AMH2020 final exam

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union...

a. wanted to influence the third world to support its side

b. failed to understand that other factors, besides allegiance to communism or capitalism, contributed to the situations in various third world countries.

c. fought proxy wars instead of fighting each other directly

d. all of the above

d

Fidel Castro led the overthrow of...

a dictatorship that was friendly to U.S. corporations

Initially Fidel Castro's revolution had mass popular support because...

Most Cubans hated Batista, a brutal dictator supported by U.S. corporations

Kennan's "Long Telegram" was the basis for what?

The "containment" policy.

Lyndon Johnson's administration escalated the war in Vietnam with Congressional approval after which of the following?

The Gulf of Tonkin incident.

The Marshall Plan...

Was a successful, non-violent U.S. foreign policy that sought to contain Communism by rebuilding war-torn economies in Western Europe.

The process of dismantling European colonial empires after WWII is called...

Decolonization.

What do Novikov's and Kennan's telegrams suggest about the origins of the Cold War?

That each side saw itself as acting defensively against an aggressive opponents.

What showed that the U.S. position in Vietnam was worse than the Johnson administration had claimed and caused Johnson to renounce his candidacy for the 1968 presidential election?

The Tet Offensive.

Which of the following best describes how Ho Chi Minh viewed the Vietnam conflict, according to his 1967 letter?

a. Ho Chi Minh believed that he was fighting an anti-imperialistic war in order to gain independence for Vietnam.

b. Ho Chi Minh's main goal was to destroy American liberty, which explains why the U.S. fought a war against him.

c. Ho Chi Minh sought to spread Communism to the entire world, which was his priority over Vietnamese independence.

d. Ho Chi Minh knew that he was a pawn of the Soviet Union, and so sided with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

a

Which of the following contributed to the start of the Cold War?

a. The U.S. and Soviets had different visions for Germany

b. The U.S. sent troops to Vietnam

c. The Soviets sent troops to India

d. The CIA attempted to overthrow a Latin American dictator

a

Which of the following contributed to the start of the Cold War?

a. ideological differences between the United States and the Soviet Union.

b. each side lacked an understanding of the other side.

c. the creation of nuclear weapons

d. all of the above.

d

Which of the following is true regarding Kennan's Long Telegram?

a. It shows Kennan's view of how the Soviet Union viewed the United States and the West in general.

b. It proved that the Soviet Union was aggressive and sought world domination.

c. Its content can be taken as absolute fact without considering the source of the information.

d. Kennan argued for a physical war against the Soviet Union.

a

Which of the following lines from Johnson's letter to Ho Chi Minh (1967) provides evidence that Johnson was fighting in Vietnam because he viewed it as part of the Cold War?

a. "I have noted public statements by representatives of your government suggesting that you would be prepared to enter into direct bilateral talks with representatives of the U.S. Government, provided that we ceased "unconditionally" and permanently our bombing operations against your country and all military actions against it."

b. "We have tried over the past several years, in a variety of ways and through a number of channels, to convey to you and your colleagues our desire to achieve a peaceful settlement. For whatever reasons, these efforts have not achieved any results. . . ."

c. "In view of your public position, such action on our part would inevitably produce worldwide speculation that discussions were under way and would impair the privacy and secrecy of those discussions."

d. "I am prepared to order a cessation of bombing against your country and the stopping of further augmentation of U.S. forces in South Viet-Nam as soon as I am assured that infiltration into South Viet-Nam by land and by sea has stopped."

d

Who held the office of the president in the 1960s?

Kennedy and Johnson.

What was the key lesson that Che Guevara took from the situation in Guatemala?

That democratic societies were vulnerable to U.S. CIA intervention.

Who were most responsible for getting the U.S. involved in the conflict in Vietnam as Kinzer pointed out?

John Foster Dulles and Allan Dulles.

Which company's close ties with the U.S. resulted in a CIA backed coup d'etat in Guatemala?

The United Fruit Company

Why did Stephen Kinzer, who began as a daily journalist, conduct historical research?

a. He wanted to understand what created the situations that he was covering as a journalist.

b. As he traveled to other places on assignment he wanted to know "why is this country like this."

c. He wanted to understand the implications of what is happening today for the future.

d. All of the above.

d

Which of the following is true regarding U.S. foreign policy in the 1950s?

a. It was focused on the Soviet Union and the U.S. did not bother with other states.

b. It was characterized by well-known invasions of sovereign states that the Americans people wanted to topple.

c. It was characterized by covert coup d'etats in a secret war against those the brothers did not like.

d. It was dominated by isolationism when the U.S. retreated after WWII.

c

When was the Brown decision finally enforced, resulting in Southern schools desegregating?

The late 1960s and early 1970s after the Civil Rights Act was passed and additional Supreme Court cases closed loopholes.

Why was there a consensus culture during the 1950s?

a. An increase in prosperity and income inequality was lower than it was at the end of the 19th century or at the beginning of the 21st century.

b. The Cold War, especially the hysteria of the 1950s Red Scare, encouraged people to agree with the government for fear of being seen as a communist.

c. A majority of Americans were able to live middle class lives and many moved to the suburbs.

d. All of the above.

d

Did Nixon end up supporting liberal policies?

Yes, he did not overturn the New Deal and Great Society programs, and then he supported the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

How did Cold War rhetoric influence the social movements?

Activists sought to make the rhetoric of a free and equal American society that supports democracy throughout the world a reality.

In which decade did music (such as disco and country), clothing styles, and television begin to reflect a more diverse America while moving away from the "monolith" of popular culture as white, male, and conservative?

The 1970s.

Nixon's "tough on crime" alluded to what?

That Nixon would not support Civil Rights protests.

What challenged the view that the 1950s were a time of "consensus" with equal opportunity for all?

Persistent discrimination including racial and gender discrimination.

What contributed to the post-war economic boom?

a. The HOLC, the FHA, and the G.I. Bill increased home ownership by allowing long-term, low interest mortgages.

b. Government spending to provide loans to veterans, subsidies for corporate research and development, and funding for an interstate highway system.

c. Credit cards allowed consumers could buy desired appliances immediately instead of waiting to safe up money, thus further fueling demand.

d. All of the above.

d

What did the Kerner Commission Report conclude?

That the civil unrest was the result of racism embedded within American institutions.

What explains why most of the Deep South first abandoned the Democratic Party and voted for Goldwater in 1964 and later supporting George Wallace, who ran as an Independent?

They turned away from the Democratic Party because of Kennedy's and especially Johnson's support for the African-American Civil Rights movement.

What inspired the American Indian Movement, the Chicano Movement, and the feminist movement?

The Civil Rights Movement.

Which aspect of King's movement is often forgotten, as the Yawp points out?

His support for economic justice.

Which of the following best describes Martin Luther King's methods and goal, as he explained them in his Letter from Birmingham Jail?

a. He refused to apologize for not waiting and for conducting non-violent campaigns that focused on writing letters, narratives, and stories to persuade the public to turn against racism and racial inequality.

b. Breaking unjust laws while remaining non-violent to illuminate the violent racism that black people faced, particularly in Southern communities, which would give his movement the moral high ground.

c. Breaking laws and using all means necessary to achieve racial equality.

d. Non-violence

b

Which of the following best describes "black power" as SNCC described it in its 1966 position paper?

a. SNCC argued that black people needed to triumph over the white man by any means necessary including through the use of violence.

b. SNCC implied that white and black activists should and would work together to solve the problems within black communities.

c. SNCC maintained that black people had to become the business leaders and political leaders of all Americans including all white communities.

d. SNCC contended that African-Americans needed to create their own identity and their own institutions, along with running their own communities, in order to achieve black self-determination.

d

Which of the following contributed to the move to the political right after 1968?

It was a reaction against the social movements of the 60s.

Which of the following is true of Lyndon Johnson?

a. He attempted to combat poverty and racial injustice while president.

b. He reversed most of Kennedy's policies and fired his cabinet members.

c. He, like most Democrats from the South, supported racial segregation

d. All of the above.

a

Which of the following is true of the Civil Rights Movement?

a. All civil rights activists were Communists because they sought equality in U.S. society.

b. The president most associated with the movement and civil rights legislation is Eisenhower.

c. The movement was confined to the South and never moved into the North or the West.

d. Civil rights activists faced violent opposition as white mobs and Southern police forces beat and sometimes killed in an attempt to maintain the Jim Crow system.

d

Which of the following is true of the post-war housing boom?

a. The only cause of the boom was servicemen trying to return to normalcy after the war; they sought the life they had before the way years.

b. Working and middle-class white Americans were assisted by the government in buying homes (and thus gaining equity), yet racial and ethnic minorities were excluded from such benefits.

c. All who worked hard could buy a house, even without government intervention in the mortgage market.

d. All of the above.

b

Which of the following is true regarding the social welfare policies in the 1950s and 1960s?

a. Johnson modeled his domestic policy on Eisenhower's because he viewed Eisenhower as a moderate.

b. Eisenhower's policies showed that there was no consensus on domestic policy among the presidents of the 1940s through the 1960s.

c. Eisenhower accepted the basic outlines of the New Deal and Johnson went beyond the New Deal to fight a "war on poverty."

d. Eisenhower dismantled the New Deal and Johnson rebuilt it.

c

Why did the Civil Rights movement happen when it did?

a. The advent of TV.

b. The rhetoric of the Cold War.

c. A rising black middle class and black membership in Northern unions.

d. All of the above.

d

What is the "lesson learned" from Nixon's trip to China?

That although violent conflicts tend to gain more attention, it is effective diplomacy (states talking and compromising with one another) that does much to affect change, avoid wars, and improve the world.

Americans became increasingly aware of their dependence on foreign oil after...

The OPEC embargo in 1973-74, which had been a response to U.S. support of Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

What contributed to the economic downturn of the 1970s?

a. Inflation caused by increased oil prices, along with U.S. government spending in the 1960s without sufficiently raising taxes.

b. The long-term process of the decline in manufacturing thanks to automation (technological innovation) and globalization.

c. The U.S. faced competition from other rising states, particularly Japan and Germany.

d. All of the above.

d

Which of the following is true regarding the end of the Cold War?

a. That Gorbachev sought to reform the Soviet Union because of the strain it was under as a consequence of military spending and the cost of the Soviet-Afghan War.

b. The Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed Star Wars, achieved its goal of creating a missile defense shield, which made all non-American nuclear missiles obsolete.

c. Reagan's speech ordering Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" and his refusal to talk with the Soviets brought an immediate end to the Soviet Union.

d. All of the above.

a

Which of the following was a consequence of Reagan's economic policy?

a. It forced the government to stop spending so much money.

b. It made the U.S. a creditor nation instead of a debtor nation.

c. Tax cuts, especially for the top tax bracket, along with increases in defense spending and a continuation of "entitlement" programs led to the highest deficit in U.S. history up to that point.

d. Government borrowing had the effect of keeping the U.S. dollar high, which protected domestic industry, causing the American car industry to grow dramatically.

c

Which of the following is true regarding Nixon's policy toward Vietnam?

a. The anti-war movement went away during Nixon's term because people could see that the war was coming to an end, especially when Nixon refused to expand the war through increased bombing.

b. Although the war took longer than expected, Nixon succeeded in winning the war and preventing the Communist North from expanding its control.

c. After running on a campaign for peace and victory in 1968, Nixon immediately succeeded in winning the war in Vietnam and bringing it to an end in his first term.

d. His and Kissinger's plan was to train and arm the South Vietnamese to fight alone against North Vietnam while the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam.

d

What was détente?

A thawing of the Cold War through a more cooperative U.S. foreign policy with Soviets; it was characterized by agreements such as SALT I.

Why was there anti-American sentiment in Iran (between 1953 and 1979)?

Because the U.S. supported the Shah, who was corrupt and brutally silence dissenters; many Iranians saw the Shah as a puppet of the U.S.

How did Carter respond to stagflation?

He supported conservative policies such as cutting government spending, deregulating the airline and trucking industries, and supporting the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates.

Which of the following contributed the most to Carter losing the 1980 election and Reagan winning the presidential election?

a. Carter's role in the Camp David Accords.

b. Revelations that Carter's administration supported right-wing governments in Latin America, even though Congress had explicitly made such actions illegal.

c. Carter regaining control over Panama, and so appearing to be an imperialist.

d. The Iranian Hostage Crisis, which made Carter look weak, even though his administration negotiated the release of the hostages.

d

What was the Carter Doctrine?

The U.S. would use force to protect its oil interest in the Middle East.

Which of the following were part of the coalition that allowed Reagan to win the presidency?

a. Evangelicals who made up the "Moral Majority."

b. The white working class that resented the gains that African-Americans had made, along with economic conservatives whose economic policies would actually go against the economic populist part of the party.

c. Cold War hawks, who favored his harsh rhetoric toward the Soviet Union.

d. All of the above.

d

How did Reagan's stance toward to Soviet Union change by his second term? Why did he change?

He shifted to a more moderate and conciliatory policy because his earlier harsh rhetoric and policies almost contributed to a nuclear war.

What was the Iran-Contra Scandal?

Reagan's administration secretly sold weapons to Iran in order to illegally fund the counter-revolutionaries in Nicaragua

Which of the following is true regarding Reagan's policies?

a. He got rid of Medicare and Medicaid, as his campaigns suggested he would.

b. He increased funding and regulations for mental health, leading to better funded and functioning mental health hospitals.

c. He supported unions to help the working class, especially those in manufacturing, in order to combat the general long-term trend of a decline in manufacturing.

d. He cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans, which it was argued would create more wealth that would trickle-down to the middle and lower classes. The wages for the lower and middle classes did not rise, but income inequality did.

d

Which of the following was an example of Nixon & Kissinger pursuing détente?

a. Nixon's visit to China, and the subsequent opening up of relations between the two countries.

b. Nixon's dismissal of the Atmospheric Test Ban treaty.

c. Nixon's expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia.

d. Nixon placing an embargo against OPEC countries.

Who checked the power of Nixon after the Watergate break-in, its cover up, and Nixon refusal to cooperate with a Congressional investigation?

The free press revealing the executive branch's connection to the Watergate burglars, and then the the House Judiciary Committee's approving a bill of impeachment.

What contributed to the decline in union power and membership?

a. A belief that "Big Labor" had become corrupt, fueled by Republican rhetoric.

b. Automation and relocation of manufacturing plants.

c. Racism in the working class combined with a lack of political support for unions as Democrats began to think that individual failure rather than systemic failure led to poverty.

d. All of the above.

d

What contributed to the rising income and wealth inequality after the 1960s?

a. A less progressive tax code.

b. Growing international competition and technological efficiency stunted working- and middle-class wages.

c. Deregulation of prison labor and mass incarceration decreased jobs available to free labor.

d. All of the above.

d

Which of the following is true regarding the rise of the Sun Belt?

a. Southern states had the educational infrastructure necessary to produce highly educated, skilled workers to fill high-wage jobs.

b. The post-WWII economic growth of the South was based on federal subsidies, military spending, and cheap labor.

c. Companies moved South because the wages workers made in the South were less than those in the unionized North.

d. All of the above.

d