Deck 18: Black Protests, the Great Depression, and the New Deal

Question 1

How did black unemployment in large cities compare with the national unemployment rate?

A) Black unemployment was lower.
B) Black unemployment was higher.
C) Black unemployment was at the national average.
D) No statistics were kept on black unemployment during the time, since the government did not consider them to be very important.

Answer 1

Black unemployment was higher.

Question 2

What was Houston's legal focus?

A) He wanted to file cases to completely eliminate segregation directly.
B) He wanted to gain an amendment to the constitution allowing black women to vote.
C) He tried to force the South to equalize facilities, especially in education.
D) Houston wanted to allow segregation, but force whites to allow economic progress.

Answer 2

He tried to force the South to equalize facilities, especially in education.

Question 3

Which of the following was not a primary cause of the Great Depression?

A) the stock market crash
B) corporations running unchecked by government regulation
C) a weak international trading system
D) inequalities in the distribution of wealth in America

Answer 3

the stock market crash

Question 4

Why were black women often affected more than black men during the Depression?

A) Black women generally lacked the high level of education of men.
B) White families could not afford domestic help during the Depression, or could get it at almost no cost at all, since some black women were so desperate.
C) The only jobs available during the Depression were skilled jobs, which black men were more prepared for than women.
D) Black women had to stay at home and take care of their children.

Question 5

Why did President Hoover do very little during the Great Depression to alleviate poverty?

A) He was actually a very active president, but Congress refused to pass the huge variety of relief programs he proposed.
B) He believed that government, when it acted, should help the wealthy and big businesses only.
C) He strongly believed that individuals or charities, not the government, should help alleviate poverty.
D) Hoover was only president for the first few months of the Great Depression.

Question 6

Why did the all-white primary law disfranchise black voters in Texas, when they could still vote in the general election?

A) It did not allow any blacks to vote in the general election, either.
B) It limited the political candidates to whites, so blacks had few options for improvement.
C) Texas was so heavily Democratic that the only really contested election was the primary race.
D) It took all black businesses away, so blacks had no financial base to campaign for offices.

Question 7

Which of the following is true about farming during the Great Depression?

A) Consumer demand fell, but production rose, generating great drops in prices.
B) Consumer demand for some products rose, but farmers were unable to produce more.
C) Farmers were not hit very hard during the Depression, since they were self-sufficient.
D) Farmers actually saw their income rise over the course of the Depression.

Question 8

What case ended the all-white primary strategy altogether?

A) Nixon v. Herndon
B) Smith v. Allwright
C) White v. The State of Texas
D) Brown v. Board of Education

Question 9

What was generally not a characteristic of black society during the Great Depression?

A) Many blacks emerged from the Great Depression owning little other than their bodies.
B) Blacks often refused to help others, since they barely had enough money or resources to even feed their families.
C) Women frequently would trade or share goods or services to get by.
D) Blacks actually made substantial gains in civil rights, since whites were preoccupied with the economy.

Question 10

What does the story of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company tell us about blacks during the Great Depression?

A) Some blacks were financially ruined through their attempts to help their community and other blacks.
B) Some black businesses were able to succeed even with the difficulties of the Great Depression.
C) Some blacks would turn on each other during the crisis for their own economic gain.
D) Black owned businesses could be very corrupt.

Question 11

What was the "Bronx Slave Market"?

A) an area in New York where white racists tried to re-institute the slave trade
B) an area in New York were black men could go to get jobs, which paid very little
C) an area in New York where white women could very cheaply obtain day help from black women
D) a play by Langston Hughes about the difficulties of black life

Question 12

How were relief programs handled before the Great Depression?

A) through private charities and individuals
B) through the federal government
C) no charities or relief effort existed before the Great Depression
D) generally, cities had very extensive systems of aid to help the poor and unemployed

Question 13

Why did Houston and Thurgood Marshall focus on gaining blacks access to professional and graduate schools?

A) They desperately needed more lawyers.
B) The inequalities were very obvious; almost no graduate facilities existed for blacks in the South.
C) Black graduate schools had been outlawed by many southern states.
D) Blacks could only get high paying, top jobs in corporations with graduate degrees.

Question 14

What does the story of the Binga Bank tell us about blacks during the Great Depression?

A) Some blacks were financially ruined through their attempts to help their community and other blacks.
B) Some black businesses were able to succeed even with the difficulties of the Great Depression.
C) Some blacks would turn on each other during the crisis for their own economic gain.
D) Black owned businesses could be very corrupt.

Question 15

What did the NAACP's fight over the Terrell law demonstrate?

A) That racism was so entrenched in Texas that public schools could be completely shut down rather than accept black children.
B) That lynching could be legalized in several southern states.
C) That local and community involvement in NAACP activities was very important.
D) That whites would refuse to accept limits on the KKK's activities.

Question 16

Which of the following is true about the role of black women in the NAACP?

A) Black women were excluded from the NAACP until the 1950s.
B) Because they had no political power, they had very little to do with the organization.
C) Black women often made huge contributions through organizing and fundraising.
D) Black women were only allowed to lead children's branches of the NAACP.

Question 17

What first was accomplished by Juanita E. Jackson?

A) She was the first black woman admitted to practice law in Maryland, and through her legal cases helped destroy segregation.
B) She was the first woman to gain a recording contract with a major white label.
C) She was the first black doctor in the state of Georgia, although she was never allowed to practice.
D) She was killed by whites after having an affair with a white married man.

Question 18

How did Hoover deal with African Americans during the Great Depression?

A) Hoover was actually a great friend to African Americans, but was never able to get his appointments through Congress, since they blamed him for the economic problems.
B) Hoover wanted an all-white Republican Party in the South, and tried to appoint a racist to the Supreme Court.
C) Hoover ignored blacks, paying absolutely no attention to them at all.
D) Hoover made several visits to the South to look into black problems, but refused to do anything concrete about them.

Question 19

What did W. E. B. Du Bois begin to criticize the NAACP for in 1934?

A) not filing enough legal cases to end segregation
B) being too divided and not helping Marcus Garvey before he was deported
C) not putting enough emphasis on economic development for blacks
D) for their record of violent protest against segregation

Question 20

Who was central to the NAACP's effectiveness during the 1930s in chipping away at segregation through the court system?

Question 21

What was the role of the "Black Cabinet"?

A) They were token blacks in the administration; they had no real power.
B) They helped the president formulate policy with respect to the Great Depression.
C) They helped reorganize the university system of the United States to eliminate segregation.
D) They pressured the president and other governmental agencies to create color-blind policies.

Question 22

How was Roosevelt unlike Hoover in his attempts to end the Great Depression?

A) Roosevelt merely implemented the changes Hoover wanted to put through.
B) Roosevelt had very bright people working for him.
C) He proved very flexible, and willing to experiment with new changes and ideas.
D) Roosevelt was very committed to black rights, and worked consistently through his presidency to gain rights for blacks.

Question 23

What was a problem with the Civilian Conservation Corps?

A) It only employed whites.
B) It employed few blacks in segregated camps.
C) It paid whites and blacks the same amount, and provoked violent riots among many white workers.
D) Many workers were made sick because of the focus on urban, industrial work in the CCC.

Question 24

How did the AAA benefit blacks?

A) It did not-it generally only benefited white landowners.
B) It poured huge amounts of money into the area in which many were employed.
C) It provided food for blacks in the cities.
D) It helped to reopen banks after the crisis, and get savings returned to black investors.

Question 25

Which of the following was not a New Deal welfare program?

A) the Civilian Conservation Corps
B) the Civil Works Administration
C) the National Labor Relations Act
D) the Federal Emergency Relief Administration

Question 26

What did many blacks think the role of social sciences was during the Great Depression?

A) Many thought it should provoke additional research and thought only, but stay away from political issues.
B) Many intellectuals thought that they might improve race relations.
C) Blacks refused to get into social sciences during the Great Depression, as it was dominated by racist whites.
D) The social sciences would prove that racism, and the inferiority of blacks, was an accurate view.

Question 27

How did black voting patterns begin to change after the first election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt?

A) Blacks continued to stay with the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln.
B) Blacks began to shift to the Democratic Party.
C) Blacks briefly formed their own separate party, just as they had formed separate churches and other institutions.
D) Blacks split over Roosevelt, with their support about evenly divided between him and Hoover in 1936.

Question 28

What was a goal of the Detroit Housewives' League, and housewives' leagues established in other cities?

A) to gain women the right to vote
B) to help increase black economic opportunity through directing black women's purchasing power
C) to help children have cleaner schools
D) to gain equal pay for teachers in black schools

Question 29

Who was the first black Democrat to ever win a House of Representatives seat?

Question 30

Which of the following programs was not initiated during the Second New Deal?

A) Social Security Act
B) the Civilian Conservation Corps
C) the Federal Art Project
D) FDR couldn't get the support to begin any programs during the Second New Deal

Question 31

How did many whites react to the increased presence of blacks in the Democratic Party?

A) Whites accepted the blacks, as long as they stayed in subordinate positions.
B) Some southern whites were infuriated, and actually walked out of the presidential convention when blacks spoke.
C) Whites began to organize violent action in the presidential convention hall to get rid of blacks.
D) Blacks were not formally allowed to participate in the Democratic Party at all.

Question 32

How was the Agricultural Adjustment Act unevenly implemented?

A) Control of AAA money was left to national boards.
B) White landlords often gave the money to more subservient blacks, rather than all their tenants.
C) White landlords sometimes evicted tenants from their land during the Great Depression.
D) Blacks were actually given first choice at AAA funding.

Question 33

What was a problem with the administration of the Works Progress Administration?

A) It was limited completely to whites, as a compromise to southern congressmen.
B) It never had any money to spend on jobs programs, and was limited by a small staff.
C) The WPA was limited to only about 1000 jobs for those who had been upper middle class before the Depression.
D) The WPA was actually administered far more equally than previous programs. It helped many black families.

Question 34

Who was black people's main ally within the Roosevelt administration?

A) Franklin Roosevelt himself
B) no one; the Roosevelt administration was very unfriendly to blacks
C) Eleanor Roosevelt
D) Harry Truman

Question 35

What was significant about the 1936 presidential election?

A) Black voters outside the South shifted in significant numbers to the Democratic Party.
B) Fewer blacks than ever voted, since violence and intimidation tactics were rampant.
C) Black voters inside the South shifted to the Republican Party.
D) Whites refused to vote for Roosevelt, because of his overwhelming support for black issues.

Question 36

Which of the following was a reason for blacks to move over to the Democratic Party during the 1936 election?

A) Blacks felt that Roosevelt had been doing more for them than any other president.
B) Blacks wanted to support the Democratic Party, especially in the South.
C) Blacks actually didn't begin to support the Democratic Party until after World War II.
D) Blacks hoped to continue the dramatic gains made during the 1920s in civil rights.

Question 37

Which of the following was not a program of the WPA?

A) a program to employ black writers and actors
B) giving food to hungry blacks and whites
C) a program to help collect stories of slavery
D) a program to put people to work building roads, hospitals, and other public buildings

Question 38

What is true about the National Industrial Recovery Act's effect on black Americans?

A) The NIRA had no effect on blacks, since its provisions only covered white industries.
B) The NIRA had a very positive effect, since it was able to completely eliminate racism within unions.
C) The NIRA was favored by black leaders, but struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.
D) When the NIRA increased wages, employers fired blacks in order to be able to hire whites.

Question 39

How did the relationship between African Americans and labor unions change during the 1930s?

A) It did not-labor unions remained completely hostile toward blacks.
B) Labor unions actually became more hostile toward blacks, since jobs were so scarce.
C) In the 1930s, more labor unions allowed blacks membership, and some even began integrated unions.
D) The government forced unions to accept any black during the 1930s.

Question 40

What happened to much First New Deal legislation during the Great Depression?

A) The Supreme Court declared much of it unconstitutional.
B) Blacks were able to get it repealed.
C) White supremacists worked against it, since it benefited blacks.
D) Franklin Roosevelt changed his mind and decided to stop reforming the United States.

Question 41

What organization did the National Negro Congress become more and more associated with in the late 1930s?

A) the NAACP
B) Marcus Garvey's UNIA
C) the Communist Party
D) the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

Question 42

How were jobs allocated in the tobacco industry?

A) Overall, they were allocated pretty fairly-all positions were given out according to skills and ability.
B) They were allocated strictly by race and gender. This left black women with the most difficult and tedious jobs.
C) Black women were generally the only workers in the tobacco industry, so they exercised a tremendous amount of political clout.
D) Generally, only according to seniority within the company.

Question 43

What organization quickly rushed to the aid of the young black men accused in the Scottsboro case?

A) the NAACP
B) the Communist Party
C) the Democratic Party
D) Clarence Darrow's law firm

Question 44

Which of the following was not a reaction of black Americans to the Communist Party?

A) Some approved of its work, but very few actually joined the party or participated in it.
B) Some felt that the Communist Party offered far better leadership than the NAACP.
C) Some felt that it was the equivalent of the KKK in some ways.
D) Blacks turned out in great numbers to support the Communist Party in elections.

Question 45

How did the Railway Labor Act amendments of 1934 affect the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters?

A) It completely destroyed the union, since it said that black people had no right to organize into unions.
B) Its provisions eventually forced the Pullman Company to recognize the union and bargain with it in good faith.
C) It had no effect on blacks, since it failed to include any provisions about unions.
D) It said companies had to bargain with unions, but was so weak it never had any real effect.

Question 46

Why did John L. Lewis form the Committee for Industrial Organization?

A) He was angry that the AFL refused to incorporate unskilled workers into its ranks.
B) He wanted to gain power for himself, and make a bid for the presidency in 1940.
C) He did not like the AFL's new policy of including blacks, and wanted an all-white organization.
D) He was a very conservative Republican, and thought that labor unions were becoming too liberal.

Question 47

What did the case of Powell v. Alabama, decided by the Supreme Court in 1932, state?

A) Blacks had no right to sue in the United States.
B) The Scottsboro Boys had been discriminated against because they were communists.
C) The Scottsboro Boys had not been given adequate council, and the trial was not fair because it had occurred in a hostile environment.
D) The Alabama Supreme Court was correct in jailing the young men for raping the white women.

Question 48

Why were some blacks attracted to the Communist Party during the 1930s?

A) The Communist Party vowed to establish a separate nation for them in Africa.
B) The Communist Party said it was against racism, but never did anything to prove that.
C) The Communist Party worked to reduce unemployment and worked against racism.
D) The Communist Party was a very large, mainstream party in the 1930s, with many members from across the United States.

Question 49

What did the case of the Scottsboro Boys involve?

A) two young communists who were accused of plotting to overthrow the government
B) two young white women who falsely accused nine young black men of rape on a train
C) a case where blacks 'schoolteachers had taught the concept of evolution, rather than the Biblical story of the evolution of man
D) two young boys who were lynched for stealing candy from a white store

Question 50

What did the case of Norris v. Alabama, decided by the Supreme Court in 1935, state?

A) All Americans have the right to a jury of their peers. Excluding blacks from jury pools was deemed unconstitutional.
B) The Scottsboro Boys had not been given adequate council, and the trial was not fair because it had occurred in a hostile environment.
C) The Alabama Supreme Court was correct in jailing the young men for raping the white women.
D) The Scottsboro Boys had been discriminated against because they were communists.

Question 51

What industry saw substantial union organizing among black women?

A) tobacco
B) iron works
C) cotton farming
D) domestic workers

Question 52

What was the Tuskegee Experiment?

A) a group of communists that attempted to take over the political affairs of the city
B) when the federal government sponsored a health study that monitored, but did not treat, black men with syphilis
C) an effort by some blacks to revive Booker T. Washington's philosophy
D) black women organizing to get better prices for household goods