Deck 22: The “New Era”

Question 1

During the 1920s, most American industrial workers experienced all of the following EXCEPT

A) a rise in wages.
B) income levels at the "minimum comfort level."
C) little control over their economic fate.
D) few opportunities to join a company union.
E) employers trying to keep their labor costs low.

Answer 1

few opportunities to join a company union.

Question 2

In the 1920s, the idea of agricultural "parity" was

A) to match crop production with demand.
B) to ensure farmers would at least financially break even.
C) strongly opposed by Congress.
D) to equalize the average farmer income with the average industrial worker income.
E) invalidated by the passage of the McNary-Haugen Bill.

Answer 2

to ensure farmers would at least financially break even.

Question 3

In 1920, the first commercial radio station to broadcast in the United States was in

A) Cleveland.
B) New York City.
C) Philadelphia.
D) Pittsburgh.
E) Chicago.

Answer 3

Pittsburgh.

Question 4

During the 1920s, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

A) was formed by the American Federation of Labor.
B) was one of the few unions led by an African American.
C) organized against sleeping car manufacturerA. Philip Randolph.
D) was one of the few unions led by African Americans, and it was formed by the American Federation of Labor.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 5

In the 1920s, "welfare capitalism"

A) encouraged employees to form single-industry labor unions.
B) was a paternalistic approach used by corporate leaders on their workers.
C) gave workers a measure of control over their industry.
D) required corporations to provide some relief for unemployed workers.
E) forced workers to donate much of their salaries to the less fortunate.

Question 6

In the 1920s bestseller, The Man Nobody Knows, Jesus Christ was portrayed as

A) embodying Republican values.
B) a 100% American.
C) a capitalist.
D) a prophet who would oppose consumerism.
E) a salesman.

Question 7

During the 1920s, products that grew dramatically in use in the United States included

A) synthetic fibers.
B) plastics.
C) home appliances.
D) electronics.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 8

During the 1920s, a great worry for industrialists was the fear of

A) the overproduction of goods.
B) a shortage in the number of skilled workers.
C) the rising bargaining power of labor unions.
D) a shortage of consumer credit.
E) inflation.

Question 9

During the 1920s, when $1,800 was considered the minimum annual income for a decent standard of living, the average annual income of a worker was approximately

A) $700.
B) $1,100.
C) $1,500.
D) $1,900.
E) $2,400.

Question 10

In the 1920s, the development of practical radio communication was furthered by

A) the theory of modulation.
B) the use of vacuum tubes.
C) its ability to receive more than just simple pulses.
D) both the theory of modulation and the use of vacuum tubes.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 11

During the 1920s, the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A) decided to shift away from craft unions.
B) created a partner organization, the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
C) used strikes in an attempt to organize unskilled workers.
D) became more radical after the death of Samuel Gompers.
E) believed workers should be organized on the basis of skills.

Question 12

During the 1920s, airplanes

A) experienced a great increase in commercial travel.
B) had no practical use.
C) were used almost exclusively for military purposes.
D) saw the development of the first experimental jet engines.
E) were largely a source of entertainment.

Question 13

Throughout the 1920s, the performance of the U.S. economy

A) saw ten straight years of continuous growth.
B) struggled with a persistently high rate of inflation.
C) saw per capita income flatten while manufacturing output soared.
D) saw nearly uninterrupted prosperity coupled with severe inequalities.
E) experienced a severe recession in 1923 that lasted two years.

Question 14

During the 1920s, all of the following immigrant groups were increasing their presence in the labor force in the West and Southwest EXCEPT the

A) Filipinos.
B) Chinese.
C) Japanese.
D) Mexicans.
E) Issei.

Question 15

During the 1920s, the agricultural economy of the United States saw

A) a large decrease in the area of cultivated land.
B) demand for farm goods rise faster than production.
C) a sharp decline in farmers' incomes.
D) farmers oppose using hybrid plants and chemical fertilizers.
E) the need for a larger labor supply.

Question 16

During the 1920s, the trend toward industrial consolidation

A) was most pronounced in industries dependent on large-scale mass-production.
B) slowed considerably throughout the decade.
C) encouraged new competition.
D) emerged most rapidly in industries that were less dependent on technology.
E) bypassed the steel and automobile industries.

Question 17

In the 1920s, "behavioral" psychologists argued

A) maternal affection was sufficient for successful child-rearing.
B) mothers who sent their children to nursery school and kindergarten hurt their development.
C) mothers should rely on trained experts for advice in raising children.
D) women had an instinctive capacity for being mothers.
E) midwives rather than doctors should aid in childbirth, for the emotional health of the child.

Question 18

In the workplace, the "open shop" meant

A) no worker was required to join a union.
B) skilled workers were required to join a craft union.
C) labor unions had the right to organize that particular industry.
D) workers had no right to join a union.
E) workers would be allowed to come and go as they pleased.

Question 19

During the 1920s, wages for American workers

A) generally enabled a working-class family to thrive on a single income.
B) rose most quickly for unskilled workers.
C) generally rose at a rate far below increases in production and profits.
D) equaled or exceeded the rate of production growth.
E) generally decreased as the labor market became tighter.

Question 20

During the 1920s, Thomas Hunt Morgan was one of the American pioneers in

A) analog computers.
B) genetic research.
C) automation.
D) robotics.
E) relativistic physics.

Question 21

In the election of 1924, among the political parties,

A) the Democratic Party was seriously divided.
B) the Republican Party was seriously divided.
C) the Progressive Party was seriously divided.
D) both the Democratic Party and the Progressive Party were seriously divided.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 22

As a result of the Scopes trial of 1925,

A) John Scopes was found innocent.
B) fundamentalists reduced their political activism.
C) the conflict between fundamentalists and modernists subsided.
D) anti-evolution laws were repealed in most other states.
E) William Jennings Bryan decided to run one more time for president.

Question 23

The Sheppard-Towner Act of 1921

A) promoted the establishment of daycare centers for the children of working women.
B) provided federal funds for child health-care programs.
C) was criticized for its promotion of birth control.
D) was promoted by the American Medical Association.
E) was promoted by the National Women's Party.

Question 24

The Scopes trial of 1925 was a legal battle concerning the conflict between

A) blacks and whites.
B) urban and rural society.
C) nativists and immigrants.
D) U.S. Steel and the Amalgamated Steelworkers' Union.
E) creationism and evolution.

Question 25

In the 1920s, the "noble experiment" referred to

A) the Equal Rights Amendment for women.
B) laws to restrict child labor.
C) political isolationism.
D) female suffrage.
E) the prohibition of alcohol.

Question 26

As president, Warren Harding

A) never abandoned the party hacks who had brought him to success.
B) sought a revival of progressive reform.
C) proposed the United States join the League of Nations.
D) saw his administration end with his defeat in a bid for reelection in 1924.
E) had no sense of his own intellectual limits.

Question 27

During the 1920s, the National Woman's Party campaigned primarily for the

A) Nineteenth Amendment.
B) Prohibition Amendment.
C) Equal Rights Amendment.
D) Balanced Budget Amendment.
E) Disarmament Amendment.

Question 28

In the 1920s, the "flapper" lifestyle

A) had a particular impact on lower-middle-class single women.
B) was largely reserved for upper-class women.
C) was largely rejected by upper-class women.
D) was simply a clothing fad.
E) was applauded by most progressive suffragists.

Question 29

After World War I, the new Ku Klux Klan

A) was largely centered in the South.
B) focused primarily on intimidating African Americans.
C) became primarily concerned about Catholics, Jews, and foreigners.
D) officially renounced the use of violence.
E) was a males-only organization.

Question 30

Al Smith lost the 1928 presidential election, in part, because

A) he failed to carry the South.
B) of a financial scandal within his campaign.
C) of his close connections to the oil industry.
D) he both failed to carry the South and maintained close connections to the oil industry.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 31

During the Harding administration, the Teapot Dome scandal involved

A) the illegal sale of timber rights.
B) transfers of national oil reserves.
C) graft in federal construction contracts.
D) political blackmail.
E) the secret sale of armaments to Nicaragua.

Question 32

In the 1920s, artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance

A) sought to inspire civil disobedience to further racial justice.
B) drew heavily from their African heritage.
C) included writers Edna Ferber and Ezra Pound.
D) both drew heavily from their African heritage and included writers Edna Ferber and Ezra Pound.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 33

During the 1920s, birth control in the U.S.

A) was limited to physical methods such as abstinence and withdrawal.
B) included legal abortion in most states.
C) was strongly opposed by moralists such as Margaret Sanger.
D) was among the major causes of poverty and distress in poor communities.
E) was illegal, in some form, in many states.

Question 34

All the following statements regarding Al Smith are true EXCEPT that he

A) was a progressive Democratic governor.
B) was supported by Tammany Hall.
C) lost the 1924 nomination to William McAdoo.
D) was an Irish Catholic.
E) won the 1928 Democratic nomination.

Question 35

The National Origins Act of 1924

A) entirely banned immigration from East Asia to the United States.
B) discriminated against northwestern Europeans.
C) was designed to alter the sources but not the overall number of immigrants.
D) included a quota system for the first time.
E) set a rigid limit of 150,000 immigrants a year.

Question 36

In the 1920s, a growing interest in birth control among middle-class women resulted from

A) the desire to delay childbirth to pursue a career outside of the home.
B) the attitude that sexual activity should not be for procreation only.
C) the desire to maintain a rigid, Victorian female "respectability."
D) both the desire to delay childbirth to pursue a career outside of the home, and the attitude that sexual activity should not be for procreation only.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 37

Which of the following is true of the passage and application of the Eighteenth Amendment?

A) It reduced drinking in some areas of the country.
B) The federal government did not commission enough agents to effectively enforce the law.
C) Organized crime gained exclusive access to an enormous, lucrative industry.
D) Many of the middle-class progressives who had originally supported prohibition began to oppose the experiment.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 38

In his 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

A) glorified wealthy Americans as examples of the "success ethic."
B) ridiculed the hypocritical behavior of some in evangelical religion.
C) satirized the inequalities in American politics.
D) criticized the American obsession with material wealth.
E) dramatized the plight of midwestern farmers.

Question 39

The infamous Baltimore journalist of the 1920s who delighted in ridiculing religion, politics, the arts, and even democracy itself, was

A) John Dos Passos.
B) F. Scott Fitzgerald.
C) Sinclair Lewis.
D) Thomas Wolfe.
E) H. L. Mencken

Question 40

Enrollment in colleges and universities increased threefold between 1900 and 1930, with much of that increase occurring after

A) the passage of the Sheppard-Towner Act.
B) the GI Bill of Rights became law.
C) World War I.
D) "Black Thursday."
E) the economy began the period of steady growth and expansion that marked the "roaring 20s."

Question 41

During the 1920s, union membership fell from over 5 million to under 3 million.

Question 42

As secretary of commerce, Herbert Hoover considered himself

A) a champion of business cooperation.
B) a believer in passive government.
C) a paragon of conservative America.
D) an internationalist in the tradition of Woodrow Wilson.
E) an enemy of wealth and privilege.

Question 43

Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge were similar in

A) their passive approach to the presidency.
B) ethics.
C) their personalities.
D) both their personalities and their passive approach to the presidency.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 44

When prohibition went into effect in 1920, it had the support of not only most middle-class Americans, but most progressives as well.

Question 45

In the 1920s, airplanes were largely curiosities and a source of entertainment.

Question 46

Calvin Coolidge

A) claimed that Theodore Roosevelt was his political role model.
B) believed the federal government should actively promote the social welfare of Americans.
C) lost his party's bid for another nomination in the election of 1928.
D) had no political experience prior to becoming vice president in 1920.
E) was less active a president than Warren Harding.

Question 47

Champions of parity for farmers urged high tariffs against foreign agricultural competition.

Question 48

By the end of the 1920s, there were 60 million automobiles in the United States.

Question 49

The theory of modulation was pioneered by Canadian scientist Reginald Fessenden.

Question 50

Feminists such as Alice Paul championed the Sheppard-Towner Act because it provided federal funds for child health-care.

Question 51

To be most effective, the trade associations of the 1920s worked best in small industries.

Question 52

H. L. Mencken, Sinclair Lewis, andF. Scott Fitzgerald are all examples of writers who promoted a return of the progressive reform spirit in American society.

Question 53

Most working-class Americans saw their wages decline during the 1920s.

Question 54

To Herbert Hoover, "associationalism" meant

A) states and the federal government working together to restrain business.
B) Congress and the president working together on economic legislation.
C) the formation of federal boards to oversee various aspects of industry.
D) businesses being run by a governing board of management and labor representatives.
E) the creation of national organizations of businessmen in particular industries.

Question 55

The majority of the 25 percent of married women who worked outside the home in the 1920s were working class.

Question 56

In the 1920s, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon succeeded in

A) cutting taxes on corporate profits and personal incomes.
B) eliminating half of the WWI debt.
C) dramatically trimming the federal budget.
D) both eliminating half of the federal debt, and dramatically trimming the federal budget.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 57

In the 1920s, as agriculture brought millions of acres of new land under cultivation, three million people left the farm sector.

Question 58

Throughout the 1920s, the federal government

A) isolated itself from the business community.
B) supported the right of workers to organize as unions.
C) experienced a budget decrease, yet an increase in debt.
D) saw leaders of business take prominent positions in the federal government.
E) saw an increase in the budget and the national debt.

Question 59

The practice of "welfare capitalism" in the 1920s involved most industrial workers.

Question 60

The American Federation of Labor began turning away from the idea of craft unions.

Question 61

More so than the Republicans, the Democrats of the 1920s consisted of a diverse coalition of interest groups.

Question 62

The Scopes trial of 1925 resulted in a guilty verdict, but it also put fundamentalists on the defensive.

Question 63

Both Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge failed to serve out their presidential terms.

Question 64

During the 1920s, the federal government enjoyed a supportive relationship with the American business community.

Question 65

American-born children of Japanese immigrants were called ________.

Question 66

Prohibition did substantially reduce drinking in some parts of the United States.

Question 67

The film The Birth of a Nation glorified the early Ku Klux Klan.

Question 68

Thomas Morgan's experiments with ________ revealed how genes were arranged along the chromosome and could be transmitted together.

Question 69

During the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan grew increasingly focused on southern segregation.

Question 70

Some employers in the 1920s, eager to avoid disruptive labor unrest and the growth of independent trade unions, adopted paternalistic techniques that came to be known as ________.

Question 71

________ immigrants increasingly took the place of the Chinese in low-paying jobs on the West Coast.

Question 72

Genetic research led to the introduction of hybrid ________ in 1921.

Question 73

The election of Herbert Hoover in 1928 was seen as a blow to the interests of progressives.

Question 74

In 1928, Democratic candidate Al Smith did quite well in large cities, but he was the first Democrat since the Civil War not to carry the entire South.

Question 75

To the great alarm of modernists, fundamentalism was gaining political power during the middle of the 1920s.

Question 76

Nativist sentiment had not been sufficient in the first years of the century to win passage of curbs on immigration, but after World War I it increased substantially.

Question 77

Researchers at MIT in the early 1930s, led by ________, created the first analog computer.

Question 78

Contemporaries referred to the 1920s as the "New ________."

Question 79

A business in which no worker would be required to join a union was referred to as a(n) ________.

Question 80

Both Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge took essentially passive approaches to the presidency.