at home and abroad.
67. During World War II, Native Americans
a. served in the military and worked in war production.
b. prospered, especially those on reservations.
c. were eligible for GI Bill benefits only if living on reservations.
d. became more isolated within American society.
e. collaborated with the Japanese.
68. Which of the following statements is NOT true of the Asian-American experience during World War II?
a. Complete prohibition of Chinese immigration to the United States ended.
b. A view of the Chinese emerged as gallant fighters against the aggressive Japanese.
c. Executive Order 9066 fully integrated Asian-Americans into U.S. Army units serving overseas.
d. Chinese-Americans worked alongside whites in jobs on the home front.
e. Japanese-Americans were viewed with suspicion as potential spies.
69. Why did Executive Order 9066 not apply to persons of Japanese descent living in Hawaii?
a. In the wake of the U.S. Navy’s defeat at Pearl Harbor, it was the Japanese that governed Hawaii.
b. The number of Japanese-Americans in Hawaii was so insignificant that the order seemed irrelevant.
c. Since nearly 40 percent of the population was of Japanese descent, the evacuation order would have been
impractical.
d. Most persons of Japanese descent in Hawaii actually served in military units.
e. At the time, the federal government did not yet have such jurisdiction over its territorial possessions.
70. Which statement about the Japanese-American internment is correct?
a. The press fought the policy of internment fiercely.
b. The Supreme Court tried to intervene.
c. Japanese-Americans in Hawaii were hardest hit by the policy.
d. Japan used it as proof that America was racist toward nonwhite people.
e. Once their loyalty was proven, they were free to leave.
71. In Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court
a. deemed Japanese internment unconstitutional.
b. upheld the legality of Japanese internment.
c. deemed loyalty oaths constitutional.
d. barred Japanese-Americans from serving in the U.S. military.
e. apologized for Japanese internment.
72. The status of blacks during World War II
a. strengthened somewhat after the Red Cross reversed its long-standing policy against mixing blood from
whites and blacks in its blood banks.
b. changed dramatically, particularly in the South, after a federal anti-lynching law was finally passed.
c. was not affected by Roosevelt’s denunciation of any race of people claiming the right to be “master” over
another.
d. not always improved in northeastern cities, despite the promise of better economic opportunity through
wartime jobs.
e. changed when the army placed black recruits into desegregated units around the world.
73. During World War II, African-Americans
a. experienced full equality before the law.
b. witnessed the end of Jim Crow laws.
c. served in integrated units in the armed forces.
d. received equal access to the GI Bill of Rights benefits.
e. witnessed the birth of the modern civil rights movement.
74. Which of the following statements is true of African-American experiences during World War II?
a. Many northern black draftees were sent to the South for training, where they encountered deep respect.
b. When World War II began, the air force and marines had no black members.
c. The GI Bill helped African-Americans even more than their white counterparts.
d. Over 1 million blacks served in the armed forces during World War II, many in the first desegregated units
in modern military history.
e. African-Americans were employed primarily in combat roles rather than support roles.
75. The Fair Employment Practices Commission
a. applied only to Mexican immigrants working in war production.
b. was the first federal agency since Reconstruction to advocate equal opportunity for blacks.
c. fined those employers who discriminated against blacks.
d. was criticized by the black press.
e. was administered by A. Philip Randolph.
76. The double-V campaign was
a. the Allied war efforts in Europe and Asia.
b. the effort to end discrimination against Mexican immigrants and blacks.
c. women’s struggle for acceptance as industrial workers and mothers.
d. the effort to end discrimination against blacks while fighting fascism.
e. not supported by the NAACP.
77. How did the promise of freedom in the postwar years differ for black and white Americans?
a. African-Americans wanted a return to the New Deal; white Americans wanted the unregulated free market.
b. African-Americans wanted churches to rein in individual freedom, while white Americans embraced
consumer individualism.
c. For white Americans, freedom was a position to be defended; for African-Americans, it was a goal to be
achieved.
d. White Americans thought of freedom exclusively in terms of property rights; African-Americans thought of
it exclusively in terms of civil rights.
e. African-Americans considered freedom the ability to travel overseas, while white Americans equated
freedom with homeownership.
78. Korematsu was
a. born in Japan.
b. married to an American citizen.
c. the son of Chinese immigrants.
d. visiting the United States.
e. an American citizen.
79. In the case of Korematsu v. United States (1944), Robert Jackson wrote a dissent arguing that
a. an order applying only to Japanese descendants was constitutional.
b. Korematsu was not a U.S. citizen.
c. Korematsu was not loyal to the United States.
d. guilt is personal and not inheritable.
e. Korematsu needed to present himself for internment.
80. How did Justice Robert Jackson compare a military order to a court decision in the case of Korematsu v.
United States?
a. He argued that a judicial decision lasts longer than a military order and decides the extent of the
Constitution.
b. He argued that military orders were more important and urgent than court decisions.
c. He believed military orders and judicial decisions were equally important.
d. He considered that citizens were obliged to comply with court orders in the same way that soldiers followed
their superiors.
e. He believed there was no valid point of comparison between the two because they applied to different
jurisdictions.
81. According to Gunnar Myrdal, America’s dilemma was a conflict between
a. America’s rhetoric at home and its foreign policy abroad.
b. American values and American racial policies.
c. American business ethos and American labor unions.
d. America’s isolationism and Germany’s aggression.
e. American liberalism and American conservatism.
82. How did the struggle against Nazi tyranny discredit racial inequality in the United States?
a. Germany’s Nazi leaders, it turned out, had entertained a romanticized fascination with the Confederacy.
b. African-Americans had borne the brunt of the fight against German troops and demonstrated that they were
the “master race.”
c. The exceptional cruelty American soldiers exercised against Germans had sobered Americans on the idea
that they were a “master race.”
d. The contradictions between the principle and practice of freedom in the actual status of African-Americans
came to the forefront during the war.
e. American soldiers had universally demonstrated restraint and civility in their combat operations against
their enemies, especially in the Pacific.
83. Black internationalism during World War II
a. was a new movement with no historical antecedents.
b. was a complete rejection of Marcus Garvey’s political ideals.
c. was rejected by W. E. B. Du Bois.
d. connected the plight of black Americans to that of people of color worldwide.
e. supported colonial rule if it followed the principles of the New Deal.
84. What was the single largest battle ever fought by the U.S. Army?
a. the Battle of Normandy
b. the invasion of Berlin
c. the Battle of Stalingrad
d. the Battle of the Bulge
e. the Battle of Midway Island
85. The Manhattan Project
a. was kept a secret from the entire executive branch except President Roosevelt and Vice President Truman.
b. enabled the development of an atomic weapon based on the theories of German scientists involving energy
and matter.
c. was operated jointly by the United States and Great Britain.
d. produced an atomic bomb that was successfully tested before FDR’s death in 1945.
e. involved the rapid construction of the Pentagon as a new defense headquarters.
86. Why did the United States drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima?
a. The invasion of Japan was certain to cost as many as 250,000 American lives.
b. There was no indication that Japan was at all willing to surrender.
c. With the Soviet Union out of the war, the United States was to face the defeat of Japan on its own.
d. Since the nation had spent many millions developing the weapon, it was going to use it.
e. Hiroshima was a central site of weapons production in the Japanese empire.
87. What was the reaction to Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan?
a. Most of the world condemned the bombing.
b. The Soviet Union encouraged the United States to drop more atomic weapons.
c. The United Nations urged a boycott of U.S. exports.
d. Few people criticized Truman’s decision.
e. Hitler wanted the United States to drop atomic bombs on the Soviet Union.
88. According to the book An American Dilemma, written by Gunnar Myrdal, who should take the lead in ending
racial discrimination?
a. blacks
b. the federal government
c. social organizations
d. socialists
e. journalists
89. What made it so difficult for the United States to reject the demands of Joseph Stalin for establishing a Soviet
sphere in eastern Europe?
a. Roosevelt realized the sacrifices the Soviets had made in their victory on the eastern front.
b. The Soviet Union had long feared the aggressive governments of eastern Europe.
c. It was hard for Roosevelt to distinguish between eastern European Slavs and Russian-speaking Soviets.
d. Since the United States wanted to create a similar sphere of influence in western Europe, Stalin’s request
could hardly be denied.
e. Virtually all of the eastern European territories in question had once been part of the Russian empire.
90. What accounted for the tension between Great Britain and the United States at the Yalta conference?
a. Churchill resented Roosevelt’s private meetings with Stalin over proposed divisions of conquered Japanese
territory in the Far East.
b. Churchill did not agree with Roosevelt’s proposal to have the Soviet Union join the war against Japan.
c. Churchill and Roosevelt disagreed over the future status of Britain’s overseas colonies.
d. Churchill resented an early suggestion by Roosevelt to allow communism in postwar Europe if the people
supported it by popular referendum.
e. Roosevelt and Churchill disagreed on the best method to set colonies on the road to independence.
91. The Bretton Woods conference created the framework for what?
a. the postwar capitalist economic system
b. successfully dismantling the gold standard
c. foreign diplomacy
d. the abolition of free international trade
e. the creation of the United Nations
92. What did the members of the new United Nations Security Council all have in common?
a. They all were in control of nuclear bombs.
b. They were all part of the allies that won World War II.
c. They were the wealthiest nations at the time.
d. They all had suffered the fewest casualties and financial losses during the war.
e. They all were Western industrialized nations.
93. The principles of freedom embodied by the 1941 Atlantic Charter
a. inspired Britain and France to abandon their overseas colonies after the war.
b. reflected the idea of a global extension of the New Deal that would improve the quality of life for people all
over the world.
c. were initially embraced by Stalin after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.
d. advocated for racial equality in all nations, including the United States.
e. included all of Roosevelt’s four freedoms.
94. During World War II, how did Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian leader, characterize the United States and Great
Britain?
a. as the best financial leaders
b. as being weak
c. as socialists
d. as selfless
e. as hypocritical
95. How did the American public react to the dropping of the atomic bomb?
a. Most people hated the use of the bomb and sent their support, human and economic, to Japan.
b. They despised Truman’s decision.
c. At first there was a general acceptance of the attack, but it was later criticized.
d. It was celebrated nationwide.
e. The decision was accepted as a necessary consequence of the war and the event was not revisited.
96. Which of the following is true of the Yalta conference in 1945?
a. Stalin agreed to allow free and unfettered elections in postwar Poland.
b. The Yalta agreement was the high point of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.
c. Roosevelt and Churchill prohibited Soviet postwar control of the Baltics.
d. Stalin agreed to leave southern and eastern Europe out of the Soviet sphere.
e. Stalin refused to enter the war against Japan.
97. Who did the Bretton Woods conference position as the world’s financial leader after World War II?
a. the United States
b. Japan
c. Germany
d. Great Britain
e. the Soviet Union
98. The ideals and language discussed during the fighting of World War II set the foundation for future discussions
about which of the following?
a. human rights
b. gender equality
c. freedom of speech
d. liberty of labor
e. the free-market economy
Matching
TEST 1
___ 1. Wendell Willkie
___ 2. A. Philip Randolph
___ 3. Francisco Franco
___ 4. Gunnar Myrdal
___ 5. Winston Churchill
___ 6. Henry Luce
___ 7. Joseph Stalin
___ 8. Norman Rockwell
___ 9. Friedrich Hayek
___ 10. Harry Truman
___ 11. Charles H. Wesley
___ 12. Adolf Hitler
a. Spanish Civil War
b. The American Century
c. An American Dilemma
d. ordered the use of the atomic bombs
e. One World
f. What the Negro Wants
g. The Road to Serfdom
h. Britain’s prime minister
i. German leader
j. American painter
k. Soviet leader
l. Executive Order 8802
TEST 2
___ 1. Four Freedoms
___ 2. D-Day
___ 3. Good Neighbor Policy
___ 4. Freedom House
___ 5. Office of War Information
___ 6. Axis powers
___ 7. GI Bill
___ 8. Yalta Conference
___ 9. Manhattan Project
___ 10. bracero program
___ 11. “zoot suit” riots
___ 12. Smith v. Allwright
a. interventionists
b. military alliance formed by Germany, Italy, and Japan
c. Big Three meeting
d. developed the atomic bomb
e. Mexican agricultural workers
f. civil rights case
g. Mexican-American youths
h. major invasion of Europe by Allied troops
i. mobilized American public opinion
j. Allied aims
k. education for veterans
l. Latin America
TEST 3
___ 1. Good Neighbor Policy
___ 2. Neutrality Acts
___ 3. Axis powers
___ 4. D-Day
___ 5. V-E Day
___ 6. Manhattan Project
___ 7. United Nations
___ 8. Atlantic Charter
a. victory in Europe
b. military alliance
c. major landing of American and Allied troops in Europe
d. changed the diplomatic relations between the United States and Latin American countries
e. restricted trips and commerce
f. top-secret program
g. successor to the League of Nations
h. focused on freedom from want and freedom from fear
True/False
1. The Good Neighbor Policy was extended primarily toward Canada to lend support to its efforts to aid Britain
against German aggression.
2. When war broke out in Europe in 1939, the Soviet Union stood virtually alone in fighting Germany.
3. President Roosevelt refused to negotiate with undemocratic Latin American leaders.
4. The Neutrality Acts banned the sale of arms to countries at war irrespective of which side they were fighting for.
5. The Freedom House demanded the declaration of war against Germany.
6. After the opening up of a second front with the success of the Normandy invasion on D-Day, British and
American troops inflicted devastating damage upon the Germans, resulting in the Germans suffering over 80
percent casualties.
7. The largest surrender in American military history occurred in Normandy.
8. The crucial fighting in Europe took place on the western front.
9. Wartime manufacturing helped restore the image of American business, which had reached a low point during
the Great Depression.
10. Organized labor entered a three-sided arrangement with government and business that allowed union
membership to soar to unprecedented levels.
11. To Roosevelt, the Four Freedoms expressed deeply held American values worthy of being spread worldwide.
12. During the war, for the first time in American history, married women outnumbered single women in the labor
force.
13. After the war, most of the women who had held defense jobs and wished to keep them were allowed to by their
employers.
14. Because the enemy (Germany and Japan) used racism, racism and nativism had been stripped of intellectual
respectability in America, particularly with the publication of Ruth Benedict’s Races and Racism.
15. During World War II, the Border Patrol deported about as many Mexicans as had crossed over under the
bracero program.
16. The “zoot suit” riots were between the police of Detroit and the black workers of the city.
17. Texas passed the Caucasian Race–Equal Privileges resolution in 1943 in a goodwill effort to help Mexican–
Americans.
18. The war experience brought many more Native Americans closer to the mainstream of American life.
19. Japanese propaganda depicted Americans as a self-indulgent people contaminated by ethnic and racial diversity,
as opposed to the racially “pure” Japanese.
20. The majority of the Japanese-Americans who were interned during the war were not actually citizens of the
United States.
21. During the war, the AFL made great strides in helping blacks and was more racially integrated than any union
had ever been before.
22. In 2018, the Supreme Court rebutted the Korematsu decision.
23. By 1945, support for racial justice had finally taken its place on the liberal-left agenda alongside full
employment, civil liberties, and the expansion of the New Deal welfare state.
24. The dropping of the atomic bombs to end World War II was the logical culmination of a war that was
unprecedented in the targeting of civilian populations in the fighting.
25. The Bretton Woods meeting established a new international economic system.
26. Freedom of speech and freedom of worship were not principles expressed by the Atlantic Charter because FDR
feared their application to the African-American struggle for racial justice and equality at home.
Short Answer
1. Identify and give the historical significance of each of the following terms, events, and people in a paragraph or
two.
2. Briefly describe the role of women during World War II.
3. Briefly explain how the relationship between business and the government changed during the war.
4. The case of Korematsu v. United States (1944) maintained the validity of Japanese internment. Briefly explain
the nature, purpose, and consequences of Japanese internment and the relevance of the Supreme Court case.
5. Once the war was over, the world power map radically changed. Briefly explain how the distribution of power
in 1945 was different from that of 1939.
Essay
1. Describe how government military spending during the war affected the economic development of the West and
South.
2. “World War II reshaped ideas about American nationality.” Assess the validity of this statement by comparing
the experiences of first-generation immigrants, second-generation immigrants, and blacks during World War
II.
3. Explain the relationship between labor and the government during the war. Be sure to discuss strikes, company
owners, federal legislation, and minorities in your essay. Did the war help the labor movement? Why, or why not?
4. What significance was there in the Saturday Evening Post assigning the Filipino poet Carlos Bulosan to write the
essay that accompanied Norman Rockwell’s illustration for Freedom from Want?
5. Discuss the renewed interest of some Americans in political and economic conservatism during World War II.
What schools of thought saw a revival, and how may the emergence of a so-called Fifth Freedom have played a
part in this development?
6. Analyze how the rhetoric of World War II brought the contradiction between the principle of equal freedom and
the actual status of blacks to the forefront of national life.
7. How did the experiences of African-Americans during World War II lay the foundation for the modern civil rights
movement?
8. World War II is often referred to as the “Good War.” Evaluate that title for the war. Is it appropriate? Why, or
why not?
9. Discuss World War II’s impact on ethnic minorities in America. How did the experiences of Asian-Americans,
Native Americans, and Mexican-Americans compare? How did their experiences differ on both the individual and
group levels? Be sure to consider these experiences in the context of the war on all fronts when composing your
response.
10. Eric Foner wrote, “the language with which World War II was fought helped to lay the foundation for postwar
ideals of human rights that extend to all mankind.” Do you agree with that statement? Why, or why not?
11. After the war ended, Americans embraced a culture characterized by toleration of diversity, inclusion, and equal
rights for all. Explain how American society, and especially the federal government, arrived at this new
understanding of diversity. Make sure to address which group(s) continued to be excluded from the principle of
equal freedom.