DE US History - Ch. 23

In the 1930s, the director Frank Capra typically displayed in his films A. a populist admiration for ordinary Americans. B. the cultural backwardness of small towns in America. C. praise for the "rugged individualism" of American business. D. the grasping materialism of most Americans. E. a harsh critique of the heartlessness of capitalism.

A. a populist admiration for ordinary Americans.

In the 1931 Scottsboro court case saw A. black teenagers accused of rape by two white women. B. a Georgia jury convict all of the black youths. C. the Supreme Court reaffirm the death penalty convictions. D. eight of the convicted youths executed for crimes they did not commit. E. All the answers are correct.

A. black teenagers accused of rape by two white women.

As Herbert Hoover began his presidency, he A. considered the country to have a bright economic future. B. assumed the economy might suffer a mild recession. C. feared a depression. D. called for voluntary guidelines to stabilize the stock market. E. renounced his earlier policy of associationalism.

A. considered the country to have a bright economic future.

In 1932, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation A. lent funds only to financial institutions with sufficient collateral. B. was created by Congress over President Herbert Hoover's veto. C. focused most of its spending on large urban cities in the Northeast. D. was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. E. spent most of its money trying to prop up unstable local banks.

A. lent funds only to financial institutions with sufficient collateral.

During the 1930s, American literature A. offered a greater degree of social commentary than did either radio or movies. B. saw most popular books and magazines focus on the Great Depression. C. saw photographic magazines lose much of their readership due to the high cost of each issue. D. faced censorship laws that suppressed criticisms of American politics and culture. E. adopted a more pessimistic, although no less radical, approach to society in the later 1930s.

A. offered a greater degree of social commentary than did either radio or movies.

During the Great Depression, in the rural US A. one-third of all farmers lost their land. B. farm income dropped by twenty-five percent. C. the economic conditions were slightly better than in industrial cities. D. the farm economy could not keep up with consumer demand. E. farmers enjoyed several unusually fertile growing seasons.

A. one-third of all farmers lost their land.

Beginning in February 1928 and lasting through most of 1929, the American stock market A. saw the number of shares traded daily soar. B. saw the average price of stocks rise slightly. C. had slowly been declining in value. D. had rapidly been losing in value. E. saw brokerage firms restrict credit to those buying stocks.

A. saw the number of shares traded daily soar.

During the 1930s, the Southern Tenant Farmers Union A. sought to organize the rural poor across racial lines. B. was formed by the American Communist Party. C. concerned the federal government as a powerful force of rural radicalism. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

A. sought to organize the rural poor across racial lines.

The Hoover administration addressed the economic situation of American farmers with A. the Agricultural Marketing Act. B. the Soil Conservation Act. C. the Agricultural Adjustment Act. D. the Farm Security Administration. E. the Rural Electrification Administration.

A. the Agricultural Marketing Act.

During the Great Depression, A. the divorce rate declined. B. the marriage rate increased. C. the birth rate increased. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

A. the divorce rate declined.

During the Great Depression, unemployment in the United States peaked at an estimated A. 10 percent. B. 25 percent. C. 40 percent. D. 55 percent. E. 70 percent.

B. 25 percent.

In the 1930s, all of the following films offered social commentary on the United States and the Great Depression EXCEPT A. Our Daily Bread. B. It Happened One Night. C. The Grapes of Wrath. D. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. E. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.

B. It Happened One Night.

As the depression deepened, President Herbert Hoover A. encouraged business men to reduce their industrial production. B. grew less willing to increase federal spending. C. began to experiment with untried economic principles. D. called for a reduction in taxes. E. stopped worrying about trying to balance the budget.

B. grew less willing to increase federal spending.

In response to the Great Depression, many Mexican Americans A. migrated to the South. B. left the United States entirely. C. moved into California. D. successfully organized agricultural unions. E. migrated into rural areas, where work was more available.

B. left the United States entirely.

On Oct. 29, 1929, the American stock market A. saw fewer than one million shares of stock traded. B. lost all the gains of the previous year. C. experienced its first sharp decline in values since the War. D. was forced to suspend business because of staggering declines in values. E. rebounded slightly from the tremendous losses of "Black Thursday.

B. lost all the gains of the previous year.

The economic pressures caused by the Great Depression A. weakened the notion that a woman's proper place was in the home. B. saw men move into jobs traditionally held by professional women. C. forced most women out of the labor force. D. saw the federal government make it illegal for married women to work outside the home. E. affected service and clerical positions held by women more than they did jobs in heavy industry.

B. saw men move into jobs traditionally held by professional women.

The "Abraham Lincoln Brigade" is to be associated with A. the radical Right. B. the Spanish Civil War. C. veterans of World War I. D. the "bonus marchers." E. the Civilian Conservation Corps.

B. the Spanish Civil War.

Prior to 1932, Franklin Roosevelt had been all of the following EXCEPT A. assistant secretary of the Navy. B. vice president of the United States. C. governor of New York. D. a state legislator. E. a Hudson Valley aristocrat.

B. vice president of the United States.

In 1932, the Farmers' Holiday Association A. began and spread throughout the South. B. was essentially a farmers' strike. C. led to more public money being sent to rural areas. D. called on farmers to leave their lands unplanted. E. argued that farmers should also reap the benefits of welfare capitalism.

B. was essentially a farmers' strike.

During the 1930s, the most important group within the Popular Front was the A. Socialist Party. B. Federation of Labor. C. Communist Party. D. Progressive Party. E. Americans for Democratic Action.

C. Communist Party.

In the late 1920s, the European demand for agriculture and manufacturing goods from the United States was A. rising. B. steady. C. declining. D. chronically unstable. E. essentially nonexistent.

C. declining.

During the Great Depression, Asian Americans A. unlike blacks and Hispanics, were generally able to keep from losing their jobs to white Americans. B. who were college educated generally weathered the crisis fairly well. C. had trouble competing for jobs with poor white migrants from the Midwest. D. were limited by law to low-paying jobs such as salesclerks and food servers.found it easier E. to move into mainstream professions.

C. had trouble competing for jobs with poor white migrants from the Midwest.

As a result of the Great Depression, the social values in the United States A. saw Americans embrace nearly any idea that was new or nontraditional. B. saw a majority of Americans question the future of democracy. C. seemed to change relatively little. D. saw most Americans turn against the traditional "success ethic." E. saw the idea of individual initiative fall into disrepute.

C. seemed to change relatively little.

Erskine Caldwell's Tobacco Road and Richard Wright's Native Son chronicled A. itinerant migrants who moved west during the Depression. B. the troubles of farmers as the result of the Dust Bowl. C. social injustice in the rural South and the urban North. D. the jobless poor who traveled the country by hopping on freight trains. E. the plight of Communist labor organizers in California.

C. social injustice in the rural South and the urban North.

In the 1930s, Hollywood films A. became more politically charged as the Great Depression continued. B. challenged many of the conventional attitudes regarding race. C. typically portrayed women as wives and mothers. D. experienced a decline in ticket sales as the Great Depression wore on. E. tried to avoid deliberately and explicitly escapist material.

C. typically portrayed women as wives and mothers.

President Herbert Hoover responded to the onset of the Great Depression by A. proposing a series of economic reform programs. B. shutting down the bank system until confidence in it could be restored. C. urging voluntary cooperation from business leaders. D. calling for a tax increase to prevent a federal deficit. E. calling for a system of social security to alleviate individual suffering.

C. urging voluntary cooperation from business leaders.

Franklin Roosevelt's victory over Herbert Hoover in 1932 A. saw Roosevelt carry every state. B. was disputed in several states. C. was a convincing mandate. D. was decided only in the final days of the election. E. All the answers are correct.

C. was a convincing mandate.

In 1932, the unemployment rate in Toledo, Ohio was one of the worst in the nation, at A. 40 percent. B. 60 percent. C. 70 percent. D. 80 percent. E. 95 percent.

D. 80 percent.

During the 1930s, the radical left in the United States A. found broad acceptance among both the working class and intellectuals. B. experienced intense government hostility. C. saw a widening of the ideological range of mainstream art and politics. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

D. All the answers are correct.

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) A. was to provide federal loans to troubled banks and businesses. B. was created in the last year of Herbert Hoover's administration. C. included a $1.5 billion public works budget. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

D. All the answers are correct.

The federal government's response to the "Bonus Army" included A. the use of six tanks to rout the veterans from Washington. B. General Douglas MacArthur exceeding his orders to remove the veterans. C. the injuring of over 100 marchers. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

D. All the answers are correct.

All of the following factors were causes of the Great Depression EXCEPT A. an unstable European economy. B. a lack of diversification in the United States economy. C. a misdistribution of purchasing power. D. conservative banking policies that restricted the availability of loans. E. weak consumer demand.

D. conservative banking policies that restricted the availability of loans.

During the 1930s, in regards to radio, A. the largest proportion of programming was devoted to news. B. most programs were increasingly prerecorded. C. around half of all American homes owned a radio. D. listening was often a community experience. E. radio sets were basically unusable in rural areas without electricity.

D. listening was often a community experience.

In 1939, after the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany, the American Communist Party A. reduced its criticism of the United States. B. formed an American Nazi Party. C. broke from the Soviet Union. D. lost a significant portion of its membership. E. disbanded.

D. lost a significant portion of its membership.

After 1929, in the face of the worsening global economic crisis, the United States A. reduced the debts owed by European nations to America. B. forgave the debts owed by European nations to America. C. demanded immediate payment of all debts owed by European nations to America. D. refused to alter the payment schedule of debts owed by European nations to America. E. forgave the debts owed by former allies during the War, and reduced the debts of other nations.

D. refused to alter the payment schedule of debts owed by European nations to America.

Between his election in 1932 and the inauguration in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt A. declared he would dramatically increase government spending. B. promised to maintain a balanced federal budget. C. made no public statements. D. refused to make any agreements with the outgoing president, Herbert Hoover. E. began laying the groundwork for his social security legislation.

D. refused to make any agreements with the outgoing president, Herbert Hoover.

After Democrats won control of Congress in the 1930 elections, President Herbert Hoover A. criticized voters for abandoning the economic principles of the Republican Party. B. told reporters that his economic recovery policies had not been successful. C. urged the new Congress to construct "Hoovervilles" to shelter the unemployed. D. refused to support a more vigorous public spending program for relief. E. deferred to their economic agenda of relief and public spending programs.

D. refused to support a more vigorous public spending program for relief.

In the 1930s, all of the following books offered criticism of American society EXCEPT A. U.S.A. by John Dos Passo. B. Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathaniel West. C. Studs Lonigan by James T. Farrell. D. The Disinherited by Jack Conroy. E. Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen.

E. Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen.

In the 1930s, the largest Japanese American and Chinese American populations were found in A. Oregon. B. Arizona. C. Washington. D. Hawaii. E. California.

E. California.

During the 1930s, southern rural blacks who moved to northern urban areas A. were denied all forms of public relief assistance. B. generally experienced better economic conditions. C. could still find domestic service jobs no whites wanted. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

E. None of the answers are correct.

During the 1930s, the American Communist Party A. distanced itself from the Soviet Union. B. excluded most minorities from its ranks. C. supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

E. None of the answers are correct.

In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt's promise of a "new deal" for America included a commitment to A. spend billions of dollars to assist in the economic recovery. B. provide relief jobs to millions of unemployed Americans. C. pass legislation establishing a nationwide program of social security. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

E. None of the answers are correct.

The Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 A. gave incentives to Europeans to sell their goods in the United States. B. was designed to stimulate United States exports. C. increased tariffs on industrial products, but left farm products' rates unchanged. D. All the answers are correct. E. None of the answers are correct.

E. None of the answers are correct.

The long-time censor of Hollywood films in the 1920s and 1930s was A. Frank Capra. B. Pare Lorentz. C. King Vidor. D. James Agee. E. Will Hays.

E. Will Hays.

The severity of the Depression in 1931 increased when the Federal Reserve Board A. closed all financially-ailing banks. B. declared bankruptcy. C. weakened the value of the dollar. D. expanded the money supply. E. raised interest rates.

E. raised interest rates.

In the 1930s, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People A. claimed community togetherness was the best way to combat hard times. B. argued the best way to end the Depression was for working-class men and women to run for office. C. asserted that a strong faith in Christianity would best help one through hard times. D. gave financial advice and offered tips when going to a job interview. E. taught that individual initiative could help people to restore themselves financially.

E. taught that individual initiative could help people to restore themselves financially.

All of the following statements regarding the 1932 "Bonus Army" are true EXCEPT A. Hoover called some marchers' behavior evidence of uncontrolled violence and radicalism. B. several thousand American veterans camped out in Washington D.C. C. Congress refused to formally consider the demands of the "Army." D. many Americans viewed President Hoover as unsympathetic to the veterans. E. the "Army" demanded Congress create relief programs for World War I veterans.

E. the "Army" demanded Congress create relief programs for World War I veterans.

The "Dust Bowl" in the 1930s A. was created by the national economic collapse. B. stretched from Kansas to California. C. experienced years of heavy rainfall. D. was created by grasshoppers. E. was a product of changing environmental conditions.

E. was a product of changing environmental conditions.

Erskine Caldwell's ________, which later became a long-running Broadway play, was an exposé of poverty in the rural South.

Tobacco Road