Multiple Choice
1. The chapter introduction tells the story of federal investigator Lorena Hickok to make the point that:
a. the decade of Depression and New Deal was also the decade of gangsters, environmental abuse, and underground radical movements.
b. while New Deal programs helped many Americans, a closer look revealed inefficiency, corruption and waste.
c. Franklin Roosevelt not only had to lead the nation out of Depression, he also had to cope with entrenched opposition to his reforms within the federal government itself.
d. Depression bound Americans found hope in liberal social welfare programs of an activist federal government.
2. Most Depression movies, like much of popular culture, tended to:
a. critique the status quo.
b. provide dark images of horror or tragedy that played to the emotional despair of a suffering nation.
c. uphold the basic social and economic values of America.
d. push the limits of sex and violence in a time of social upheaval and discontent.
3. The dust storms that devastated the Plains resulted from all EXCEPT:
a. logging off the region's trees.
b. intensive agriculture.
c. overgrazing.
d. drought and record high temperatures.
4. One result of the "Dust Bowl" was that:
a. California became the most populous state in the union.
b. several million people on the plains abandoned their farms and moved west.
c. Mexican Americans and African Americans took advantage of the opportunity to settle abandoned land.
d. big industrial agricultural cooperatives broke up into smaller units.
5. During the Depression, the federal government began to deport:
a. anarchists.
b. Japanese.
c. Mexicans.
d. Jews.
6. The story of the Scottsboro boys illustrates the point that the Depression:
a. increased the number of homeless, vagrant males.
b. caused a return of old-fashioned outlaws in the West.
c. inflamed racial prejudice.
d. was especially devastating for young children of unemployed fathers.
7. As Herbert Hoover entered the presidency in 1929, all of the following were true of him EXCEPT:
a. he was a self made millionaire.
b. he was a self preoccupied investment banker.
c. he enjoyed a reputation as a competent and efficient engineer.
d. he enjoyed a reputation as a great humanitarian.
8. Herbert Hoover's response to the Great Depression can best be summarized as:
a. no sympathy for individuals, and only verbal encouragement to business to build public confidence.
b. a series of attempts to lay the blame on speculators or international conditions to deflect political attacks.
c. a stoical decision to do little but reduce federal spending and await the eventual cyclical recovery.
d. initially, a voluntarist approach to both recovery and relief, but then the most sweeping series of active government measures ever enacted in peacetime up to that time.
9. Despite Hoover's personal preferences, his administration ended up doing more than any previous effort to wield government power to reverse an economic downturn. Which of the following was NOT a measure Herbert Hoover used to alleviate the Depression?
a. a Reconstruction Finance Corporation to funnel loans to faltering financial institutions
b. a Federal Farm Board to help cooperatives and shore up agriculture
c. a National Recovery Administration to provide direct emergency relief to the jobless
d. White House business conferences to encourage employment and wage stability
10. Which one of the following best describes President Herbert Hoover's initial approach to the Great Depression as your text portrays it?
a. a commitment to direct federal relief payments to the unemployed
b. total inactivity; isolated in the White House, he had no compassion for the poor
c. rhetoric about a "new deal for the American people," but no concrete and specific proposals
d. efforts to promote the same kind of relationship between government and business that he advocated during his term as Secretary of Commerce
11. At first, President Hoover tried to stimulate the economy:
a. indirectly by encouraging cooperative private initiative.
b. indirectly by lowering tariffs.
c. directly by promoting deficit spending.
d. directly by forcing Europeans to repay American war debts.
12. Hoover failed to stem the tide of economic disaster, according to the text, because:
a. he did too little too late.
b. he was unsympathetic to the plight of American workers.
c. he was not an able enough politician to build a coalition for reform in Congress.
d. he was so isolated that he didn't realize the extent of people's suffering.
13. The "Bonus Expeditionary Force" was:
a. a group of veterans who came to Washington to get bonuses promised them for service in World War I.
b. a social organization composed of men who had fought in France in 1917.
c. a group of farmers demanding a bonus to compensate them for their eviction by large landowners.
d. a group of unemployed scientists and explorers who participated in a federal survey project.
14. Besides the defeat of the discredited Hoover, what else did the election of 1932 accomplish?
a. It returned the popular Roosevelt to the White House.
b. It solidified the shift to an enduring Democratic party majority.
c. It brought to the presidency a man with a coherent philosophy and program for ending the Depression.
d. It proved that in times of crisis, a presidential election will be a very close race.
15. Franklin Roosevelt's new Democratic coalition:
a. united Democrats in the South with the rising middle class of the Far West.
b. united Democrats in the South with urban ethnic northeasterners.
c. united newer white collar Democrats with Southern "rednecks."
d. split the Republican alliance of the business class and "TR" Progressives.
16. What was Hoover's final assessment of the Bonus Army?
a. He thought they were well-meaning Americans with a good cause.
b. He dubbed them true veterans deserving of help.
c. He believed them Communists stirring up insurrection.
d. He called them "proud, loyal Americans."
17. Which statement about the New Deal is true?
a. Because he grew up in poverty, President Roosevelt had a special sympathy for the suffering of poor people during the 1930s.
b. The New Deal agency that had the most direct and dramatic impact was the Civilian Conservation Corps.
c. Labor unions, taking advantage of New Deal legislation, secured impressive gains despite Roosevelt's aloof attitude.
d. The New Deal legislation providing for old age pensions and aid to the blind, handicapped, and dependent children was called work relief.
18. FDR not only strengthened the office of the presidency, he tried to dominate the other branches of government. He was relatively successful during his first administration in ____________, but unsuccessful during his second in ____________.
a. getting Congress to pass his legislative proposals; reshaping the Supreme Court
b. appointing sympathetic judges to the lower courts; getting Congress to sustain his vetoes
c. Supreme Court rulings on the constitutionality of the New Deal; trying to purge Democrats who had begun opposing him
d. building up the federal bureaucracy; reducing the power of the states
19. During her years as First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt:
a. was a passionate spokeswoman for the disadvantaged.
b. quietly directed her attention to private philanthropic charities.
c. remained largely a supportive wife who managed White House social events.
d. developed a campaign staff in preparation for a race for political office.
20. The New Deal's first step to achieve recovery dealt with:
a. unemployment.
b. public works.
c. banking.
d. the trusts.
21. President Roosevelt handled the banking crisis of 1933 by:
a. the radical step of nationalizing most banks.
b. the radical step of dissolving the Federal Reserve System.
c. the conservative step of pouring in government aid but preserving private ownership.
d. the conservative step of suspending the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
22. One of the most important achievements of the New Deal in the area of banking was included, almost as an afterthought and against Roosevelt's wishes, in a 1933 act. This key reform was:
a. the uniting of investment and commercial banking so that bankers could more readily transfer depositors' money.
b. the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation so that the government would guarantee bank deposits.
c. allowing weak banks to default on corporate loans so that they could meet their obligation to individual depositors.
d. creating the Federal Reserve System to regulate the banking industry.
23. What New Deal agency put city youth to work in national parks and recreational areas, building trails and improving public facilities?
a. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
b. Tennessee Valley Authority
c. Civilian Conservation Corps
d. Agricultural Adjustment Administration
24. Under the National Recovery Administration, industry was encouraged to develop "codes of fair practice" that would do all EXCEPT:
a. keep wages above set minimums, and hours below set maximums.
b. free prices from monopolistic constraints.
c. limit production.
d. allow union organization.
25. The National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration shared what strategy to stimulate the economy?
a. a bimetallic standard to increase the money supply
b. government guaranteed loans to "bail out" banks, big businesses, and large farms that faced probable bankruptcy
c. a voluntary, private sector government partnership to limit production and raise prices
d. minimum wage and maximum price rules to raise consumer purchasing power
26. Which of the following did the Supreme Court declare wholly or partly unconstitutional?
a. Tennessee Valley Authority and Civilian Conservation Corps
b. National Recovery Act and Agricultural Adjustment Act
c. Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration
d. National Labor Relations Act and Social Security
27. Which one of the following did NOT criticize or oppose New Deal measures during FDR's first term?
a. labor union leaders
b. the Supreme Court
c. populist critics of the inequality of wealth
d. business leaders
28. Which one of the following men was NOT a major critic of the New Deal?
a. Charles Coughlin
b. Harry Hopkins
c. Dr. Francis Townsend
d. Huey Long
29. In the "second New Deal," Roosevelt did all of the following EXCEPT:
a. moved leftward politically.
b. stressed more sweeping reforms to initiate the welfare state.
c. embraced the concept of work relief.
d. emphasized recovery measures.
30. Which program was enacted during the Second New Deal?
a. an outdoor work program for unemployed young men.
b. an insurance program for the elderly.
c. a program to stabilize and regulate banking.
d. a scheme to enlarge the membership of the Supreme Court.
31. With the election of 1936, your text points out:
a. class replaced region as the dominant element in American politics.
b. race replaced religion as the main predictor of loyalty to the Democrats.
c. a pattern of fairly close presidential elections was established.
d. minority voters went to the polls in declining numbers.
32. Roosevelt's administration, under the prodding of Eleanor Roosevelt and Harold Ickes:
a. began to support racial integration and banned discrimination in certain programs.
b. gave assistance to Mexican Americans but offered little support to Indians.
c. was passionate in its devotion to complete racial integration.
d. supported an anti lynching bill.
33. What best describes the character of post office murals painted during the Depression?
a. They showed common folk from the region doing common, traditional tasks.
b. They glorified the worker, subtly criticizing big business.
c. They featured patriotic symbols to inculcate loyalty to the federal government.
d. They tended to idealize a better future, rather than sound themes from the past.
34. The New Deal, according to the assessment in your text, offered a legacy of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. it brought recovery from the Great Depression.
b. it preserved capitalism and strengthened democracy.
c. it modernized and personalized the American presidency.
d. it made an active government responsible for economic security in America.