Deck 31: American Life in the Roaring Twenties

Question 1

John Dewey can rightly be called the "father of ____."

A) the research university
B) progressive education
C) evolutionary science
D) modern psychoanalysis
E) Hegelian philosophy

Answer 1

progressive education

Question 2

Cultural philosophers and intellectuals, Horace Kallen and Randolph Bourne, are best know for their defense of

A) nativism and anti-pluralism.
B) internationalism and cultural pluralism.
C) existentialism and nihilism.
D) isolationism.
E) imperialism and war.

Answer 2

internationalism and cultural pluralism.

Question 3

Polish peasants were drawn to America for all of the following reasons except

A) being forced off their land by mechanized agriculture.
B) letters from friends and relatives.
C) the lure of higher American wages.
D) the opportunity to practice their Catholic faith.
E) Polish-American businesspeople who arranged travel and jobs.

Answer 3

the opportunity to practice their Catholic faith.

Question 4

The most spectacular example of lawlessness in the 1920s was

A) New York City.
B) New Orleans.
C) Dodge City, Kansas.
D) Chicago.
E) Las Vegas.

Question 5

The post-World War I Ku Klux Klan advocated all of the following except

A) opposition to foreigners and immigrants.
B) opposition to birth control.
C) opposition to prohibition.
D) repression of pacifists.
E) opposition to Catholicism.

Question 6

The most tenacious pursuer of "radical" elements during the red scare was

A) Frederick W. Taylor.
B) William Jennings Bryan.
C) J. Edgar Hoover.
D) F. Scott Fitzgerald.
E) A. Mitchell Palmer.

Question 7

One of the primary obstacles to working class solidarity and organization in America was

A) ethnic diversity and rivalries.
B) the lack of a reform impulse in America.
C) the generally fair treatment that workers received from their employers.
D) the hostility of the Catholic Church to social reform.
E) the growing Communist influence in the labor movement.

Question 8

Immigration restrictions of the 1920s were introduced as a result of

A) increased migration of blacks to the North.
B) the nativist belief that northern Europeans were superior to southern and eastern Europeans.
C) a desire to rid the country of the quota system.
D) the desire to halt immigration from Latin America.
E) growing concern about urban overcrowding and crime.

Question 9

Disillusioned by World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, Americans in the 1920s did all of the following except

A) denounce "radical" foreign ideas.
B) condemn "un-American" activities and lifestyles.
C) enter a decade of economic difficulties.
D) shun diplomatic commitments to foreign countries.
E) restrict immigration.

Question 10

The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s was a reaction against

A) capitalism.
B) new immigration laws passed in 1924.
C) the nativist movements that had their origins in the 1850s.
D) race riots.
E) the new forces of diversity and modernity.

Question 11

At the time it was passed, prohibition was widely looked upon as

A) a progressive reform led by churches and women.
B) a way to punish German-American and Irish-American drinkers.
C) a method of improving labor efficiency.
D) an act by the Puritan Northeast against the more open West and South.
E) a pubic health measure like the later crusade against smoking.

Question 12

According to John Dewey, a teacher's primary goal is to

A) reduce permissiveness in the classroom.
B) emphasize the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
C) educate a student for life.
D) develop the student's intellectual powers to the highest degree.
E) develop a sense of history.

Question 13

Businesspeople used the red scare to

A) establish closed shops throughout the nation.
B) break the backs of fledgling unions.
C) break the railroad strike of 1919.
D) secure passage of laws making unions illegal.
E) refuse to hire Communists.

Question 14

The Immigration Act of 1924 was formulated to impose immigration quotas based on

A) economic skills.
B) literacy.
C) religious beliefs.
D) national origins.
E) family status.

Question 15

Of the following, the one least related to the other four is

A) the Fundamentalist movement.
B) the Tennessee legislature.
C) H. L. Mencken.
D) William Jennings Bryan.
E) the Baptist Church.

Question 16

The first Polish immigrants to America had been primarily

A) economic revolutionaries.
B) artists and musicians.
C) military officers.
D) revolutionary nationalists and religious dissenters.
E) Civil War volunteers.

Question 17

Generally, the immigration quota system adopted in the 1920s tended to discriminate against

A) Asians.
B) northern and western Europeans.
C) Latin Americans.
D) Jews.
E) southern and eastern Europeans.

Question 18

Anti-redism and antiforeignism were reflected in a notorious case, ____ and ____ were convicted in 1921 of the murder of a Massachusetts paymaster and his guard.

A) Debs, Greeley
B) Sacco, Vanzetti
C) Palmer, Bourne
D) Capone, Barton
E) Sacco, Mencken

Question 19

Enforcement of the Volstead Act met the strongest resistance from

A) women.
B) eastern city dwellers.
C) westerners.
D) southerners.
E) Catholics.

Question 20

The red scare of 1919-1920 was provoked by

A) the wartime migration of rural blacks to northern cities.
B) the strict enforcement of prohibition laws.
C) evolutionary science's challenge to the biblical story of the Creation.
D) the association of labor unrest with the fear of Bolshevik revolution.
E) the infiltration of Communist agents into the labor movement.

Question 21

Marcus Garvey, founder of the United Negro Improvement Association, is known for all of the following except

A) promoting the resettlement of American blacks in Africa.
B) establishing the idea of the talented tenth to lead African Americans.
C) cultivating feelings of self-confidence and self-reliance among blacks.
D) being sent to prison after a conviction for fraud.
E) promoting black-owned businesses.

Question 22

After the Scopes "Monkey Trial,"

A) fundamentalism disappeared outside the rural South.
B) John Scopes was sentenced to serve time in jail.
C) Christians found it increasingly difficult to reconcile the revelations of religion with modern science.
D) the gap between theology and biology began to close.
E) fundamentalist religion remained a vibrant force in American spiritual life.

Question 23

The automobile revolution resulted in all of the following except

A) the consolidation of schools.
B) the increased dependence of women on men.
C) the spread of suburbs.
D) a loss of population in less attractive states.
E) altered youthful sexual behavior.

Question 24

A major new American industry that helped promote the economic expansion of the 1920s was

A) steel.
B) shipping and shipbuilding.
C) the home furnishings industry.
D) telecommunications.
E) advertising.

Question 25

The private, commercial airline industry first developed by

A) flying wealthy passengers across the Atlantic.
B) taking passengers up for short, thrill rides.
C) flying airmail with subsidies from the federal government.
D) developing short commuter flights between major cities.
E) flying prototype aircraft for the U.S. Air Force.

Question 26

The first "talkie" motion picture was

A) The Great Train Robbery.
B) The Birth of a Nation.
C) The Wizard of Oz.
D) Gone With the Wind.
E) The Jazz Singer.

Question 27

Automobiles, radios, and motion pictures

A) were resisted as threats to local communities.
B) contributed to the standardization of American life.
C) had little impact on traditional life-styles and values.
D) were for the most part too expensive for ordinary working families.
E) strengthened American family life.

Question 28

Job opportunities for women in the 1920s

A) expanded dramatically.
B) offered higher-paying positions than before.
C) expanded rapidly in Hollywood and radio.
D) existed mainly in the area of education.
E) tended to cluster in a few low-paying fields.

Question 29

Henry Ford's contribution to the automobile industry was

A) development of installment credit buying of cars.
B) invention of the internal combustion engine.
C) appealing to different consumers with models of varied colors and styles.
D) design changes that improved speed and comfort.
E) the assembly-line production of standardized vehicles.

Question 30

The 1920 census revealed that for the first time most

A) men worked in manufacturing.
B) adult women were employed outside the home.
C) Americans lived in urban areas.
D) Americans lived in the trans-Mississippi West.
E) families had fewer than four children.

Question 31

Which of the following industries did not undergo enormous expansion in the 1920's in support of the automobile industry?

A) gasoline service stations
B) glass
C) rubber
D) drive-in movies
E) textiles

Question 32

A significant cloud that hung over the prosperity of the 1920s was

A) the large accumulation of consumer debt.
B) technical problems in the production of radio and films.
C) the growing strength of labor unions.
D) the increasing competition among business people.
E) the heavy load of taxation on the middle class.

Question 33

Jazz music was developed by

A) Latinos.
B) Caribbean immigrants.
C) Caucasian impresarios.
D) American teenagers.
E) American blacks.

Question 34

All of the following helped to make the prosperity of the 1920s possible except

A) government stimulation of the economy.
B) rapid expansion of capital.
C) increased productivity of workers.
D) progressive improvement of assembly-line production.
E) advertising and credit buying.

Question 35

With the advent of radio and motion pictures,

A) many people believed that popular tastes were elevated.
B) American culture became more parochial.
C) the government gained a greater ability to manipulate public opinion.
D) the emergence of a working-class political coalition was halted.
E) much of the rich diversity of immigrant culture was lost.

Question 36

Which of the following was not among the forms of popular entertainment and recreation that became vastly more popular in the 1920s?

A) sports
B) radio
C) the circus
D) movies
E) jazz

Question 37

The trial of John Scopes in 1925 centered on the issue of

A) progressive education.
B) the constitutionality of Catholic schools.
C) teachers' membership in the Ku Klux Klan.
D) teaching evolution in public schools.
E) prayer in the public schools.

Question 38

The main problem faced by American manufacturers in the 1920s involved

A) increasing the level of production.
B) developing adequate markets to buy their products.
C) reducing the level of government involvement in business.
D) keeping labor unrest to a minimum.
E) finding a skilled labor force.

Question 39

Margaret Sanger was most noted for her advocacy of

A) abortion rights.
B) woman suffrage.
C) birth control.
D) free love.
E) the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Question 40

To justify their new sexual frankness, many Americans cited

A) the erotic stimulation of jazz and popular dances.
B) the decline of fundamentalism.
C) the development of the National Women's party.
D) the theories of Sigmund Freud.
E) the influence of explicit movies.

Question 41

As secretary of the treasury, Andrew Mellon placed the heaviest tax burden on the

A) middle-income groups.
B) wealthy.
C) lower class.
D) business community.
E) farmers.

Question 42

Match each literary figure below with the correct work.

A) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1
B) A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
C) A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
D) A-1, B-4, C-2, D-3
E) A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2

Question 43

In the mid-1920s the Ku Klux Klan turned its invective against

A) the profit motive.
B) recent immigrants.
C) Catholics.
D) prohibitionists.
E) gambling and adultery.

Question 44

The "Bad Boy of Baltimore" who wrote for the American Mercury and who was also known as a patron saint of many young authors was

A) F. Scott Fitzgerald.
B) Sinclair Lewis.
C) H.L. Mencken.
D) Theodore Dreiser.
E) Sherwood Anderson.

Question 45

The mass production of automobiles in the 1920s led to the growth of

A) the railroad industry.
B) the petroleum industry.
C) suburban communities.
D) installment buying.
E) lifestyle changes.

Question 46

Buying stock "on margin" meant

A) purchasing only a few shares.
B) purchasing stock as part of a "mutual fund" with others.
C) purchasing little-known stock.
D) purchasing risky stock.
E) making only a small down payment.

Question 47

The "noble experiment" of prohibition

A) was generally well enforced and observed.
B) caused increased worker absenteeism.
C) reduced absenteeism in American industry.
D) encouraged organized crime and gang warfare.
E) was most popular on the East Coast.

Question 48

The most innovative features of the jazz-age economy included

A) mass advertising.
B) capital investment.
C) government aid to manufacturing.
D) installment buying.
E) the stock market.

Question 49

During Andrew Mellon's long tenure as secretary of the treasury, he consistently pursued policies of

A) expanding American overseas investment.
B) lowering the national debt.
C) guaranteeing the security and stability of the stock market.
D) persuading the wealthy to invest in tax-exempt municipal bonds.
E) attempting to equalize personal incomes.

Question 50

During the Red Scare

A) hundreds of foreign "radicals" were deported from the United States.
B) many states passed laws making it a crime to advocate violence.
C) labor union membership nearly doubled.
D) several duly elected Socialists were denied their seats in the New York State legislature.
E) the United States threatened war against the Soviet Union.

Question 51

The postwar anxiety and intolerance of Americans in the 1920s was manifested in the

A) Sacco-Vanzetti case.
B) Scopes trial.
C) resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.
D) Immigration Act of 1924.
E) deportation of radicals to Russia.