Deck 22: Depression, Dissent, and the New Deal

Question 1

The 1932 protest by Michigan autoworkers that ended with the death of four protesters was a response to Henry Ford's decision to

A) close his Dearborn plant.
B) decrease workers' salaries.
C) fire three thousand men.
D) deny jobs to Communists.

Answer 1

decrease workers' salaries.

Question 2

What consequence did his handling of the Bonus Army protest have for President Hoover?

A) He developed a reputation as a strong and decisive leader.
B) His reliance on military force made him seem insecure.
C) He decided not to run for reelection to the presidency.
D) He appeared insensitive to the plight of ordinary people.

Answer 2

He appeared insensitive to the plight of ordinary people.

Question 3

Fleeing the dust storms of the 1930s, "Okies" in search of new jobs and homes headed for

A) Washington, D.C.
B) Texas.
C) New Mexico.
D) California.

Answer 3

California.

Question 4

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was supposed to revitalize the economy by providing an infusion of federal funds to

A) state and municipal governments.
B) the banking and railroad industries.
C) social welfare programs.
D) industry and manufacturing.

Question 5

The fact that the proportion of women in the workforce grew during the 1930s is evidence that

A) women workers were not affected by the Depression.
B) married women were encouraged to join the civil service.
C) more workers were fired from male-dominated industries.
D) the number of jobs available in domestic service grew.

Question 6

The Scottsboro Nine were threatened with lynching because they were accused of

A) assaulting white men.
B) raping white women.
C) being vagrants.
D) being Communists.

Question 7

The particular inequities and prejudices faced by African Americans during the 1930s were evident in the

A) election of Congressman Oscar DePriest.
B) courts' treatment of the Scottsboro Nine.
C) construction of Hoovervilles in many cities.
D) harsh treatment of migrant farmworkers.

Question 8

John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath captured the experience of

A) displaced tenant farmers and sharecroppers.
B) migrants attempting to escape the Dust Bowl.
C) Mexicans deported back to their native land.
D) homeless residents of makeshift "Hoovervilles."

Question 9

The growth of the American Communist Party during the 1930s can be attributed to

A) dissatisfaction with the response of government and employers to the Depression.
B) the support and encouragement of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration.
C) the Bonus Army's march to and occupation of parts of Washington, D.C.
D) admiration for the dictatorial governing style of Soviet premier Joseph Stalin.

Question 10

The 1932 decision by Hoover and Congress to raise income, estate, and corporate taxes on the wealthy to control the federal deficit resulted in

A) a balanced federal budget by year's end.
B) funding for a major public works project.
C) the loss of millions of additional jobs.
D) the closing of banks and insurance companies.

Question 11

Hoover's vision of how the federal government should respond to the economic collapse could be described as

A) aggressive.
B) experimental.
C) swift.
D) cautious.

Question 12

How many farmers migrated out of the Dust Bowl during the 1930s?

A) One-tenth
B) One-quarter
C) One-third
D) One-half

Question 13

The public's impression of Hoover during his presidency was that he

A) effectively handled the economic crisis.
B) was too hard on Wall Street and big business.
C) was too aloof and insensitive to people's suffering.
D) was too concerned with alleviating unemployment.

Question 14

Communists influenced the public response to the Depression by

A) threatening to overthrow the federal government.
B) providing financial support to the unemployed and homeless.
C) praising the effectiveness of Europe's dictatorships.
D) organizing protest actions and supporting the labor movement.

Question 15

What did the members of the Bonus Army want from the federal government?

A) Early payment of a benefit promised to World War I veterans
B) Financial relief for farmers who were facing foreclosure
C) A public works program to provide jobs for the unemployed
D) Legislation to prevent employers from cutting their workers' pay

Question 16

Herbert Hoover's initial response to the Depression was to

A) ask Congress to strengthen regulation of the banks.
B) run to local governments and charities to provide relief.
C) pressure private industry to not raise prices for consumers.
D) begin planning a major federally funded jobs program.

Question 17

Mexican and Japanese immigrants faced similar types of discrimination and hardship during the Depression, but only

A) Mexicans faced competition for jobs from white migrants.
B) Japanese voluntarily returned to their homeland.
C) unemployed Mexicans were forcibly deported.
D) Japanese faced job discrimination before the Depression.

Question 18

Which of the following consumer items doubled its sales during the 1930s?

A) Automobiles
B) Telephones
C) Clothing
D) Radios

Question 19

A higher proportion of black women than white women worked outside the home both prior to and during the Depression because

A) white families would only hire black women to work in their homes.
B) white women workers refused to perform domestic labor.
C) black men faced higher rates of unemployment than white men.
D) black women generally earned higher wages than white women.

Question 20

The dust storms that swept the Great Plains during the 1930s were, in part, a result of

A) farmers failing to plant trees and grasses that could have prevented erosion.
B) the land not being planted due to farm foreclosures.
C) the construction of shanty towns on open land.
D) the lack of electricity and modern farming equipment.

Question 21

Which of the following explains Franklin Roosevelt's popularity with voters in 1932?

A) Roosevelt seemed to have a specific plan for rebuilding the economy.
B) Voters could relate to him because he shared their economic struggles.
C) Roosevelt expressed concern and compassion for the ordinary American.
D) Voters thought he would continue to carry out President Hoover's policies.

Question 22

Because of his approach to running the Federal Emergency Relief Program, Harry Hopkins was

A) invited by Huey Long to join the Share Our Wealth Society.
B) credited with helping Roosevelt avoid deficit spending.
C) appointed as head of the Works Progress Administration.
D) the American Liberty League's favorite Roosevelt appointee.

Question 23

Father Coughlin and Huey Long shared a critical view of the New Deal and an antipathy toward

A) Communists.
B) Jews.
C) the wealthy.
D) the debt-ridden.

Question 24

Eleanor Roosevelt's influence on her husband was apparent in his decision to

A) establish the Securities and Exchange Commission.
B) regularly broadcast his fireside chats on the radio.
C) bring low-cost electricity to rural communities.
D) appoint Frances Perkins to head the Department of Labor.

Question 25

Which of the following New Deal policies would have been acceptable to President Hoover?

A) Paying farmers to destroy their harvest and dairy products
B) Establishing the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
C) Cutting federal employees' salaries and veterans' benefits
D) Investing $5 billion in the Works Progress Administration

Question 26

Which of the following represents the philosophy of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration under Harry Hopkins?

A) Since there was a limited amount of relief money, it had to be distributed slowly and carefully.
B) The unemployed had been waiting for relief long enough; they shouldn't have to wait any longer.
C) The federal government, not states or cities, should be responsible for distributing the funds.
D) The agency needed to establish clear criteria, which it would use to evaluate requests for funding.

Question 27

Despite their ideological differences, the American Liberty League and the American Communist Party agreed that

A) the New Deal was following Communist precepts.
B) President Roosevelt was acting like a dictator.
C) Roosevelt's economic policies were taking the country in the wrong direction.
D) Wall Street had too much influence on the president's economic policies.

Question 28

With the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the federal government legitimized and institutionalized ideas promoted by

A) Milo Reno.
B) John Steinbeck.
C) Luisa Moreno.
D) Frances Perkins.

Question 29

Neither Hoover nor Roosevelt wanted their solutions to the Depression to

A) include public works programs.
B) invest in national infrastructure.
C) increase agricultural prices.
D) increase the federal deficit.

Question 30

The purpose of the Tennessee Valley Authority was to

A) increase landownership among African Americans.
B) break the monopoly of General Electric in the generation of electricity.
C) provide low-cost electricity and flood control to the region.
D) limit farm output in order to raise price levels.

Question 31

Which New Deal program supported the work of writers, artists, and musicians?

A) Federal Emergency Relief Administration
B) Works Progress Administration
C) National Recovery Administration
D) Civilian Conservation Corps

Question 32

Early supporters of the New Deal included many

A) Communists.
B) Republicans.
C) Progressives.
D) Fascists.

Question 33

The popularity of Father Coughlin and Huey Pierce Long motivated President Roosevelt to

A) invest in more public works programs.
B) make a greater effort to balance the budget.
C) stop trying to appeal to southern voters.
D) use federal funds to support artists and writers.

Question 34

The purpose of the Glass-Steagall Act was to

A) protect the personal savings of Americans.
B) provide failing banks with bailout funds.
C) provide investors with accurate information.
D) cap the salaries of government employees.

Question 35

Which of the following effects of the Social Security Act of 1935 was the result of lobbying by southern Democrats?

A) African Americans would be denied benefits disproportionately in comparison to whites.
B) Working women would be denied benefits disproportionately in comparison to working men.
C) Housewives and stay-at-home mothers would be denied benefits disproportionately in comparison to working women.
D) The payroll tax affected the purchasing power of lower-income people disproportionately in comparison to the wealthy.

Question 36

One reason Franklin Roosevelt was effective at raising morale and rallying support during the Depression was that he

A) immediately created thousands of new jobs.
B) traveled the country making upbeat speeches.
C) went on radio regularly to speak to the public.
D) invested his own money in recovery efforts.

Question 37

Roosevelt's fireside chats reflected his desire to

A) undermine his critics' standing with the American people.
B) pressure Congress to support his New Deal legislation.
C) demonstrate to the public that he could be entertaining.
D) show Americans that he was working on their behalf.

Question 38

Francis Townsend's "Cure for Depressions" can be interpreted as the inspiration for the

A) Works Progress Administration.
B) National Youth Administration.
C) Congress of Industrial Organizations.
D) Social Security Act of 1935.

Question 39

Which belief did President Roosevelt share with Father Coughlin?

A) The United States should support the rising fascist dictatorships in Europe.
B) Radio broadcasts were an ideal venue for communicating political messages.
C) To get the economy back on track, the banks needed to be nationalized.
D) The New Deal had catered too much to wealthy bankers and businessmen.

Question 40

Why did Roosevelt make ending Prohibition a priority?

A) He believed that legal access to liquor would improve Americans' morale.
B) Legalizing alcohol sales would produce government income and savings.
C) It would create new manufacturing and employment opportunities.
D) For the government to be able to regulate alcohol, it had to be legal.

Question 41

Franklin Roosevelt's critics accused him of becoming a European-style dictator after he

A) tried to increase the number of Supreme Court justices.
B) decided to fund the Social Security system through taxes.
C) approved the establishment of the National Labor Relations Board.
D) invested federal funds in the Works Progress Administration.

Question 42

Although the New Deal had a limited impact on the lives of ordinary African Americans, President Roosevelt's symbolic efforts on behalf of racial equality resulted in

A) the appointment of African American cabinet members.
B) the Marian Anderson concert at the Lincoln Memorial.
C) Congress agreeing to pass anti-lynching legislation.
D) large numbers of African Americans becoming Democrats.

Question 43

What was the long-term impact on the automobile industry of the 1937 Flint, Michigan, sit-down strike?

A) It led to the hiring of the first women autoworkers by General Motors.
B) The industry began recognizing the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
C) The American Federation of Labor began to represent industrial workers.
D) The United Auto Workers (UAW) broke away from the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Question 44

Figure 22.1 shows national trends in unemployment between 1920 and 1945. Which of the following statements is true?

A) Unemployment rose in the first couple of years of the New Deal before it declined.
B) The New Deal brought about full employment.
C) The nation witnessed an uninterrupted decline in unemployment from 1933 to 1944.
D) Unemployment dropped from nearly 25 percent to about 15 percent during the New Deal.

Question 45

One result of Roosevelt's efforts to "pack" the Supreme Court was the

A) expansion of the number of justices on the Court.
B) abandonment of the New Deal by southern Democrats.
C) overturning of some pieces of New Deal legislation.
D) development of the "recession within the depression."

Question 46

Which of the following describes Franklin Roosevelt's position regarding the expansion of the Supreme Court?

A) Justices over the age of seventy were incapable of fulfilling their duties.
B) Nine justices were not enough to handle the Court's workload.
C) Without new members, the Court was unlikely to uphold New Deal reforms.
D) During a time of crisis, Congress and the Court should defer to the president.

Question 47

Which of the following political realignments began with the 1936 election?

A) White southerners switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party.
B) African Americans switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party.
C) The Communist Party won a significant percentage of the votes cast.
D) Business owners, bankers, and Wall Street investors largely voted Democrat.

Question 48

The intended goal of the Indian Reorganization Act (1934) was to

A) enhance Indian autonomy and preserve native customs and language.
B) encourage Indian assimilation and integration into the mainstream.
C) address the high rates of unemployment and poverty among Indians.
D) relocate Indian tribes to land that was better suited to farming.

Question 49

The purpose of the National Labor Relations Board was to

A) mediate disputes between strikers and employers.
B) protect the right of workers to organize unions.
C) hear workers' complaints about working conditions.
D) protect workers from racial and gender discrimination.

Question 50

The results of the 1936 elections suggested that the Democratic Party had become the party of

A) those who wanted a dictatorial leader.
B) radicals and Communist sympathizers.
C) those whose wealth survived the Depression.
D) the working-class, poor, and unemployed.

Question 51

Many Native American tribes rejected the Indian Reorganization Act because

A) they denied the federal government's authority to intervene in tribal affairs.
B) they distrusted the motives of John Collier, the commissioner of Indian Affairs.
C) some of its requirements forced them to abandon their traditional practices.
D) it didn't address the economic struggles of most Native American tribes.