Quiz for Sources for America’s History, Chapter 24

Question

1. In his January 1941 “Four Freedoms” speech (Document 24-1), Franklin Roosevelt suggested that the United States had a stake in the wars raging in Europe and Asia because those wars threatened what?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. Roosevelt stressed that the United States could not remain isolated from World War II because fascism not only threatened many nations around the world, but also threatened the freedoms that lay at the foundation of democratic society—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Roosevelt stressed that the United States could not remain isolated from World War II because fascism not only threatened many nations around the world, but also threatened the freedoms that lay at the foundation of democratic society—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Question

2. How does reporter Ernie Pyle (Document 24-2) characterize the soldiers he is with?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. Exhausted by the trials of war, one of the soldiers that Pyle talks to implores him to report to the American public about the harsh realities of war. Pyle describes the soldiers as being “hesitant and cautious. They were really the hunters, but they looked like the hunted. There was a confused excitement and a grim anxiety in their faces.”
Incorrect. The answer is c. Exhausted by the trials of war, one of the soldiers that Pyle talks to implores him to report to the American public about the harsh realities of war. Pyle describes the soldiers as being “hesitant and cautious. They were really the hunters, but they looked like the hunted. There was a confused excitement and a grim anxiety in their faces.”

Question

3. In his 1942 statement explaining why he would not cooperate with the order to register for evacuation to an internment camp (Document 24-3), what source(s) of authority did Gordon Hirabayashi cite to justify his position?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. Hirabayashi justified his refusal to register for evacuation on the basis of natural rights as they were outlined and protected by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. He said that his Christian duty required him to refuse in order to maintain the democratic standards of the United States.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Hirabayashi justified his refusal to register for evacuation on the basis of natural rights as they were outlined and protected by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. He said that his Christian duty required him to refuse in order to maintain the democratic standards of the United States.

Question

4. On what basis did the 1945 editorial in the LULAC News (Document 24-4) demand social, economic, and political equality in the United States for Americans of Latin American descent?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. The LULAC News editorial argued that discrimination against people of Latin American descent was irrational for many reasons, including their whiteness, their long history as residents of North America, and their contributions to American culture. But the group justified its call for social, economic, and political equality on the basis that Latinos and Latinas were protected by the U.S. Constitution, and that they had always been loyal Americans who served their country.
Incorrect. The answer is b. The LULAC News editorial argued that discrimination against people of Latin American descent was irrational for many reasons, including their whiteness, their long history as residents of North America, and their contributions to American culture. But the group justified its call for social, economic, and political equality on the basis that Latinos and Latinas were protected by the U.S. Constitution, and that they had always been loyal Americans who served their country.

Question

5. When the editors of LIFE magazine published the 1945 issue containing images like the one of the young boy walking along a road in the German city of Belsen at the end of the war (Document 24-5), they were aiming to convey

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. LIFE published photographs like this one in order to publicize and expose the horrors of the Holocaust and to demonstrate to Americans that their efforts had been vital for defeating the Nazis and ending their brutal reign of terror in Europe.
Incorrect. The answer is a. LIFE published photographs like this one in order to publicize and expose the horrors of the Holocaust and to demonstrate to Americans that their efforts had been vital for defeating the Nazis and ending their brutal reign of terror in Europe.

Question

6. President Harry Truman’s announcement that the United States had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima (Document 24-6) included considerable detail about why and how the atomic bomb program was located in the United States and why the scientific knowledge and technology associated with the project had been kept secret. Truman most likely decided to include this information in his announcement in order to justify his decision to whom?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. Truman and Churchill had worked together to plan the development of the atomic weapons project, and they had kept it entirely secret from Joseph Stalin and the other Allied nations. Truman’s justification and defense of the project’s location in the United States and its confidential nature would not have been particularly important to most Americans when they learned of the bomb on August 6, 1945. The information was most likely intended to address the concerns the Allies would have about how the project came to fruition and especially to placate Stalin, who had known nothing about it.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Truman and Churchill had worked together to plan the development of the atomic weapons project, and they had kept it entirely secret from Joseph Stalin and the other Allied nations. Truman’s justification and defense of the project’s location in the United States and its confidential nature would not have been particularly important to most Americans when they learned of the bomb on August 6, 1945. The information was most likely intended to address the concerns the Allies would have about how the project came to fruition and especially to placate Stalin, who had known nothing about it.