U.S. History Quiz: WWII Era

Following the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt

• declared the United States would remain neutral.

• declared the United States would be the "arsenal of democracy."

• sent American military advisers to England.

• ordered a "preparedness" campaign much like Woodrow Wilson had in 1916.

• was unsure whether a majority of Americans supported Germany.

By the middle of 1940, Germany had defeated

• Norway.

• Denmark.

• France.

• the Netherlands.

• All these answers are correct.

The American ambassador to London who insisted in 1940 that the British plight was already hopeless was

• Neville Chamberlain.

• Joseph Kennedy.

• Gerald Nye.

• Burton Wheeler.

• Wendell Willkie.

President Franklin Roosevelt's decision in 1940 to give fifty American destroyers to England

• was cancelled by Congress.

• circumvented the cash-and-carry provision of the Neutrality Acts.

• was in response to requests by the U.S. ambassador to London.

• both circumvented the cash-and-carry provision of the Neutrality Acts and was in response to requests by the U.S. ambassador to London.

• None of these answers is correct.

In July 1940, opinion polls showed the clear majority of the American public

• believed Germany posed a direct threat to the United States.

• were strongly against any involvement by the United States in the war.

• thought the United States should immediately declare war on Germany.

• believed it would be a waste to aid England, as that nation would soon fall to Germany.

• believed Japan was a greater threat to the United States than the war in Europe.

The Burke-Wadsworth Act of 1940

• reaffirmed the desires of isolationists to stay out of the war.

• approved sending U.S. weapons to England.

• approved the first peacetime draft in American history.

• saw the United States end all trade with any nation allied with Nazi Germany.

• repealed the 1935 and 1937 Neutrality Acts.

The America First Committee

• was a powerful lobby against U.S. involvement in the war.

• was strongly opposed by both major political parties.

• called for increased U.S. assistance to England without any actual intervention.

• was made up largely of Democrats who favored diplomacy to end the war.

• tried and failed to enlist the support of Charles Lindbergh.

In the election of 1940, Franklin Roosevelt

• selected Henry Wallace as his new running mate.

• won a closely contested electoral college victory for his third term.

• removed Harry Truman from the ticket at the request of conservatives.

• both selected Henry Wallace as his new running mate, and won a closely contested electoral college victory for his third term.

• None of these answers is correct.

In 1940, the "lend-lease" plan

• allowed the U.S. to loan weapons to England, to be returned or paid for when the war was over.

• saw England agree to allow jobless Americans to enlist in the British military.

• saw England allow the construction of American military bases in British territory.

• saw the U.S. lend funds to the Allies so they could lease war supplies from the U.S.

• was extremely controversial and barely passed the Senate.

By September 1941,

• Germany had agreed with Japan to fight against the United States.

• the United States extended lend-lease privileges to the Soviet Union.

• President Roosevelt made a secret agreement to send American troops to England.

• Germany claimed it had no interest in engaging America in war.

• the German navy had begun to sink American destroyers, including the Reuben James.