68. What broad popular sentiments did the Ku Klux Klan express in the 1920s?
a. African-Americans and immigrants should not be allowed to vote.
b. Prohibition should only be applied to nonwhites.
c. Control of the nation should be returned to native-born Protestants.
d. Southern states should never quit their fight for complete home rule.
e. Women’s suffrage was a violation of natural law and needed to be repealed.
69. While many Americans embraced modern urban culture, others found it alarming. Which of the following groups
felt threatened by mass entertainment and the presence of other religions due to immigration?
a. Catholics
b. Jews
c. Mormons
d. Evangelical Protestants
e. Anarchists
70. What new category did the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act establish?
a. green-card workers
b. illegal aliens
c. labor-citizens
d. naturalized citizens
e. Asian-Americans
71. What politician took to the stand and defended Christianity during the Scopes trial?
a. John Coolidge
b. W. E. B. Du Bois.
c. William Jennings Bryan
d. Clarence Darrow
e. Woodrow Wilson
72. How did 1920s immigration policy reflect the concept of race in the United States?
a. Native Americans were denied citizenship based on a biological definition of “inferiority in race.”
b. Nonwhites were excluded in the calculation of immigration quotas.
c. The Supreme Court ruled in 1923 that Indian national Bhagat Singh was black, not “pure Aryan” as he
claimed.
d. Southern and eastern Europeans were granted citizenship if they could prove their “whiteness.”
e. The United States allowed an unrestricted number of “whites” from Europe to immigrate.
73. Cultural pluralism
a. was the adopted philosophy of the Ku Klux Klan.
b. described a society that gloried in ethnic diversity.
c. was denounced by Randolph Bourne.
d. described the mood in Congress when it passed the Immigration Act.
e. was the driving force behind the conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti.
74. Which of the following is true of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s?
a. Many of its members held respected positions in their communities.
b. It had more than 10 million members.
c. Its influence skyrocketed after 1925.
d. The majority of its members were foreign-born Catholics.
e. It embraced unionization as the ultimate form of Americanism.
75. Immigration policies changed during the 1920s as the government started to restrict wholesale immigration.
How did employers react to these changes in policy?
a. They accepted the changes, as their fear of immigrant radicalism outweighed their desire for cheap labor.
b. Many of them declared bankruptcy.
c. They created a business association hoping to change said policies.
d. They protested fanatically, as they would have to pay higher salaries.
e. Their opinions were divided, as half feared the radicalism brought by immigration and the other half
preferred to pay lower salaries to immigrants.
76. What were the National Catholic Welfare Council and the Anti–Defamation League of B’nai B’rith lobbying
for in the 1920s?
a. more Catholic and Jewish schools funded by federal monies
b. laws prohibiting discrimination against immigrants by employers, colleges, and government agencies
c. benevolent societies for religious groups to be supported by the federal government in the major East Coast
cities
d. a stronger effort by the federal government to dismantle the Ku Klux Klan
e. a new immigration law to overturn the Immigration Act of 1924
77. Meyer v. Nebraska
a. overturned the ban on child labor.
b. ruled that the maximum number of hours a woman could work could not be legislated.
c. overturned a law that stated public schools had to instruct classes in English.
d. upheld the Espionage Act as constitutional.
e. ruled that evolution could not be taught in public schools.
78. In the 1920s, immigration restriction included which of the following?
a. an easing of anti-Asian immigration policy with the Johnson-Reed Act
b. legislation that severely limited immigration from southern and eastern Europe
c. a ban on Mexican and Canadian immigration
d. the abolition of the Border Patrol, to be replaced by Homeland Security
e. the first construction of a wall along the border with Mexico
79. “Slumming” meant
a. blacks migrating from the South to the North during the Great Migration.
b. flappers not working and living off their parents’ wealth.
c. whites going to Harlem’s dancehalls, jazz clubs, and speakeasies.
d. speculating on the stock market.
e. living in the Hoovervilles.
80. In 1921, Congress imposed country–by-country immigration quotas. Which of the following regions was not
subject to them?
a. Eastern Europe
b. central Asia
c. the Western Hemisphere
d. southern Africa
e. the Northern Hemisphere
81. Which of the two following countries suffered the largest reductions in the immigration quotas accepted by the
United States after the Immigration Act of 1924?
a. Great Britain and Ireland
b. Poland and Germany
c. Italy and Russia
d. Germany and Great Britain
e. Ireland and Sweden
82. The Harlem Renaissance
a. has often been compared to twenty-first-century “gentrification” efforts in the urban Northeast.
b. describes the quest by writers like Claude McKay to locate the roots of the black experience.
c. was a phrase coined by Winston Churchill.
d. marked a turning point in race relations in America.
e. did not begin until the end of the 1920s.
83. What statement best summarizes the ideas behind the term “New Negro”?
a. Stereotypes were to be rejected.
b. Racism could not be challenged.
c. Politics could not help.
d. Pan-Africanism was unacceptable.
e. Artistic movements did not have a place in America.
84. Which of the following statements best assesses Herbert Hoover’s qualification for the presidency in 1928?
a. He could point to a decade of experience as an elected official.
b. His modest upbringing in rural Iowa had equipped him with a natural affability and charm.
c. His bold embrace of government regulation as a tool for economic development made him stand out among
laissez-faire Republicans.
d. His skill in economic planning and the organization of food relief made him a good choice for both good
and hard times.
e. His courage under fire in World War I made him a role model similar to one of his predecessors, Theodore
Roosevelt.
1932.
85. Which of the following statements is accurate about the 1928 Democratic presidential candidate, Alfred E.
Smith?
a. His Catholicism was not a major factor in his loss of the presidency to Herbert Hoover.
b. He lost the presidential election primarily due to his opposition to the repeal of Prohibition.
c. Born into poverty, he supported Progressive legislation during his three terms as governor of New York.
d. His loss to Republican Herbert Hoover signaled the improbability of Democratic political victories in the
1930s.
e. He had little political experience before becoming a presidential candidate.
1932.
86. The Great Depression was caused by which of the following factors?
a. a land speculation bubble in California
b. an unequal distribution of wealth
c. an agricultural recession in the 1910s
d. stagnating sales in coal and steel after 1926
e. increased government regulation of banking and the stock market
87. Which of the following is considered internationally to be the “capital” of Black America?
a. Chicago
b. Charlotte
c. Washington, D.C.
d. Dallas
e. Harlem
88. Which of the following best describes the economic dynamic of the Great Depression?
a. Economic uncertainty prompted a dramatic increase in the labor force participation rate.
b. Plummeting sales and lack of consumer confidence triggered a surge in the trade deficit.
c. Declining sales tax revenue triggered a disproportionate rise in income taxes.
d. Superior competitors from overseas forced an inefficient domestic industry to its knees.
e. Mass unemployment and the lack of investment triggered a devastating cycle of deflation.
89. For big business, the onset of the Depression meant
a. a restored image.
b. a new commitment to the slogan, “The American Way of Life.”
c. renewed consumer confidence.
d. congressional hearings into deceptive practices by bankers and stockbrokers.
e. a revival of free-market principles.
1932.
90. In American Individualism, Herbert Hoover
a. asserts the importance of a strong federal government able to interfere in the economy.
b. argued that self-interest tended to promote private interests and it should continue to be that way.
c. preferred an active government promoting welfare policies.
d. understood self-interest should be subordinated to public service.
e. rejected the idea of private agencies intervening in regulatory and welfare policies.
1932.
91. President Hoover responded to the onset of the Depression by
a. immediately increasing government aid to the unemployed.
b. cutting taxes.
c. decreasing tariffs.
d. reassuring Americans that “the tide had turned.”
e. resigning from office.
1932.
92. What did Hoover’s observation during the depth of the Depression that “many persons left their jobs for the
more profitable one of selling apples” indicate?
a. Industrial wages during the time were so low that many people did not consider employment worthwhile.
b. Compared to the plight of the cities, farms and orchards were remarkably prosperous.
c. The Great Depression had resulted in a complete breakdown of all market infrastructures.
d. President Hoover had grown increasingly out of touch with the economic reality of Americans.
e. Even in the midst of the Depression, Hoover continued to focus on micromanaging the economy.
1932.
93. As a response to the Great Depression and in contrast to previous federal economic policy,
a. Hoover argued against government-sponsored loans bailing out big businesses and banks.
b. Hoover did not support a tax increase.
c. Hoover approved public-works projects for the unemployed.
d. Hoover signed a direct relief bill designed to help the unemployed.
e. Hoover sought economic aid from allies in Europe.
1932.
94. Which of the following is true of American life during the Great Depression?
a. Confidence in banks reached an all-time high.
b. Many Americans left the countryside to attempt to find work in the cities.
c. The great majority of Americans had well-paying jobs.
d. Many Americans lived in Hoovervilles.
e. The American suicide rate declined.
1932.
95. “The American Way of Life” was the slogan of
a. consumer culture.
b. political reformers.
c. religious revivalists.
d. Republicans.
e. the Mothers League.
1932.
96. In reaction to the Great Depression, Americans
a. volunteered to get farm goods from farmers to market in the Midwest.
b. who had fought in World War I demanded the early payment of a bonus.
c. enlisted in the army in record numbers to secure “three squares” a day.
d. rushed to the defense of big business and blamed communism for the disaster.
e. sank into despair with no complaints.
1932.
97. Which statement is true of the Communist Party of America during the Great Depression?
a. It was largely inactive compared to other political parties.
b. It controlled the National Farmers’ Holiday Association.
c. It blocked tenants from resisting eviction.
d. It declared war on steel mills.
e. It formed unemployed councils and sponsored marches for public assistance.
1932.
98. What was a result of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff?
a. It deepened the economic crisis.
b. It fueled production in textile industries.
c. It lowered taxes on imports.
d. It diversified the production of agricultural products.
e. It lowered unemployment rates.
99. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation
a. raised taxes on imports.
b. reduced Americans’ purchasing power.
c. offered relief efforts to the unemployed.
d. made loans to banks, railroads, and other businesses.
e. offered cheat credits to poor families.
1932.
100. Which president signed the law creating the Reconstruction Finance Corporation?
a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
c. Woodrow Wilson
d. Herbert Hoover
e. Calvin Coolidge
1932.
Matching
TEST 1
___ 1. Claude McKay
___ 2. Alfred E. Smith
___ 3. Leo Frank
___ 4. Oliver Wendell Holmes
___ 5. Warren Harding
___ 6. Robert and Helen Lynd
___ 7. Alice Paul
___ 8. Henry Ford
___ 9. Sacco and Vanzetti
___ 10. John Scopes
___ 11. Bruce Barton
___ 12. James McReynolds
a. moving assembly line
b. Meyer v. Nebraska
c. The Man Nobody Knows
d. Harlem Renaissance
e. Middletown
f. theory of evolution
g. anarchists
h. Catholic presidential candidate
i. Jewish factory manager
j. Supreme Court justice
k. ERA
l. Teapot Dome scandal
TEST 2
___ 1. illegal alien
___ 2. Bonus March
___ 3. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
___ 4. stock market crash
___ 5. American Civil Liberties Union
___ 6. Hays Code
___ 7. Fordlandia
___ 8. Scopes trial
___ 9. Ku Klux Klan
___ 10. Harlem Renaissance
___ 11. Pujo investigations
___ 12. Border Patrol
a. Fundamentalism
b. discriminated against Catholics and Jews
c. rejected stereotypes
d. new category established by the law in 1924
e. global spread of American corporations
f. in charge of policing land borders
g. government loan agency
h. protected civil liberties
i. sudden decline in stock prices
j. adopted by film industry
k. Wall Street corruption revealed
l. unemployed World War I veterans
TEST 3
___ 1. Sacco and Vanzetti
___ 2. Equal Rights Amendment
___ 3. Teapot Dome
___ 4. American Civil Liberties Union
___ 5. Scopes trial
___ 6. Harlem Renaissance
___ 7. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
___ 8. illegal alien
a. Italian anarchists
b. proposed to eliminate legal distinctions on the account of sex
c. case of corruption in Wyoming
d. wanted to strengthen civil liberties
e. famous trial in Tennessee
f. movement that intended to find the roots of black experiences
g. loaned money to banks, railroads, and other businesses
h. immigration category introduced in 1924
True/False
1. After World War I, American corporations ceased pursuing overseas investments.
2. According to a visiting Frenchman, by the late 1920s, Americans had accepted debt and rejected thrift.
3. Americans rallied in mass protests against the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti.
4. During the 1920s, the dollar replaced the British pound as the most important currency of international trade.
5. Labor’s decline ended by the end of the 1920s with the introduction of “welfare capitalism,” a compromise
system acceptable to big business.
6. Propaganda campaigns launched by big business linked unionism and socialism as examples of the sinister
influence of foreigners on American life during the 1920s.
7. Nearly every major women’s organization supported Alice Paul’s National Woman’s Party’s proposal for an
Equal Rights Amendment.
8. Farmers benefited the least from the prosperity of the decade.
9. Once married, the flapper often continued her liberation and freedom.
10. As political feminism faded, women’s demand for personal freedom survived in the consumer marketplace.
11. Foreign policy was largely conducted through government action during the 1920s.
12. The Supreme Court justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis began to speak up for freedom of
speech in the 1920s.
13. Fundamentalists supported Prohibition, while others viewed it as a violation of individual freedom.
14. The Scopes trial was a national sensation, being carried out live on national radio.
15. In Schenck v. United States, socialist Charles T. Schenck was convicted for distributing anti-draft leaflets.
16. In the early twentieth century, the Ku Klux Klan reemerged in the South, targeting only blacks.
17. Although was deemed a failure, Prohibition led to the building of new federal prisons.
18. The 1920s term “undesirable” was replaced with “illegal alien” in the 1980s to describe persons without legal
status in the United States.
19. Under the 1924 Immigration Act, no Europeans were allowed to immigrate to the United States.
20. The immigration quotas that Congress imposed in 1921 were based on the number of persons counted from
each nation in the 1910 census.
21. The term “New Negro” in art meant the rejection of established stereotypes and a search for black values to put
in their place.
22. The Great Depression was global, affecting almost every country in the world.
23. The stock market crash caused the Great Depression.
1932.
24. The image of big business, carefully cultivated during the 1920s, collapsed as congressional investigations
revealed massive irregularities among bankers and stockbrokers.
1932.
25. Twenty thousand unemployed World War I veterans descended on Washington in the spring of 1932 to demand
early payment of a bonus due in 1945.
1932.
26. The United States had never faced an economic crisis as severe as the Great Depression.
Short Answer
1. Identify and give the historical significance of each of the following terms, events, and people in a paragraph or two.
1. Harlem Renaissance
2. Smoot-Hawley Tariff
3. civil liberties
4. Calvin Coolidge
5. flappers
6. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
7. the crash
8. Fundamentalism
9. American Civil Liberties
10. Ku Klux Klan
11. Great Depression
12. Scopes trial
13. Fordlandia
2. Briefly describe the purpose of the immigration quotas imposed in 1921 and 1924.
3. Briefly explain the main causes of the Great Depression.
Essay
1. Discuss how American corporations changed over the course of the 1920s.
2. Discuss how the Sacco-Vanzetti case laid bare some of the fault lines beneath the surface of American society in
the 1920s.
3. Supreme Court Justice Brandeis wrote that the founding fathers believed that the ability to think and speak as you
wish was “indispensable” for the country’s political system to flourish. He went on to say that the “greatest menace
to freedom is an inert people.” Write an essay using this observation from Brandeis to comment on how important
civil liberties are to the principles of the United States and to sustaining those principles in times of fear and war in
America. You may wish to comment on how a nation can accurately draw a line as to when the American Civil
Liberties Union goes too far or not far enough.
4. After World War I and more than twenty years of reform, Americans became much more conservative in the
1920s. In fact, Reinhold Niebuhr stated that America was “rapidly becoming the most conservative nation on
earth.” Give examples that defend this perception of America as conservative in the 1920s.
5. Discuss the ways in which American society seemed to divide between fundamentalism and pluralism in the
1920s. Why do you think this conflict arose during this decade in particular? Explain.
6. The two sides of the debate of the Scopes trial defined freedom differently. Explain what freedom meant to each
side and how the Scopes trial mirrored the trends in American society during the 1920s.
7. The 1920s are commonly referred to as the Roaring Twenties. Document who was and who was not “roaring” in
the 1920s. Your answer ought to illustrate the dichotomy of the decade.
8. The 1920s were a time when an entire people was grappling with massive technological and social change.
Americans spent the decade seeking to adapt to the rise of a mass-production, mass-culture metropolitan world that
had emerged seemingly overnight. Discuss the decade in these terms, describing the many ways in which Americans
sought to deal with this change.
9. Would you describe the 1920s as a decade that benefited women? Why or why not? Remember to consider the
experiences of all women when composing your answer.
4. Analyze the major flash points between fundamentalism and pluralism at this time.
10. The Great Depression came dramatically with the stock market crash, but the causes of the Depression had been
planted well before 1929. Discuss what brought on the Great Depression and why Hoover was not able to properly
address the crisis.
11. The 1920s was a decade of economic prosperity for many Americans. Explain what role new industries, international
commerce, and mass consumption played in the economic growth of the nation.