Deck 21: The New Deal, 1932-1940

Question 1

The National Industrial Recovery Act

A) established business codes for several industries.
B) confirmed a free-market policy.
C) promoted free business practices.
D) provided incentives for the creation of new industries.
E) accepted "unfair" competition between companies.

Answer 1

established business codes for several industries.

Question 2

During the 1932 election, FDR

A) promised a "new deal."
B) provided great detail of the plan he would put into practice.
C) praised Hoover on his spending policy.
D) explained why he would continue with Prohibition.
E) was the candidate of the Republican Party.

Answer 2

promised a "new deal."

Question 3

What political group most influenced FDR's New Deal?

A) communists
B) socialists
C) Greenbackers
D) Progressives
E) Populists

Answer 3

Progressives

Question 4

What caused the Dust Bowl?

A) soil erosion
B) a crop fungus
C) oil drilling
D) coal mining
E) road building

Question 5

The Civilian Conservation Corps

A) was created to patrol national borders.
B) helped senior citizens find suitable jobs.
C) provided free education to young women.
D) gave work to unemployed young men in jobs having to do with the environment.
E) gave work to unemployed young men in jobs in small factories.

Question 6

According to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, how could corporations have prevented the Great Depression?

A) by prohibiting unions
B) by investing locally
C) by exporting more goods overseas
D) by giving workers more purchasing power
E) by promoting artificial pricing

Question 7

When he entered office, Roosevelt

A) had a detailed plan of what he intended to do.
B) relied on the advice of a group of intellectuals and social workers.
C) promised to increase government spending.
D) planned to favor business owners.
E) promoted the full integration of immigrants to America.

Question 8

Which of the following describes the New Deal most accurately?

A) It was a political program in which the government granted fewer rights to consumers.
B) It was a political program that led the Democratic Party platform to change only slightly.
C) It was a political program that decreased southern segregation significantly.
D) It was a political program that integrated the notion of economic security into the definition of American freedom.
E) It was a political program that greatly helped African-Americans secure employment.

Question 9

During the electoral campaign of 1932, which was the divisive issue between Republicans and Democrats?

A) economic policies
B) involvement of the federal government in the everyday lives of citizens
C) racial equality
D) continuation of Prohibition
E) workers' rights

Question 10

Liberalism during the New Deal

A) uplifted the free market.
B) benefited African-Americans and immigrant minorities.
C) believed in limited government intervention.
D) encouraged individual autonomy, limited government, and unregulated capitalism.
E) took its modern meaning.

Question 11

The Resettlement Administration

A) oversaw the eviction of sharecroppers and tenant farmers from unsuitable farmland.
B) established temporary relief camps for displaced migrant workers.
C) was widely considered the First New Deal's most successful initiative.
D) limited its scope to setting up permanent housing communities such as Greenbelt.
E) was expanded to the West after its success in the South.

Question 12

What was one result of the National Recovery Administration's actions?

A) The Great Depression ended.
B) Differences between workers and management were resolved.
C) Most automakers went bankrupt.
D) Unions were strengthened.
E) Larger companies were able to dominate the code-writing process at the expense of smaller ones.

Question 13

Which of the following best describes the significance of the Columbia River project?

A) It typified New Deal public-works programs designed to keep natural resources in public rather than private control.
B) Its result, the Grand Coulee Dam, produced the most expensive electricity in the nation.
C) Its complete failure reflected the overall lack of public support for building projects.
D) Its consideration of environmental impact (such as accommodation for fish) became a model for future dam projects on western rivers.
E) It proved that corporations could be massively successful if left to their own devices.

Question 14

Which of the following statements best describes Roosevelt's group of advisers known as the "Brains Trust"?

A) The "brains trust" saw small corporations as an inevitable part of the modern economy.
B) The "brains trust" believed that large corporations needed to be directed by the government.
C) The "brains trust" included professional athletes.
D) The "brains trust" was strictly opposed to the First New Deal.
E) The "brains trust" believed that large corporations needed to be dismantled.

Question 15

What was the result of the 1932 elections?

A) The Republicans maintained control of the House and Senate.
B) The Republicans only won the White House.
C) The Democrats gained control of the presidency and Congress.
D) The third-party Progressives won 20 percent of the seats in the House.
E) The Democrats won the presidency for the fourth straight election.

Question 16

Why was the Glass-Steagall Act a key piece of legislation?

A) It took on the debt of commercial banks to ensure their solvency and financial health.
B) It established a gold standard to shore up the strength of the American dollar.
C) It banned commercial banks from involvement in buying and selling stocks, and set up the FDIC.
D) It proved to be a temporary financial measure that did not survive beyond the Great Depression.
E) It decreased the government's power over the financial system.

Question 17

Harold Ickes directed which of the following?

A) Tennessee Valley Authority
B) National Recovery Administration
C) Public Works Administration
D) Civilian Conservation Corps
E) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Question 18

In which way was "liberalism" redefined by the New Deal?

A) as liberty of movement
B) as the right to pursue happiness
C) as having faith in reason
D) as limited government and free-market economics
E) as an effort by the government to protect and deliver for the people

Question 19

Which of the following is the most accurate characterization of FDR's New Deal philosophy?

A) FDR was not concerned that direct relief payments to the jobless would undermine self-reliance.
B) FDR preferred to create jobs that improved the nation's infrastructure.
C) FDR was at odds with most of his cabinet and the majority of Congress over the Economy Act.
D) FDR opposed the CCC, fearing its goals of unemployment relief and environmental enhancement were too ambitious for his first 100 days in office.
E) FDR preferred to create permanent jobs instead of temporary ones.

Question 20

The first thing that Roosevelt attended to as president was the ________ crisis.

A) banking
B) migration
C) civil liberties
D) political
E) corruption

Question 21

Which of the following offers the best description of the First New Deal?

A) It reduced the nation's unemployment rate by 80 percent.
B) It saw more failure than success, in terms of job creation and infrastructure improvement.
C) It faced very little challenge from critics across a broad spectrum of American society.
D) It was essentially a set of policy experiments that had mixed results.
E) It had little effect on the role of the government.

Question 22

Why did workers during the 1930s make demands that went beyond better wages?

A) They wanted to participate in management decisions.
B) They were hoping that the economic crisis could be the beginning of a socialist revolution.
C) They generally preferred government employment over jobs with private businesses.
D) They were hoping to establish a set of basic civil liberties for workers.
E) Their wages were already so high that they had to find a new agenda for which to fight.

Question 23

How did the Supreme Court judges react to New Deal laws?

A) They invalidated key initiatives, as conservative judges continued to understand freedom as liberty of contract.
B) They sided with Roosevelt and ruled in favor of new legislation.
C) They decided based on the case and did not rule consistently.
D) Some supported the New Deal's policies and some did not.
E) They tended to support economic changes, but not social ones.

Question 24

What factor contributed to the growth of union membership in the 1930s?

A) workers' militancy and the tactical skills of a new generation of leaders
B) the government's unsympathetic view of workers' rights
C) the minimal amount of labor unrest during the 1930s
D) the American Federation of Labor's willingness to organize unions of industrial workers
E) the United Auto Workers' opposition to sit-down strikes

Question 25

What statement is true of the Federal Housing Administration?

A) The FHA gave loans directly to home buyers.
B) The FHA issued short-term money for renters.
C) Under FHA guidance, expensive homes were built.
D) The FHA insured long-term mortgages issued by private banks.
E) The FHA focused on renting apartments rather than home purchases.

Question 26

Which two New Deal programs did the Supreme Court rule unconstitutional?

A) Securities and Exchange Commission and Public Works Administration
B) National Recovery Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps
C) Glass-Steagall Act and Agricultural Adjustment Act
D) Fair Labor Standards Act and National Recovery Administration
E) Agricultural Adjustment Act and National Recovery Administration

Question 27

What was ironic about the actions of some fundamentalist preachers?

A) Some embraced communism, which criticized organized religion.
B) Some preachers advocated going to the movies on Sundays instead of church.
C) They gave sermons that portrayed Jesus as a corporate leader.
D) They contradicted their anti-modernist message by using radio broadcasting.
E) Some mistakenly defended evolution.

Question 28

Fearing a sit-down strike in 1937, how did U.S. Steel react?

A) The company hired private detectives to infiltrate the Steel Workers Organizing Committee.
B) The company hired a private police force to prevent a sit-down.
C) The company offered a slight raise, but refused to recognize the Steel Workers Organizing Committee.
D) The company agreed to recognize the Steel Workers Organizing Committee.
E) The company asked several states to send a militia.

Question 29

The Tennessee Valley Authority

A) created national parks that promoted outdoor activities.
B) competed with private companies in the business of selling electricity.
C) was created and administrated by the federal government.
D) did not compete with private companies.
E) lasted three months.

Question 30

What did the Twenty-first Amendment do?

A) ended literacy requirements for voting
B) ended Prohibition
C) allowed women to vote
D) gave workers the right to form unions
E) allowed men and women to carry guns for self-defense.

Question 31

New Deal housing policy

A) was created to protect current homeowners and provide incentives for new homeowners.
B) deepened previous government practices.
C) helped very few Americans get new homes.
D) was created to protect loaning banks and landlords.
E) failed to address the needs of families wanting to buy homes.

Question 32

Which of the following statements is correct?

A) Huey Long and Upton Sinclair generated movements of popular protest that helped spark the First New Deal.
B) The popular followings of Upton Sinclair, Huey Long, and Dr. Francis Townsend reflected the unhappiness of many Americans over regulation of banks and businesses.
C) Dr. Francis Townsend's idea to have the elderly receive monthly government payments was uniformly rejected and died very quickly.
D) Upton Sinclair met his death in 1935 from an assassin's bullet.
E) Upton Sinclair won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1934.

Question 33

By 1935, the New Deal

A) had ended the Depression.
B) had the full support of the Supreme Court.
C) was validated in the United States v. Butler decision.
D) faced mounting pressures and criticism.
E) was declared unconstitutional.

Question 34

How was the era of the mid-1930s, a period characterized by unprecedented labor militancy, referred to by its contemporaries?

A) "return to laissez-faire economics"
B) "era of entrepreneurial development"
C) "women to the front"
D) "time of anarchy"
E) "labor's great upheaval"

Question 35

Which statement is true about the UAW sit-down strikes in Flint, Michigan?

A) The Democratic governor used force against the workers.
B) The workers were disunited.
C) The workers failed to get General Motors to negotiate.
D) The workers stayed inside the plants and kept the machines in working order.
E) The UAW were the first to use sit-down tactics.

Question 36

The Agricultural Adjustment Act

A) was administered locally.
B) attempted to lower farm prices.
C) was intended to raise farm prices.
D) formed part of the Second New Deal.
E) banned production quotas.

Question 37

Which of the following statements explains why the phrase "labor's great upheaval" accurately describes some of the events of 1934?

A) Small-scale craft workers participated in strikes on an unprecedented level.
B) The violent textile strike on the East Coast was overwhelmingly successful.
C) Five thousand auto workers in Toledo, Kansas, battled the police and the National Guard.
D) There were at least 2,000 strikes that year, many producing violent confrontations with police.
E) Peaceful protests successfully changed nearly all standing labor laws.

Question 38

By 1935, Huey Long and Francis Townsend had made which of the following approaches to economic recovery less politically attractive for New Dealers?

A) agricultural reform
B) Social Security reform
C) the regulation of the stock market
D) efforts at general business recovery
E) pushing for the unionization of the nation's labor force

Question 39

What did the election of Roosevelt mean to many American industrial workers?

A) a federal government more sympathetic to the plight of small businesses
B) fear that Roosevelt would advocate for welfare capitalism rather than collective bargaining
C) hope for an end to the miniature dictatorships of factory managers and owners
D) less support for industrial strikes that might cripple America's economic recovery
E) a new era of full employment and job security for all Americans

Question 40

Which of the following statements best describes the CIO's philosophy about the role of government in relation to labor?

A) Unions could work in cooperation with employers to raise wages and create consumer demand.
B) Government could shield Americans from economic insecurity through health care and housing.
C) Government could not be trusted, as was made clear in 1934 when elected officials across America called on local police to break up strikes and arrest labor leaders.
D) Government agencies could be entrusted with negotiating labor contracts on behalf of union members.
E) It continued the AFL's tradition of organizing workers by craft to carry out multiple dialogues with the government.

Question 41

What was the focus of the 1936 election?

A) whether Herbert Hoover should be reelected despite the Great Depression
B) the impending war and the aggression of Nazi Germany
C) the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in China
D) Franklin Roosevelt's disability from polio
E) whether or not "liberty" implied economic deregulation or equitable distribution of wealth among citizens

Question 42

Which of the following Second New Deal measures came closest to meeting the demands of the Congress of Industrial Organizations for workplace democracy?

A) Social Security
B) Federal Housing Administration
C) the Wagner Act
D) the Works Progress Administration
E) the Security and Exchange Commission

Question 43

The Social Security Act of 1935

A) was first envisioned by President Hoover.
B) was financed by general government revenues.
C) provided pensions to the aged and unemployment benefits.
D) applied to agricultural workers.
E) was fully controlled by the federal government.

Question 44

Why did Roosevelt's Republican challenger, Alfred Landon, fail in his bid for the presidency in 1936?

A) His traditional urban Catholic constituency considered him too radical.
B) The Republican establishment thought him too much like Roosevelt for their taste.
C) He had made the mistake of relying on the organizational skills of the conservative AFL.
D) He faced a powerful new political coalition that would deliver Republicans plenty of defeats for the next few decades.
E) As a Kansas native, he could not win the coastal population centers.

Question 45

The Second New Deal focused on

A) economic recovery.
B) economic security.
C) political rights.
D) equality.
E) shrinking the size of the federal government.

Question 46

The Share Our Wealth movement

A) wanted to confiscate the wealth of the richest Americans.
B) was led by Franklin Roosevelt's brother.
C) never intended to become a national political party.
D) was part of the First New Deal.
E) pushed the country's large corporations to invest in Latin American countries.

Question 47

In Roosevelt's 1934 fireside chat, what did he fear wasting?

A) plastics
B) workers
C) money
D) animals
E) energy

Question 48

The Wagner Act

A) promoted associations among business owners.
B) created a state-sponsored union for all factory employees.
C) suspended labor unions.
D) was considered the "Labor's Magna Carta" because it brought democracy into the American workplace.
E) was passed to promote full employment by lowering wages.

Question 49

In the presidential election of 1936

A) Roosevelt chose not to run again.
B) business leaders supported the Democratic Party.
C) the so-called New Deal Coalition reelected FDR in a landslide.
D) the Republican candidate Alfred Landon promised to expand Social Security.
E) the Republican candidate Alfred Landon almost won.

Question 50

Which statement about the New Deal is true?

A) The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) helped small tenant farmers like those living in the Dust Bowl.
B) The first New Deal dealt mostly with economic security.
C) The New Deal championed civil rights and actively worked at ending Jim Crow.
D) The Second New Deal dealt mostly with economic recovery.
E) Social Security was a Second New Deal program.

Question 51

According to John Steinbeck's "Harvest Gypsies," how were the migrant farm workers of the Great Depression different from those in earlier time periods?

A) Earlier migrants were paid more money.
B) Many of the migrants of the Great Depression had owned land.
C) The migrant workers of the Great Depression had never had homes.
D) The Great Depression migrants were treated with much more respect.
E) The migrant workers of earlier time periods were rarely immigrants.

Question 52

Upton Sinclair

A) represented factory owners in California.
B) manipulated information to win elections.
C) circulated false information about his opponent.
D) won elections in 1934.
E) wanted to provide jobs for the unemployed.

Question 53

Which of the following best describes the Works Progress Administration?

A) It refused employment to professionals such as dentists.
B) It put 3 million Americans to work every year until 1943.
C) Its construction projects included mansions, private restaurants, and banks.
D) It employed people to write novels, screenplays, and satirical skits.
E) It aimed to end public art.

Question 54

What was the focus of the Second New Deal?

A) business recovery
B) sustaining mass purchasing power among the population
C) promoting employment in private businesses
D) aiding agricultural workers
E) maintaining economic inequality

Question 55

How did Roosevelt's opponents characterize liberty?

A) Liberty meant the economic security of having a job that paid for food, clothing, and shelter.
B) The federal government needed to freely spend money to create jobs.
C) Liberty meant freedom from powerful government.
D) Free speech needed to be protected in the workplace.
E) Unions needed to be officially recognized in order to protect workers' rights.

Question 56

The original Social Security bill envisioned which of the following benefits that was dropped in Congress?

A) a national system of health insurance
B) business-recovery measures
C) anti-competition laws
D) compulsory education
E) a plan for government spending to modernize the state

Question 57

Which statement about the Social Security Act is correct?

A) It excluded aid to families with dependent children.
B) It was original in its concept and design.
C) Congress forced the provision for national health insurance into the original bill.
D) It created a system of unemployment insurance.
E) Its coverage excluded most poor whites from the program.

Question 58

In contrast to the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations fought for

A) the organization of workers by craft.
B) freedom of speech.
C) industrial democracy.
D) paid vacations.
E) educating industrial workers.

Question 59

Assess the results of the Rural Electrification Agency.

A) Farms did not only gain electricity, but also radios, refrigerators, and mechanical equipment to milk cows.
B) More farms had electricity, but virtually no appliances or equipment that used electricity.
C) Money was never disbursed to create electricity distribution.
D) Most of the power created went to large metropolitan areas first, leaving little electricity for use in rural areas.
E) By 1950, about half the homes in rural America had electricity.

Question 60

In fireside chats and public addresses, President Roosevelt connected freedom with

A) economic security.
B) cuts in government spending.
C) Keynesian economic theory.
D) economic inequality.
E) laissez-faire economics.

Question 61

What was the focus of Hollywood films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?

A) an antihero who dropped out of society
B) ghosts that haunted cities
C) the fight against communism
D) a hero that defeated corruption
E) exposing Nazism

Question 62

The Fair Labor Standards Act instituted which of the following changes?

A) deregulated goods produced by child labor from interstate commerce
B) established the fifty-hour workweek
C) abolished the minimum wage
D) required overtime pay
E) deregulated working conditions

Question 63

In the mid-1930s, what did the umbrella term "the left" describe?

A) Nazis, Marxists, and Republicans
B) socialists, communists, labor radicals, and New Deal liberals
C) immigrants, farmers, and factory workers
D) those "left" (west) of the Mississippi River
E) anarchists, intellectuals, and artists

Question 64

How did the government under the New Deal approach the precarious and poor conditions in which migrant laborers lived?

A) It provided immigrants with Social Security benefits.
B) It helped them move into good homes.
C) It handed them food stamps.
D) It did not do much about them.
E) It subsidized some of their spending.

Question 65

Which of the following does NOT accurately describe a result of "the southern veto"?

A) Southern states had an enormous impact on national policy during the Depression.
B) New Deal programs largely benefited whites at the expense of blacks.
C) Blacks lost the right to vote across the South.
D) To maintain support in Congress, Roosevelt pursued legislation acceptable to southern Democrats.
E) Southerners held key leadership positions in Congress.

Question 66

What did the Filipino Repatriation Act offer Filipinos?

A) a monthly payment to those willing to work for the government
B) citizenship
C) free housing
D) agricultural jobs
E) free transportation to those who wanted to get back to the Philippines

Question 67

Which of the following statements is true of the Indian New Deal?

A) It ended the policy of forced assimilation.
B) It reinforced federal authority over Indian affairs.
C) It continued the policy of the Dawes Act.
D) It replaced schools on reservations with boarding schools.
E) It allowed reservations access to irrigated water from the Grand Coulee Dam.

Question 68

The Popular Front

A) was the Democratic Party's campaign slogan in the 1930s.
B) was a conservative challenge to New Deal liberalism.
C) was a political and cultural movement associated with the Communist Party.
D) was created when the Communist Party was absorbed by the Democrats.
E) arose in response to the rise of fascism in America.

Question 69

After the Court-packing attempt, how did the change in the jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court affect American life?

A) Changing sentiments in the U.S. Supreme Court led to the erosion of the Wagner Act.
B) The newfound resolve of the U.S. Supreme Court meant a restoration of the National Recovery Act.
C) The new lineup in the U.S. Supreme Court meant that Roosevelt had to abandon plans for universal health care.
D) The new political climate in the U.S. Supreme Court meant that a federal child labor ban could stand constitutional muster.
E) A chastised Supreme Court began to focus on securing constitutional protections for a burgeoning civil rights movement.

Question 70

When Mary McLeod Bethune remarked that the New Deal offered African-Americans a new day, she

A) was referring to the successful passage of a federal anti-lynching law.
B) expressed the hope for change despite discrimination in federal housing and employment.
C) was referring to the growing support for black rights in the South.
D) expressed her approval of New Deal policies regarding blacks.
E) was referring to expanded coverage for blacks under Social Security.

Question 71

Why did FDR try to change the balance of power on the Supreme Court?

A) He feared the Supreme Court might invalidate the Wagner and Social Security Acts.
B) He was worried about being able to run for a third term as president.
C) He needed the Court's support for upcoming war measures against Germany.
D) He feared that the Supreme Court might invalidate the National Recovery Act or the Agricultural Adjustment Act.
E) He feared that the Supreme Court might deem sit-down strikes unconstitutional.

Question 72

How did the Popular Front influence American society?

A) It made the Republican Party more progressive.
B) It reinforced segregation.
C) It reinforced anti-immigrant feelings.
D) It promoted a government that did not regulate.
E) It challenged the status quo in society.

Question 73

Why did a stigma emerge around public assistance during the New Deal years?

A) Only a very few Americans actually needed government assistance during the Great Depression.
B) Black workers were relegated to the least generous assistance programs, with discriminatory eligibility standards administered by states.
C) New Deal work programs helped restore economic prosperity relatively quickly, leaving only the least qualified long-term unemployed behind.
D) By the middle of the 1930s, more and more Americans came to associate New Deal assistance programs with similar government help offered in Nazi Germany.
E) Despite his successes, Roosevelt remained deeply unpopular with Americans, who hated themselves for depending on his programs.

Question 74

Mexican-Americans were urged by local authorities to leave the country. What other groups of immigrants were also encouraged to leave the U.S.?

A) Filipino
B) Italians
C) Spaniard
D) Puerto Ricans
E) Cubans

Question 75

Which phrase best describes Eleanor Roosevelt's tenure as First Lady?

A) She was very traditional.
B) She had modest goals.
C) She only championed the cause of children's health care.
D) She worked hard for her husband but did not take up any causes of her own.
E) She redefined the role of First Lady.

Question 76

Which of the following had been a traditional belief prior to the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes?

A) Balanced budgets were sacred.
B) A bimetallic standard was superior to the gold standard.
C) Depressions typically emerged from a consumer's crisis of confidence.
D) A national economy always benefited from a trade surplus.
E) Deficits are not a problem, as long as they do not enlarge national debt.

Question 77

Which of the following statements best assesses the fate of feminism during the New Deal?

A) Eleanor Roosevelt's leadership helped bring about a revival of organized feminism.
B) Since women in domestic service were less often fired than blue-collar male workers, feminists earned much public sympathy.
C) Given the broad consensus that the job claims of male providers superseded women's, organized feminism essentially disappeared.
D) The sense of failure men experienced in the workplace prompted many of them to turn to women and feminists for leadership.
E) The women-friendly policies of the WPA, CCC, and CWA gave women's claim for equal pay a boost.

Question 78

What best describes New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia's relationship with Franklin Roosevelt?

A) Hostile; Roosevelt held back funding for New York.
B) Tense; La Guardia was critical of Roosevelt's anti-immigrant rhetoric.
C) Mistrustful; La Guardia was a Republican.
D) Pragmatic; they worked closely together on New Deal spending.
E) Hopeful; both men were from New York.

Question 79

What was Martha Graham's 1938 modern dance masterpiece called?

A) The Gettysburg Address
B) Voices of Freedom
C) The Declaration of Independence
D) The Liberty Bell
E) American Document

Question 80

How did the government try to prevent the rise of women in the workforce during the Depression?

A) State and local governments prohibited the hiring of women whose husbands did not earn a "living wage."
B) New Deal programs such as Social Security established quotas for the distribution of benefits to working women.
C) Legislation banned both members of a married couple from holding federal jobs.
D) Employers needed to obtain permits to hire women.
E) Women were publicly shamed and spat at for working for wages.