Deck 22: The Roaring Twenties

Question 1

Union membership declined during the 1920s due to

A)the growth of the service sector.
B)increased use of high-tech,labor-saving devices in the manufacturing sector.
C)firms' use of "yellow-dog" contracts.
D)poor union leadership.
E)All of the above.

Answer 1

All of the above.

Question 2

Which of the following pieces of agricultural legislation might be thought of as a solution to a problem that did not exist?

A)the Federal Intermediate Credit Act
B)the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
C)the Agricultural Marketing Act
D)the Capper-Volstead Act

Answer 2

the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

Question 3

"Marriage bars"

A)became popular with "flappers" during prohibition.
B)became more widespread in the 1920s
C)forced female employees to leave work when they married.
D)Both a and b are correct.
E) Both b and c are correct.

Answer 3

Both b and c are correct.

Question 4

Which of the following was not a major source of economic growth in the 1920s?

A)construction of residential housing
B)production of consumer durables
C)railroad construction
D)automobile production

Question 5

During Prohibition crime ____ and the amount spent on law enforcement ____.

A)stayed roughly the same;remained level
B)increased dramatically;more than doubled
C)remained level;more than doubled
D)decreased slightly;more than doubled

Question 6

What is the best description of the US economy between 1921 and 1928?

A)Most of the major sectors were growing very rapidly.
B)Hyperinflation led to large decreases in the standard of living.
C)Real average wage growth was stagnant.
D)Unemployment fluctuated dramatically.

Question 7

Which of the following best describes trends in unionization and immigration in the 1920s?

A)Both decreased.
B)Both increased.
C)The number of new immigrants increased while the number of union members decreased.
D)The number of new immigrants decreased while the number of union members increased.

Question 8

For the first time in the nation's history,by 1920 over ____ percent of the population were urban dwellers.

A)25
B)50
C)75
D)90

Question 9

In the 1920s,American (non-farm)labor benefited from all of the following except:

A)low unemployment rates.
B)falling weekly hours.
C)legal limits on immigration.
D)passage of federal minimum wage legislation.

Question 10

The best explanation for the end of free immigration in the 1920s is _____.

A)the belated recognition that immigrants remitted large sums of money to their homelands undermining the balance of payments.
B)the fear that America would be deluged by immigrants fleeing the war devastated economies of central and eastern Europe.
C)the growing realization that free immigration produced a burdensome increase in welfare roles.
D)the growing realization that free immigration undermined the incomes of blacks and women.

Question 11

According to recent research by Golden and Katz,__________ led the way in establishing high schools in the 1920s.

A)the urban centers of the North
B)the mid-Atlantic states
C)California
D)the Middle West,including Iowa and Nebraska

Question 12

What best describes the reason for the large migration of African-Americans from the south to the north during the 1920s?

A)This movement was just a continuation of the same trend that had been occurring in large scale since the end of the Civil War.
B)African-Americans moved north to reunite families that had been divided during the many years of slavery.
C)The African-Americans who had worked in the south had mostly been employed in the manufacturing sector,which suffered a downturn in the 1920s.
D)Employers in the North who had traditionally hired many immigrants had to search elsewhere when immigration restrictions were imposed.

Question 13

In 1910,8.6 percent of American 17-year olds were high school graduates.By 1938,this figure _____.

A)had fallen to 5 percent.
B)equaled 15 percent.
C)had risen to nearly 50 percent.
D)had not changed appreciably.

Question 14

Which of the following is most accurate about the economic conditions in the 1920s?

A)The large increases in demand for products generated significant cyclical unemployment.
B)There was a significant decrease in the number of hours worked per week.
C)Agriculture was the leading growth sector of the economy.
D)The net migration pattern was from urban to rural.

Question 15

The 1920 census reported that ________ percent of Americans were urban dwellers.

A)just over 10
B)approximately 20
C)more than 50
D)75

Question 16

Which of the following is not accurate about the 1920s?

A)There was a significant increase in mass production and mass marketing.
B)There was a significant increase in urbanization.
C)The ability of many Americans to afford consumer goods dropped sharply.
D)Consumer credit policies were developed and instituted on a large scale for the first time.

Question 17

Which of the following is not accurate about the roles of women in the 1920s?

A)There was a large increase in the number of two earner families.
B)Women gained the right to vote.
C)There was an increase in educational opportunities for women.
D)Women gained a significant amount of cultural and social freedom.

Question 18

What method was not used by the US between 1880 and 1920 to limit the number of immigrants?

A)Outlawing the practice of prepaying the cost of an immigrant's voyage in exchange for future labor services.
B)Implementing a financial test for potential immigrants.
C)Utilizing a literacy test for potential immigrants.
D)Allowing only immigrants who had family members in the US to come in.

Question 19

Which groups were least likely to support restrictions on immigration?

A)Organizations like the Ku Klux Klan.
B)Unionized labor.
C)Employers.
D)The south.

Question 20

The ownership of radios increased from ___ percent in 1920 to ___ percent in 1930.

A)10;70
B)5;10
C)less than one;40
D)Radio was not popularized beyond hobbyists until the 1930s

Question 21

Investors should be willing to pay more for a stock when (controlling for all other things):

A)Future interest rates are expected to increase.
B)Future interest rates are expected to decrease.
C)Future dividends are expected to decrease.

Question 22

The 1920s were characterized by large numbers of bank failures each year,especially among country banks.Country banks were particularly inclined to fail because

A)they tended to open too many branches.
B)they were not allowed to issue checking accounts.
C)they were not allowed to join the Federal Reserve system.
D)farm mortgages constituted the major portion of their loans.
E)All of the above.

Question 23

Between 1922 and 1929 stock prices increased by more than

A)100%.
B)200%.
C)300%.
D)1000%.

Question 24

Research by Warburton,and more recently Miron and Zweibel on alcohol consumption during and after prohibition indicates that
a.the demand for alcohol is fairly price inelastic.
b.the demand for alcohol is fairly income inelastic.
c.the demand for alcohol is fairly price elastic.
d.the demand for alcohol has a price elasticity of zero.

Question 25

_____ illustrates the speculative temper of the 1920s.

A)The Ponzi scheme
B)The New York pyramid scandal
C)The Florida Land Boom
D)Both a and b are correct.
E) Both a and c are correct.

Question 26

During the stock market boom of the late 1920s stock prices ______.

A)rose at about the same rate as dividends.
B)rose faster than dividends.
C)rose more slowly than dividends.
D)there is,surprisingly,not enough information to know what happened to prices
Relative to dividends.

Question 27

In the 1920s,the Federal Reserve followed a policy of _____ because it believed that the insolvent banks ____.

A)letting insolvent banks fail;were too small to be profitable and were badly managed.
B)bailing out insolvent banks;too big to be allowed to fail.
C)letting insolvent banks fail;would be purchased by solvent banks anyway.
D)bailing out insolvent banks;this was what the Federal Reserve had been founded to do

Question 28

Eugene White's 1989 study did NOT find that

A)an increased willingness on the part of New York banks to supply call loans caused the bull market.
B)interest rates on call loans increased by roughly 50% from 1922 to 1929.
C)credit was being pulled into the stock market by rising interest rates on call loans.
D)White's study found all of these things to be true.

Question 29

Although the McNary-Haugen bill never became law,it was widely discussed during the 1920s.Which of the following was NOT a provision of the bill?

A)government purchase of crops in order to raise agricultural prices
B)government sale of excess crops on the world market
C)payment for the program through capital gains taxes on business
D)high tariffs on agricultural imports
E)All of the above were provisions of the McNary-Haugen Bill.