Deck 21: Affluence and Anxiety: Cold War America, 1945-1960

Question 1

​What was unique about Levittown,New York,when it was built in the 1950s?

A)It was built by federal government contractors.
B)It was a planned community of prefabricated houses.
C)​Only veterans of World War II were allowed as first-time owners.
D)​It attracted unprecedented numbers of African Americans from the city.

Answer 1

It was a planned community of prefabricated houses.

Question 2

​In what year did North Korea invade South Korea?

A)1945
B)1947
C)​1950
D)​1953

Answer 2

​1950

Question 3

Which is not a reason why the war in Korea came to an end?​

A)Joseph Stalin died.
B)the communists suffered huge battlefield losses.
C)​the United States threatened the use of atomic weapons.
D)​China announced its decision to scale back its involvement.

Answer 3

Joseph Stalin died.

Question 4

​The United States was affected by the Cold War in all of the following ways except

A)the size and influence of the American Communist Party grew.
B)Alger Hiss,who had been an advisor in the Roosevelt administration,was accused of being a spy.
C)​the House Un-American Activities Committee investigated Americans suspected of spreading communist propaganda
D)​Hollywood writers and directors who refused to answer questions about their political beliefs were blacklisted.

Question 5

United Automobile Workers (UAW)?​

A)a graduated pay scale
B)cost-of-living adjustments
C)​guaranteed retirement plans
D)​health insurance for full-time workers

Question 6

Who was George F.Kennan?​

A)a military officer who provided intelligence during the Korean War
B)a foreign service officer who introduced the doctrine of containment
C)​a scientist who was an integral member of the Manhattan Project team
D)​a spy who provided information about the Soviet Union's atomic bomb

Question 7

​The Truman Doctrine was developed as a response to problems in

A)Spain and Portugal.
B)North Africa.
C)​Greece and Turkey.
D)​Southeast Asia.

Question 8

​Between 1944 and 1950,how many of the new houses built in the United States were built in suburban areas?

A)fewer than 20 percent
B)roughly 33 percent
C)​roughly 60 percent
D)​more than 80 percent

Question 9

​Who served as President Eisenhower's secretary of state?

A)John Foster Dulles
B)George Humphrey
C)​Robert McNamara
D)​Charles Wilson

Question 10

What was the basic premise of the domino theory?​

A)The spread of communism would eventually result in mutually assured destruction.
B)If one state in a region fell to communism,the surrounding countries would fall as well.
C)​The free world had to line up its military,economic,and political power with that of the Soviet Union.
D)​Working together with the Soviet Union and other communist countries on peaceful endeavors was the best way to avoid war.

Question 11

​What did John Foster Dulles call the buildup of atomic warheads and the implied threat of using them?

A)brinksmanship
B)containment
C)​covert action
D)​domino theory

Question 12

Which statement about the Tidelands Oil Act is true?​

A)It was passed over President Eisenhower's veto.
B)It funded new drilling and oil exploration in Alaska.
C)​It transferred coastal oil land from the federal government to the states.
D)​It focused on building new relationships with Middle Eastern oil suppliers.

Question 13

In 1953,the CIA was involved in overthrowing the government of which country as part of an effort to protect U.S.oil supplies?​

A)Guatemala
B)Iran
C)​Saudi Arabia
D)​Venezuela
E)​Vietnam

Question 14

What was Winston Churchill referring to when he spoke of the iron curtain?​

A)the division between Soviet-dominated eastern Europe and the rest of the continent
B)the barrier that had to be established to contain communism within its existing boundaries
C)​changes in Britain's Parliament that had removed him from his position as prime minister
D)​the rift within the Truman government regarding policy toward the Soviet Union and Communism

Question 15

​Which statement about Gamal Abdel Nasser and Egypt is true?

A)Nasser became Egypt's leader upon the death of King Farouk.
B)Nasser gained power by forging a strong alliance with Great Britain.
C)​Upon seizing power,Nasser began to make overtures of peace toward Israel.
D)​Nasser seized the Suez Canal after the United States withdrew its offer to build the Aswan Dam.

Question 16

​In 1954,Vietnam was temporarily divided at the

A)twelfth parallel.
B)seventeenth parallel.
C)​thirty-eighth parallel.
D)​fifty-fourth parallel.

Question 17

All of the following were provisions of the National Security Act of 1947 except​

A)the creation of a single Department of Defense to oversee all the armed forces
B)the establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency to collect intelligence abroad
C)the establishment of the National Security Council to provide foreign policy information to the president
D)the creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee to investigate subversive activities within the United States

Question 18

What was Sputnik?​

A)a nuclear missile
B)a nuclear submarine
C)​a Russian satellite
D)​a Russian spy plane

Question 19

​Why did President Truman remove General MacArthur from his command in Korea?

A)MacArthur refused to escalate the war.
B)MacArthur publicly criticized Truman's approach.
C)​MacArthur was suspected of being a communist sympathizer.
D)​MacArthur had not achieved the military goals that had been established.

Question 20

​Which of the following strategies was influential in ending the Soviet Union's blockade of East Berlin?

A)the intervention of U.N.peacekeeping forces
B)U.S.military intervention and the threat of nuclear intervention
C)​the steady supply of food,fuel,and medical supplies delivered by airlift
D)​sympathy strikes among people within the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
E)​secret negotiations between the foreign ministers of the United States and the Soviet Union

Question 21

Which of the following statements regarding Senator Joseph McCarthy is true?​

A)He called for President Truman's impeachment.
B)He uncovered the Soviet Union's plan to build an atomic bomb.
C)​He was expelled from the U.S.Senate after accusations of communist infiltration were proven untrue.
D)​He was kicked out of the Republican Party prior to the 1952 election after questioning the party's presidential candidate.

Question 22

​Martin Luther King,Jr. ,embraced a philosophy based on

A)nonviolent resistance
B)challenges in legal courts 
C)​militant opposition to injustice
D)​passive acceptance of differences

Question 23

​Who was Alan Freed?

A)a Broadway star
B)a variety show host
C)​a rhythm and blues artist
D)​a rock 'n' roll disc jockey

Question 24

​Who were the Little Rock Nine?

A)the first integrated high school baseball team in the Deep South
B)the first black students to attend the previously all-white Central High School
C)​the jurors who decided a famous case involving the alleged rape of white students by young black men
D)​a group of black students who brought a successful lawsuit against the city of Little Rock for discrimination

Question 25

​Which of the following statements regarding the postwar economy is true?

A)Most Americans hoarded their savings,fearing another economic depression.
B)The high consumer demand and savings contributed to the threat of inflation.
C)​Strikes became less numerous because companies agreed to significantly higher wages.
D)​Truman's forceful stand against inflation resulted in huge Democratic gains in the 1946 election.

Question 26

​Which best describes Elvis Presley's influence on music?

A)Music became a bonding experience for parents and teenagers.
B)Record companies began to produce more rhythm and blues music.
C)​Televised shows and music videos became essential for record sales.
D)​The popularity of rock 'n' roll music declined due to criticism from adults.

Question 27

​Which statements about television in the 1950s is false?

A)More money was spent on commercials than on producing the shows.
B)Regulations restricted advertisement time to less than 5 percent of television airtime.
C)​Ed Sullivan's Sunday night variety show introduced Americans to Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
D)​By the time of high school graduation,the average American child had spent more time watching television than in school.
E)​Television programs promoted and reinforced middle class,suburban values.

Question 28

​Dr.Benjamin Spock provided American women with information on what topic?

A)birth control
B)child care
C)​homeopathic remedies
D)​sex

Question 29

​What was the Beat Generation?

A)a group of parents and educators who opposed the new rock 'n' roll culture
B)a group of writers and poets who attacked mainstream values and conformity
C)​a group of World War II veterans who demanded respect for older Americans
D)​a group of young people who focused on economic prosperity and material gain

Question 30

​Who precipitated the Montgomery Bus Boycott by refusing to give up a seat to a white man?

A)Martin Luther King,Jr.
B)Coretta Scott King
C)​Thurgood Marshall
D)​Rosa Parks

Question 31

Who was America's leading white cover artist?​

A)Allen Ginsberg
B)Pat Boone
C)​Elvis Presley
D)​Little Richard

Question 32

​Which African American athlete broke the color line in Major League Baseball?

A)Hank Aaron
B)Josh Gibson
C)​Satchel Paige
D)​Jackie Robinson

Question 33

​What did the Supreme Court rule in the 1954 Brown v.Board of Education of Topeka case?

A)Separate educational facilities were inherently unequal.
B)The issue of segregation in education should be decided by states. 
C)​States were required to provide equal schools to blacks and whites.
D)​Affirmative action was needed to ensure equal opportunity for blacks.

Question 34

​Who delivered a 1950 speech about "communist subversion" and went on to make accusations against suspected communists within and beyond the ranks of the government?

A)Dwight Eisenhower
B)J.Edgar Hoover
C)​Douglas MacArthur
D)​Joseph McCarthy
E)​Harry Truman

Question 35

​Who was John F.Kennedy's Republican opponent in the presidential election of 1960?

A)Dwight Eisenhower
B)Richard Nixon
C)​Lyndon Johnson
D)​John Nance Garner
E)​J.Edgar Hoover

Question 36

​Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus,sparking a year-long boycott of the buses in what city?

A)Atlanta,Georgia
B)Birmingham,Alabama
C)​Little Rock,Arkansas
D)​Montgomery,Alabama

Question 37

The Taft-Hartley Act gave the president the authority to impose a cooling-off period to prevent strikes that threatened the national interest.

Question 38

​Martin Luther King,Jr. ,gained national fame during which of the following events?

A)Montgomery bus boycott
B)confrontation at Central High School
C)​the NAACP's 1947 national convention
D)​decision of Brown v.Board of Education

Question 39

As veterans began to return home following the end of World War II,they experienced all of the following except​

A)a rising divorce rate.
B)a serious housing shortage.
C)​the growth of a consumer society.
D)​the inability to get loans to buy homes.

Question 40

What company introduced the first credit card in the United States?​

A)American Express
B)Diner's Club
C)​MasterCard
D)​Visa

Question 41

Eisenhower's "New Look" military program focused on the production of nuclear weapons and long-range bombers.

Question 42

Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government fell to communists led by Mau Tse-tung in 1949.

Question 43

The United States experienced a surge in marriage and birth rates in the years following World War II.

Question 44

At the end of the Korean War,North and South Korea were divided at the thirty-eighth parallel.

Question 45

Americans questioned Eisenhower's ability to run for reelection in 1956 because he had suffered a stroke that kept him sidelined for three months in 1955.

Question 46

The average age at which men and women married was higher following World War II than it had been before the war.

Question 47

John F.Kennedy "won" the series of televised debates with Nixon in the 1960 presidential election.

Question 48

The States' Rights Party,or Dixiecrats,was formed primarily to oppose new laws governing unions and the workplace.

Question 49

Following World War II,the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)turned attention from investigating Nazi propaganda to addressing lynchings and other violence associated with racism.

Question 50

Alger Hiss was eventually tried and convicted of perjury after denying he had been a member of a communist cell.

Question 51

President Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act,but Congress overrode his veto.

Question 52

President Truman did not run for re-election in 1952.

Question 53

Experts like Marynia Farnham and Dr.Spock encouraged women to strive to find fulfilling careers and/or hobbies.

Question 54

In the 1952 presidential campaign,Dwight D.Eisenhower promised to step up military action to defeat communism in Korea.

Question 55

Great Britain asked for assistance from the United States to stop the threat of Soviet expansion to Greece and Turkey.

Question 56

Although American troops fought in the Korean War,casualties numbered fewer than 10,000.

Question 57

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act,or GI Bill,provided almost $20 billion for various programs for returning veterans,including payment of college tuition and low-interest mortgages for home loans

Question 58

The Soviet Union tested its first atomic device in 1949,years earlier than Americans had anticipated.

Question 59

Richard Nixon planned to resign from the vice presidency prior to the 1956 to run for the Senate,but President Eisenhower persuaded him to remain as his running mate.