US History
1920’s Test
Multiple Choice
1. After WWI there was a widespread fear of communism in the U.S. known as the Red
Scare. Which of the following best describes the reasons for this fear of communism
(Mark All That Apply)?
A. There were many strikes and labor problems immediately following WWI,
and business owners and government officials feared that communists
inspired these strikers.
B. There were some radicals in the U.S., and some of them were engaged in
revolutionary activities.
C. The communist led Russian Revolution caused many to think a world wide
communist revolution was on the horizon.
D. President Woodrow Wilson was a communist supporter, and had warm
relations with V.I. Lenin, the leader of the communists in Russia.
2. The Palmer Raids were one example of the Red Scare causing the government to take
extreme measures against suspected communists. Which of the following best
describes the Palmer Raids?
A. Attorney General Jim Palmer launched a surprise series of raids in Los
Angeles against bootleggers and communists.
B. Attorney General Robert Palmer found it simply irresistible to attack
conservative communists throughout the country and in England.
C. Attorney General Mitchell Palmer launched raids throughout the country
against suspected communists, especially those of Eastern European and
Southern European backgrounds.
D. Attorney General Arnold Palmer was a master of communists in Augusta
Georgia, launching raids there in 1920.
3. In 1920, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were accused of holding up a shoe
factory near Boston and murdering two people. The two men were arrested based on
eyewitness accounts. Many historians believe that the men were convicted on faulty
evidence and that they were really being persecuted for what two reasons?
A.
B.
C.
D.
They were Jewish and also known communists.
They were Russian and also known Bolsheviks.
They were Polish and also known Fascists.
They were Italian and also known anarchists.
4. Which of the following best describes the widespread ownership of Model T Fords in
the 1920’s (Choose All That Apply)?
A. Ford used new mass production techniques such as the assembly line and
scientific management to produce Model T’s more efficiently, thus lowering
the price to affordable levels.
B. Ford insisted that the Model T be flashy and colorful, trying to appeal to
people’s desire for prestige, which caused millions to buy the Model T.
C. Ford imported foreign workers and paid them absurdly low wages to
minimize production costs, thus making the Model T cheaper.
D. Ford paid his workers more than any other industrialist and gave them shorter
workweeks, thus making them potential customers for the very product they
were producing.
5. Which of the following best describes the ways the automobile changed America
(Choose All That Apply)?
A. Other industries like rubber, glass, steel, restaurants, hotels, and road
construction all flourished as a result of the increase in automobile
availability, which created wealth and more jobs.
B. People began to experience the freedom of movement and could travel to
places easier than before.
C. People began to demand mass transit like subways and trolley’s because they
felt cars inefficient.
D. People were able to move farther away from their jobs, often to suburbs,
because they could drive to work.
6. In the 1920’s, many new goods and products became widely affordable for the first
time. This period is known as a ________________________________.
A. Bull Market
B. Bear Market
C. Consumer Revolution
D. Depression
7. In the 1920’s, people began to buy more and more consumer goods using a method
called installment buying. Which of the following best describes installment buying?
A. Borrowing money from a loan shark to pay for a good, and then paying back
the loan shark at high interest.
B. Paying for a good using a check.
C. Making a small down payment for a good, and making monthly payments on
the good until it is paid off.
D. Choosing the price for a good that would be ideal, by haggling with the
salesman.
8. Many people in the 1920’s purchased stock by paying as little as 10% upfront for the
stock to a broker, and then paying the rest of the price over a period of months. This
method of investment was known by what name?
A. Buying on Time
C. Savings and loan
B. Buying on Margin
D. Credit Card
9. By the 1920’s, more Americans lived in cities than lived in rural areas for the first
time. Also during the decade, many middle class Americans began moving to nearby
communities known by what name?
A. Townships
B. Counties
C. Suburbs
D. Villages
10. In the 1920’s many Americans that worked in manufacturing and business began to
see an increase in their wages and a shorter workweek. How did the experience of
these urban and suburban workers differ from that of Americans in rural areas?
A. Americans in rural areas struggled with low earnings and continued to work 6,
and many times 7 days a week.
B. Americans in rural areas had already enjoyed an economic boom, and had a
high standard of living even before the 1920’s.
C. Most Americans in rural areas made a modest living, but had a higher
standard of living than their urban counterparts.
D. Americans in rural areas were usually rich and powerful.
11. Which of the following best describes the economic policies supported by Presidents
Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge (Choose All That Apply)?
A. High tariffs to protect American business.
B. Low income taxes.
C. Reduced spending and cutting the budget.
D. A reduction of government regulation of business.
12. What is the general term used to describe economic policies that call for governments
to allow businesses to operate freely with little if any regulation?
A. Vis-a-Vis
B. Carte Blanche
C. Touché
D. Laissez Faire
13. Warren Harding’s administration was known for its corruption, especially the Teapot
Dome scandal. Which of the following best describes the Teapot Dome scandal?
A. The Secretary of the Interior got control of the Navy’s oil reserves in
Wyoming and then leased the oil to private oil companies for his own profit.
B. The Secretary of the Interior got control of the New York Port Authority and
took bribes from importers.
C. The C.I.A. sold U.S. war equipment to an enemy to finance a war against
another enemy.
D. A cat bugler broke into the White House and stole a Teapot and promptly sold
it at the Georgia Dome.
14. Which of the following best describes the Dawes Plan?
A. The U.S. would go to war with France in England if they did not pay back
their war debt.
B. The U.S. government would loan Germany money to help their economy. The
Germans used this money to pay the British and French reparations, which
they then paid back to the U.S.
C. The U.S. loaned Germany money, which the Weimar Republic used to stop
hyperinflation, which allowed Hitler to stay in power.
D. None of these.
15. From the mid-1800 to the 1920’s, many American resented the influx of immigrants
to this country. These people that hold anti-immigrant beliefs are usually referred to
by what name?
A. Racists
B. Sexists
C. Nativists
D. Cheveaunists
16. The National Origins Act of 1924 set a quota on the number of immigrants that would
be allowed into the U.S. from each country. The number of immigrants from a
particular country could not exceed 2% of the number of people of that nationality
living in the U.S. on 1890. Why did Congress choose that year?
A. 1890 was the last year of World War I, and Congress wanted to get things
back to the pre-war level.
B. 1890 was the end of the Indian Wars out West, and Congress wanted to give
Native Americans citizenship before immigrants.
C. 1890 was before large numbers of Protestant people from Northern and
Western Europe came to the U.S., and many Congressmen did not want the
number of these people to increase.
D. 1890 was before large numbers of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Jewish
people came to the U.S., and many Congressmen did not want the number of
these people to increase.
17. In 1920 the States ratified the 18th Amendment and Congress passed the Volstead
Act. Both brought the prohibition of alcohol manufacture and distribution into law.
Why did many Americans support Prohibition (Choose All That Apply)?
A. Many Americans, especially Protestants in rural areas and small towns of the
South, Midwest, and West felt that drinking in excess was sinful and caused
moral problems.
B. Many women and other Progressives felt that alcohol hurt the family by
making some men violent, and causing them to waste money on alcohol.
C. Many Americans, especially Catholics in urban areas, felt that drinking in
excess was sinful and against their culture.
D. Prohibiting alcohol was viewed as a way to generate revenue for police
departments, by giving them something to do.
18. One problem caused by Prohibition was the growth of organized crime and the
corruption of some government officials that developed as a result of the huge profits
made from illegal liquor. Selling illegal liquor was called by what name?
A. Shoearming
B. Bootlegging
C. Boozehounding
D. Mafia
19. An illegal place to get liquor during prohibition was known by what name?
A. Speakeasy
B. Down Low
C. Talksoftly
D. Dive
20. Al Capone was the most famous gangster during the era of Prohibition. He eventually
came to dominate organized crime in which city?
A. New Orleans
B. New York
C. Chicago
D. Dallas
21. In the 1920’s many women began to challenge the societal conventions. In what ways
did they do this (Choose All That Apply)?
A. Many women entered the workforce, especially in corporate jobs, as
secretaries, telephone operators, receptionists, and even as professionals in
certain fields.
B. Many women began to speak their mind about politics and social issues, and
they even started voting because of the 19th Amendment.
C. Some women began to show a more “adventurous” nature, driving cars,
drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and even engaging in premarital sex.
D. Many women decided to migrate to rural areas and start their own farms.
22. A small number of women in the 1920’s were known to wear short hair, short skirts
and dresses, and engage in “wild” behavior. Some of them even wore galoshes. What
were these women referred to as?
A. Flappers
B. Suffragettes
C. Harlots
D. Jezzabelles
23. The 1920’s have often times been referred to as the Jazz Age. New York City,
Chicago, Kansas City, and many other cities developed exciting Jazz scenes where
people of many races went to be entertained. What American city did Jazz originate in,
and what ethnic group developed the music?
A. New Orleans and African Americans
C. Houston and African Americans
B. Houston and Latin Americans
D. New Orleans and Latin Americans
24. One popular dance of the 1920’s was called by what name?
A. The Mambo
B. The Jitterbug
C. The Charleston
D. The Waltz
25. Prior to WWI, and especially during and immediately following the war, millions of
African Americans participated in the Great Migration. Which of the following were
reasons African Americans had for moving North (Choose All That Apply)
A.
B.
C.
D.
They wanted better economic opportunities in industrial cities.
They wanted to escape the Jim Crow laws of the South.
They wanted work in agricultural areas in New England
They wanted to become loggers in the upper mid-West
26. Many African Americans, especially in New York, began to produce new art ideas at
an incredible rate. Poets like Langston Hughes and Claude McKay; musicians like
Duke Ellington and Besse Smith, and leaders like Marcus Garvey began to show a
new sense of pride and creativity in their background and culture. African Americans
such as this have often times been referred to by what term?
A, Black Panther
C. The People
B. The New Negro
D. The Harlem Renaissance
27. Marcus Garvey encouraged African Americans to have pride in their heritage and his
belief that black people should work and trust only other black people is often times
referred to by what name?
A. The Stay Black Movement
C. The Civil Rights Movement
B. The Back to Africa Movement
D. The Great Migration
28. The explosion of African American culture that came especially from New York, is
often times known by what name?
A. The Harlem Renaissance
C. The African American Invasion
B. The New Negro Movement
D. The N.A.A.C.P.
29. In the 1920’s, many Americans, especially in rural areas and small towns, resented
the changes taking place in the U.S. They wanted a return to what they considered to
be the “good old days”. Many of these people were Christian fundamentalists, or
people that
A.
B.
C.
D.
Believe in only the New Testament of the Bible
Only believe in the Old Testament
Believe in the literal truth of every word of the Bible
Believe the Bible is not meant to be taken literally and is a metaphor to teach
moral lessons.
30. The Scopes Trial demonstrates which of the following conflicts of the 1920’s?
A. The split between Christian Fundamentalists and people who embraced the
modern life of the 1920’s.
B. The split between people who like Jazz and people who did not.
C. The split between people who supported Prohibition and people who did not
D. None of these.
31. One negative aspect of the desire of some people to return to more simple times was
the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. At its height in the 1920’s the Ku Klux Klan had up
to 5 million members, and was spread throughout the country, even in the North. The
“New Klan” of the 1920’s was aimed of course at African Americans, but also at
other groups including (Choose All That Apply):
A. Catholics
B. Immigrants
C. Jews
D. Englishmen.
Extended Response
32.
A List and describe TWO methods advertisers used to sell new goods during the 1920’s.
B. The 1920’s have often been referred to as the Jazz Age. Besides Jazz, list and describe
TWO other cultural phenomena did Americans embrace during the 1920’s.