Regents US History and Government 2

Question 1

The Progressive Era (approximately 1890–1920) was primarily characterized by which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Government reforms targeting problems created by industrialization and corruption

Answer

Laissez-faire economic policies and reduced regulation

Answer

Expansion of states' rights over federal authority

Answer

Isolationist foreign policy and restricted trade

Question 2

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was designed primarily to accomplish which goal?

Accepted Answer

Break up monopolies and restore economic competition

Answer

Regulate labor unions and limit strikes

Answer

Establish the Federal Reserve banking system

Answer

Set maximum working hours for factory employees

Question 3

Which combination of factors most directly led the United States to enter World War I in 1917?

Accepted Answer

Unrestricted German submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram

Answer

Germany's invasion of Belgium and Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia

Answer

A formal military alliance with Britain and France signed in 1914

Answer

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo

Question 4

What was the primary cause of the Great Depression that began in 1929?

Accepted Answer

The stock market crash that triggered bank failures and economic collapse

Answer

A catastrophic drought that destroyed American agriculture nationwide

Answer

A major trade war with European nations that halted American exports

Answer

Government overspending that caused runaway inflation

Question 5

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs were intended to achieve which primary goals?

Accepted Answer

Provide relief to the unemployed, stimulate recovery, and reform the financial system

Answer

Prepare the military and economy for entry into World War II

Answer

Reduce the federal government's role in the economy and balance the budget

Answer

Establish a government-managed economy modeled on European socialism

Question 6

What event brought the United States into World War II as a direct combatant in December 1941?

Accepted Answer

Japan's surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Answer

Germany's invasion and occupation of France in 1940

Answer

Italy's declaration of war against the United States

Answer

Germany's declaration of war following the fall of the Soviet Union

Question 7

The Truman Doctrine, announced in 1947, committed the United States to which foreign policy position?

Accepted Answer

Supporting free peoples resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures

Answer

Providing massive economic aid to rebuild war-devastated European nations

Answer

Forming a permanent military alliance with Western European democracies

Answer

Withdrawing from European affairs and returning to pre-war isolationism