Deck 26: Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1929-1939

Question 1

What was the most striking characteristic of the stock market in 1929?

A) investors' obsession with speculation
B) the downward trend of major stocks early in the year
C) the government's desire to carefully regulate the market
D) the fact that the majority of wage-earning Americans were so heavily involved in it
E) its steady advancement through the decade, culminating in record levels in 1929

Answer 1

investors' obsession with speculation

Question 2

The social and economic effects of the Depression________ .

A) affected only the wealthier classes
B) hit the middle class especially hard
C) lasted only a few months past 1929
D) were harsh only in the case of the lower classes
E) came to light only gradually

Answer 2

hit the middle class especially hard

Question 3

Hoover believed that unemployment relief________ .

A) was justified by previous government policies
B) would bring about dangerous inflation
C) could promote domestic unrest
D) should come from private charities
E) would be a sign of weakness

Answer 3

should come from private charities

Question 4

Which terms best describe Hoover's response to the Depression?

A) restrained and cautious
B) innovative and adaptive
C) humanitarian and pragmatic
D) socialistically radical
E) bumbling and uncertain

Question 5

Roosevelt's Hundred Days banking legislation was designed to________ .

A) support strong banks and eliminate the weaker ones
B) decrease government regulation of U.S. banks
C) allow the government to take over the banking system
D) give bankers a place in his government
E) merge smaller banks with larger ones

Question 6

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was designed to________ .

A) bring modernization and jobs to desolate areas of the rural upper South
B) help support continued control of electrical power by private companies
C) alienate troublesome conservationists in the president's administration
D) test the authority of the Supreme Court
E) win votes in a largely Republican area of the country

Question 7

Which organization hired young men to clear land, plant trees, build bridges, and fish ponds?

A) Tennessee Valley Authority
B) National Recovery Administration
C) Public Works Administration
D) Works Progress Administration
E) Civilian Conservation Corps

Question 8

During the Hundred Days, Roosevelt________ .

A) proposed government ownership of major industries
B) closed all the banks
C) developed a welfare system to aid the aged, disabled, and unemployed
D) attempted to pack the Supreme Court with judges sympathetic to his program
E) canceled a session of Congress to give himself more time to gain support for his plans

Question 9

The National Recovery Administration sought to promote economic recovery by________ .

A) reducing corporate taxes
B) restoring competition
C) experimenting with national economic planning
D) implementing classical economic theory
E) eliminating all taxes

Question 10

The National Recovery Administration experienced problems, including________ .

A) the trade codes were too simple to achieve needed change
B) the trade codes favored small businesses over larger competitors
C) high wages led to management discontent
D) companies could easily avoid the collective bargaining requirement
E) the appeal for patriotic public support fell on deaf ears

Question 11

Which New Deal program did the Supreme Court declare unconstitutional?

A) Commodity Credit Corporation
B) Civilian Conservation Corps
C) National Recovery Administration
D) Tennessee Valley Authority
E) Civil Works Administration

Question 12

Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisers believed that a________ of production would restore purchasing power to farmers.

A) reduction
B) increase
C) redistribution
D) expropriation
E) monitoring

Question 13

By 1935, Roosevelt's severest critics were________ .

A) members of the Supreme Court
B) accusing him of being a socialist
C) demanding more radical reforms
D) accusing him of ignoring the rise of military dictatorships in Europe
E) scolding him for not providing more aid to impoverished blacks

Question 14

Francis Townsend advocated that the federal government pay $200 each month to________ .

A) all Americans over the age of 60
B) dispossessed farmers
C) veterans of World War I
D) widows with two or more children
E) unemployed urban workers

Question 15

What was one criticism of the Social Security Act?

A) Pension payments were too high and would break the federal budget.
B) It included farmers and domestic servants who did not pay into the system.
C) It undermined the independence and initiative of the poor.
D) Social Security offered nothing to those already out of work.
E) It would transfer much of the national wealth to a minority of the population.

Question 16

The industrial union movement of the 1930s________ .

A) sought to organize skilled workers in particular trades
B) had long been championed by the American Federation of Labor
C) was led by William Green
D) was led by John L. Lewis and the UMW
E) had been thriving for years before the Great Depression

Question 17

The sit-down strike________ .

A) was first used against General Motors in 1936
B) was used only by the United Auto Workers
C) proved ineffective against corporations
D) was first used against Ford Motor Company
E) was a time-tested technique from strikes in the 1920s

Question 18

Which individual was most responsible for promoting African American rights during the New Deal?

A) Franklin D. Roosevelt
B) John Collier
C) Harry Hopkins
D) Harold Ickes
E) Mary McLeod-Bethune

Question 19

After 1937, the WPA denied employment to aliens, a decision that greatly affected________ .

A) blacks
B) Mexican Americans
C) Asian Americans
D) Indians
E) sharecroppers

Question 20

The Indian Reorganization Act________ .

A) supported sending youth to educational programs in nearby towns
B) granted political dependency to Indian tribes
C) encouraged a movement toward farming on tribal lands
D) stressed tribal unity and autonomy
E) reestablished the Indian Reservations, 47 years after the Dawes Act abolished them

Question 21

Despite the New Deal,________ were the country's most impoverished citizens.

A) African Americans
B) Asian Americans
C) Native Americans
D) Mexican Americans
E) "Okies" and "Arkies"

Question 22

Roosevelt's "court packing" proposal was________ .

A) illegal
B) an outrage to conservatives, but agreeable to liberals
C) effectively blocked by judicial rulings
D) a great strain on Roosevelt's relations with Congress
E) successful at limiting the power of the Supreme Court

Question 23

In his second term, Roosevelt's success was meager except for________ .

A) the passage of a national health insurance program
B) the passage of minimum wage and maximum hour legislation
C) the passage of anti-lynching legislation
D) a Democratic resurgence in the 1938 elections
E) the emergence of a liberal congressional coalition that aided Roosevelt's reelection campaign in 1942

Question 24

Why did farmers during the Great Depression resort to such extreme measures as dumping fresh milk into the streets?

A) Like many other Americans during the Great Depression, farmers fell victim to despair and lost hope in the future.
B) The shipping industry had been so devastated by the Great Depression that farmers had no way to get their produce to market.
C) Farmers hoped to create demand and drive up prices for their products.
D) Due to widespread poverty among the American population, few families could afford to buy milk.
E) The government had instituted milk rationing, which resulted in the overproduction of milk by dairy farmers.

Question 25

How did Americans respond to the bull market climate on the eve of the great crash in 1929?

A) A general sense of caution about the ability of the market to continue to yield such fantastic dividends caused the market to falter.
B) Average Americans tended not to invest in the market themselves, instead relying on professional stockbrokers to invest their savings.
C) Many Americans looked to the government for guidance on how to invest in such a rapidly growing market.
D) Wild optimism about the continued growth of the stock market led Americans to engage in speculative investing practices.
E) Wary about the danger of "get rich quick" schemes, many Americans carefully guarded their life savings.

Question 26

How did the consumer goods revolution contribute to the great crash of 1929?

A) Because of the availability of durable goods that did not need to be regularly replaced, production outpaced demand, which led to wide-scale layoffs.
B) Mass produced consumer goods were of such poor quality that people eventually stopped purchasing them and industry began to falter.
C) The consumer goods revolution contributed to a lack of confidence in the strength of the American economic system.
D) The consumer goods revolution led to an increase in home construction that eventually crashed due to overproduction.
E) Beneficiaries of the consumer goods revolution did not invest their money in the stock exchange.

Question 27

How did the Great Depression affect Americans psychologically?

A) The loss of savings and employment led many Americans to abandon their faith in traditional forms of religion.
B) Unemployment and poverty undermined people's sense of self-worth and caused many to despair.
C) Most men either committed suicide or abandoned their families because they were so devastated that they could not provide for them.
D) Middle- and upper-class people had more emotional resources and fared better than poor people.
E) Hunger and poverty made Americans unable to think properly and make good decisions, leading to divorce and crime.

Question 28

What effect did the Great Depression have on immigration to the United States?

A) The rate of immigration to the United States remained constant during the Great Depression.
B) More immigrants came to the United States at this time due to the availability of low-skilled, hard- labor jobs.
C) Progressives urged that legislation be passed restricting immigration and making it more difficult for immigrants to become citizens.
D) Conservatives supported immigration reform, since immigrants tended to take jobs that Americans were too proud to take.
E) It effectively reversed the flow, with hundreds of thousands being deported.

Question 29

How did the Great Depression benefit the Democrats?

A) The handling of the Depression by Democrats was universally popular and led to a short period of Democratic control of the Congress.
B) The success of New Deal programs led the public to ignore critics, such as Huey Long.
C) FDR and Democratic lawmakers made sweeping changes to the financial sector, including nationalizing the banking system.
D) Because the Republicans had been unable to prevent the Depression, Democrats returned to power.
E) Initially Democrats and Republicans formed a coalition that helped push through New Deal programs.

Question 30

How might FDR's personal background have prepared him to meet the challenges of the Great Depression?

A) Since he was from a privileged background, he did not personally suffer financial hardship, which left him free to address the country's crisis.
B) His service as assistant secretary of the Navy under Wilson prepared him to balance foreign and domestic affairs during the Great Depression.
C) His relationship to Theodore Roosevelt gave him a reputation as a conservationist and powerful Republican leader.
D) His bout with polio gave him personal experience of suffering and made him more sensitive to the downtrodden of society.
E) His Ivy League education made him sensitive to the needs of wealthy American businessmen during the Great Depression.

Question 31

Which of FDR's actions ended the immediate financial crisis of the 1930s?

A) FDR established the Tennessee Valley Authority and created thousands of new jobs.
B) Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration spent nearly $5 billion in emergency government relief.
C) He worked with powerful European nations to advance American agricultural trade.
D) Using a calm and fatherly tone, he soothed the public's fears during his weekly fireside chats.
E) He took control of the nation's banks, thereby restoring the public's confidence in the banking system.

Question 32

How did agencies created during the Hundred Days affect the Great Depression?

A) They attempted to relieve the suffering of Americans by giving government-subsidized loans at very low rates.
B) Agencies such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Civilian Conservation Corps succeeded in getting most Americans back to work.
C) Their main effect was to end economic stagnation by getting many people back to work.
D) They strengthened all the failing banks of the country, restoring Americans' confidence in banking.
E) Actually they did little to affect the Great Depression, but they were perceived to be effective by the public.

Question 33

What caused the National Recovery Administration ultimately to fail?

A) It did not address business owners' goals of stabilizing production and raising prices.
B) It compelled all companies to join, whether they wanted to or not.
C) In the final analysis, very few industries decided to enroll in the NRA.
D) It proved overly cumbersome, and its rules favored big businesses over small businesses and labor.
E) It did not attempt to address labor leaders' goals of ensuring maximum working hours and establishing minimum wage.

Question 34

How did the Roosevelt administration finally deal with the problem of agricultural overproduction?

A) It used strategies that aided small farming operations more than large farming operations.
B) The Agricultural Adjustment Administration convinced farmers to stop destroying their crops.
C) It found new international markets for surplus American crops.
D) It set production limits for leading crops and paid farmers subsidies.
E) It increased demand by giving away surplus foods to the starving urban poor.

Question 35

Why was the New Deal criticized during the early years of the Great Depression?

A) The New Deal was criticized as tending to benefit large businesses and farms, leaving the poor and elderly unaided.
B) Some felt that its programs favored minorities and immigrants, leaving white middle-class Americans without aid.
C) Policies of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration were criticized for hampering agricultural production and leading to food shortages.
D) Critics disagreed with the New Deal's attempts to institute national health insurance.
E) Roosevelt and his policies were criticized for not being fiscally conservative.

Question 36

How did Huey Long's "Share the Wealth" movement of 1935 reflect on the U.S. government's efforts to address the Great Depression?

A) The fact that Americans were swayed by Huey Long's flamboyant style suggests that they had become disillusioned with FDR's leadership.
B) The "Share the Wealth" movement complemented the New Deal's programs, which similarly sought to increase the standard of living of all Americans.
C) It suggested that a large number of people felt that they were not benefiting from the New Deal.
D) Rising frustration with the slow pace of recovery resulted in a grassroots revival of fundamentalist Christianity.
E) The emergence of viable third-party candidates suggests that neither Democrats nor Republicans were capable of ending the Great Depression.

Question 37

What was the primary motivation for the passage of the Social Security Act?

A) a belief that people ought to help themselves and to take responsibility for their own economic situations
B) a desire to fend off Republican challenges to Democratic policies and ensure FDR would be reelected
C) a belief that all American citizens ought to equally enjoy the fruits of industrial society
D) general fear that radical elements within American society would gain power if discontent among the poor, elderly, and dispossessed were not remedied
E) a sense of duty to ensure that all of America's citizens-especially the elderly, handicapped, and unemployed-would be adequately provided for

Question 38

How did the New Deal affect American industrial workers?

A) It gave them jobs regardless of race or gender.
B) It provided the means for them to organize and bargain for benefits.
C) It allowed skilled workers to unionize, but left unskilled workers unrepresented.
D) It left them at the mercies of businesses that were supported by the government.
E) It squeezed out women and minorities to give jobs to white men.

Question 39

How did women and minorities benefit from the organization of labor?

A) They were given a higher percentage of jobs because the government recognized that they had been traditionally undervalued.
B) Their wages increased to equal those of white men because the government recognized that they had been traditionally underpaid.
C) They were granted education and agricultural incentives to remove them from the workplace and direct competition with white men.
D) Unskilled labor, which included many women and minorities, was represented along with skilled labor by the CIO.
E) Membership in the AFL opened for women ad minorities as unions adopted more enlightened policies of inclusion.

Question 40

The Great Depression affected racial minorities more severely than other groups because racial minorities________ .

A) were the first to be fired and last to be hired
B) had more heavily speculated in the stock market
C) had invested more in small, failing banks
D) were excluded from recognition by the government in the New Deal plans
E) were generally poor at the start of the Great Depression, so they sank even further into poverty and did not know how to cope with it

Question 41

What role did FDR play in the shifting of African American political affiliation from the Republican party to the Democratic party?

A) He designed the TVA and NRA specifically to benefit African Americans.
B) He appointed African Americans to high-ranking positions and criticized racial discrimination.
C) He was the first president to appoint African Americans to governmental positions.
D) He used the New Deal to create legislation to end segregation in the South.
E) His New Deal provided jobs and job security to most African Americans.

Question 42

FDR attempted to "pack" the Supreme Court because he________ .

A) knew opposing the Supreme Court would unite his disparate Democratic party
B) knew opposing the Supreme Court would win him bipartisan support and national approval
C) saw the Supreme Court's interference with the New Deal as unconstitutional and sought to remedy it
D) wanted to remove the final and most powerful threat to his New Deal by appointing judges who supported its programs
E) wanted to create a Democratic Supreme Court to ensure his legacy as the president who saved America

Question 43

How did the reform programs created during the New Deal eventually lead to its demise?

A) They actually did very little to change the U.S. economic situation.
B) They required massive government spending and could not be sustained.
C) They were unpopular with Republicans who took control of Congress.
D) They were unpopular with the general public who began to speak out.
E) The progressive programs (like Social Security) could not outlast political changes.

Question 44

How did FDR's attitude toward planned deficits affect the success of the New Deal's efforts to rescue the economy?

A) He believed too greatly in planned deficits, spending too much of the country's reserves to rescue the economy.
B) He failed to see the importance of planned deficits, which could have stopped the Great Depression before it even started.
C) He relied too greatly on planned deficits, inhibiting his ability to truly rescue the U.S. economy.
D) He tried to avoid planned deficits, seeking a balanced budget when he ought to have spent more.
E) He avoided planned deficits, spending too much on his New Deal programs and nearly bankrupting the United States.

Question 45

What was the major political legacy of the New Deal?

A) It restored the U.S. economy to its original preeminence in the world.
B) It united Democrats and Republicans as no other crisis had before or since.
C) It sought to create a coalition by reaching out to ethnic voters.
D) It changed the political affiliations for most rural and urban voters.
E) It created a unified Democratic party of rural southerners and urban westerners.

Question 46

How did the country's experience of World War I shape the national response to the Great Depression under FDR?

A) The large-scale devastation and loss of human life during the War hardened the American people, which prepared them for the period of deprivation and suffering of the Great Depression.
B) During the war years, the country had experienced general mobilization of the nation's resources in the service of a common goal, facilitating implementation of the New Deal, another form of general mobilization.
C) Patriotism and selflessness surged during the American involvement in World War One, and this same spirit of selflessness permeated the Great Depression era, insulating Americans from fear and despair.
D) The experience of fighting a common enemy during the war resulted in a general improvement of racial and ethnic relations; these relationships were then solidified during the Great Depression.
E) American involvement in the First World War took a heavy toll on the economy, and during the decade preceding the great crash, the weakness of the economy set the stage for the Depression.

Question 47

How was American handling of the crises of World War One and the Great Depression similar?

A) Wilson's initial stance of neutrality in the war was similar to Roosevelt's initial inactivity at the beginning of the Great Depression.
B) Just as the government, big business, and labor formed a strong alliance to concentrate efforts to win the war, so did they join together to combat the effects of the Depression.
C) Just as the war provided women and minorities with job opportunities, so did the Great Depression offer more unskilled, typically female and minority jobs.
D) The United States handled both crises with political unity; members of both political parties set aside their differences to work together.
E) The U.S. government took unprecedented control of business, banking, labor, and agriculture, although it had to deny civil liberties, to solve both crises.

Question 48

What has been the most significant long-range effect of the New Deal on American society?

A) Since the New Deal, Americans have tended to resist large-scale governmental programs that seek directly to control aspects of economic and social life.
B) The economic initiatives and programs instituted by FDR's administration during the New Deal have continued to enrich the U.S. economy to this day.
C) Since the New Deal, presidents have continued to hold periodic "fireside chats" during which they communicate important policy matters to the American people.
D) The immigration policies established during the New Deal continue to set quotas, insulating American- born workers from foreign-born competition.
E) Certain key programs, such as Social Security, have become an integral part of American life, providing essential benefits to millions of Americans today.

Question 49

What personal characteristics made Franklin Roosevelt better equipped than Herbert Hoover to handle the crisis of the Depression?

Question 50

How did the Roosevelt administration deal with crises in banking, manufacturing, and agriculture? In which area did it have the most success? In which did it have the least? Why was it successful or not successful in these areas?

Question 51

How did the New Deal affect organized labor throughout the decade of the 1930s?