Quiz for Sources for America’s History, Chapter 27

Question

1. What is the protagonist in Lillian Smith’s story Killers of the Dream (Document 27-1) recognizing as the thing “Out There” that causes her intense feelings?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. The protagonist’s recognition of Janie’s inherent humanness and equality leads her to the conclusion that she has no rational explanation about why they cannot live together and that the Southern society’s racism and segregation makes no sense. But her love and respect for her parents makes it difficult for her to acknowledge and articulate her thoughts, and she is left attributing her intense feelings to something “Out There.”
Incorrect. The answer is c. The protagonist’s recognition of Janie’s inherent humanness and equality leads her to the conclusion that she has no rational explanation about why they cannot live together and that the Southern society’s racism and segregation makes no sense. But her love and respect for her parents makes it difficult for her to acknowledge and articulate her thoughts, and she is left attributing her intense feelings to something “Out There.”

Question

2. What did the “Declaration of Constitutional Principles” prepared by 101 southern members of the U.S. Congress in 1956 (Document 27-2) suggest about how the southern states would respond to the Brown v. Board of Education decision issued by the Supreme Court earlier that year?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. The manifesto issued by the 101 southern members of Congress in response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision essentially proclaimed that the state governments in the South would do anything in their power to resist the desegregation of their public schools. Although the manifesto ended by appealing to southerners “not to be provoked by the agitators and troublemakers invading our states and to scrupulously refrain from disorder and lawless acts,” it also warned that “This unwarranted exercise of power by the court, contrary to the Constitution, is creating chaos and confusion in the states principally affected. It is destroying the amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been created through ninety years of patient effort by the good people of both races. It has planted hatred and suspicion where there has been heretofore friendship and understanding.”
Incorrect. The answer is c. The manifesto issued by the 101 southern members of Congress in response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision essentially proclaimed that the state governments in the South would do anything in their power to resist the desegregation of their public schools. Although the manifesto ended by appealing to southerners “not to be provoked by the agitators and troublemakers invading our states and to scrupulously refrain from disorder and lawless acts,” it also warned that “This unwarranted exercise of power by the court, contrary to the Constitution, is creating chaos and confusion in the states principally affected. It is destroying the amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been created

Question

3. The actions organized and carried out by Mississippi activist Fannie Lou Hamer and her associates (Document 27-3) corresponded to which of the following approaches to the struggle for African American civil rights in the 1960s?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. Hamer and her associates, who worked to achieve black voting rights in Mississippi in the early 1960s, were a part of the movement that used the tactics of nonviolent direct action. They simply tried to exercise their constitutional rights by registering to vote and then made use of whites’ violent retaliation to bolster their arguments about the power and intransigence of southern racism.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Hamer and her associates, who worked to achieve black voting rights in Mississippi in the early 1960s, were a part of the movement that used the tactics of nonviolent direct action. They simply tried to exercise their constitutional rights by registering to vote and then made use of whites’ violent retaliation to bolster their arguments about the power and intransigence of southern racism.

Question

4. In his 1964 speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” (Document 27-4), Malcolm X advocated a new approach to black activism and endorsed which of the following tactics?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Although Malcolm X had advocated black separatism in the early 1960s, by the time he gave this speech in 1964, he had begun to change his ideas about how best to achieve black equality in the United States. In this speech, he argued that nonviolence was not sufficient to achieve black equality and that African Americans needed to use whatever means were necessary—including violent self-defense—to achieve their goals.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Although Malcolm X had advocated black separatism in the early 1960s, by the time he gave this speech in 1964, he had begun to change his ideas about how best to achieve black equality in the United States. In this speech, he argued that nonviolence was not sufficient to achieve black equality and that African Americans needed to use whatever means were necessary—including violent self-defense—to achieve their goals.

Question

5. In its 1970 “Proclamation: To the Great White Father and All His People” (Document 27-5), the organization known as Indians of All Tribes (IAT) made use of rhetoric that was intended to illustrate which of the following?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. The IAT’s “Proclamation” was written in a style that imitated and mocked the hundreds of treaties that the United States made with Native Americans and then violated when it became convenient for them to do so. The group emphasized the U.S. government’s historic mistreatment of Native Americans and issued demands it expected the government to meet.
Incorrect. The answer is d. The IAT’s “Proclamation” was written in a style that imitated and mocked the hundreds of treaties that the United States made with Native Americans and then violated when it became convenient for them to do so. The group emphasized the U.S. government’s historic mistreatment of Native Americans and issued demands it expected the government to meet.

Question

6. What does the persona of Joaquín represent in Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez’s 1967 poem “I Am Joaquín” (Document 27-6)?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Gonzalez uses the persona of Joaquín to represent Mexican Americans in a broad sense. The poem links the Chicano struggles of the 1960s back to the Aztecs’ struggle against the conquistadores and suggests that, since 1500, Mexicans and Mexican Americans had made vital contributions to American society.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Gonzalez uses the persona of Joaquín to represent Mexican Americans in a broad sense. The poem links the Chicano struggles of the 1960s back to the Aztecs’ struggle against the conquistadores and suggests that, since 1500, Mexicans and Mexican Americans had made vital contributions to American society.

Question

7. Rodolfo Gonzalez’s poem “I Am Joaquín” (Document 27-6) and the Indians of All Tribes’s “Proclamation: To the Great White Father and All His People” (Document 27-5) were both linked to which of the following trends of the 1960s?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Gonzalez’s poem and the Indians of All Tribes’s “Proclamation” represented Chicano and Native American nationalism, respectively. Inspired by black nationalist struggles, these movements called for the unity of their respective groups against white oppressors. They also advocated the creation of Chicano and Native American political and economic power, celebrations of their racial heritages, and the rejection of white cultural standards.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Gonzalez’s poem and the Indians of All Tribes’s “Proclamation” represented Chicano and Native American nationalism, respectively. Inspired by black nationalist struggles, these movements called for the unity of their respective groups against white oppressors. They also advocated the creation of Chicano and Native American political and economic power, celebrations of their racial heritages, and the rejection of white cultural standards.