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1920s, Great Depression , & New Deal

Total questions: 15

Worksheet time: 10mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

This summary describes a major banking reform.

During the first years of the Great Depression, banks failed quickly. In 1933 Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Banking Act, which protected consumers by prohibiting banks from engaging in both commercial banking, which involved making loans, and investment banking, which involved brokering sales of stocks and bonds. Which statement provides an analysis of how the Glass-Steagall Act affected the economic system of the United States?

a)

It reduced the number of banks that qualified for government bailouts.

b)

The act encouraged competition among financial institutions for investments.

c)

The act increased the level of government regulation of private businesses.

d)

It slowed economic growth by discouraging consumers from investing in stock

2.

How did the persistence of poverty impact the creation of the agencies above?

a)

Massive loss of jobs and income required government intervention to stabilize employment

b)

Massive loss of government power required charities to create new organizations to handle poverty.

c)

Growth in government caused GDP to decline and as a result forced the states to provide relief.

d)

Growth in the income gap forced the government to create agencies to spread the wealth around.

3.

This table shows changes in union membership from 1930 to 1940.


What was a cause of the change shown in this table?

a)

The creation of the Social Security Administration

b)

A decline in industrial productivity

c)

The passage of the Wagner Act

d)

A drop in job security

4.

What did Franklin Roosevelt wish to achieve through deficit spending?

a)

Job creation for the unemployed workers

b)

Government ownership of the financial sector

c)

Trade agreements with foreign countries

d)

Government control of industrial production

5.

Which criticism of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff is valid?

a)

High tariff rates benefited foreign producers while harming business in the United States.

b)

Products from the United States were affordable despite the legislation.

c)

Availability of inexpensive foreign products harmed manufacturers in the United States.

d)

High tariff rates in the United States deepened the worldwide depression.

6.

The list below contains various government organizations and actions that came about during the 1930s.


*Securities and Exchange Commission

*National Recovery Administration

*Public Works Administration

*Glass-Steagall Act


Each of these organizations and congressional actions are evidence of which of the following?

a)

An influence of Social Darwinism in policy decisions

b)

A move towards deregulation of the economy

c)

A movement towards laissez-faire economic policies

d)

A departure from laissez-faire economic policies

7.

During the early 1900s a Great Migration occurred as African Americans moved from Southern states to Northern cities.


Which push factor explains the information in the graph above?

a)

Laws prohibiting discrimination in the North

b)

Improved cultural opportunities in rural areas of the North

c)

Desire to escape tenant farming poverty in the South

d)

Wartime demand for skilled workers from the South

8.

The image above is the result of what situation that emerged in the 1930s?

a)

Conflict between different branches of government over whether or not to join foreign wars

b)

A stronger relationship between the executive branch and judicial branch because of consensus on New Deal legislation

c)

A perfect balance of power between the three branches of government

d)

Conflict between different branches of government over the constitutionality of New Deal legislation

9.

The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s was a period when African Americans

a)

migrated to the West in search of land and jobs

b)

used civil disobedience to fight segregation in the Armed Forces

c)

left the United States in large numbers to settle in Nigeria

d)

created noteworthy works of art and literature

10.

Which events best support the image of the 1920’s as a decade of nativist sentiment?

a)

the growth of the auto industry and the Teapot Dome Affair

b)

the Scopes trial and the passage of women’s suffrage

c)

the passage of the National Origins Act and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan

d)

the Washington Naval Conference and the Kellogg-Briand Pact

11.

“Public Ignores Prohibition Restrictions”


“Evolution and Creation Debated in Scopes Trial”


“Women Bring Change to the Industrial Workforce”


What do headlines such as these from the 1920s illustrate?

a)

conflict between traditional and modern values

b)

trend toward mass consumption of consumer goods

c)

debate over the role of government in the economy

d)

hostility of certain groups toward ethnic minorities

12.

The popularity of escapist novels like John Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath, and movies during the Great Depression is evidence that

a)

the greatest employment opportunities for the average person in the 1930’s were in the field of entertainment

b)

American society did not try to solve the problems of the Great Depression

c)

popular culture is shaped by economic and social conditions

d)

the Great Depression was not really a time of economic distress

13.

The Sherman Antitrust Act, the Social Security Act, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are examples of

a)

Federal laws designed to protect consumers from unsafe products

b)

the Federal Government’s attempts to deregulate big business

c)

the Federal Government’s response to changes in the economy

d)

Federal laws designed to control spending

14.

Which generalization can best be drawn from the experiment with national Prohibition (1919–1933)?

a)

People will sacrifice willingly for the common good

b)

social attitudes can make laws difficult to enforce

c)

Morality can be legislated successfully

d)

Americans resent higher taxes

15.

The New Deal changed political thinking in the United States because it supported the idea that the

a)

rights of workers are less important than the interests of business

b)

Supreme Court should have an important role to play in the economy

c)

government should become more involved in the social and economic life of the people

d)

president’s foreign policy is more important than his domestic policy