentieth century.

1. alienated 2. wealthy 3. 22 percent

The Gulf oil spill demonstrated the ---(1.)-- globalization and deregulation. The company that owned and operated the exploded oil rig was --(2.)---, and it had circumvented U.S. regulations by building the rig in South Korea and registering it in --(3.)---. This allowed the oil company to violate many safety regulations, which ultimately led to the explosion.

1. downside 2. BP 3. The Republic of the Marshal Islands

During the Bush and Obama administrations, efforts to police the southern border of the United States --(1.)---. The size of --(2.)--- increased to 20,000 officers by 2013, making it the country's second-largest police force. Still, feeling that the federal government was not doing enough, groups of citizens in the Southwest took up arms and set up --(3.)--- to patrol the border between Mexico and the United States. This tightened security over the border had an unintended consequence: not wanting to risk back-and-forth migration across the border, many immigrants opted to --(4.) -- after arriving to the United States.

1. increased 2.the U.S. Border Patrol 3. unofficial militias 4. stay put

As a proponent of market fundamentalism—a strong belief in --(1.) --- markets—since the 1980s, Alan Greenspan used artificially --(2.) --- interest rates and permitted securities firms to regulate themselves, both of which were significant factors in allowing corporations to use investment laws to benefit their companies and executives while draining the American public. In 2008, Greenspan testified that his long-held conviction that free markets would automatically produce the best results for all was --(3.)---

1. unregulated 2. low 3. flawed

On the map below, identify the country where Osama Bin Laden was discovered and killed after years of hiding.

CLICK PAKISTAN

Match each of the following events or actions from the first two years of Trump's presidency to the relevant country

China - Trump raised tariffs on goods from this country to promote American manufacturing Iran - Trump withdrew the United States from the multinational agreement that limited this country's ability to develop nuclear weapons Russia -Evidence accumulated that this government interfered in the 2016 presidential election United States -Massive tax cuts benefited corporations and the wealthiest citizens

President Harry S. Truman had promised a national health-care plan in the 1940s. When Bill Clinton was president, he tried to resurrect Truman's plan, but lost support. President Obama also made the topic one of his campaign promises and aroused strong partisan opposition. Claiming that it amounted to a "government takeover" of the health-care industry, every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill.

FALSE

The Great Recession was given its name because a recession is a brief contraction in an economy that quickly resolves. This Great Recession was significant, but notable for how quickly the economy rebounded into an historic economic expansion.

FALSE

The Tea Party, named after the assemblage of characters at the Mad Hatter's tea party in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, was a group of frustrated Republicans who opposed Obama's policies.

FALSE

Match the U.S. Supreme Court case with the decision it rendered regarding social justice and political power.

Obergefell v. Hodges -ruled that marriage cannot legal exclude same-sex couples, overturning state laws that banned them from marrying Hamdan v. Rumsfeld -recognized that the Geneva Conventions do apply to prisoners captured in the war on terror Lawerence v. Texas -declered that a state statute making homosexual acts a crime was unconstitutional

Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008 because he ran in opposition to many of his predecessor's unpopular opinions and practices. The rallying cry of his campaign was, "Change," and in his first months in office, President Obama announced plans to roll back Bush-era legislation on reproductive rights and the use of torture, and he worked to rebuild relationships with Muslims across the world.

TRUE

Black Lives Matter demanded that police practices be changed and officers who used excessive force be held accountable; it helped to give a public voice to the countless African-Americans who had been abused or killed while in police custody at a disproportionate rate, when compared to any other race in the nation.

TRUE

In the "Opinion of the Court in Obergefell v. Hodges" (2015), the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Fourteenth Amendment provides a constitutional right for gay marriage. Click here to review the full primary source excerpt from the textbook.

TRUE

Workers in offices, sales, food preparation and service, childcare, home health, and custodial service had the greatest job growth during the first term of the Obama administration.

TRUE

Using these "Portrait of a Recession" graphs, what conclusions can be drawn about the impact of the Great Recession?

rose -unemployment dropped -housing starts -consumer confidence -industrial production -retail sales