Second-Semester Exam Review Sheet
Modern American History
World War II
What did imperialism lead the governments of
Italy, Germany and Japan to do during the
1930s?
• Created empires by dominating weaker
nations economically, politically, culturally, or
militarily
Why did the U.S. government evacuate Japanese
Americans from the West Coast during World War II?
• The bombing of Pearl Harbor caused prejudice
and fears.
How did United States get out of the Great
Depression?
• They began to build military production of
goods for World War II.
Why did Hitler want to rid Germany of Jewish
people?
• Hitler blamed the Jews for the defeat in WWI
and the economic situation of Germany
• Hitler wanted to remove all undesirable
persons from positions of power
The U.S.’s island-hopping strategy in the Pacific
Ocean was designed to end where?
• Japan
What was the purpose of the Manhattan project?
• develop an atomic bomb
What historical events contributed to the rise of
Hitler and Mussolini?
• The Great Depression and the Treaty of
Versailles
Why did the Japanese attack the U.S. at Pearl
Harbor?
• The U.S. restricted the sale of oil and steel to
limit Japanese expansion.
• Destroy the United States Naval Fleet
Which jobs did American women begin to fill as
men headed off to war?
• Worked in factories as steelworkers and
welders
What attack finally ended World War II?
• The dropping of atomic bombs by the United
States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Cold War & Vietnam
What was the Cold War?
• Democracy v Communism
• Capitalism v Communism
• American and Soviet isolationism
What impact did Senator Joseph McCarthy have
on American Society?
• It encouraged a widespread fear of
Communism
Why did the U.S. want to keep oil-rich Arab
nations from becoming Communist?
• The United States wanted prevent oil-rich
Arab nations from falling under Soviet
influence
What is a satellite nation?
• Nations dominated or controlled by the Soviet
Union
What principle was the goal of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO)?
• The principle of collective security
What was the goal of the Marshall Plan?
• Create stable democracies in Europe that
could resist communism
• Economic Aide to help rebuild Europe
What policy prompted the U.S. to enter the
Korean Conflict?
• The policy of containment
How was Korea divided after the Korean War?
• 38th parallel
• Two nations, one democratic and one
communist
What is deterrence?
• The policy of making U.S. military power so
strong that no enemy would attack for fear of
retaliation
How did Sputnik change America?
• The united States Congress increased
spending on teaching science and
mathematics
What is a franchise system (example:
McDonald’s)?
• A business that contracts to offer certain
goods or services from a larger parent
company
• They would replace many unique stores who
had ties with the local community?
What happened as a result of the Cuban Missile
Crisis?
• The Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba.
What best describes the guiding principle behind
the foreign policies of Kennedy and Johnson?
• They wanted to stop the spread of
communism
Why did the Soviets build the Berlin Wall?
• To stop East Germans from fleeing to the
democratic or capitalist West
What was the goal of the Peace Corps?
• Program established to send volunteers to
help developing nations around the world
When did President Kennedy say NASA would
land a man on the moon?
• The Year 1961
How did television change the way Americans
felt about war during the Vietnam War?
• They felt bad because it showed the brutality
of the war into people’s living rooms
What is a conscientious objector?
• People who opposed fighting the war on
moral or religious grounds
What principle became associated with U.S.
involvement in Southeast Asia ?
• The domino theory
Why did refugees from Southeast Asia come to
the U.S. after the Vietnam War?
• To escape persecution, starvation and labor
camps
Why did the Vietnam War finally end in 1975?
• North Vietnam gained control over all of
Vietnam
Civil Rights
What did the Supreme Court decision in Brown
v. Board of Education end?
• The “separate but equal” doctrine
Why were even civil rights opponents shocked by television
coverage of the way police handled non-violent protests?
• They were shocked by the police violence.
What was the goal of the March on Washington
(1963)?
• Try to convince Congress to pass civil rights
legislation
What policy did Martin Luther King, Jr. and
other members of the SCLC encourage?
• Nonviolent protests
What was the goal of the Selma march?
• Wanted to get voting rights legislation passed
What was the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
• Gave African Americans the right to vote.
Before his pilgrimage to Mecca, what did
Malcolm X encourage African Americans to do?
• To separate themselves from white society
What were Freedom Rides supposed to test?
• A Supreme Court decision that declared bus
segregation illegal
What did Black Panthers want African
Americans to do?
• Become self-sufficient and lead their own
communities
What was President Johnson’s “Great Society”?
• He wanted to end poverty
• He created a group of antipoverty programs
What was perestroika and glasnost?
• They helped cause the fall of Communist
regimes in Eastern Europe.