United States History – Twenties, Thirties and World War II
1. The return to “normalcy” during the 1920’s can
best be described as an attempt to
a. Expand social reforms
b. Show greater tolerance toward
immigrant groups
c. Reduce government regulation in the
economy
d. Increase U.S. intervention in European
political affairs
2. The development best exemplified by the term
Roaring Twenties is
a. International cooperation
b. Social change
c. Political reform
d. Territorial expansion
3. A major problem with the economic prosperity of
the 1920’s was that it was
a. Based on agriculture
b. Accompanied by runaway inflation
c. Based on large federal spending
d. Unevenly distributed through the
population
4. The stock market crash of 1929 occurred
because stock prices had been drive above their
real value by
a. Spot buying
b. Speculative buying
c. Government regulations
d. The bear market
5. The Harding administration during the Twenties
a. Raised taxes on wealthy Americans
b. Increased the national debt
c. Favored business
d. Enforced anti-trust laws
6. Which situation was a basic cause of the Great
Depression?
a. Continued increases in wages for
workers
b. Excessive profits for farmers
c. Over regulation for the stock market
d. Overproduction of consumer goods
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7. Henry Ford's business philosophy was to
increase sales by
a. Providing consumers with a variety of
styles and colors
b. Advertising
c. Lowering the cost per car
d. Constantly improving his cars'
mechanical reliability
8. The group that didn’t share in the prosperity of
the Twenties because their increased production
meant lower profits were the
a. Farmers.
b. Industrialists.
c. Teachers.
d. Scientists.
9. How did installment plans affect the American
economy in the 1920’s?
a. They led to a sharp decline in average
wages
b. They inspired Americans to cut back on
luxury items
c. They fueled the growth of the consumer
economy
d. They reinforced demand for lower tariffs
10. During the Depression, many unemployed
people
a. Destroyed “Hoovervilles”
b. Lived in federal housing
c. Collected unemployment
d. Wandered the country by railroad
11. “Hoovervilles” were a nickname for
a. Washington, DC where President
Hoover lived
b. Shantytowns where poor people lived
during the Depression
c. Towns which grew because of large
factories that made Hoover vacuum
cleaners
d. Wealthy neighborhoods which were built
because of the prosperity brought on by
Hoover
12. The Bonus Army best exemplified which of the
following?
a. The communist conspiracy during the
‘20’s
b. Radicalism in America
c. Peoples frustrations with President
Hoovers depression policies
d. The growing strength of the military in
America
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13. The Harlem Renaissance was
a. A large exodus from Harlem to the
safety of the south.
b. When a Small number of American
Americans traveled to Italy to learn the
secrets of the Renaissance.
c. A flowering of arts, literature, and racial
pride in the northern cities of America.
d. A dream of African Americans during
the twenties for a better life in America.
14. Babe Ruth was a celebrity because of his
popularity in what sport?
a. Boxing
b. Baseball
c. Horse racing
d. Golf
15. Which of the following became a national
celebrity for his flight across the Atlantic Ocean?
a. Jim Thorpe
b. Babe Ruth
c. Charlie Chaplin
d. Charles Lindbergh
16. Stylish unconventional women in the twenties
were known as
a. Flappers
b. Speakeasies
c. Squares
d. Tramps
17. The Scopes Trial in Tennessee was over the
issue of
a. Women’s rights
b. Prohibition
c. Civil Rights
d. Evolution
18. In the 1920’s, fundamentalists gained attention
for their belief in
a. The repeal of prohibition
b. The theory of evolution
c. The literal interpretation of the Bible
d. A larger role for technology in everyday
life
19. Which of the following artists was a part of the
Harlem Renaissance?
a. Zora Neale Hurston
b. Ernest Hemingway
c. Sinclair Lewis
d. Charles Lindbergh
20. Which president was known for addressing the
nation using the new medium of radio with his
“fireside chats”?
a. Herbert Hoover
b. Calvin Coolidge
c. Franklin Roosevelt
d. Warren G. Harding
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21. The Red Scare was a response to
a. Prohibition
b. The Teapot Dome scandal
c. Russian Revolution
d. Kellog Briand Pact
22. Which of the following best represents society’s
reaction against all change that occurred
during the Twenties?
a. Development of the automobile
b. Nativism
c. Credit
d. Flappers
23. The 18th and 21st Amendment both dealt with
a. Election of Senators
b. Suffrage
c. Prohibition
d. Civil Rights
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24. Hoover’s approach to the depression included
all of the following except
a. “Rugged Individualism”
b. Direct federal relief to those facing
unemployment and hunger
c. State and local relief to suffering and
some federal spending and projects
d. Encouraging business leaders to work
together to end the depression
25. A major difference between the philosophies of
Hoover and Roosevelt concerning solutions to
the Depression was that Hoover believed in
a. Strictly regulating stock market
operations
b. Encouraging local charities to be the
major providers of money, food and
clothing for the unemployed
c. Greatly increasing the power of the
executive branch to speed up economic
recovery
d. Raising taxes to encourage economic
growth
26. The most immediate goal of the New Deal was
to
a. Have states assume responsibility for
relief programs
b. Control wages and prices
c. Conserve natural resources
d. Provide work for the unemployed
27. In the 1930’s the enactment of New Deal
programs demonstrated a belief that
a. Corporations operated best without
government interference
b. State governments should give up
control of commerce inside their borders
c. The federal government must concern
itself with the people’s economic and
social well-being
d. The Constitution was not relevant to
twentieth century life
28. A major effect of the Great Depression was to
a. Reinforce traditional beliefs in rugged
individualism
b. Give political control to the states
c. Make increased governmental
intervention in the economy more
acceptable
d. Strengthen the demand for overseas
territories
29. To regulate the stock market, Roosevelt created
a. Federal Trade Commission
b. Securities and Exchange Commission
c. National Recovery Act
d. Agriculture Adjustment Act
32. Roosevelt support of the Wagner-Connery Act
(National Labor Relations Act) best exemplifies
his belief in
a. Laissez faire economics
b. Racial and gender political equality
c. The importance of labor unions
d. Deregulation of business
33. What finally ended the Great Depression?
a. The programs of Roosevelt and the New
Deal
b. Government spending in the war effort
c. The economic cycle naturally came
back around
d. The end of the drought in the Plains and
the recovery from the Dust Bowl caused
general economic recovery
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34. “The seeds of World War II were sown earlier in
the twentieth century”
Which statement does the quotation most
strongly support?
a. The European democracies encouraged
Hitler to rearm Germany
b. The World War One peace settlement
created bitterness and resentment
c. U.S. involvement in Europe after World
War I created an atmosphere of mistrust
d. U.S. isolationism successfully stopped
the rise of fascism
Use the cartoon above to answer the next two
questions.
30. The cartoonist is making the point that
a. President Roosevelt is lending a helping
hand to the countries of Europe
b. President Roosevelt is bullying the
nations of Europe using agriculture,
industry, etc in order to further his
foreign policy agenda
c. President Roosevelt, Stalin, Mussolini,
and Hitler all worked together to bring
about the New Deal and end the
Depression in the United States
d. The new powers that Roosevelt
acquired during the New Deal are as
threatening and dangerous as the power
of fascist and communist leaders in
Europe
31. When the cartoonist writes “Boys, Meet a Real
One.” The word “one” is meant to represent
a. President
b. Dictator
c. American
d. World Leader
35. Benito Mussolini was the fascist dictator of
a. Italy
b. Germany
c. France
d. Denmark
36. The United States officially entered World War II
on December 8th, 1941 after which of the
following events?
a. The Battle of the Bulge
b. The sinking of an American ship by a
German submarine
c. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
d. The Germans invaded Poland
37. The Munich Conference is a good example of
what diplomatic tactic used by European
leaders?
a. brinkmanship
b. massive retaliation
c. mutually-assured destruction
d. appeasement
38. Which of the following statements best explains
the rise of totalitarian governments in Europe
during the 1930’s?
a. the people of these nations were
desperate for help in recovering from
depression
b. there was no United Nations or League
of Nations to prevent a communist
takeover
c. the philosophy of nihilism was to spread
across war-ravaged Europe
d. the people despised democracy
because the United States was
prospering in the 1930’s
39. What was the diplomatic position taken by the
United States in the years prior to their
involvement in World War II?
a. unilateralism
b. neutrality
c. mobilization
d. intervention
40. Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease Act proposal was
intended to do which of the following?
a. give aid to German minorities stuck
behind enemy lines
b. provide arms for Allies to use against
Germany
c. forgive the WWI debts of the Allies
d. allow U.S. companies the rights to sell
supplies to any Allied nation
41. Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the
American people
a. Were anxious to get involved in World
War II
b. Wished to stay out of European affairs
c. Were already sending soldiers and
weapons to England to fight
d. Supported selling weapons and supplies
to the Allies in Europe but didn’t want to
send soldiers
42. How did the United States respond to the rise of
militarists and dictators in Japan, Germany, and
Italy before 1937?
a. It offered economic aid to the militarists
and dictators
b. It built up its military forces and offered
arms to threatened nations
c. It joined the League of Nations to
prevent the leaders from getting too
strong
d. It tried to remain isolated from European
conflicts
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43. In 1939, France and Great Britain declared war
on Germany as a direct result of German
a. Annexation of Austria
b. Occupation of the Rhineland
c. Seizure of the Sudetenland
d. Invasion of Poland
44. Germany’s coordinated air and ground attack
that overtook much of Europe was known as
a. Kristallenacht
b. Fascism
c. Blitzkrieg
d. Mein Kampf
45. In the Battle of Britain,
a. The British sunk most of the German
ships that crossed the English Cannel
b. The British Royal Air Force saved
Britain from invasion
c. British troops defeated the ground
invasion by the Germans
d. The German air force destroyed the
British Royal Air Force
46. Which of the following battles marked the turning
point in the Pacific Theatre when the United
States stopped Japanese expansion?
a. Iwo Jima
b. Midway
c. Okinawa
d. El Alamein
47. Why was the Battle of the Bulge such an
important Allied victory?
a. It was the first Allied victory on the
European continent since the fall of
France
b. It was the beginning of the combined
Allied assault on Japan
c. It marked the last significant attack by
the Germans against the Allies
d. It demonstrated the superiority of Allied
air power in the Pacific
48. Which of the following was an Axis power during
World War II?
a. Russia
b. France
c. Germany
d. United States
49. D-Day was the Allied invasion of
a. France
b. Germany
c. Italy
d. Russia
50. How did the Battle of Okinawa affect Allied plans
for the war?
a. It led the Allies to abandon their strategy
of island hopping
b. It forced the Allies to wait until the Soviet
Union could fight in the Pacific
c. It shifted Allied strategy from a ground
war to an air war
d. It made the Allies consider the human
cost of a land invasion of Japan and be
more willing to use the atomic bomb.
51. The decision to drop the Atomic bomb in World
War II was made by
a. Harry Truman
b. Lyndon Johnson
c. Franklin Roosevelt
d. Theodore Roosevelt
52. The Russian Army had a major victory against
the Germans that was a turning point in the war
at
a. Moscow
b. Stalingrad
c. Berlin
d. Kiev
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53. The Double V campaign in the United States
called for victory against Hitler in Europe and
a. Segregation and discrimination in the
United States
b. Japan in the Pacific
c. Political corruption in city governments
d. Poverty in the United States
54. Korematsu v. the United States supported which
of the following war time policies?
a. Internment of Japanese
b. Discrimination in hiring practices of
African Americans
c. The decision to firebomb Japanese
cities
d. The employment of women in industry
Use the image to answer question 55.
56. How did the U.S. government help convert the
economy to a wartime economy?
a. By giving loans to companies to convert
to war production
b. By allowing most factories to continue
producing commercial goods
c. By buying wartime goods from Great
Britain
d. By closing down most automobile
factories
57. During the war, which of the following events did
not happen?
a. An executive order regarding
discrimination in the workplace
b. Women working in factories and
shipyards
c. Mexican farm workers assisting in
harvesting crops
d. A Supreme Court decision striking down
relocation
58. How did African Americans gain more access to
defense industry jobs during World War II?
a. General Eisenhower persuaded
companies to hire them
b. Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass
a bill that guaranteed equal access
c. Roosevelt signed an order for equal
access after A. Philip Randolph
threatened to lead a protest
d. Business leaders like Henry Ford
showed other business owners that
equal rights in employment was the best
policy
59. How did the U.S. government help convert the
economy to a wartime economy?
a. By giving loans to companies to convert
to war production
b. By allowing most factories to continue
producing commercial goods
c. By buying wartime goods from Great
Britain
d. By closing down most automobile
factories
55. This propaganda poster from World War II
encouraged women to
a. work in the factories during the war
b. join the WAC
c. produce more children
d. ration their household supplies
60. Because of the Selective Training and Service
Act that was passed
a. American men could be drafted during
peacetime
b. American draftees were allowed to
select the branch in which they wished
to serve
c. the United States instituted a draft for
the first time
d. women could be drafted