Regents US History and Government 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Progressive Era (approximately 1890–1920) was primarily characterized by which of the following?
- Laissez-faire economic policies and reduced regulation
- Government reforms targeting problems created by industrialization and corruption (Correct answer)
- Expansion of states' rights over federal authority
- Isolationist foreign policy and restricted trade
Correct answer: Government reforms targeting problems created by industrialization and corruption
The Progressive Era was defined by government-led reforms to address monopolies, corruption, unsafe labor conditions, and other social problems caused by rapid industrialization.
Question 2: The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was designed primarily to accomplish which goal?
- Regulate labor unions and limit strikes
- Break up monopolies and restore economic competition (Correct answer)
- Establish the Federal Reserve banking system
- Set maximum working hours for factory employees
Correct answer: Break up monopolies and restore economic competition
The Sherman Antitrust Act targeted trusts and monopolies that eliminated competition and exploited consumers, giving the federal government authority to break them up.
Question 3: Which combination of factors most directly led the United States to enter World War I in 1917?
- Germany's invasion of Belgium and Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia
- Unrestricted German submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram (Correct answer)
- A formal military alliance with Britain and France signed in 1914
- The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo
Correct answer: Unrestricted German submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram
Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare sinking American ships and the Zimmermann Telegram proposing a German-Mexican alliance against the US pushed Congress to declare war.
Question 4: What was the primary cause of the Great Depression that began in 1929?
- A catastrophic drought that destroyed American agriculture nationwide
- The stock market crash that triggered bank failures and economic collapse (Correct answer)
- A major trade war with European nations that halted American exports
- Government overspending that caused runaway inflation
Correct answer: The stock market crash that triggered bank failures and economic collapse
The stock market crash of October 1929 wiped out investors, triggered bank failures, and collapsed consumer spending, launching the Great Depression.
Question 5: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs were intended to achieve which primary goals?
- Prepare the military and economy for entry into World War II
- Provide relief to the unemployed, stimulate recovery, and reform the financial system (Correct answer)
- Reduce the federal government's role in the economy and balance the budget
- Establish a government-managed economy modeled on European socialism
Correct answer: Provide relief to the unemployed, stimulate recovery, and reform the financial system
Roosevelt's New Deal addressed the Depression with three R's: Relief for the unemployed, Recovery of the economy, and Reform to prevent future crises.
Question 6: What event brought the United States into World War II as a direct combatant in December 1941?
- Germany's invasion and occupation of France in 1940
- Japan's surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Correct answer)
- Italy's declaration of war against the United States
- Germany's declaration of war following the fall of the Soviet Union
Correct answer: Japan's surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, destroyed much of the US Pacific Fleet and led to immediate declarations of war against Japan, then Germany and Italy.
Question 7: The Truman Doctrine, announced in 1947, committed the United States to which foreign policy position?
- Providing massive economic aid to rebuild war-devastated European nations
- Supporting free peoples resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures (Correct answer)
- Forming a permanent military alliance with Western European democracies
- Withdrawing from European affairs and returning to pre-war isolationism
Correct answer: Supporting free peoples resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures
The Truman Doctrine pledged US support for nations threatened by communist takeover, initially applied to Greece and Turkey, and became the foundation of Cold War containment policy.
Regents US History and Government 2
The Progressive Era (approximately 1890–1920) was primarily characterized by which of the following?