Deck 27: New Deal America

Question 1

In 1932 what was the percentage of American's unemployed:

A) 25
B) 35
C) 15
D) 40
E) 50

Answer 1

25

Question 2

Which of the following were NOT members of the "brain trust"?

A) professors
B) planners
C) policy makers
D) administrators
E) union members

Answer 2

union members

Question 3

FDR called the Social Security Act the "supreme achievement" of the New Deal.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The AAA required farmers to donate surplus crops and livestock to feed the poor.

Question 5

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath told of Wall Street businessmen brought to their knees after Black Tuesday.

Question 6

Despite the New Deal, full recovery from the Depression did not come until the crisis of World War II.

Question 7

All of the following is true of the National Youth Administration EXCEPT:

A) it provided part-time employment to students
B) it was part of the WPA
C) it set up technical training programs
D) it was the parent organization for the CCC
E) it provided Richard Nixon with a job

Question 8

At the outset of his presidency, to deal with the banking crisis, Roosevelt:

A) pushed through a bank bailout bill worth more than $7 billion
B) used his emergency powers to nationalize the banking industry
C) put strict limits on the issuance of paper currency
D) ordered the Federal Reserve Board to lower interest rates
E) declared a bank holiday, shutting the banks down briefly

Question 9

Although the New Deal initiatives produced mixed results, they halted the economic downturn and provided the foundation for a system of federal social welfare programs.

Question 10

By 1935, the NRA had become unpopular.

Question 11

The CCC addressed the problem of overcharging by doctors and others in the medical and health professions.

Question 12

The American Liberty League opposed New Deal measures as violations of personal and property rights.

Question 13

The Wagner Act helped dramatically boost union membership.

Question 14

By executive decree, Roosevelt reorganized all federal farm credit agencies into the Farm Credit Administration.

Question 15

The Fair Labor Standards Act forbade racial discrimination in hiring.

Question 16

FDR made black civil rights a major priority, ordering that New Deal programs not practice racial discrimination.

Question 17

Eleanor Roosevelt was a shy person who shunned attention, but she did much work behind the scenes to raise support for her husband's New Deal.

Question 18

The main purpose of the Civilian Conservation Corps was to:

A) train young men for the Army Corps of Engineers
B) provide work relief for young men
C) give young women an opportunity to earn money for higher education
D) promote conservation practices by the general public
E) build environmental education projects at the first national parks

Question 19

By the end of the 1930s, FDR's New Deal had pushed the country a large way toward socialism.

Question 20

Early in his presidency, Roosevelt ended Prohibition.

Question 21

Huey Long:

A) developed a program called Share the Wealth
B) founded the National Union for Social Justice
C) challenged FDR for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1936
D) complained that the New Deal had gone too far by infringing on "the rights of persons and property"
E) called Social Security a "socialistic share-the-wealth program"

Question 22

The Marx Brothers:

A) came up with the most revolutionary theory in the history of labor relations
B) consisted of Curly, Larry, and Moe
C) produced some of the most serious dramatic films of the thirties
D) typified the German communists at work in Detroit's unions
E) produced plotless masterpieces of irreverent satire

Question 23

Codes of fair practice were part of:

A) FDIC
B) HOLC
C) NRA
D) PWA
E) WPA

Question 24

The fair practices codes of the NRA did all of the following EXCEPT:

A) prohibit child labor
B) establish minimum wages of $13 per week
C) set a forty-hour work week
D) break up large corporations
E) establish minimum wages of $12 per week in the South

Question 25

One drawback of the Tennessee Valley Authority was that:

A) a drought could cause electricity rates to increase
B) it forced people to move if their land was needed for dams and lakes
C) Tennessee became one of the most polluted states in the nation
D) it put all of the private power companies in the South out of business
E) Alabama refused to accept "socialized electricity"

Question 26

The goal of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was to raise farm income mainly through:

A) cutbacks in production
B) intensive farming
C) a government takeover of the commodity trade in Chicago
D) state and federal subsidies
E) marketing quotas

Question 27

During the Depression, the U.S. government deported 500,000 Mexican Americans and their American-born children because:

A) officials wanted to protect them from the KKK in Texas and New Mexico
B) officials wanted to avoid the costs of providing them with public service
C) officials wanted to put Okies to work in the California cotton fields
D) officials felt that the race tensions in American cities was too great
E) officials were worried that Mexico might attempt to reclaim Arizona

Question 28

The 1937 economic slump was caused in part by:

A) a sharp decrease in government spending
B) a sharp rise in private spending
C) the huge government deficit
D) the repeal of the Revenue Act of 1935
E) the announcement that Social Security payroll taxes would be postponed

Question 29

Richard Wright:

A) led the conservative outcry against New Deal business regulation
B) starred in the original version of Scarface
C) wrote Native Son, a story of racial prejudice
D) was the outspoken head of the Farm Security Administration
E) was the economist who originally dreamed up Social Security

Question 30

To earn the federal payments for reducing crops:

A) tenants and sharecroppers had to stick with lucrative staples such as cotton
B) farmers had to let fields go idle for three years in a row
C) many landowners kicked off black tenants in favor of whites
D) farmers often starved because they were not allowed to grow even small vegetable gardens
E) many landowners took their leased lands out of production

Question 31

All of the following were objectives of the Tennessee Valley Authority EXCEPT:

A) the production of cheap electric power
B) opening rivers to boats and barges
C) flood control
D) soil conservation and forestry
E) the development of Smoky Mountain National Park

Question 32

The literary work that best captured the ordeal of the Depression was The Grapes of Wrath by:

A) Lucy Mercer
B) Margaret Mitchell
C) Paul Muni
D) William Faulkner
E) John Steinbeck

Question 33

One third of the "Okies":

A) died in California in 1937 and 1938
B) faked their status in order to get free food
C) returned to their home states
D) ended up working as miners in the Sierra
E) never made it to California

Question 34

In the case of Norris v. Alabama, the Supreme Court:

A) upheld the state's Democratic white primary
B) overturned a state law restricting the sale of petroleum products beyond certain quotas
C) upheld Alabama's claim that the Scottsboro Boys were not entitled to public defenders
D) dealt a major blow to FDR's New Deal
E) ruled that the systematic exclusion of blacks from juries denied Scottsboro defendants equal protection of the law

Question 35

The Indian Reorganization Act:

A) attempted to reinvigorate traditional Native American cultures
B) broke up tribal lands and allocated them to individuals
C) had the support of western congressmen and assimilated Indians
D) was the brainchild of Henry Dawes
E) reorganized tribal leaders into nonvoting members of Congress

Question 36

The greatest failure of the New Deal was its inability to:

A) restore economic prosperity and end record levels of unemployment
B) end segregation
C) be duplicated in Europe
D) prevent World War II
E) end partisan politics

Question 37

The dust bowl can be associated with:

A) large migrations from the impacted area to the Atlantic coast
B) terrible storms that plagued the Great Basin
C) a severe blow to farmers in Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin
D) the blowing away of millions of acres of topsoil
E) a movie made by the WPA filmmaker Ansel Adams

Question 38

This organization sought to set workplace standards, such as child labor restrictions:

A) AAA
B) FERA
C) NRA
D) WPA
E) CCC

Question 39

Who served as Interior Secretary under FDR?

A) Henry Morgenthau
B) Arthur Laffer
C) Milton Friedman
D) John Maynard Keynes
E) Harold Ickes

Question 40

What made the dust storms worse than normal was the transition during the early twentieth century from:

A) widespread industrial agriculture to scattered subsistence farming
B) fertilization to naturalization
C) widespread scattered subsistence farming to industrial agriculture
D) forests to clear cuts across the Great Plains
E) plowing with iron blades to plowing with steel blades

Question 41

Which of the following refused to apply for a Social Security card?

A) Al Smith
B) Herbert Hoover
C) Theodore Roosevelt
D) Eugene Debs
E) Franklin D. Roosevelt

Question 42

Eleanor Roosevelt:

A) primarily played the role of White House hostess
B) had more influence than her husband in shaping New Deal policies
C) was an official member of FDR's cabinet
D) was especially supportive of women, blacks, and youth
E) became most famous for her "fireside chats"

Question 43

Roosevelt's court-packing scheme became unnecessary when:

A) the Supreme Court ruled that the president, and not Congress, has authority to adjust the number of justices
B) the Supreme Court agreed to an extension of the number of justices
C) Congress removed cases involving the New Deal from the Supreme Court's jurisdiction
D) the Supreme Court began reversing previous judgments and upholding the New Deal
E) he began using executive orders to circumvent the Supreme Court

Question 44

The Farm Security Administration:

A) administered the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1937 (the "Second AAA")
B) offered loans to marginal farmers (so they could avoid falling into tenancy) and to tenant farmers (so they could purchase their own farms)
C) provided federal subsidies for the expansion of large farms
D) established educational programs to teach farmers new agricultural methods
E) concentrated on rehabilitating devastated soils on the Great Plains

Question 45

The National Labor Relations Act:

A) was upheld by the Supreme Court in United States v. Butler
B) gave jobs to several thousand unemployed miners
C) was often called the Wagner Act
D) was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1935
E) gave employers the right to control union activities

Question 46

In the presidential election of 1936:

A) African Americans voted overwhelmingly Republican for the first time since Reconstruction
B) Republicans won most of the western farm vote and almost upset Roosevelt
C) Republicans hoped that third-party candidates might split the Democratic vote and throw the election to them
D) Socialist and Communist candidates together received over 2 million votes
E) Roosevelt's illness put vice-presidential candidate Harry Truman in the spotlight

Question 47

Charles E. Coughlin:

A) was the "radio priest"
B) headed the TVA
C) headed the BIA
D) wrote Uncle Tom's Children
E) ran on the Union ticket with Huey Long

Question 48

In the case of Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States, the Supreme Court:

A) overturned the Farm Credit Act
B) overturned the National Industrial Recovery Act
C) decided that Schechter was involved in interstate, not local, trade
D) upheld the constitutionality of the second Agricultural Adjustment Act
E) said that the Agricultural Adjustment Act was unconstitutional

Question 49

The social worker who headed the WPA at its creation in 1935 was:

A) Frances Perkins
B) John Nance Garner
C) Henry Wallace
D) Hugh Johnson
E) Harry Hopkins

Question 50

Like Huey Long, Charles Coughlin:

A) appealed to people who had lost the most during the Great Depression
B) emphasized tax breaks for big business
C) was involved in the creation of a fascist dictatorship
D) called for unadulterated free-market capitalism
E) was involved in closing down Wall Street brokerage firms

Question 51

In the 1936 election, Roosevelt wound up carrying every state except:

A) Maine and Ohio
B) Iowa and Vermont
C) Maine and Vermont
D) New Jersey and Florida
E) Texas and Utah

Question 52

Which is true of the 1936 presidential election?

A) FDR was reelected, but Republicans made big gains in Congress.
B) Huey Long ran one of the strongest third-party campaigns in history.
C) FDR defeated Alf Landon in a landslide.
D) Concerns over the coming war in Europe dominated the campaign.
E) FDR won every state but Texas.

Question 53

The Revenue Act of 1935 (sometimes called the Wealth-Tax Act):

A) provided for a regressive tax
B) increased federal revenue significantly and thus helped finance the New Deal
C) raised taxes on incomes above $50,000
D) created a more equal distribution of wealth in America
E) was an FDR response to Long's "soak-the-rich tax"

Question 54

All of the following writers EXCEPT two (listed as a pair below) found work writing travel guides for the Federal Writers' Project:

A) Ernest Hemingway and John Cheever
B) Ralph Ellison and Saul Bellow
C) John Cheever and Eugene O'Neil
D) Eugene O'Neil and Ernest Hemingway
E) Saul Bellow and John Cheever

Question 55

Who was known as "Kingfish"?

A) Charles Coughlin
B) Theodore Roosevelt
C) Huey Long
D) Francis Townsend
E) Al Smith

Question 56

Which of the following statements about the Social Security Act is NOT true?

A) It was, according to Roosevelt, the "supreme achievement" of the New Deal.
B) It committed the national government to a broad range of welfare activities.
C) It provided old-age pensions.
D) It was based on a progressive tax that took a larger percentage of higher incomes.
E) It was a regressive tax that pinched the poor more than the rich.

Question 57

Conservatives lambasted the Social Security Act as:

A) an unfair tax
B) communistic
C) pure socialism
D) tyrannical
E) fascism

Question 58

Labor's new direction in the late 1930s was toward:

A) decentralization of union organization
B) industrial unions
C) women in unions
D) the Republican party
E) craft unions

Question 59

The "sit-down strike" was used successfully in 1937 by:

A) black workers
B) southern workers
C) steel workers
D) automobile workers
E) western miners

Question 60

In early 1937, FDR proposed to reform the Supreme Court by:

A) requiring justices to retire at age 70
B) adding up to six additional members
C) removing justices appointed by previous presidents
D) making justices regularly run for election
E) requiring Senate confirmation hearings

Question 62

Describe the impact the Great Depression had on popular culture in America.

Question 63

Although the New Deal programs helped ease the devastation wrought by the Depression, some widespread human suffering continued. Discuss this suffering and the hardships Americans still faced.

Question 64

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938:

A) set a minimum wage of forty cents an hour
B) protected workers' right to form unions
C) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
D) required equal pay for female workers
E) prohibited the employment of children under the age of twelve

Question 65

How did the nation's perceptions of the role of government-its powers and responsibilities-change in the 1930s?

Question 66

How did the "thunder from the political left" shape New Deal policies?

Question 67

Describe the various measures that President Roosevelt undertook in his first term to help relieve the human misery in America.

Question 68

Discuss the impact the New Deal had on immoralities in the United States.

Question 69

By the end of 1937, which group had coalesced against the New Deal?

A) African Americans
B) liberal Democrats
C) all western Democrats
D) Populist party members
E) a bipartisan conservative bloc

Question 70

Describe the gains made by labor during the New Deal.

Question 71

In 1938, Martin Dies, a congressman from Texas, used to brand New Dealers as .

A) the radio; too conservative
B) the Ways and Means Committee; spendthrifts
C) the Republican national convention; socialists
D) the Committee on Un-American Activities; Communists
E) a newspaper column; traitors

Question 72

How did New Deal reforms attempt to raise farm prices and stabilize industry?

Question 73

Describe the "First Hundred Days" of FDR's presidency. What, if any, accomplishments did he have?

Question 74

In the elections of 1938:

A) Roosevelt was defeated in his bid for reelection
B) Roosevelt's attempts to "purge" the Democratic party were largely unsuccessful
C) Republicans won control of the House and the Democrats kept a majority of only two in the Senate
D) Republicans won control of the Senate and Democrats kept a majority of only two in the House
E) Roosevelt's decision to run for a third time led to Republicans calling him a fascist

Question 75

Why did Roosevelt attempt to "pack" the Supreme Court? Did he achieve his goals?

Question 76

MATCHING
Match each description with the item below.

Question 77

The conservative Democratic opposition to the New Deal in the late 1930s:

A) was heaviest in the South
B) succeeded in removing three of Roosevelt's cabinet members
C) supported plans to replace Roosevelt with Henry Wallace as the Democratic presidential candidate in 1936
D) supported plans to replace Roosevelt with Huey Long as the Democratic presidential candidate in 1936
E) was heaviest in New England