Social Studies American History: Reconstruction to the Present Guided Reading Workbook
1st EditionHOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT
1,031 solutions
United States History: Independence to 1914, California Edition
1st EditionDeborah Gray White, William Deverell
1,024 solutions
The American Republic Since 1877
2nd EditionAlan Brinkley, Albert S. Broussard, Donald A. Ritchie, James M. McPherson, Joyce Appleby
1,370 solutions
The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century
1st EditionGerald A. Danzer, J. Jorge Klor de Alva, Larry S. Krieger, Louis E. Wilson, Nancy Woloch
614 solutions
"The truth of the matter is that Europe's requirements for the next 3 or 4 years of foreign food and other essential products -- principally from America -- are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help, or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very grave character.
The remedy lies in breaking the vicious circle and restoring the confidence of the European people in
the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole.
... Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political
stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist."
-- George C. Marshall, remarks made at Harvard University on June 5, 1947
Which broad U.S. policy goal of the mid-twentieth century was supported by the implementation of the policy proposed in this speech?
A.Reduction in the role of the federal government in relation to state authority
B.Increased equality of opportunity through expansion of civil and human rights abroad
C.Political and economic resistance to the spread of Soviet communist influence abroad
D.Widespread reduction of poverty through active government intervention abroad
"By the end of 1949, only one out of three heroines in the women's
magazines was a career woman—and she was shown in the act of renouncing her career and discovering that what she really wanted to be was a housewife. In 1958, and again in 1959, I went through issue after issue of the three major women's magazines (the fourth, Woman's Home Companion, had died) without finding a single heroine who had a career, a commitment to any work, art, profession, or mission in the world, other than "Occupation: housewife." Only one in a hundred heroines had a job; even the
young unmarried heroines no longer worked except at snaring a husband."
--Betty Friedan, journalist, The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963
The mid-20th century idealization of womanhood as described by Friedan is most like which conception of womanhood from the 19th century?
A.Moral superiority of women
B.Women's role earning income outside the home, such as in the factories
C.Limiting of "women's" work to social reform efforts
D.Women's separate sphere of domesticity
"Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We
annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and
livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can
compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
-- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, speech delivered threedays before the expiration of his second term in 1961
The debate reflected in this speech is most reflective of which of the following periods of U.S. history?
A.Roaring Twenties, during which the United States underwent a return to isolationism
B.Cold War, during which the United States and Soviet Union struggled for global supremacy
C.Great Depression, during which the United States saw a massive increase in federal power
D.World War II, during which the United States experienced a rapid increase in war production
"Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both
demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be
expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.
"We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that
it does."
— from U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954
Which of the following was an immediate effect of the U.S. Supreme Court decision excerpted here?
A.Segregation was deemed unconstitutional in all public places.
B.States could no longer legally maintain segregated public schools.
C.Early childhood education efforts were expanded in low-income neighborhoods.
D.Minority students gained preferential treatment in college admissions.
"Although older Americans grew up jitterbugging in the 1930s, and then lost their hearts to Frank Sinatra during the war—and although there were countless efforts to soften and disguise the raw edges of the new music of the 1950s—somehow, the new music appeared hostile, and aggressive. The sensuous strut of Elvis Presley was only the most obvious example of teenage music that seemed lower-class, cacophonous, and aggressive. But music could not
be isolated, as both parents and teenagers recognized, from the seamless web of culture, centered on high schools, souped-up cars, teen magazines, and a social order of gangs, new dating customs, drive-in theaters, hair cuts, and clothes marked "inaccessible" to unsympathetic adults."
— James Gilbert, historian, A Cycle of Outrage: America's Reaction tothe Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s, published in 1986
The development described in this excerpt was in part a reaction against which of the following?
A.The postwar era saw a sharp rise in the standard of living for the American middle class.
B.Federal policies in the wake of World War II desegregated parts of society.
C.Television and other media supported conformity to a homogeneous U.S. culture.
D.The GI Bill allowed for more Americans to attain a college education than ever before.
"They rushed down the street together, digging everything in the early way they
had, which later became so much sadder and perceptive and blank. But then they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the
stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'"
- from On the Road, a novel by Jack Kerouac, 1957
Advocates of which of the following ideas would have been most supportive of the ideals expressed in this excerpt?
A.The suburbs offered a respite from the growing crime and poverty of U.S. cities.
B.Resistance to the Soviet Union was the United States' primary duty in the world.
C.African Americans deserved to share in the constitutional rights of Americans.
D.The rise of bureaucracy was damaging to the American spirit of individuality.
"We haven't built a new long-range bomber for 21 years. . . . Our land-based missiles are increasingly threatened by the many huge, new Soviet ICBM's. . . . At the same time, we're working in the START and INF negotiations with the goal of achieving deep reductions in the strategic and intermediate nuclear arsenals of both sides.
We have also
begun the long-needed modernization of our conventional forces. The Army is getting its first new tank in 20 years. The Air Force is modernizing. . . . Our nation needs a superior navy to support our military forces and vital interests overseas. . . . And we're building a real capability to assist our friends in the vitally important Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf region.
This adds up to a major effort, and it isn't cheap.
. . . Back in 1955, payments to individuals took up only about 20
percent of the Federal budget. For nearly three decades, these payments steadily increased and, this year, will account for 49 percent of the budget. By contrast, in 1955 defense took up more than half of the Federal budget. By 1980 this spending had fallen to a low of 23 percent. Even with the increase that I am requesting this year, defense will still amount to only 28 percent of the budget.
The calls for cutting back the defense budget come in nice, simple arithmetic. They're the same kind
of talk that led the democracies to neglect their defenses in the 1930's and invited the tragedy of World War II. We must not let that grim chapter of history repeat itself through apathy or neglect."
--Ronald Reagan, address to the nation on Defense and National Security, March 23, 1983
Which action of earlier administrations was most rejected by the policy goals supported in this speech?
A.Normalization of relations with communist nations
B.Containment of the expansion of communist influence
C.Military action in support of anticommunist regimes worldwide
D.Economic support for developing nations near communist strongholds