Deck 24: Cold War America

Question 1

All of the following is true about the Montgomery Bus Boycott,except

A) It followed a successful bus boycott in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1953.
B) Following the arrest of Rosa Parks, the African American community of Montgomery, Alabama, boycotted the bus service for more than a year.
C) The white owners refused to integrate seating until 1956, despite serious economic losses.
D) The Montgomery Bus Boycott led directly to the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Council.
E) Once segregation in Montgomery's local bus service had broken down, it quickly crumbled elsewhere in the state of Alabama and throughout the South.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Stalin was convinced that Soviet security rested upon creating a buffer of friendly neighboring states,mainly because

A) those neighbors disapproved of communism.
B) he needed a buffer between his country and China.
C) he wanted to make it impossible for Germany to ever invade Russia again, as it had previously.
D) he wanted access to natural resources that these countries possessed and his own country lacked.
E) the other Allies were talking about the possibility of forming NATO, and his country would not meet the criteria.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Emmett Till was murdered because

A) he supposedly whistled at a white woman working in a grocery store.
B) he drove erratically in Los Angeles traffic.
C) he carried a concealed weapon.
D) he insisted on attending Little Rock High School.
E) he stole a car.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What was the most common reaction of Americans to Cold War uncertainties?

A) liberalism and antidiscrimination
B) socialism and anxiety
C) greed and unconcern
D) fear and the rise of conservativism
E) antidiscrimination and conservatism

Question 5

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization stipulated that

A) the Soviet Union was an evil empire.
B) Communism was like a game of dominoes.
C) an attack on one or more treaty partners would be considered an attack against them all.
D) there was no peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union.
E) the destruction of the Warsaw Pact was the organization's primary goal.

Question 6

NSC-68 was a classified paper that

A) stated the Soviet Union was bent on world domination.
B) advocated a massive military buildup by the United States.
C) pushed for the development of hydrogen bombs.
D) called for seeking out and exposing all Communists on American soil.
E) All of these choices.

Question 7

The Warsaw Pact was

A) an agreement by the Allies to try to liberate Warsaw, Poland.
B) an agreement between Stalin and the other Allies to let him take Poland into his sphere of influence.
C) a union consisting of Stalin's Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries that he controlled after World War II.
D) an agreement between Truman and Stalin to give each control of part of Berlin.
E) an agreement between Stalin and Truman to give each other control of part of Poland.

Question 8

After the Korean War,the U.S.addressed its fears regarding the spread of communism in all of the following ways except

A) increasing covert operations globally in countries susceptible to communist influence.
B) forging alliances and increasing aid to prevent politically unstable countries from "falling like dominoes."
C) testing nuclear missiles via satellite in space.
D) a sizeable buildup of nuclear weapons, particularly the hydrogen bomb.
E) engaging in the space race with the Soviet Union.

Question 9

Stalin initiated the blockade of the city of West Berlin in order to

A) keep West Berliners from visiting the Soviet portion of the city.
B) keep people in the Soviet section from fleeing the country.
C) try to starve the West Berliners into giving in to control by his government.
D) keep western influence and West German currency out of the Soviet zone.
E) try to get the Americans to give him control of all of Germany.

Question 10

The Marshall Plan

A) provided $13 billion to governments that promised to become or remain democracies.
B) sought to introduce a new currency to West Germany.
C) was a blueprint for the U.S. invasion of Soviet-occupied East Germany.
D) described the theory of containment.
E) was the foundation of the National Security Act.

Question 11

Jackie Robinson is famous for

A) being the first African American to serve in a desegregated U.S. military.
B) leading a group of Hollywood actors in protesting the HUAC committee communist witch hunts.
C) his valiant service during World War II.
D) being the first African American to play major league baseball.
E) founding the White Citizens Councils, which opposed desegregation in the South.

Question 12

Why was Truman accused of "losing" China?

A) China had sided with North Korea instead of with the US. and South Korea.
B) China refused to join the United Nations.
C) China entered a secret pact with the Soviet Union in 1948.
D) China declared the Open Door Policy null and void, closing the door to vast exports of U.S. products.
E) China, an ally during World War II, had fallen to communism, despite U.S. efforts to prevent it.

Question 13

Critics thought NSC-68 was a gross overreaction by U.S.officials to communism until

A) the fall of China to Communism.
B) North Korea's invasion of South Korea.
C) the treaty between China and the Soviet Union.
D) the "long telegram" written by George Kennan from the Soviet Union.
E) the alliance between North Korea and China.

Question 14

All of the following are true about Dwight D.Eisenhower except

A) He was opposed to the New Deal and Fair Deal.
B) He disliked big government yet ended up expanding the role of government.
C) He used national defense to justify the massive construction of the nation's highways.
D) He served as president during a period of economic affluence.
E) He left office with concerns about the links between the military and the nation's economy.

Question 15

Which of these organizations was not created under the National Security Act of 1947?

A) Central Intelligence Agency
B) National Security Council
C) Federal Bureau of Investigation
D) Department of Defense
E) United States Air Force

Question 16

After the Chinese entered the Korean conflict in support of North Korea,

A) Truman threatened to use the atomic bomb to end the conflict.
B) MacArthur called the North Koreans cowards and losers.
C) MacArthur and the UN troops drove the Communists back north across all of the Korean Peninsula and to the Chinese side of the Yalu River.
D) UN troops pushed the North Koreans and the Chinese back to the original dividing line at about the 38th parallel.
E) UN forces insisted that the Chinese pull out of the fight; when they did so, the North Koreans were helpless against the UN forces.

Question 17

Truman eventually managed to break the Berlin blockade by

A) sending massive amounts of food and supplies by regular airlift.
B) threatening to use nuclear force against the Soviet Union.
C) publicly upbraiding Stalin for his mistreatment of the East Berliners.
D) appealing to the U.N. for help in resolving the crisis.
E) running the blockade frequently enough to convince Stalin that it would never succeed.

Question 18

As early as March 1946,Churchill realized that Stalin had

A) effectively squelched any moves toward a military coup in Russia.
B) frozen the flow of money in Eastern European countries.
C) moved masons and carpenters into the Soviet-controlled towns of Eastern Europe.
D) taken control of so much of Eastern Europe that it was as if an iron curtain had fallen between the East and the West.
E) purged tens of thousands of his own people whose loyalty he doubted.

Question 19

Intended as an extension of the New Deal,Truman's Fair Deal included all of the following except

A) federal support for education.
B) federal aid for single mothers.
C) federal homebuilding assistance.
D) minimum wage increases.
E) federal support for health care.

Question 20

For what military reason did Truman fire MacArthur?

A) Fraternization
B) Going AWOL
C) Selling his service medals
D) Insubordination
E) Leaking secrets to the press

Question 21

The main reason that the Dixiecrats broke with Truman in 1948 and formed their own party was his

A) support for civil rights.
B) accommodationist stand on Communism.
C) lack of charisma compared to FDR.
D) poor treatment of General Douglas MacArthur.
E) extremely liberal views.

Question 22

When nine black students attempted to integrate Central High School in Arkansas in 1957

A) President Eisenhower sent in thousands of troops to protect them.
B) white mobs protested.
C) the governor closed the schools to prevent integration.
D) the Arkansas National Guard had been called to block the students.
E) All of these choices.

Question 23

All of the following are examples of the Second Red Scare in America except

A) requirements that government employees sign loyalty oaths.
B) government investigations of organizations that were considered potentially subversive.
C) Senator Joseph McCarthy's claims about - and subsequent investigations of - hundreds of alleged communists in the state department
D) new laws regarding the protection of civil liberties.
E) the establishment of the House Un-American Activities Committee and its investigations of Hollywood.

Question 24

All of the following are evidence of a car culture,except

A) Construction of motels
B) The advent of the drive-in movie
C) Increasing numbers of fast food restaurants
D) Thousands of new interstate highways
E) Growing numbers of social clubs

Question 25

Emmitt Till was the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi.

Question 26

The world's first artificial satellite was launched by the Soviets in October 1957,shaking the confidence of the American people.

Question 27

Who was Joseph McCarthy? Why do you think so many Americans were ready,even eager,to listen to what he had to say?

Question 28

What triggered the Cold War? What prevented it from turning "hot"? In hindsight,did the United States and the Soviet Union have reason to mistrust each other?

Question 29

People often look back to the 1950s with a great deal of nostalgia,as if it were the ideal decade: a time of plenty,the growth of model homes and model families in suburbia,and an innocence that America has not experienced before or since.How accurate do you think that description is? Use examples from your textbook and from class discussions to back up your response.

Question 30

Women who held jobs during the 1950s

A) were encouraged to launch a business from home as a better way to juggle family and work.
B) earned wages that were comparable to what they were paid during World War II.
C) found new opportunities for advancement.
D) were segregated into female-specific occupations, mostly in the service sector.
E) hoped to find their future husbands at the office.

Question 31

George Kennan was the well-respected American diplomat stationed in the Soviet Union who proposed the idea of containment.

Question 32

The role that was promoted for women in the 1950s was

A) working part-time to raise the money needed to buy more consumer goods.
B) suburban domesticity and child-rearing.
C) full-time employment and juggling family life.
D) college first, then motherhood.
E) None of these choices.

Question 33

How would you evaluate Harry Truman as president? Give some examples to explain your answer.

Question 34

Between the end of World War II and 1960,many Americans increasingly did all of the following,except

A) They began to purchase items they had once called "luxuries."
B) They demanded a continuous turnout of new and unique products.
C) They increasingly moved into the middle class.
D) They began to use credit cards on a regular basis.
E) They became more concerned about carrying debt.

Question 35

Why were there so many strikes in the year after the war ended?

A) Returning soldiers increased the supply of workers, which drove wages down.
B) Inflation increased as much as 25%, so that workers' salaries didn't go as far as they had previously.
C) Employers were unwilling to negotiate with workers.
D) Unions had become stronger during the Depression and war years.
E) All of these choices.

Question 36

In the court case Brown v.Board of Education,the Supreme Court held that

A) separate educational facilities for black and white students were by nature unequal and public schools must desegregate.
B) separate facilities of any kind for the two races were illegal.
C) major league sports must desegregate by 1955.
D) America's armed forces must abolish segregation in fighting units.
E) All of these choices.

Question 37

When the Korean War broke out,Truman responded by secretly sending atomic bombs and short-range missiles to American air and naval bases around the world.

Question 38

In what ways did the race for space contribute to the Cold War between the two superpowers?

Question 39

What was the significance of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v.Board of Education? In what ways did the Brown decision affect the actions of African Americans in the South during the ensuing years?

Question 40

The rapid growth of the suburbs had all of the following results,except

A) It suddenly ended the experimental gender roles created by World War II.
B) It prompted an increase in racial segregation.
C) It led to a postwar religious revival.
D) It muted the critics who had complained of conformity.
E) It left a lasting environmental footprint outside America's major metropolitan regions.

Question 41

Our dependence on oil today in many respects began with Americans in the 1950s who asserted that they wanted their own cars and did not want to spend money on public transportation systems.

Question 42

Truman's 21-point Fair Deal suffered many obstacles,not the least of which was the president's relative unpopularity.

Question 43

In 1959,Vice President Richard Nixon proudly told Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that American women prided themselves on stocking their kitchens with the latest appliances.

Question 44

An upset took place in the general election of 1948,as Harry Truman defeated Thomas Dewey,despite many predictions of the opposite result,and the Democrats also recaptured both houses of Congress.

Question 45

In reaction to laws ordering desegregation,those in charge of many schools and other public facilities in the South responded grudgingly but acceptingly.