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US History Unit 8- Cold War/Civil Rights

Total questions: 25

Worksheet time: 13mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which of the following is true of the Cold War during the 1950s?

a)

the USSR and USA used atomic weapons to defeat the Nazis during World War II

b)

the USSR won the arms race by being the first to develop atomic and hydrogen bombs

c)

the United States maintained a monopoly on atomic weapons throughout the Cold War

d)

The USA used a policy of massive retaliation and brinkmanship to achieve its goals

2.

McCarthyism in the early 1950s resulted from

a)

new commitments to civil rights for African Americans

b)

opposition to the Marshall Plan

c)

charges that Communists had infiltrated the U.S. government

d)

increased public support for labor unions

3.

What was one outcome of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962?

a)

Cuba became a communist nation.

b)

The United States seized military control of Cuba.

c)

The Soviet Union withdrew its nuclear missiles from Cuba.

d)

Fidel Castro met with President John F. Kennedy.

4.

Martin Luther King hoped to confront segregation

* City police used violence against peaceful protestors

* Government leaders called for a Civil Rights Act to end segregation

What title best completes this partial outline?

a)

Freedom Rides in 1961

b)

Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955

c)

March on Birmingham in 1963

d)

March on Selma in 1965

5.

Which of the following was NOT an effect of the Interstate Highway Act of 1956?

a)

the growth of suburbs

b)

an increase in interstate trade and vacation travel by families

c)

a weakened national defense in the event of a nuclear attack on U.S. cities

d)

increased dependency on the automobile

6.

A goal of the Marshall Plan (1948) was to

a)

rebuild Japan after World War II

b)

establish a military alliance for democratic nations in Europe to protect against the USSR

c)

provide economic aid to European nations to help keep them from turning to communism

d)

provide military aid to the Warsaw Pact

7.

What was a major outcome of the Korean War (1950–1953)?

a)

Korea remained divided between democratic and communist nations.

b)

South Korea lost the war and became a communist nation.

c)

Control of Korea was turned over to the United Nations.

d)

North Korea became an ally of the United States.

8.

The immediate impact of the 1957 launch of Sputnik I was that it

a)

forced the United States to find new sources of fuel

b)

ended the period of peaceful coexistence between the United States and the Soviet Union

c)

heightened the space race as a form of Cold War competition

d)

focused attention on the need to regulate the uses of outer space

9.

“Jackie Robinson Breaks Color Barrier in Major League Baseball”

“President Truman Issues Executive Order Desegregating Armed Forces”

“NAACP Challenges School Segregation”

These headlines are most closely associated with:

a)

the effects of affirmative action programs

b)

the beginning of the modern civil rights movement

c)

Southern resistance to the Civil Rights Act of 1964

d)

a decline in African American participation in political activities

10.

Which of the following was an effect of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)?

a)

Martin Luther King formed the SCLC and became the leader of the civil rights movement

b)

The bus boycott put pressure on President Eisenhower who began work on a Civil Rights law

c)

By the end of the boycott, the city bus system continued to segregate black passengers

d)

It showed the effectiveness of "black power" and the use of force to bring about change

11.

How did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 impact the lives of African Americans?

a)

It ended literacy test requirements

b)

It ended racial segregation in all public facilities

c)

It gave the power to enforce civil rights violations to the states, not the national government

d)

It required blacks to pay a poll tax in order to vote

12.

When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, the law

a)

outlawed racial discrimination in the armed forces

b)

limited freedom of speech

c)

banned unfair immigration quotas

d)

outlawed racial segregation in public facilities

13.

A major purpose of the GI Bill (1944) was to

a)

increase the number of women working in defense industries

b)

replace the draft near the end of World War II

c)

provide federal funds for veterans to attend college and buy homes

d)

prohibit racial discrimination in the armed forces

14.

Which of these BEST describes why the United States became involved in what is known as the Korean War?

a)

The U.S knew the Soviet Union had installed missiles in North Korea.

b)

Ho Chi Minh was leading a guerilla war against non-communist forces in the South.  

c)

The U.S. feared that communist-controlled North Korea would take full control of the Korean Peninsula.

d)

The Soviet Union was attempting to invade North Korea, which would have put South Korea's democratic government in jeopardy.

15.

The original purpose of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was to

a)

prevent another world war.  

b)

create free trade between all nations. 

c)

limit pollution and the exploitation of natural resources. 

d)

provide for a defense pact against possible Soviet aggression.

16.

How did the United States respond to the Berlin Blockade [executed by the Soviets] in 1948?

a)

by airlifting food and supplies into Berlin

b)

by giving control of Berlin to the Soviets

c)

by bombing Berlin until the Soviets surrendered

d)

by sending troops to Berlin to break the blockade

17.

Which statement BEST describes the relationship between Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education?

a)

Both cases addressed the need for due process of law.

b)

Both cases dealt with the rights of minors in schools. 

c)

The Brown decision overturned the Plessy decision.  

d)

The Brown case was a precedent for the Plessy case.

18.

The Red Scare of the 1950’s was influenced by all of the following EXCEPT

a)

creation of the Interstate Highway Act.        

b)

the widening powers of the House Un-American Activities Committee.       

c)

the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg following their conviction for treason.

d)

the investigates conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy.

19.

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) was the idea that

a)

Soviets would be angry if they were attacked

b)

The Cold War would end if there was a nuclear attack

c)

If the two sides used nuclear weapons, no side would win and both would be destroyed

d)

The country of Korea should be completely communist

20.

Levittown was an important part of what post-World War II issue?

a)

suburban sprawl    

b)

nuclear pollution    

c)

civil rights movement

d)

anti-Vietnam War protests

21.

Which of the following played a major role in the election of Kennedy to the presidency?

a)

passage of the 26th amendment which gave 18 year olds the right to vote

b)

the lack of Cold War experience of the Republican candidate Richard Nixon

c)

televised presidential debates

d)

radio broadcast of election speeches

22.

Two reasons 1968 was one of the most tumultuous years in U.S. history was because of:

a)

Integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas and the election of John F. Kennedy

b)

The end of the Vietnam War and formation of the Warsaw Pact

c)

Riots at the Democratic National Convention and the assassination of Martin Luther King

d)

The assassination of Malcolm X and launching of Sputnik by the USSR

23.

In 1961, the Soviet Union responded to events in East Berlin by

a)

building the Berlin Wall

b)

offering its own Marshall Plan to East Berlin

c)

beginning the Berlin Airlift

d)

encouraging unemployed East Berliners to migrate west

24.

A major goal of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society was to

a)

end poverty in the United States

b)

provide government aid to business

c)

stop emigration from Latin America

d)

conserve natural resources

25.

What was the purpose of "SNCC" during the early years of the Civil Rights era?

a)

to provide more militant leadership to combat racism

b)

it replaced the NAACP as the dominant Civil Rights era 

c)

it coordinated students around the south in resisting segregation laws 

d)

it was a “whites only” organization created to keep whites in political power in the South