US History- Unit 6 Benchmark Review (Topic 15)

During the postwar era, all minorities faced problems stemming from

discrimination in housing and employment.

Which of the following had the largest role in increasing consumer consumption during the 1950s?

ease in obtaining credit

"The time is past when a boy's chief possession was his bike and a girl's party wardrobe consisted of a fancy dress worn with a string of dime-store pearls. . . . Today's teenagers surround themselves with a fantastic array of garish and often expensive baubles and amusements. They own 10 million phonographs, over a million TV sets, 13 million cameras." This text underlies what growing phenomenon of the 1950s?

increased consumption

In the 1950s, middle class prosperity and the abundance of inexpensive goods had the unexpected effect of

inspiring rock n' roll music.

The change in the nation's attitude toward membership in the League of Nations and membership in the United Nations shows the contrast between

isolationism and involvement

In an effort to both distinguish himself from Truman's policy of containment and eliminate the expense of maintaining a large conventional army, Eisenhower pursued a foreign policy collectively known as

massive retaliation

The Eisenhower Doctrine promised aid to any Middle Eastern nations threatened by communism. Why was this doctrine inspired in part by the Suez Canal Crisis?

Britain and France had tried to regain the canal with Soviet help.

During the 1950s, how did the Republican Party hope to support a balanced federal budget and counter communist countries?

By relying on nuclear weapons

What was a significant turning point in the Korean War?

China's entry into the war

SEC. 100. The Veterans' Administration is hereby declared to be an essential war agency and entitled, second only to the War and Navy Departments, to priorities in personnel, equipment, supplies, and material under any laws, Executive orders, and regulations pertaining to priorities, and in appointments of personnel from civil-service registers the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs is hereby granted the same authority and discretion as the War and Navy Departments and the United States Public Health Service: Provided, That the provisions of this section as to priorities for materials shall apply to any State institution to be built for the care or hospitalization of veterans This text is from an act otherwise known as the...

GI Bill.

How was the economy affected by corporate expansion in the 1950s?

It boomed as the middle class grew.

"The undersigned, the Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command, on the one hand, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and the Commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers, on the other hand, in the interest of stopping the Korean conflict, with its great toil of suffering and bloodshed on both sides, and with the objective of establishing an armistice which will insure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement is achieved, do individually, collectively, and mutually agree to accept and to be bound and governed by the conditions and terms of armistice set forth in the following articles and paragraphs, which said conditions and terms are intended to be purely military in character and to pertain solely to the belligerents in Korea..." The text above is from an agreement that...

established a cease-fire in Korea.

What was a major outcome of the Korean War (1950-1953)?

Korea continued to be a divided nation.

"The truth of the matter is that Europe's requirements for the next 3 or 4 years of foreign food and other essential products—principally from America—are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help, or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very grave character. The remedy lies in breaking the vicious circle and restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole. The manufacturer and the farmer throughout wide areas must be able and willing to exchange their products for currencies the continuing value of which is not open to question." The text outlines the basis for the...

Marshall Plan.

". . . 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. It has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others.The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared and guilty people whitewashed. But there have been enough proved cases to cause nationwide distrust and strong suspicion that there may be something to the unproved, sensational accusations. . . ." When Senator Smith spoke these words, she was reacting to...

McCarthyism

Which of these action is an example of checks and balances?

President Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act

One consequence of World War II was that the United States

Remain deeply involved in world affairs

The automobile and the expansion of roadway systems in the 1950s led to the growth of

Suburban areas

Why didn't the West launch a military operation to end the Berlin blockade?

The distance from West Germany to Berlin would make a military operation difficult.

Why was the end of the Korean War considered a stalemate?

The north and south were still divided

The rapid growth in personal income in the decade after World War II contributed to

expansion of the middle class

The GI Bill affected American society after World War II by

extending educational and housing opportunities

The immediate impact of the 1957 launch of Sputnik I was that it

heightened the space race as a form of Cold War competition

"The launching by the Soviet Union of the first earth satellite is an event of considerable technical and scientific importance. However, that importance should not be exaggerated. What has happened involves no basic discovery and the value of a satellite to mankind will for a long time be highly problematical. That the Soviet Union was first in this project is due to the high priority which the Soviet Union gives to scientific training and to the fact that since 1945 the Soviet Union has particularly emphasized developments in the fields of missiles and of outer space... The Soviets [have concentrated] upon developments in this field with a use of resources and effort not possible in time of peace to societies where the people are free to engage in pursuits of their own choosing and where public monies are limited by representatives of the people. Despotic societies which can command the activities and resources of all their people can often produce spectacular accomplishments. These, however, do not prove that freedom is not the best way." According to Dulles, why did the Soviets launch a satellite before the Americans?

Their government dictated that the necessary resources be utilized.

The 38th parallel was the basis of

a cease-fire in the conflict between North and South Korea.

How did many citizens of Soviet-dominated countries in Eastern Europe interpret Khrushchev's talk of "peaceful co-existence" in the mid 1950s?

an opportunity to gain a degree of political autonomy

The National Defense Education Act was passed amidst fears that

arts were being funded more than science and math.

Secretary of State Dulles's approach to war can best be described as

brinkmanship.

McCarthyism in the early 1950s resulted from

charges that Communists had infiltrated the United States government

The Truman Doctrine was established because of fears that

communism would spread to other countries.

". . . Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. . . ." This statement by President Kennedy suggests a continued commitment to the foreign policy of...

containment

The goal of President Harry Truman's Fair Deal was to

continue reforms begun during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency

In 1957, the Eisenhower Doctrine expanded the principles of the Truman Doctrine by extending Middle East military assistance in order to

offset communist influence in the region

The fact that 1950 saw the greatest increase in the production of televisions is an indication of

postwar prosperity.

Presidents Truman and Eisenhower both provided strong leadership in the 1940s and 1950s by

promoting social welfare programs while reducing defense budgets.

Which foreign policy decision by President Harry Truman is an example of the policy of containment?

providing military aid to Greece and Turkey

The main foreign policy objective of the Marshall Plan (1948-1952) was to

rebuild the economies of European nations

The Marshall Plan tried to prevent the spread of communism in Europe by

restoring economic stability throughout Western Europe

The main goal of the Truman Doctrine was to

restrict the spread of communism.

The Smith Act was passed because of concerns that

some might advocate government overthrow.

The primary goal of the United States foreign policy of containment was to

stop communist influence from spreading

The Eisenhower administration transformed the American landscape forever by

strengthening national defense.

"The West has won! I say this quite deliberately in such a crass way because you wanted to know how I felt emotionally. The West—well, we have succeeded. And the West has won and the others have not!" In this text, Barowsky was discussing how the Berlin Airlift...

succeeded in showing that the Soviet Union could be challenged.

Which of the following had the biggest impact on post-war economic prosperity in the United States?

the GI Bill of Rights

During the Korean War, President Harry Truman removed General Douglas MacArthur from command because MacArthur

threatened the constitutional principle of civilian control of the military

What was the primary challenge faced by Hispanic immigrants since the 1940s?

unfair treatment by employers

The first serious disagreements between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II occurred over Soviet activities in

Eastern Europe.