Chapter Twenty Six: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1929-1939

Practice Quiz:

1. The most striking characteristic of the stock market in 1929 was
a. investors’ obsession with speculation.
b. the downward trend of major stocks early in the year
c. the government’s desire to carefully regulate the market
d. the fact that the majority of wage-earning Americans were so heavily involved in it

2. How did the Great Depression affect Americans psychologically?
a. The loss of savings and employment led many Americans to abandon their faith in traditional forms of religion
b. Unemployment and poverty undermined people’s sense of self-worth and caused many to despair.
c. Most men either committed suicide or abandoned their families because they were so devastated that they could not provide for them
d. Hunger and poverty made Americans unable to think properly and make good decisions, leading to divorce and crime

3. President Herbert Hoover believed that unemployment relief
a. was justified by previous government policies.
b. would bring about dangerous inflation.
c. could promote domestic unrest.
d. should come from private charities.

4. Which of FDR’s actions ended the immediate financial crisis of the 1930s?
a. Using a calm and fatherly tone, he soothed the public’s fears during his weekly fireside chats.
b. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration spent nearly $5 billion in emergency government relief.
c. He worked with powerful European nations to advance American agricultural trade.
d. He took control of the nation’s banks, thereby restoring the public’s confidence in the banking system.

5. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was designed to
a. bring modernization and jobs to desolate areas of the upper rural South.
b. win votes in a largely Republican area of the country
c. alienate troublesome conservationists in his administration
d. test the authority of the Supreme Court

6. Young men were hired to clear land, plant trees, build bridges, and fish ponds by the
a. National Labor Relations Act.
b. National Recovery Administration.
c. Public Works Administration.
d. Civilian Conservation Corps.

7. During the Hundred Days, Roosevelt did all of the following, EXCEPT
a. propose government ownership of major industries.
b. close all the banks
c. call a special session of Congress
d. create the Agricultural Adjustment Act

8. How did the Roosevelt administration finally deal with the problem of agricultural overproduction?
a. It increased demand by giving away surplus foods to the starving urban poor.
b. It convinced farmers to stop destroying their crops.
c. It found new international markets for surplus American crops.
d. It set production limits for leading crops and paid farmers subsidies.

9. The National Recovery Administration sought to promote economic recovery by
a. reducing corporate taxes.
b. restoring competition.
c. experimenting with national economic planning.
d. implementing classical economic theory.

10. Who advocated that the federal government pay $200 each month to all Americans over the age of 60?
a. Huey Long
b. Francis Townsend
c. Father Charles Coughlin
d. Marian Anderson

11. What was the primary motivation for the passage of the Social Security Act?
a. General fear that radical elements within American society would gain power if poverty was not remedied.
b. The desire to fend off Republican challenges to Democratic policies and ensure FDR would be reelected.
c. The belief that all American citizens ought to equally enjoy the fruits of industrial society.
d. A sense of duty to ensure that all America’s citizens, especially the elderly, handicapped, and unemployed, were adequately provided for.

12. The industrial union movement of the 1930s
a. sought to organize skilled workers in particular trades.
b. had long been championed by the American Federation of Labor.
c. had been thriving for years before the Great Depression.
d. was led by John L. Lewis and the UAW.

13. The sitdown strike
a. was first used against General Motors in 1936.
b. was used only by the United Auto Workers
c. proved ineffective against corporations
d. was a time-tested technique from strikes in the 1920s

14. What role did FDR play in the shifting of African American political affiliation from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party?
a. FDR designed the TVA and NRA specifically to benefit African Americans
b. FDR appointed African Americans to high-ranking positions and criticized racial discrimination
c. FDR was the first President to appoint African Americans to governmental positions
d. FDR used the New Deal to create legislation to end segregation in the South

15. In his second term, Roosevelt was stung by each of the following EXCEPT
a. the failure of national health insurance and anti-lynching legislation
b. the defeat of minimum wage and maximum hour legislation
c. a very serious economic relapse known as the “Roosevelt recession”
d. a Republican resurgence in the 1938 elections

16. How did the creation of reform programs during the New Deal eventually lead to its demise?
a. The programs actually did nothing to change the U.S. economic situation
b. The programs required massive government spending and couldn’t be sustained
c. The progressive programs (like Social Security) couldn’t outlast political changes
d. The programs were unpopular with the general public who began to speak out