Quiz for Sources for America’s History, Chapter 22

Question

1. In “Last Statement to the Court of Massachusetts” in 1927 (Document 22-1), what reason did Bartolomeo Vanzetti suggest for why he and Nicola Sacco had been arrested, tried, and found guilty of the murder of two men in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1920?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Bartolomeo Vanzetti suggested in his statement to the court that he and Nicola Sacco had been arrested and found guilty of the murders because they were political radicals. In particular, he thought their opposition to World War I had led to their arrest and death sentence.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Bartolomeo Vanzetti suggested in his statement to the court that he and Nicola Sacco had been arrested and found guilty of the murders because they were political radicals. In particular, he thought their opposition to World War I had led to their arrest and death sentence.

Question

2. In her 1918 essay “Passing the Federal Suffrage Amendment” (Document 22-2), Carrie Chapman Catt attributed the new support for woman suffrage in America to what factor?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. Catt suggested that new support for woman suffrage came about in large part because of World War I. She wrote that in a war to “make the world safe for democracy,” it had become necessary to extend democracy to women: “Great Britain and Canada have extended suffrage to women as a war measure; France and Italy have virtually promised to do so. President Wilson, himself, has recognized it as a national war measure—a part of the struggle to make the world safe for democracy—and as such has urged it on Congress.” Yet she also believed that women’s participation in the war effort had opened men’s minds to the idea that women were capable of voting and that they had important contributions to make to American politics.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Catt suggested that new support for woman suffrage came about in large part because of World War I. She wrote that in a war to “make the world safe for democracy,” it had become necessary to extend democracy to women: “Great Britain and Canada have extended suffrage to women as a war measure; France and Italy have virtually promised to do so. President Wilson, himself, has recognized it as a national war measure—a part of the struggle to make the world safe for democracy—and as such has urged it on Congress.” Yet she also believed that women’s participation in the war effort had opened men’s minds to the idea that women were capable of voting and that they had important contributions to make to American politics.

Question

3. In point 14 of its 1924 platform (Document 22-3), the Progressive Party stated, “We denounce the mercenary system of degraded foreign policy under recent administrations in the interests of financial imperialists, oil monopolists and international bankers, which has at times degraded our state department from its high service as a strong and kindly intermediary of defenseless governments to a trading outpost for those interests and concession seekers engaged in the exploitation of weaker nations, as contrary to the will of the American people, destructive of domestic development and provocative of war.” By this statement, the Progressives were condemning which of the following?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. The Progressive Party platform was making reference to the Harding and Coolidge administrations’ cooperation with private banks that made foreign loans to stimulate growth and increase demand for American products in developing markets. Under this policy—known to its opponents as “dollar diplomacy”—American banks made high-interest loans to Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti in the 1920s and received government guarantees of repayment. The U.S. military then occupied Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti for years in order to force repayment of debt.
Incorrect. The answer is b. The Progressive Party platform was making reference to the Harding and Coolidge administrations’ cooperation with private banks that made foreign loans to stimulate growth and increase demand for American products in developing markets. Under this policy—known to its opponents as “dollar diplomacy”—American banks made high-interest loans to Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti in the 1920s and received government guarantees of repayment. The U.S. military then occupied Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti for years in order to force repayment of debt.

Question

4. Billy Sunday’s sermon “Get on the Water Wagon” (Document 22-4) illustrated the intersection of prohibition with which other themes that shaped the history of the 1920s?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Billy Sunday’s sermon emphasized the close connections between religious fundamentalism, prohibition, and the preservation of traditional social and cultural values.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Billy Sunday’s sermon emphasized the close connections between religious fundamentalism, prohibition, and the preservation of traditional social and cultural values.

Question

5. In his 1926 essay, “Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” (Document 22-5), the poet Langston Hughes described the racial mountain that stood in the way of “any true negro art in America.” The racial mountain, as Hughes conceived of it, was

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. For Hughes, the “racial mountain” consisted of the pressure African American artists felt to model their work on white traditions. He saw that pressure as destructive and affirmed the importance of black experiences and culture as the basis for truly original black art.
Incorrect. The answer is c. For Hughes, the “racial mountain” consisted of the pressure African American artists felt to model their work on white traditions. He saw that pressure as destructive and affirmed the importance of black experiences and culture as the basis for truly original black art.

Question

6. These 1920s advertisements by Chevrolet and Westinghouse (Document 22-6) induced middle-class Americans to buy consumer goods by suggesting that

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Advertisers sold products by appealing to a wide range of consumers’ dreams and desires in the 1920s. These particular advertisements featured white middle-class families, emphasized that thousands of people were choosing the featured products, and invited the reader to take part in “a new vogue that is sweeping America.”
Incorrect. The answer is a. Advertisers sold products by appealing to a wide range of consumers’ dreams and desires in the 1920s. These particular advertisements featured white middle-class families, emphasized that thousands of people were choosing the featured products, and invited the reader to take part in “a new vogue that is sweeping America.”