Deck 5: The Paradox of Change American Society in the Postwar Years

Question 1

American economic growth was driven by _______ between 1945 and 1960

A) Industrial expansion
B) Mass consumption
C) Agricultural growth
D) Development of the internet

Answer 1

B

Question 2

World War II proved to be a catalyst for growth through

A) Getting women into the workplace
B) The end of workplace segregation
C) The wartime decrease in purchasing power
D) Veterans benefits that helped create the foundation for sustained prosperity

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Perhaps the most economically important aspect of the GI Bill was

A) Home buying assistance through VA loans
B) Health benefits through VA hospitals
C) The demand that women leave workplaces to returning veterans
D) All of the above

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Productivity increased dramatically after the war as a result of

A) The implementation of the assembly line
B) The use of the techniques of scientific management
C) Technological breakthroughs
D) Unionization

Question 5

-The counties that lost the most residents, according to this map, were all

A) In urban areas
B) In suburbs of major cities
C) In rural areas
D) In the mountains

Question 6

The increase in automobile ownership was largely made possible by

A) Government subsidies to car companies
B) Education provided by the GI Bill
C) Cheaper gas prices
D) Massive highway construction funded by the federal government

Question 7

New types of recreation that American consumers could take part in during the 1950s included

A) Automobile trips
B) Amusement parks like Disneyland
C) Backyard swimming pools
D) All of the above

Question 8

The suburban family of the 1950s revolved around

A) The father
B) The mother
C) The children
D) The extended family

Question 9

According to 1950s social mores, women's fulfillment could only be had in

A) A fulfilling career
B) Charity work and volunteering
C) Devotion to homemaking and childrearing
D) The quest to have it all-family and career

Question 10

By 1960, _______ as many women were employed as in 1940.

A) One-fourth as many
B) Half as many
C) Twice as many
D) Five times as many

Question 11

The primary increase in the female labor force of the 1950s came from

A) Lower- and working-class women
B) Married, middle-class women
C) Immigrant women
D) Young, single women

Question 12

The instrument of popular culture that achieved the most astonishing growth during the 1950s was

A) Television
B) Radio
C) Symphonies
D) The internet

Question 13

-Pictured here is Edward R. Murrow, who became a legendary newsman through his

A) WWII newsreels
B) Nightly radio show
C) Twenty-four-hour-a-day news channel
D) Traveling news program

Question 14

Fears of communism affected the new medium of television primarily

A) As communism was a common topic of debate on nightly news shows
B) As entertainers were vetted and blacklisted for even distant ties to organizations and causes believed to be subversive
C) As journalists and entertainers attacked the conformity and red-baiting of the 1950s
D) As well-known communists found their cultural niche on several popular television shows

Question 15

Dwight Eisenhower's primary appeal as a presidential candidate was his

A) New Deal credentials
B) Political experience
C) Staunch conservative beliefs
D) Leadership skills and name recognition

Question 16

Eisenhower selected Richard Nixon as his vice-president because of Nixon's

A) Moderate beliefs
B) New Deal credentials
C) Anticommunist credentials
D) Leadership skills

Question 17

As president, Eisenhower

A) Consolidated the social welfare programs of the New Deal
B) Favored business interests
C) Promoted education as in the interests of national security
D) All of the above

Question 18

Politically speaking, cultural conformity showed up as

A) Moderation
B) Rising fear of communism
C) The New Deal Consensus
D) Increasing extremism

Question 19

Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road was a key text of

A) Conformity
B) Beatniks
C) Communists
D) Red-baiters

Question 20

The major movie stars of the decade, James Dean and Marlon Brando, represented

A) Individualism and rebellion
B) Conformity to consumerism
C) The dominance of corporate culture
D) Conventionality and cuteness