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TEST BANK
Learning Objectives
1. Identify the main characteristics of the affluent society of the 1950s.
2. Explain the ways in which the 1950s were a period of consensus both in domestic and foreign affairs.
3. Examine the major thrusts of the civil rights movement in this period.
4. Discuss the significance of the presidential election of 1960.
Multiple Choice
1. What did Nixon recognize as even more globally influential than military might?
a. capitalist rhetoric
b. America’s relationship with Cuba
c. American goods and popular culture
d. propaganda disguised as art
e. American cuisine
2. During the “Kitchen Debate,” what prediction made by Nikita Khrushchev would never become a reality?
a. The Soviet Union would be the first to land on the moon.
b. The United States would win the Vietnam War.
c. The United States would keep public schools segregated.
d. The Soviet Union would outproduce Americans in consumer goods.
e. The Soviet Union’s communist government would outlast the United States as a republic.
3. Between 1946 and 1960, the American gross national product
a. more than doubled, and wages increased.
b. declined as wages stagnated.
c. stayed about the same.
d. returned to prewar levels.
e. increased so dramatically that poverty was completely eliminated.
4. What about the golden age of capitalism between 1946 and 1960 was most beneficial for Americans?
a. The American GNP more than doubled.
b. The United States maintained a trade surplus.
c. Prices remained stable.
d. Most monetary gains reached ordinary citizens through rising wages.
e. The economy operated on the gold standard, which made it safe from recessions.
5. Why did orange juice become more prevalent in the 1950s?
a. The Orange Bowl football game was televised nationally.
b. People discovered the positive effects of vitamin C.
c. The amount of large corporate farms in California increased.
d. Inexpensive oranges were imported from Asia.
e. The juicer was invented.
6. Which of the following is true about the growth of the postwar West?
a. Unlike in previous migrations, people flowed into the region exclusively from the Northeast.
b. Washington and Oregon eclipsed California’s population, due to unprecedented employment opportunities in the defense
industry.
c. Most western growth took place in rural rather than urban areas.
d. Steel production led to explosive population growth in Dallas and Houston.
e. California was the most popular destination and surpassed New York as the most populated state in 1963.
7. How did Los Angeles epitomize the new emphasis on the car in 1950s America?
a. Filmmakers in Hollywood released hundreds of movies in the new “road picture” genre, featuring sleek cars racing down Los
Angeles highways.
b. The city’s centralized design enabled people to carpool to suburban transit centers and then take public transportation.
c. People drove to and from work on a web of highways and shopped at malls only accessible by driving.
d. Bucking the western trend, Los Angeles actually maintained its extensive system of trains, trolleys, and buses well into the
1970s.
e. Very little of the city’s space was paved over with roads and freeways due to limited funding.
8. What was essential to the growth of suburbs?
a. farmers markets
b. cars
c. integration
d. movie theaters
e. television
9. In today’s United States, the most land is cultivated for what?
a. to grow citrus fruit
b. to grow lettuce
c. to raise cattle
d. to grow grass
e. to grow potatoes
10. The American National Exhibition in Moscow equated ________ with freedom.
a. religion
b. communism
c. democracy
d. consumption
e. equality
11. What made the Army-McCarthy hearings unusual for American television programming of the 1950s?
a. It appeared in color.
b. It was the first live broadcast.
c. It was the first broadcast via satellite.
d. It was deeply political and controversial.
e. It included explicit sexual revelations.
12. Why did auto manufacturers and oil companies vault to the top ranks of corporate America in 1950s?
a. Profits in both industries rose steeply, due to the vast majority of auto manufacturing and oil Refinery jobs being shipped
overseas.
b. Lucrative government defense contracts continued, due to a need for military vehicles.
c. The consumer demand for the automobile boomed in this decade.
d. Most members of Congress had business backgrounds.
e. More Americans lived in the suburbs and used public transportation to commute to work.
13. Between 1950 and 1973 there was a reduction in income inequality. This was in part due to the federal government’s progressive
income tax policy. In practice, how did this policy work?
a. Income tax was paid depending on the age of the person.
b. Voters paid higher taxes than nonvoters.
c. All citizens paid an equal sum.
d. Wealthy Americans paid higher taxes than others.
e. Immigrants paid higher taxes than citizens.
14 Which statement about industry is correct?
a. The West did not benefit from the industries that sprang up from the Cold War.
b. By the mid-1950s, blue-collar workers outnumbered white-collar factory and manual laborers.
c. The unions’ success in raising wages inspired employers to mechanize more and more elements of manufacturing in order to
reduce labor costs.
d. Since the 1950s, the American economy has shifted toward manufacturing.
e. The Midwest benefited from the growth in the construction of aircraft engines and submarines.
15. What did the “Kitchen Debate” between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev focus on?
a. the beauty of Moscow
b. the theoretical basis of communism
c. the meaning of freedom
d. military industries
e. the possibility of becoming allies
16. During the 1950s, which of the following functioned as economic engines of the U.S. economy?
a. technology and entertainment
b. services and education
c. agricultural production
d. exports and imports
e. construction and spending on consumer goods
17. Why were American suburbs of the 1950s so heavily segregated?
a. African-Americans pREFerred to live in the inner cities.
b. Neighborhoods formed around churches, and as long as churches were segregated, suburbs would remain so as well.
c. All states had laws in place mandating the segregation of residential districts.
d. Residents, brokers, and realtors dealt in contracts and mortgages that barred sales to nonwhite residents.
e. The federal government required segregated residential neighborhoods.
18. The Housing Act of 1949
a. set a high income ceiling for eligibility.
b. reinforced the concentration of poverty in nonwhite urban neighborhoods.
c. ended the concentration of poverty in nonwhite urban neighborhoods.
d. allowed growing numbers of blacks to move to the suburbs.
e. paired with urban renewal programs, made American cities more diverse and prosperous.
19. How did American companies contribute to the influx of Puerto Rican migrants by the hundreds of thousands beginning in the
1950s?
a. They were looking for cheaper labor to replace expensive union contracts.
b. They recruited Puerto Ricans primarily for construction jobs in Florida and in the fishing industry.
c. The end of the bracero program in 1954 prompted American agribusiness to look for new cheap labor in Puerto Rico.
d. The increasing control of the island’s land by U.S. sugar companies pushed small farmers off the land.
e. The dramatic environmental destruction corporations brought to Puerto Rico left residents no choice but to migrate to the
mainland.
20. During the 1950s
a. agricultural production rose.
b. the farm population increased.
c. the number of factory workers increased slightly.
d. the South failed to modernize its agricultural techniques.
e. the center of agricultural production moved away from California.
21. During the 1950s, mass consumption was promoted as
a. a patriotic act.
b. trivial.
c. an act of rebellion.
d. communism.
e. anti-patriotic.
22. William Levitt, with the help of the GI Bill, gave many Americans the opportunity to
a. become homeowners.
b. go to college.
c. join the military.
d. buy consumer goods and pay low interest.
e. work for the government.
23. The shopping mall was the inevitable result of
a. the growth in agricultural production.
b. industrialization.
c. urbanization.
d. the growth of the suburbs.
e. the legal end of segregation.
24. During the Cold War, religious differences
a. created much division among Americans.
b. were heightened by the growth of the suburbs.
c. were not a factor, as church and synagogue membership declined.
d. were intensified through the institution of school prayer.
e. were absorbed within the notion of a common Judeo-Christian heritage.
25. After World War II, how were Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms altered?
a. Truman said they were no longer needed because World War II was over.
b. Freedom from fear was stressed even more, due to the Cold War
c. Freedom of enterprise replaced freedom from want and fear.
d. Freedom of worship was replaced with freedom of the press.
e. Freedom from war was added in hopes that the Cold War would not lead to a hot war.
26. As suggested by some commentators, how did big business enable individual freedom in the 1950s?
a. Big business successfully lobbied for higher tariffs on consumer goods, which increased profits and drove American wages
up.
b. With large-scale production of goods came the freedom for individuals to choose among many items.
c. Corporations in the 1950s offered a range of benefits to employees that freed them from economic uncertainty.
d. The repeal of New Deal regulatory controls on investment banking allowed individual Americans to put their money into the
stock market without restriction.
e. Big business made more luxury items affordable for the average American.
27. How did 1950s consumerism differ from previous eras?
a. Advertising techniques started to focus on women only.
b. It demonstrated it was not better than communism.
c. Mass consumption was characterized as anti-patriotic.
d. Americans started using cash instead of their credit cards to purchase consumer goods.
e. Americans became comfortable living in debt while using credit to buy consumer goods.
28. During the 1950s, television
a. was accessible to very few people.
b. described and projected the lives of working men and women.
c. became the most common source of information.
d. only projected superfluous images and programs.
e. targeted women.
29. To libertarian conservatives, freedom meant
a. first and foremost a moral condition.
b. individual autonomy, limited government, and unregulated capitalism.
c. using government as a vehicle for social REForm, ensuring an equal distribution of wealth.
d. what it did in the late eighteenth century—the right to own property and to vote.
e. racial equality and the end of a segregated society.
30. After World War II, the automobile
a. was only used in rural areas.
b. was not affordable in the South.
c. became central to suburban life.
d. continued to be a luxury.
e. was replaced by the bus as the pREFerred method of transportation.
31. After World War II, most working women
a. worked in factories.
b. worked part-time to help support the family’s lifestyle.
c. sought personal fulfillment.
d. earned as much money as their husbands.
e. formed unions.
32. In the 1952 presidential campaign, Richard Nixon’s Checkers speech
a. Reflected the growing importance of board games in American life.
b. Reflected the growing importance of television in American life.
c. Reflected the growing importance of pets in American life.
d. was not well received, and the Republicans lost the election.
e. introduced plans for peace in Korea.
33. What helped Dwight D. Eisenhower win the election of 1952?
a. His opponent, Adlai Stevenson, had ties to the Communist Party.
b. The Democrats were blamed for losing in Vietnam.
c. He made promises to bring the Korean War to an end.
d. Adlai Stevenson was seen as an intellectual lightweight.
e. He announced the United States was winning the arms race.
34. During the 1950s, Americans
a. reaffirmed the virtues of family life.
b. welcomed a large wave of immigrants from eastern Europe.
c. had fewer babies than before.
d. married older than they did before.
e. encouraged women to get a college education.
35. Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed which kind of individuals to his cabinet?
a. the “best and brightest” young intellectuals in their fields
b. former government men who had lots of combined political experience
c. wealthy businessmen to run the government like an efficient business
d. a balanced mixture of Republicans and Democrats, since his party did not control Congress
e. weak men with little experience so that he could have complete control over domestic and foreign affairs
36. How did President Dwight D. Eisenhower surpass the New Deal in government involvement in the economy?
a. He established the Veterans Administration health-care system.
b. He presided over the construction of 41,000 miles of interstate highways.
c. He established the most generous agricultural subsidy programs in the nation’s history.
d. He signed Medicaid and Medicare into law.
e. He established the Head Start preschool program.
37. During the postwar suburban boom, African- Americans
a. could only buy houses in Levittown.
b. could only get credit from state-sponsored agencies.
c. found out it was almost impossible to enjoy suburban life.
d. finally enjoyed racial equality.
e. were paid as much as whites for similar jobs.
38. Labor and employers agreed to a new “social contract” that included which of the following provisions?
a. Employers required the National Association of Manufacturers to accept unions.
b. Unions left decisions regarding worker organization in management’s hands.
c. Unions left decisions regarding plant location in management’s hands.
d. Employers implemented wage cuts.
e. Employers paid for workers’ childcare expenses.
39. The “social contract”
a. describes the new style of cooperation between labor and management that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s.
b. was of great benefit to union and the majority of nonunion workers alike.
c. did not include wage increases or health insurance.
d. was accepted by the National Association of Manufacturers as a compromise measure to ease labor disputes eroding industry
profits.
e. had no effect on workers in nonunion jobs.
40. Between 1950 and 1970, suburbanization
a. allowed for whites and nonwhites to live in the same neighborhoods and attend the same schools.
b. promoted gender equality.
c. encouraged a large number of northern blacks to migrate south.
d. strengthened racial divisions.
e. welcomed thousands of Puerto Ricans.
41. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles’s policy of massive retaliation
a. was part of the effort to rely more on conventional forces.
b. eased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.
c. calmed the American public’s fear of nuclear war.
d. applied only to communist China.
e. declared that any Soviet attack would be countered by a nuclear attack.
42. Why did the Eisenhower administration embrace the doctrine of “massive retaliation”?
a. The doctrine provided Eisenhower with the necessary flexibility to fight communism in Central America and Southeast Asia.
b. The doctrine prevented not only large but small military conflicts as well.
c. The constant threat of mutually assured destruction under the doctrine made for more cautious diplomacy.
d. The doctrine reduced national anxiety over the threat of nuclear annihilation.
e. As a man with mostly military experience, he did not know how else to address the Cold War crisis.
43. During the Eisenhower administration, U.S.-Soviet relations
a. were made worse with the introduction of the policy of massive retaliation.
b. improved somewhat after the end of the Korean War and the death of Stalin.
c. stayed about the same as during the Truman years.
d. worsened considerably after the death of Stalin.
e. improved immensely after the end of the Korean War.
44. What event renewed the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1960?
a. The Soviets shot down a U.S. spy plane flying over their territory.
b. The Soviets put missiles in Cuba.
c. Joseph McCarthy made accusations about the Soviets meddling in U.S. elections.
d. The United States toppled the leadership in Iran.
e. The “Kitchen Debate” angered both countries.
45. The “Third World”
a. encompassed an enormous range of territory, including several tiny western European nations.
b. was largely left out of the Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.
c. was an invented term for developing nations not aligned with the Soviet Union or the United States.
d. included many nations newly created out of former eastern European nations.
e. was a term African nations gave themselves to suggest a “third way” in the Cold War.
46. Why did the Soviet Union strongly support the national independence movements in the new Third World?
a. Soviets were desperately trying to expand their share in foreign export markets.
b. It hoped to convince new nations to ally with the eastern bloc against Western imperialists.
c. Soviets feared the obvious appeal an alliance with former colonial rulers had for these new nations.
d. The Soviet Union had made the right to self-determination a principle for all nations around the world.
e. The Soviet Union was looking to secure reliable export markets for its consumer goods surpluses.
47. Which of the following spurred the growth of the suburban middle class?
a. income tax
b. popular interest in the arts
c. a campaign against segregation
d. subsidies and mortgages
e. women’s college education
48. Guatemalan leader Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán
a. sought to reduce foreign corporations’ control over his country’s economy.
b. was ousted by the KGB and replaced with a Soviet-friendly dictator.
c. was a friend and close ally of Soviet premier Joseph Stalin before his death.
d. appealed to President Eisenhower for military support to defeat a growing communist insurgency in Guatemala.
e. was born in Moscow and became a nationalist after emigrating to Guatemala.
49. Why did President Eisenhower use the CIA to overthrow the government of Iran in the early 1950s?
a. He did not believe Iran was ready for a democratically elected leader after centuries of monarchical rule.
b. Iran had REFused to enter peace talks with the United States and the Soviet Union in 1950.
c. Israel had protested Iran’s friendly relationship with Egypt.
d. The government had attempted to nationalize British-owned oil fields.
e. The government was slowly adopting communist policies.
50. “Libertarian” conservatives of the 1950s
a. understood individual liberties should sometimes be checked by the government.
b. believed in a strong national government.
c. promoted limited government and free markets.
d. appealed to northern states.
e. intended to regulate capitalism.
51. Eisenhower’s intervention in Vietnam partly consisted of
a. urging Ngo Dinh Diem to hold elections.
b. hosting the 1954 Geneva Accords.
c. the United States paying four-fifths of French war costs.
d. providing asylum for Vietnamese communist nationalists fleeing the bloodshed in their country.
e. trying to negotiate a peace with Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow.
52. New conservatives trusted government to
a. restore Christian morality.
b. promote individual autonomy.
c. endorse religious differences.
d. support progress.
e. create a new and enhanced New Deal.
53. The new conservatives
a. supported a strong national government.
b. emphasized individualism.
c. wanted the government to regulate the market.
d. intended to Europeanize American culture.
e. believed in tradition and moral commitment.
54. Why did the editors of Life magazine fear that American freedom might be in danger from not being used enough?
a. American voter participation had fallen dramatically since World War II.
b. Americans remained reluctant to travel and see the world.
c. Americans failed to enjoy the blessings of their private lives.
d. Americans seemed to have largely withdrawn from open dissent in the public sphere.
e. Americans no longer knew how to have fun and enjoy their vacations.
55. Which statement best describes the thesis of David Riesman’s book The Lonely Crowd?
a. White America had alienated black Americans from mainstream society.
b. Americans were conformists and lacked the inner resources to lead truly independent lives.
c. Women were unhappy with the role of wife and mother and longed for acceptance in higher education and other intellectual
pursuits.
d. After World War II, Europe was left behind economically and politically with the emergence of the United States and Soviet
Union as superpowers.
e. Unionism in America was doomed to fail if the union leaders did not embrace the fact that their demands and strikes labeled
them as communists.
56. What made Elvis such a popular celebrity?
a. He sang songs no one had ever heard before.
b. He was one of the most gifted vocal performers of his generation.
c. He was a white performer with the rhythms and moves of black singers.
d. He sang openly about civil rights and equality.
e. His mixed-race parentage made him popular among blacks and whites.
57. In the presidential campaign of 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower gained a lot of support because he
a. pledged to use nuclear weapons in the Korean War.
b. promised to dismantle the New Deal.
c. intended to end the Korean War.
d. indicated the United States was ready to become a large empire.
e. promised to reduce military spending.
58. Why did the government encourage Americans to build bomb shelters in their houses?
a. because construction was driving the economy
b. to convince Americans that nuclear war was survivable
c. because they could be useful in case of a weather catastrophe
d. because the Soviet Union was doing it
e. to strengthen national defenses against a theoretical Soviet invasion
59. What did Allen Ginsberg’s Howl (1955) protest?
a. drug use
b. immediate pleasure
c. sexual experimentation
d. impulsive action
e. materialism and conformism
60. Which of the following assessments of the civil rights movement is most accurate?
a. The movement invigorated white Americans just like black Americans.
b. The movement grew popular at a time when whites had largely given up on the practice of segregation.
c. Although well-intentioned, the civil rights movement slowed progress toward equality.
d. The movement came as a great surprise and was predicted only by a few.
e. The movement was centered on student organizations and college protests.
61. In Las Vegas, Nevada, what did African-American entertainers experience?
a. They were barred from performing due to the civil rights movement.
b. They could perform at hotels, but not stay as guests.
c. They led a boycott of casinos and were joined in the effort by most white entertainers.
d. They were not allowed to be on the same stage as white performers.
e. Las Vegas became the “Harlem of the West,” and black entertainers and other artists flocked to the cit y.
62. How did the United States violate the UN Charter in 1954?
a. by organizing a military attack to depose Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán in Guatemala
b. by sending economic aid to Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran
c. by attacking Egypt for its attempt to nationalize the Suez Canal
d. by using the principle of containment in the Middle East
e. by sending troops to Lebanon
63. What was one result of the Mendez v. Westminster decision?
a. It led to definitive segregation of Latino children.
b. It integrated only colleges and universities.
c. It integrated all the schools in New England.
d. It integrated schools for children of Mexican descent in Texas.
e. The schools of Orange County were desegregated, which soon spread to the entire state.
64. What level of education did the NAACP initially concentrate on integrating?
a. middle school
b. higher education
c. elementary school
d. preschool
e. high school
65. Which of the following challenged the mass conformity of the 1950s?
a. an emphasis on work ethic
b. desperate materialism
c. militarization
d. Beat poet Allen Ginsberg
e. rejection of drugs
66. What was the specific danger that arose from school segregation in the case of Linda Brown?
a. Linda was harassed by gang members when walking through the neighborhood where her school was located.
b. Linda had to walk across dangerous railroad tracks to get to her school.
c. Linda had to cross several busy highways to get to her school.
d. Linda had to bike through a neighborhood with many potholes to get to her school.
e. Linda had to walk across a rickety bridge to get to her school.
