Quiz for Sources for America’s History, Chapter 30

Question

1. In his remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 1981 (Document 30-1), Ronald Reagan recounted the history of the American conservative movement since the mid-1950s and reveled in its 1980 victory. According to Reagan, the victorious conservatives would pursue an agenda that emphasized which of the following issues?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. In his 1981 speech, Reagan pledged to enact the conservative agenda that had emerged during the period between 1955 and 1980, which emphasized free-market economics, anticommunism, and religious traditionalism.
Incorrect. The answer is a. In his 1981 speech, Reagan pledged to enact the conservative agenda that had emerged during the period between 1955 and 1980, which emphasized free-market economics, anticommunism, and religious traditionalism.

Question

2. David Stockman’s tale of his struggles with Congress and his education about the government’s day-to-day operations (Document 30-2) defined supply-side economics as the panacea to the problems caused by which of the following systems?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. Stockman embraced supply-side economics as the way to achieve a free-market economy that would create new levels of prosperity. He believed that it would counteract the problems created by federal regulation of the economy that had been implemented by the New Deal, the Great Society, and the Carter administration’s National Energy Plan.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Stockman embraced supply-side economics as the way to achieve a free-market economy that would create new levels of prosperity. He believed that it would counteract the problems created by federal regulation of the economy that had been implemented by the New Deal, the Great Society, and the Carter administration’s National Energy Plan.

Question

3. In the 1980s film Wall Street, the protagonist, Gordon Gekko, depicted in Document 30-3 at his corporate command center, boasts: “I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them! The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed—for lack of a better word—is good. Greed is right. Greed works.” The character of Gekko and his philosophy were meant to represent what?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Gekko and his philosophy were intended to represent free-market economics taken to its logical extreme. Gekko, a Wall Street investor who was freed from regulatory restraints, “liberated” faltering corporations by acquiring them himself. He was meant to epitomize the worst elements of unregulated capitalism.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Gekko and his philosophy were intended to represent free-market economics taken to its logical extreme. Gekko, a Wall Street investor who was freed from regulatory restraints, “liberated” faltering corporations by acquiring them himself. He was meant to epitomize the worst elements of unregulated capitalism.

Question

4. In his 1986 article, “The Great Deception” (Document 30-4), Robert J. Henle described the actions undertaken by the Reagan administration in Nicaragua in the 1980s. Henle’s version of events suggested that Reagan’s approach to Nicaragua bore a close similarity to which of the following?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. Robert Henle’s description of the Reagan administration’s actions in Nicaragua suggests that the administration was undertaking an operation similar to the one the Eisenhower administration sponsored in Guatemala. In both cases, the United States sponsored covert operations to undermine a democratically elected leader based on the premise that the new government’s Marxist ideology would destabilize Central America and make the region vulnerable to communist domination.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Robert Henle’s description of the Reagan administration’s actions in Nicaragua suggests that the administration was undertaking an operation similar to the one the Eisenhower administration sponsored in Guatemala. In both cases, the United States sponsored covert operations to undermine a democratically elected leader based on the premise that the new government’s Marxist ideology would destabilize Central America and make the region vulnerable to communist domination.

Question

5. In his 1988 speech at the Democratic National Convention (Document 30-5), presidential candidate Jesse Jackson spoke about the need for Americans to unite on common ground. His vision of “common ground” consisted of which of the following elements?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. Jesse Jackson’s vision of a common ground that could serve the interests of all Americans consisted of pluralism, democracy, and economic justice. He sought to create an inclusive society in which the majority of people were empowered to act in ways that served their interests. In particular, he sought to reverse the economic policies of the Reagan administration and to provide economic justice through unions, higher wages, national health insurance, and social welfare programs.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Jesse Jackson’s vision of a common ground that could serve the interests of all Americans consisted of pluralism, democracy, and economic justice. He sought to create an inclusive society in which the majority of people were empowered to act in ways that served their interests. In particular, he sought to reverse the economic policies of the Reagan administration and to provide economic justice through unions, higher wages, national health insurance, and social welfare programs.

Question

6. Najlah Feanny-Hicks’s photograph of the 1991 parade in New York City (Document 30-6) suggests that many Americans viewed the Persian Gulf War as

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. This photograph demonstrated that many Americans saw the quick U.S. victory in the Persian Gulf War as reason to celebrate. The quick and definitive effort to force Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait confirmed for many Americans that the shame of the Vietnam era was over and that the United States was still the world’s most powerful nation and its best defender of freedom.
Incorrect. The answer is c. This photograph demonstrated that many Americans saw the quick U.S. victory in the Persian Gulf War as reason to celebrate. The quick and definitive effort to force Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait confirmed for many Americans that the shame of the Vietnam era was over and that the United States was still the world’s most powerful nation and its best defender of freedom.