History 203
The United States in the Global Age
Test Preparation #1
The first test will take place January 31 and will cover the lectures through #11 and the reading
through Week #4. It will include 25 multiple-choice questions selected (by me) from the ones
below. It will also include an essay question which you will choose from a list of three; those
three will be taken (by me) from the essays on the list below.
Possible Essays:
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19.
What was the “new consensus” in U. S. foreign policy?
Describe some difficult dilemmas for American beliefs imposed by industrial growth.
What were the major inspirations of the Progressive movement?
What was President Roosevelt’s understanding of his role? What policies helped him establish that role?
What major conflicts emerged in U. S. politics by 1910? Why was President Taft ineffective in handling
them?
What were the basic ideals and understandings expressed in the “New Nationalism”? Was it “liberal”?
What basic goals lay behind Theodore Roosevelt’s diplomacy for Asia and Latin America?
What were the major ideals of “The New Freedom”? How faithful was President Wilson to them?
What understanding of foreign policy led President Wilson to intervene in Latin American affairs more
than his predecessors?
What factors led the United States to intervene in the First World War?
What did war mobilization mean for American governance? Society?
What issues were involved in the battle over the Treaty of Versailles?
What gave rise to the “era of bad feelings” of 1919-1920?
Describe the balance of the two parties in the 1920s. What changes affected it?
Did Harding and Coolidge live up to their isolationist and reactionary reputation in history?
What cultural and social changes lay behind the confrontations of the 1920s?
What were the major causes of the Depression? What role did the 1929 Crash play?
What was lacking in the U. S. government’s initial response to the crisis of the Depression?
What pressures and ideas guided FDR through the “first” New Deal?
Possible Multiple Choice Questions:
1.
John Hay issued the first Open Door note to:
a. encourage more Chinese exports to the United States.
b. permit more Chinese laborers into the United States.
c. keep Europeans from establishing exclusive closed Chinese markets.
d. demonstrate America's new military power.
2.
Which of the following would best describe the attitude of a Progressive reformer?
a. “Scientific principles dictate that some people will succeed and others fail.”
b. “The people must guard their liberties from predatory government.”
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c.
d.
“The rebirth of democracy in our country is the people’s moral awakening.“
“We should not judge the beliefs of other cultures, for who is to say that our values are right?”
3.
President Roosevelt's actions in the 1902 coal strike showed primarily that he:
a. was willing to take decisive action on behalf of the public interest.
b. was willing to accept large corporations if they did not "misbehave."
c. was willing to take the side of unions against corporations.
d. could be flexible in negotiations with Congress.
4.
Theodore Roosevelt’s handling of the trusts suggests that he believed that:
a. the federal government should break up large corporations only in cases of monopoly or flagrant
abuse.
b. big was bad.
c. effective action to limit trusts was desirable, but the government did not really have the power to do it
constitutionally.
d. trusts were so efficient that their abuses should be tolerated, but he had to pander to public sentiment
with some antitrust action.
5.
In foreign policy, Roosevelt did ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. He increased the size and power of the Navy.
b. He put forward the "Roosevelt Corollary" which said that chronic wrongdoing by Latin American
nations in paying off their debts might lead the United States to intervene as "police."
c. He repeatedly sent American armed forces into combat overseas to demonstrate American resolve
and fighting effectiveness.
d. He sought better relations with Great Britain.
6.
At Algeciras:
a. a conference took place to settle the Morocco crisis--a meeting President Roosevelt set up.
b. President Roosevelt mediated and end to the Russo-Japanese War.
c. President Wilson landed the Marines to put pressure on the Mexican government.
d. the Kaiser paid a call on a country France was trying to colonize.
7.
Roosevelt’s policies toward Japan after 1906 tended to:
a. be full of empty threats and little action, as seen in the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907.
b. realistically define the limits of American power while respecting Japan’s interests and power.
c. betray American interests in the Pacific.
d. betray his racism and contempt toward the Japanese.
8.
ALL the following describe the 1908 election EXCEPT:
a. Roosevelt in essence became the campaign manager for William Howard Taft.
b. The Democrats nominated Bryan yet again.
c. Roosevelt and Taft remained personally and politically close throughout Taft’s term, much to the
surprise of many Republicans.
d. Although Taft won, the Republican party was deeply divided during Taft’s presidency.
9.
A major difference between Taft and Roosevelt was that Taft believed:
a. the executive should not interfere in legislative matters.
b. labor unions deserved recognition.
c. the people, not the courts, would be the final arbiter on social issues.
d. the government should leave the trusts alone.
10. Taft as president may be described by ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. He was a conservative who had taken on only some of Roosevelt's reform spirit.
b. He believed the president must act only within the strict letter of the law.
c. He had a superb sense of public relations and a deft touch with the average voter.
d. He faced a deeply divided Republican party, especially on the issue of the tariff.
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11. On the question of regulating big business, in 1912 Roosevelt and Wilson disagreed in that:
a. Wilson advocated a partnership between government and the trusts for more efficiency.
b. Roosevelt advocated laissez-faire policies toward big business.
c. Roosevelt called for breaking up all monopolies to protect society.
d. Wilson believed that large corporations were inherently detrimental to the economy.
12. Theodore Roosevelt's "New Nationalism":
a. meant that government intervention, once identified with business interests, should be used to achieve
democratic goals.
b. was a conservative philosophy of a limited role of government.
c. called for the breakup of all monopolies.
d. meant that the federal government should concern itself with problems of social justice and let big
business take care of itself.
13. ALL the following describe the woman suffrage movement EXCEPT:
a. Alice Paul and others wanted to pursue more aggressive tactics to win the vote for women.
b. Women shifted to working for a constitutional amendment to gain the vote, rather than working state
by state.
c. The liquor industry supported women's right to vote, hoping to help liberate them from all Victorian
restrictions.
d. Suffragettes sometimes argued their votes would offset the votes of immigrants and racial minorities in
cities.
14. ALL the following characterize New Freedom EXCEPT:
a. It was the platform Wilson ran on in 1912.
b. It was heavily influenced by Louis Brandeis.
c. It emphasized regulating trusts rather than just trying to promote competition.
d. It emphasized government involvement in the economy and society to promote democracy.
15. Wilson's "strong presidency" did ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. He addressed Congress personally, the first president to do so since Jefferson.
b. A comprehensive Civil Rights Bill.
c. The Federal Reserve Act.
d. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act.
16. To get support for his progressive reforms, Wilson:
a. always took his case directly to the people first and then challenged Congress, as he did not trust it.
b. acted through a bipartisan coalition of progressive Democrats and Republicans.
c. relied mainly on the party loyalty of Democrats.
d. could not rely on most Democratic congressmen to stick with him.
17. The Underwood-Simmons tariff:
a. raised the average tariff and hence was supported by Wilson.
b. raised the average tariff and hence was opposed by Wilson.
c. lowered the average tariff and hence was opposed by Wilson.
d. lowered the average tariff and hence was supported by Wilson.
18. The Federal Reserve Act:
a. made currency and bank credit more elastic.
b. was the first major banking and currency reform in half a century.
c. lessened the power of the huge New York banks.
d. is correctly represented by all the above statements.
19. ALL the following describe Wilson's foreign policy EXCEPT:
a. Wilson had an impressive background in foreign policy before he became President.
b. The Secretary of State tried to get other countries to sign treaties requiring a "cooling off" period in
disputes with the United States.
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c.
d.
Wilson's closest adviser on foreign affairs was Edward M. House.
There was an attempt to use diplomatic posts to reward "deserving Democrats."
20. Which of the following statements best describes the diplomatic stance of Woodrow Wilson and William
Jennings Bryan?
a. America must, above all else, protect American interests around the world.
b. America must not interfere in the affairs of other nations.
c. America has been called to spread democracy and moral progress throughout the world.
d. America should prove its might wherever and whenever possible.
21. ALL the following describe relations with Mexico during Wilson's administration EXCEPT:
a. Wilson refused to recognize the government of Huerta whom the president accused of overthrowing
and executing Francisco Madero.
b. Most Mexicans welcomed Wilson’s efforts to instill democracy in their country.
c. Wilson ordered American troops to occupy Veracruz when German ships unloaded arms there.
d. Wilson withdrew U. S. troops from Mexico without achieving his objectives there.
22. America’s growing sympathy for the Allies during World War I was caused by ALL, EXCEPT:
a. growing dependence on Allied nations as markets for U. S. exports.
b. strong U. S. sympathy for the territorial claims of the Allies.
c. flagrant German violations of international law.
d. huge U. S. loans to the Allied nations.
23. In regard to the Sussex pledge:
a. Germany agreed not to sink merchant vessels without warning them.
b. Wilson got the pledge by threatening to break diplomatic relations with Germany if she did not give it.
c. American public opinion turned against Wilson for this pledge, seeing the German response as
inadequate and insulting.
d. Only "a" and "b" are correct.
24. ALL the following describe the American intervention in World War I EXCEPT:
a. Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and American lives were lost.
b. Congress quickly passed a bill to arm American merchant ships.
c. The Zimmermann note enraged American public opinion.
d. The overthrow of the Russian czar and the possibility of reform there got rid of one of the remaining
concerns some Americans had for fighting on the Allied side.
25. ALL of the following describe the American home front during World War I EXCEPT:
a. The move to restrict the sale of and use of alcoholic beverages received new support during the war.
b. Government management of the wartime economy produced mixed success.
c. The American rail system was never organized efficiently and tie-ups were the norm even when the
war ended.
d. The War Industries Board under Bernard Baruch attacked needless waste in production in order to
provide supplies to the armed forces.
26. Wilson’s Fourteen Points provided for ALL of the following EXCEPT:
a. national self-determination for liberated countries after the war.
b. freedom of the seas.
c. prohibition of secret treaties among nations.
d. strengthening of great power alliances.
27. The emphasis of Wilson's plan for peace was to:
a. crush the military strength of the Central Powers.
b. demand that the Central Powers pay the Allied nations for war damages.
c. settle the issue of trade barriers.
d. ensure a lasting peace among equals.
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28. The terms of the Versailles peace treaty included ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. American recognition of the Soviet Union.
b. A clause saying Germany was "guilty" for starting the war.
c. Some ethnic groups were left in countries they did not want to be in, such as the Germans in
Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.
d. A League of Nations.
29. President Wilson might have secured Senate approval of the Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations by:
a. winning over reluctant Democrats with promises of patronage.
b. compromising with Senate moderates on some provisions of the League.
c. taking his case directly to the people.
d. compromising on some of his domestic programs with Old Guard Republicans.
30. The postwar situation in the United States included ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. An influenza epidemic swept through the country, killing hundreds of thousands.
b. The Volstead Act enforcing Prohibition was passed.
c. The government's attempts to manage the changeover to peacetime economy were meddlesome and
soon produced severe deflation.
d. A series of strikes, including a damaging one in the steel industry, shocked the nation.
31. The treaties signed at the Washington Conference of 1921-22 included ALL of the following provisions
EXCEPT:
a. establishment of the 5:5:3 ratio among British, U. S., and Japanese "capital" ships.
b. support for the U. S. Open Door policy regarding China.
c. a pledge that the United States and Britain would not fortify their western Pacific possessions.
d. agreement that China was within Japan’s sphere of influence.
32. The U. S. tariff policy of the early 1920s:
a. made it easier for other nations to sell to the United States.
b. made it harder for other nations to sell to the United States.
c. made it easier for other nations to repay their war debts.
d. led Americans to cut back on loans and investments abroad.
33. The "roaring economy" of the 1920s involved ALL of the following EXCEPT:
a. a productivity revolution based on technology.
b. a consumer-goods revolution that gave the U.S. the highest living standards on earth.
c. a revolution in thinking, in which advertising persuaded consumers to buy now rather than save.
d. increasing income equality among all Americans.
34. In the 1920s, farm prices:
a. kept at their high wartime levels.
b. kept at their low wartime levels.
c. fell sharply.
d. rose sharply.
35. The impact of the automobile included ALL of the following EXCEPT that:
a. by 1929 one-quarter of Americans earned their living directly or indirectly from the automobile.
b. the car undermined parental authority and traditional morals.
c. rural people shunned the car as threatening aspects of modern life.
d. cars spurred the production of rubber, steel, and roads.
36. The weakest area of the American economy through the 1920s was:
a. the stock market.
b. agriculture.
c. electric power.
d. the automobile industry
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37. The McNary-Haugen bill:
a. called for dumping surplus crops on the world market in order to raise domestic prices.
b. failed to pass Congress in 1922 but passed in 1927 with the support of President Coolidge.
c. effectively raised domestic commodity prices.
d. is correctly represented by all the above statements.
38. In the 1920s, labor unions:
a. won a number of important victories in the Supreme Court.
b. gained about 1.5 million members.
c. lost about 1.5 million members.
d. were helped by the prosperity of the decade.
39. The election of 1924 may be described by ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. The Democrats were divided by Prohibition between the drys and wets.
b. Harding had died in office, and his successor Coolidge ran at the head of the Republican ticket.
c. The Republicans won the presidency and both Houses of Congress.
d. Democrats were hurt when the vote in the northern cities increasingly favored the Republicans.
40. ALL the following describe the Harlem Renaissance EXCEPT:
a. The Harlem Renaissance occurred even though the NAACP disliked it, feeling it showed blacks in a
bad light.
b. Writers like the poet Langston Hughes and Alain Locke were important figures.
c. The jazz of Louis Armstrong was associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
d. The Harlem Renaissance did little to alter segregationist laws that restricted the lives of most African
Americans.
41. Developments in the Coolidge administration included ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. Taxes were cut.
b. The government encouraged American business around the world.
c. The Dawes plan eliminated the reparations Germany was supposed to pay to Britain and France.
d. The administration did not object when American businessmen made major investments in the Soviet
union.
42. Part of the reason for the stock market crash was:
a. the high rate of deflation in the 1920s.
b. the tax policies of the 1920s that hurt the wealthy, who might otherwise have bought more stocks.
c. the buying of great amounts of stock "on margin."
d. the low tariff, which allowed imports to corner several important American markets.
43. Despite rising productivity in the economy in the 1920s, one danger for the future was:
a. the rapid rise of personal debt, meaning that the buying spree supporting prosperity could not last
forever.
b. that people were losing confidence in the new technology.
c. people were saving more money rather than spending it on consumer goods.
d. the depression that came after World War I continued unabated.
44. Hoover's early efforts to end the Depression included:
a. immediate and lasting cutbacks in public works, to shore up the public treasury.
b. a stricter credit policy by the Federal Reserve, to stop the flow of "easy money" available for
speculation.
c. an increase in aid to farmers, to allow them to produce more.
d. asking businessmen to maintain wages and avoid layoffs, in order to keep purchasing power strong.
45. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation:
a. was created over Hoover's veto.
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b.
c.
d.
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offered emergency loans to banks, farm mortgage associations, building and loan societies, and other
such businesses to prevent bankruptcies.
was criticized for its alleged favoritism to farmers and workers.
is correctly represented by all the above statements.
In formulating his economic thinking, FDR consistently followed the advice of:
a. economic theorists devoted to central planning.
b. economists who wanted to reinvigorate competition.
c. advocates of inflationary policies.
d. no single set of economic theorists.
47. ALL the following describe the banking crisis and Roosevelt's response EXCEPT:
a. Roosevelt called a national "bank holiday," using old World War I legislation.
b. A law was quickly passed providing for federal inspection of all banks.
c. He addressed the nation in his fireside chat, assuring people the banking system was sound.
d. When investors refused to put money back into the banks, the president was obliged reluctantly to
nationalize the banks.
48. The AAA can be characterized by ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. The idea was to limit domestic production in order to achieve "parity," or fair price levels.
b. It paid farmers who agreed to take land out of production with money raised from a tax on
processors.
c. Producing less food while millions went hungry was difficult for many Americans to understand.
d. In spite of Roosevelt's efforts, farm income did not improve.
49. The condition of tenant farmers may be described by ALL the following EXCEPT:
a. The AAA was especially helpful for the tenant farmer and sharecropper who needed relief the
most.
b. Some landlords evicted their tenants or sharecroppers.
c. The administration passed the Resettlement Administration to assist evicted tenants.
d. Agricultural policies in the South always involved race, since most tenants there were black and the
landlords white.
50. The National Industrial Recovery Act provided for ALL of the following EXCEPT:
a. protection for the right of trade unions to bargain collectively.
b. creation of a Public Works Administration to provide employment.
c. agreements to keep prices low in order to fight inflation.
d. establishment of the National Recovery Administration to stabilize industrial production.
51. In the case of Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States, the Supreme Court:
a. overturned the Farm Credit Act.
b. overturned the National Industrial Recovery Act.
c. decided that Schechter was involved in interstate, not local, trade.
d. upheld the constitutionality of the second Agricultural Adjustment Act.
52. Which of the following statements about the Social Security Act is NOT true?
a. It was, according to Roosevelt, the "supreme achievement" of the New Deal.
b. It committed the national government to a broad range of welfare activities.
c. It provided old-age pensions.
d. It was based on a progressive tax that took a larger percentage of higher incomes.
53. African Americans changed their party affiliation to the Democrats for ALL the following reasons
EXCEPT:
a. The WPA gave blacks jobs in northern cities while the PWA built black schools and hospitals.
b. Blacks liked the New Deal because it gave jobs and welfare benefits to all Americans regardless of
race.
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c. Blacks admired the efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt who visited black colleges and socialized with
black women in an age of segregation.
d. Urged on by Eleanor, Franklin Roosevelt helped draft and enacted the first major civil rights bill
since the Reconstruction Era.
54. Keynesian economics called for:
a. more government spending in times of economic downswing.
b. a balanced budget in times of economic downswing.
c. a higher tariff wall.
d. a return to the gold standard.
55. The New Deal accomplished which of the following?
a. ending the Depression.
b. radically redistributing wealth and income.
c. stabilizing the economy against future crashes.
d. ending the influence of big business in government.