Deck 23: The Great Depression

Question 1

In the late 1920s, the European demand for agricultural and manufacturing goods from the United States was

A) rising.
B) steady.
C) declining.
D) chronically unstable.
E) essentially nonexistent.

Answer 1

declining.

Question 2

In the 1930s, the largest Japanese American and Chinese American populations were found in

A) Oregon.
B) Arizona.
C) Washington.
D) Hawaii.
E) California.

Answer 2

California.

Question 3

During the 1930s, southern rural blacks who moved to northern urban areas

A) faced blatant discrimination, much as they had in the South.
B) generally experienced conditions that were in most respects little better than in the South.
C) could easily find domestic service jobs that no whites wanted.
D) joined the NAACP in large numbers.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Answer 3

generally experienced conditions that were in most respects little better than in the South.

Question 4

During the 1930s, regarding radio,

A) the largest proportion of programming was devoted to news.
B) most programs were increasingly prerecorded.
C) around half of all American homes owned a radio.
D) listening was often a community experience.
E) radio sets were basically unusable in rural areas without electricity.

Question 5

In response to the Great Depression, many Mexican Americans

A) migrated to the South.
B) left the United States entirely.
C) moved into California.
D) successfully organized agricultural unions.
E) migrated into rural areas, where work was more available.

Question 6

As a result of the Great Depression, social values in the United States

A) saw Americans embrace nearly any idea that was new or nontraditional.
B) saw a majority of Americans question the future of democracy.
C) seemed to change relatively little.
D) saw most Americans turn against the traditional "success ethic."
E) saw the idea of individual initiative fall into disrepute.

Question 7

During the Great Depression, Asian Americans

A) were generally able, unlike African Americans, to keep from losing their jobs to white Americans.
B) who were college educated generally weathered the crisis fairly well.
C) had trouble competing for jobs with poor white migrants from the Midwest.
D) were limited by law to low-paying jobs such as salesclerks and food servers.
E) found it easier to move into mainstream professions.

Question 8

The "Dust Bowl" in the 1930s

A) was created by the national economic collapse.
B) stretched from Kansas to California.
C) experienced years of heavy rainfall.
D) was created by grasshoppers.
E) was a product of changing environmental conditions.

Question 9

The economic pressures caused by the Great Depression

A) weakened the notion that a woman's proper place was in the home.
B) saw men move into jobs traditionally held by professional women.
C) forced most women out of the labor force.
D) led the federal government to make it illegal for married women to work outside the home.
E) affected service and clerical positions held by women more than they affected jobs in heavy industry.

Question 10

Erskine Caldwell's ________, which later became a long-running Broadway play, was an exposé of poverty in the rural South.

A) Native Son
B) Tobacco Road
C) Waiting for Lefty
D) The Grapes of Wrath
E) How to Win Friends and Influence People

Question 11

During the Great Depression,

A) the divorce rate declined.
B) the marriage rate increased.
C) the birth rate increased.
D) both the marriage rate and the birth rate increased.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 12

In 1932, the unemployment rate in Toledo, Ohio was one of the worst in the nation, at

A) 40 percent.
B) 60 percent.
C) 70 percent.
D) 80 percent.
E) 95 percent.

Question 13

The long-time censor of Hollywood films in the 1920s and 1930s was

A) Frank Capra.
B) Pare Lorentz.
C) King Vidor.
D) James Agee.
E) Will Hays.

Question 14

In the 1931 Scottsboro court case,

A) black teenagers were accused of rape by two white women.
B) a Georgia jury convicted all of the black youths.
C) the Supreme Court reaffirmed the death penalty convictions.
D) eight of the convicted youths were executed for crimes they did not commit.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 15

During the Great Depression in the rural United States,

A) one-third of all farmers lost their land.
B) farm income dropped by twenty-five percent.
C) economic conditions were slightly better than in industrial cities.
D) the farm economy could not keep up with consumer demand.
E) farmers enjoyed several unusually fertile growing seasons.

Question 16

Beginning in February 1928 and lasting through most of 1929, the American stock market

A) saw the number of shares traded daily soar.
B) saw the average price of stocks rise slightly.
C) slowly declined in value.
D) rapidly lost value.
E) saw brokerage firms restrict credit to those buying stocks.

Question 17

After 1929, in the face of the worsening global economic crisis, the United States

A) reduced the debts owed by European nations to America.
B) forgave the debts owed by European nations to America.
C) demanded immediate payment of all debts owed by European nations to America.
D) refused to alter the payment schedule of debts owed by European nations to America.
E) forgave the debts owed by former allies during the War, and reduced the debts of other nations.

Question 18

In the 1930s, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People

A) claimed community togetherness was the best way to combat hard times.
B) argued the best way to end the Depression was to have working-class men and women run for office.
C) asserted that a strong faith in Christianity would best help one through hard times.
D) gave financial advice and offered tips for when going to a job interview.
E) taught that individual initiative could help people to restore themselves financially.

Question 19

All the following factors contributed to the Great Depression EXCEPT

A) an unstable European economy.
B) a lack of diversification in the United States economy.
C) a maldistribution of purchasing power.
D) conservative banking policies that restricted the availability of loans.
E) weak consumer demand.

Question 20

The severity of the Depression increased in 1931 when the Federal Reserve Board

A) closed all financially-ailing banks.
B) declared bankruptcy.
C) weakened the value of the dollar.
D) expanded the money supply.
E) raised interest rates.

Question 21

During the 1930s, American literature

A) offered a greater degree of social commentary than did either radio or movies.
B) saw most popular books and magazines focus on the Great Depression.
C) saw photographic magazines lose much of their readership due to the high cost of each issue.
D) faced censorship laws that suppressed criticisms of American politics and culture.
E) adopted a more pessimistic, although no less radical, approach to society in the later 1930s.

Question 22

In the 1930s, all the following books offered criticism of American society EXCEPT

A) U.S.A. by John Dos Passos.
B) Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathaniel West.
C) Studs Lonigan by James T. Farrell.
D) The Disinherited by Jack Conroy.
E) Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen.

Question 23

As the depression deepened, President Herbert Hoover

A) encouraged businessmen to reduce their industrial production.
B) grew less willing to increase federal spending.
C) began to experiment with untried economic principles.
D) called for a reduction in taxes.
E) stopped worrying about trying to balance the budget.

Question 24

The Hoover administration addressed the economic situation of American farmers with the

A) Agricultural Marketing Act.
B) Soil Conservation Act.
C) Agricultural Adjustment Act.
D) Farm Security Administration.
E) Rural Electrification Administration.

Question 25

During the 1930s, the left in the United States

A) found broad acceptance among both the working class and intellectuals.
B) experienced intense government hostility.
C) saw a widening of the ideological range of mainstream art and politics.
D) both experienced intense government hostility and saw a widening of the ideological range of mainstream art and politics.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 26

All of the following statements regarding the 1932 "Bonus Army" are true EXCEPT that

A) Hoover called some marchers' behavior evidence of uncontrolled violence and radicalism.
B) several thousand American veterans camped out in Washington,D.C.
C) Congress refused to formally consider the demands of the "Army."
D) many Americans viewed President Hoover as unsympathetic to the veterans.
E) the "Army" demanded Congress create relief programs for World War I veterans.

Question 27

During the 1930s, the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union

A) sought to organize the rural poor across racial lines.
B) was formed by the American Communist Party.
C) concerned the federal government as a powerful force of rural radicalism.
D) both sought to organize the rural poor across racial lines, and concerned the federal government as a powerful force of rural radicalism.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 28

The Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930

A) gave incentives to Europeans to sell their goods in the United States.
B) was designed to stimulate U.S. exports.
C) increased tariffs on industrial products, but left farm products' rates unchanged.
D) both gave incentives to Europeans to sell their goods in the U.S., and was designed to stimulate U.S. exports.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 29

The 1930s films of director Frank Capra typically displayed

A) a populist admiration for ordinary Americans.
B) the cultural backwardness of small towns in America.
C) praise for the "rugged individualism" of American business.
D) the grasping materialism of most Americans.
E) a harsh critique of the heartlessness of capitalism.

Question 30

President Herbert Hoover responded to the onset of the Great Depression by

A) proposing a series of economic reform programs.
B) shutting down the bank system until confidence in it could be restored.
C) urging a program of voluntary cooperation from business leaders.
D) calling for a tax increase to prevent a federal deficit.
E) calling for a system of social security to alleviate individual suffering.

Question 31

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade is associated with

A) the radical right.
B) the Spanish Civil War.
C) veterans of World War I.
D) the "bonus marchers."
E) the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Question 32

In 1939, after the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany, the American Communist Party

A) reduced its criticism of the United States.
B) formed an American Nazi Party.
C) broke from the Soviet Union.
D) lost a significant portion of its membership.
E) disbanded.

Question 33

During the 1930s, the most important group within the Popular Front was

A) the Socialist Party.
B) the Federation of Labor.
C) the Communist Party.
D) the Progressive Party.
E) Americans for Democratic Action.

Question 34

In 1932, the Farmers' Holiday Association

A) began and spread throughout the South.
B) was essentially a farmers' strike.
C) led to more public money being sent to rural areas.
D) called on farmers to leave their lands unplanted.
E) argued that farmers should also reap the benefits of welfare capitalism.

Question 35

In the 1930s, all of the following films offered social commentary on the United States and the Great Depression, EXCEPT

A) Our Daily Bread.
B) It Happened One Night.
C) The Grapes of Wrath.
D) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
E) Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.

Question 36

During the 1930s, the American Communist Party

A) distanced itself from the Soviet Union.
B) excluded most minorities from its ranks.
C) supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
D) both distanced itself from the Soviet Union and excluded most minorities from its ranks.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 37

As Herbert Hoover began his presidency, he

A) considered the country's economic future bright.
B) assumed the economy might suffer a mild recession.
C) feared a depression.
D) called for voluntary guidelines to stabilize the stock market.
E) renounced his earlier policy of associationalism.

Question 38

After Democrats won control of Congress in the 1930 elections, President Herbert Hoover

A) criticized voters for abandoning the economic principles of the Republican Party.
B) told reporters that his economic recovery policies had not been successful.
C) urged the new Congress to construct "Hoovervilles" to shelter the unemployed.
D) refused to support a more vigorous public spending program for relief.
E) deferred to their economic agenda of relief and public spending programs.

Question 39

In 1932, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation

A) lent funds only to financial institutions with sufficient collateral.
B) was created by Congress over President Herbert Hoover's veto.
C) focused most of its spending on large urban cities in the Northeast.
D) was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
E) spent most of its money trying to prop up unstable local banks.

Question 40

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

A) was created to provide federal loans to troubled banks and businesses.
B) was created in the first year of Herbert Hoover's administration.
C) included a $1.5 billion public works budget.
D) included a $1.5 billion public works budget, and was created to provide federal loans to troubled banks and businesses.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 41

Prior to 1932, Franklin Roosevelt had been all of the following EXCEPT

A) assistant secretary of the navy.
B) vice president of the United States.
C) governor of New York.
D) a state legislator.
E) a Hudson Valley aristocrat.

Question 42

The Great Depression was caused by the stock market crash of October 1929.

Question 43

Following the "great crash," the Federal Reserve system lowered interest rates in an effort to revive the American economy.

Question 44

Farm income declined by 60 percent between 1929 and 1932.

Question 45

Between his election in 1932 and the inauguration in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt

A) declared he would dramatically increase government spending.
B) promised to maintain a balanced federal budget.
C) made no public statements.
D) refused to make any agreements on the economic direction of the country with the outgoing president, Herbert Hoover.
E) established the Works Progress Administration.

Question 46

In the year prior to its crash, the stock market had been soaring upward.

Question 47

The federal government's response to the "Bonus Army" included

A) the use of six tanks to rout the veterans from Washington.
B) General Jack Pershing exceeding his orders to remove the veterans.
C) the injuring of over 100 marchers.
D) both the use of six tanks to rout the veterans from Washington, and the injuring of over 100 marchers.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 48

During the 1920s, most American banks were quite conservative, but some major banks were quite reckless in their stock market investments.

Question 49

Popular culture in the 1930s held that married women should not work outside the home.

Question 50

Traditional patterns of segregation and disenfranchisement in the South were not significantly challenged during the Great Depression.

Question 51

Despite hard economic times in the United States, few Hispanics left for Mexico during the Great Depression.

Question 52

The automobile and construction industries were both experiencing economic declines prior to the stock market crash.

Question 53

Franklin Roosevelt's victory over Herbert Hoover in 1932

A) saw Roosevelt carry every state.
B) was disputed in several states.
C) was a convincing mandate.
D) was decided only in the final days of the election.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 54

The last of the Scottsboro defendants was not freed until 1950.

Question 55

In order to ease economic problems in Europe, the U.S. government reduced Europe's debts to America stemming from World War I.

Question 56

In 1932, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions of the "Scottsboro boys."

Question 57

As the Depression began, more than half of all black Americans still lived in the South.

Question 58

Those blacks who migrated to northern cities during the Great Depression found conditions little better than in the South.

Question 59

In 1928, Herbert Hoover predicted an end to poverty in America was near.

Question 60

In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt's promise of a "new deal" for America included a commitment to

A) spending billions of dollars to assist in economic recovery.
B) providing relief jobs to millions of unemployed Americans.
C) passing legislation establishing a nationwide program of social security.
D) both spending billions of dollars to assist in economic recovery, and providing relief jobs to millions of unemployed Americans.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 61

In the 1930s, listening to the radio was often a family or community experience.

Question 62

Farm strikes in the Midwest during the Great Depression were initially successful.

Question 63

Although it was a segregated organization, the Southern Tenant Farmers Union sought to improve the lives of all sharecroppers.

Question 64

The "Bonus Army" of 1932 demanded that Congress make an early payment of a promised "bonus" for World War I veterans.

Question 65

At the end of the 1930s, a higher percentage of black women were employed than were white women.

Question 66

As the Depression progressed, popular literature and journalism came to be dominated by a group of writers who openly challenged the American way of life.

Question 67

President Hoover did attempt to use federal spending to fight the Great Depression.

Question 68

Prior to 1932, Franklin Roosevelt had never held elective office.

Question 69

Under the Popular Front, American Communists softened their criticism of capitalism.

Question 70

Both the Agricultural Marketing Act and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff provided significant help to American farmers.

Question 71

American social values were changed dramatically by the Great Depression.

Question 72

The staple of radio broadcasting during the 1930s was news.

Question 73

During the 1930s, the American Communist Party was always under the close supervision of the Soviet Union.

Question 74

It is accurate to state that filmmaker Frank Capra admired the American people and praised the capitalist marketplace.

Question 75

Much of the money lent by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation went to large banks and corporations.

Question 76

Franklin Roosevelt won in a landslide in 1932, but it was not clear what he would do as president.

Question 77

Prior to his inauguration, Franklin Roosevelt promised outgoing President Hoover that he would not create more debt in the federal budget.

Question 78

During the Great Depression, both the marriage rate and the divorce rate declined.

Question 79

The power of censors in the film industry declined as the Depression progressed.

Question 80

In national politics, Franklin Roosevelt had generally avoided divisive cultural issues.