khan period 8 - quiz 1
"This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent - or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities . . . We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear. He merely exploited it, and rather successfully." Source: Edward R. Murrow, news anchor, in a "See It Now" broadcast, 1954 The excerpt was most likely intended to do which of the following?
end the investigations conducted by the Senate to expose communists In the excerpt, Murrow criticizes Senator McCarthy's methods to expose suspected communists. His goal is to convince Americans to stop supporting McCarthy and his "witch hunt."
"As we meet here today, we stand on the threshold of a new era of peace in the world. . . . This past year saw far-reaching results from our new policies for peace. By continuing to revitalize our traditional friendships, and by our missions to Peking and to Moscow, we were able to establish the base for a new and more durable pattern of relationships among the nations of the world. . . . Let us continue to bring down the walls of hostility which have divided the world for too long, and to build in their place bridges of understanding — so that despite profound differences between systems of government, the people of the world can be friends. Let us build a structure of peace in the world." -Source: President Richard Nixon, Second Inaugural Address, 1973 An opponent of Nixon's foreign policy would agree which of the following statements?
By reducing tensions with the Soviet Union, the United States would look weak in the eyes of their adversaries. In the excerpt, Nixon advocates for the policy of détente, a relaxing of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. Opponents of Nixon argued that by relaxing tensions with the Soviet Union, the United States would appear weak and unwilling to fight for the cause of democracy.
"If the G.I. Bill of Rights altered the landscape of higher education in America, it transformed the cultural and physical landscape of the country even more dramatically. The American suburban exodus of the 1950s did not simply spring into existence on its own: It is no exaggeration to say that the creation of suburbia and the resulting extension of home ownership to a majority of families in American was launched, underwritten, and paid for by the G.I. Bill." -Source: Edward Humes, historian, Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream, 2014 According to the passage, which of the following best explains the most important effect that the GI Bill had on American society?
It caused millions of American families to relocate to suburbs in the South and West. Humes writes that the GI Bill transformed the "cultural and physical landscape of the country" and supported the creation of suburbs to house growing families.
"The critique of mass consumption, of course, went beyond the biting commentary and far-ranging analyses of intellectuals. The Beats in the 1950s, the hippies in the 1960s, the 'Small Is Beautiful' and environmentally sensitive Greens of the 1970s, and some strands of the religious right of the 1980s all developed identities based on a rejection of a mainstream culture built around mass consumption. Cultural rebels shared intellectuals' obsession with mass consumption, . . . confirming just how much mass consumption stood at the core of how Americans regarded their society in the second half of the twentieth century." -Source: Lizabeth Cohen, historian, A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America, 2004 According to the passage, which of the following best explains one long-term effect that mass consumption had on society?
It led to the creation of countercultural movements. Cohen identifies several counterculture movements that resulted from mass consumption, like the Beats in the 1950s and the religious right in the 1980s.
"The American people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds lest they be politically smeared as 'Communists' or 'Fascists' by their opponents. Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America. . . . The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared and guilty people whitewashed." "As an American, I am shocked at the way Republicans and Democrats alike are playing directly into the Communist design of 'confuse, divide, and conquer.' As an American, I do not want a Democratic administration 'whitewash' or 'coverup' any more than I want a Republican smear or witch hunt." -Source: Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, in the "Declaration of Conscience," 1950 The excerpt is best understood as a response to which historical development?
McCarthyism Senator Margaret Chase Smith was one of seven senators who publicly criticized McCarthy's methods of exposing communists in the 1950s. We can tell she's talking about McCarthyism because she states she does not want a "Republican smear or witch hunt," a common critique of the McCarthy investigations of the period.
Population by region, 1940-1960 chart Which of the following best explains the overall population trend shown from 1940 to 1970?
People relocated to the Sunbelt at greater rates than any other region. The Sunbelt is a region of the United States that stretches across the South and West. Both the South and West had the highest percent changes from the period of 1940 to 1970.
"Why do we fear the communists? Why, in the paper this morning, I saw that in the West there were eighteen new communists arrested who have all these years apparently succeeded in hiding their identity or at least their connections with that party. We fear communism abroad, and we fear its infiltration at home. Why do we have to do that? We are not accustomed to the kind of leadership that leaves us bewildered [and] helpless. We want to get rid of those people soon." -Source: Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a speech in Davenport, Iowa, 1952 The ideas expressed about communism in this excerpt are most similar to ideas expressed about which other historical conflict?
fears over the rise of Bolshevism in the 1920s Often called the first Red Scare, the panic over the threat of communism in the United States in the 1920s mirrored the Red Scare of the 1950s.
Excerpt 1: "It would be an unspeakable tragedy if these countries, which have struggled so long against overwhelming odds, should lose that victory for which they sacrificed so much. Collapse of free institutions and loss of independence would be disastrous not only for them but for the world. . . . "In addition to funds, I ask the Congress to authorize the detail of American civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey, at the request of those countries, to assist in the tasks of reconstruction, and for the purpose of supervising the use of such financial and material assistance as may be furnished." -Source: Harry Truman, Special Message to the Congress on Greece and Turkey, 1947 Excerpt 2: "As we meet here today, we stand on the threshold of a new era of peace in the world. . . . This past year saw far-reaching results from our new policies for peace. By continuing to revitalize our traditional friendships, and by our missions to Peking and to Moscow, we were able to establish the base for a new and more durable pattern of relationships among the nations of the world. . . . Let us continue to bring down the walls of hostility which have divided the world for too long, and to build in their place bridges of understanding — so that despite profound differences between systems of government, the people of the world can be friends. Let us build a structure of peace in the world." -Source: Richard Nixon, Second Inaugural Address, 1973 Which of the following statements accurately describes the difference between the two excerpts?
Truman advocates for indirect military action, whereas Nixon advocates for mutual coexistence. Truman asks Congress to provide military and financial aid to Greece and Turkey. He states that, if these countries become Communist and free institutions collapse, the "loss of independence would be disastrous." Nixon, on the other hand, looks to facilitate a "friendship" between the United States and the Soviet Union and China. We call this policy of mutual coexistence "détente".
"The struggle against the totalitarian forces of Stalinism is not merely of a military character. It is political and ideological in nature as well. We stand opposed to the doctrines which enslave men, reduce men to mere automatons. We believe in the inherent dignity and worth of man, that man is an end in himself, that only in a genuinely free society can man attain his true nature. We believe that given equality of opportunity, each individual, irrespective of color, religion, national origin, or race, can realize his true self." -Source: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, 1953 Which of the following United States actions most directly resulted from the sentiments expressed in the excerpt?
a campaign to identify and arrest suspected communists As the Soviet Union emerged as the greatest threat to the United States after World War II, the federal government searched for suspected communists or communist-sympathizers in positions of power.
"We must formulate and put forward for other nations a much more positive and constructive picture of the sort of world we would like to see than we have put forward in past. It is not enough to urge people to develop political processes similar to our own. Many foreign peoples, in Europe at least, are tired and frightened by experiences of past, and are less interested in abstract freedom than in security . . . We should be better able than Russians to give them this. And unless we do, Russians certainly will." -Source: George Kennan, State Department telegram, 1946 Which of the following was the most immediate result of the approach advocated by Kennan in this telegram?
a foreign policy shift towards collective security and containment In the excerpt, Keenan expresses concern that war-torn European countries were "less interested in abstract freedom than in security." In response, the United States offered military and financial aid to countries resisting communism.
"One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions; representative government; free elections; guarantees of individual liberty; freedom of speech and religion; and freedom from political oppression. "The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed on the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression; a controlled press; framed elections; and the suppression of personal freedom."I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." -Source: President Harry Truman, in an address before a Joint Session of Congress, 1947 Arguments similar to those expressed in the excerpt were later employed to justify which of the following?
offering aid to free and democratic governments who refused the Soviet Union The Marshall Plan is an example of aid offered to countries that resisting communism.
"The critique of mass consumption, of course, went beyond the biting commentary and far-ranging analyses of intellectuals. The Beats in the 1950s, the hippies in the 1960s, the 'Small Is Beautiful' and environmentally sensitive Greens of the 1970s, and some strands of the religious right of the 1980s all developed identities based on a rejection of a mainstream culture built around mass consumption. Cultural rebels shared intellectuals' obsession with mass consumption, . . . confirming just how much mass consumption stood at the core of how Americans regarded their society in the second half of the twentieth century." -Source: Lizabeth Cohen, historian, A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America, 2004 The developments described in the excerpt most directly reflect which of the following changes in the 1950s?
the challenges to conformity by younger people, artists, and academics Cohen describes the rise of several counterculture movements that developed in response to the mass consumption of the 1950s.
"I think it is legitimate to say, then, that the Beat Generation's worship of primitivism and spontaneity is more than a cover for hostility to intelligence; it arises from a pathetic poverty of feeling as well. The hipsters and hipster-lovers of the Beat Generation are rebels, all right, but not against anything so sociological and historical as the middle class or capitalism or even respectability. This is the revolt of the spiritually underprivileged and the crippled of soul—young men who can't think straight and so hate anyone who can; young men who can't get outside the morass of self and so construct definitions of feeling that exclude all human beings who manage to live, even miserably, in a world of objects. . ." -Source: Norman Podhoretz, "The Know-Nothing Bohemians," Partisan Review, 1958 The excerpt is best understood as a response to which of the following historical developments?
the development of a counterculture The Beat Generation is one example of a group in the 1950s and 1960s that rejected conformity and traditional values.
"The head pin was China. It is down already. The two pins in the second row are Burma and Indochina. If they go, the three pins in the next row, Siam, Malaya, and Indonesia, are pretty sure to topple in their turn. And if all the rest of Asia goes, the resulting psychological, political, and economic magnetism will almost certainly drag down the four pins of the fourth row, India, Pakistan, Japan, and the Philippines." -Source: Stewart Alsop, "We Are Losing Asia Fast," Saturday Evening Post, 1950 The ideas about Asia expressed in the excerpt are most consistent with which of the following?
the domino theory The domino theory holds that a political event in one country will cause similar events in neighboring countries, like how pushing one domino in a row can cause the entire row to fall. In this excerpt, the author imagines Asian countries as bowling pins rather than dominoes, but the intention remains the same.
Picture of graph - number of live births in the US: 1930 - 1970 Which of the following was a significant cause of the trend from 1946 to 1961 shown in the graph?
the economic prosperity felt after World War II After World War II, the economy surged and gave Americans the ability to expand their families without fear of being unable to care financially for several children.
"If the G.I. Bill of Rights altered the landscape of higher education in America, it transformed the cultural and physical landscape of the country even more dramatically. The American suburban exodus of the 1950s did not simply spring into existence on its own: It is no exaggeration to say that the creation of suburbia and the resulting extension of home ownership to a majority of families in America was launched, underwritten, and paid for by the G.I. Bill." -Source: Edward Humes, historian, Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream, 2014 The developments described in the excerpt most directly reflect which of the following changes in the 1950s?
the improvement in social mobility for most Americans After World War II, the GI Bill helped veterans pay for college, graduate school, and training programs, increasing their economic opportunities and economic status. This led to more families seeking better housing in suburban neighborhoods.
"With the post-1945 emergence of America from the Great Depression and World War II, the automobile moved the nation forward into the modern age. The pioneering efforts of Henry Ford to mass-produce the automobile and offer affordable prices for average Americans created a new product called 'personal travel' and a host of new business opportunities. . . the construction of the vast interstate highway system was largely concentrated in the years 1958-72. The multi-lane highway network greatly increased the productivity of truck drivers, shortened the duration of personal trips, and increased safety." -Source: Robert J. Gordon, economist, The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War, 2016 The rise of highways, as described in the excerpt, most directly contributed to which of the following characteristics of United States society during the period?
the improvement to standards of living The development of the interstate highway system in the 1950s led to an improved standard of living across the United States and supported the growth of the economy. Personal travel improved in the years following the creation of the interstate highway system as travel across the United States became faster and safer.
"The struggle against the totalitarian forces of Stalinism is not merely of a military character. It is political and ideological in nature as well. We stand opposed to the doctrines which enslave men, reduce men to mere automatons. We believe in the inherent dignity and worth of man, that man is an end in himself, that only in a genuinely free society can man attain his true nature. We believe that given equality of opportunity, each individual, irrespective of color, religion, national origin, or race, can realize his true self." -Source: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, 1953 Which of the following issues of the period was Eisenhower most likely concerned with in this excerpt? Choose 1 answer:
the influence of the Soviet Union Eisenhower says that the United States opposes the "political and ideological" nature of Stalinism, or communism. He gave this address in the early years of the Cold War, an indirect military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.
"The commercial development of television in the post-World War II years as a mechanism for reaching into the household represents a singularly significant moment in the development of the American economy and culture. Through television, American business has represented, penetrated and constructed the family. . . In the television age, consumption and social control have become linked." -Source: Nick Browne, historian, "The Political Economy of the Television (Super) Text (1984)," American Television: New Directions in History and Theory, 2013 Which of the following earlier trends was most similar to the pattern described in the excerpt?
the invention of the radio in the 1920s Browne states that "In the television age, consumption and social control have become linked." In the 1920s, similar trends emerged as advertisements and radio programs influenced national culture and led to a rise in consumerism.
"The American people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds lest they be politically smeared as 'Communists' or 'Fascists' by their opponents. Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America. . . . The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared and guilty people whitewashed." "As an American, I am shocked at the way Republicans and Democrats alike are playing directly into the Communist design of 'confuse, divide, and conquer.' As an American, I do not want a Democratic administration 'whitewash' or 'coverup' any more than I want a Republican smear or witch hunt." -Source: Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, in the "Declaration of Conscience," 1950 The key concern that Senator Chase Smith addresses in this excerpt is:
the methods used to expose suspected spies in the government and entertainment industry. Senator Chase Smith argues against the methods used by Senator McCarthy to investigate and expose suspected communists. She writes that because of these investigations, "freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America."
"This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent - or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities . . . We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear. He merely exploited it, and rather successfully." Source: Edward R. Murrow, news anchor, in a "See It Now" broadcast, 1954 The excerpt best serves as evidence for which of the following developments?
the rise in opposition to the methods used to expose suspected communists in the federal government Murrow, an outspoken opponent to Senator McCarthy, calls Americans "the defenders of freedom." We know McCarthy for his unfair allegations to expose communists in the government, military, and the film industry.