Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Seeking the American Promise: “Operation Pedro Pan: Young Political Refugees Take Flight”

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. Why was the United States willing to relax its immigration requirements and policies for Cuban immigrants in the early 1960s?

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. The United States was willing to make atypical accommodations for Cuban immigrants in the early 1960s because the government assumed that the immigrants were mere sojourners, and would return to Cuba as soon as Castro was no longer in power.
Incorrect. The answer is c. The United States was willing to make atypical accommodations for Cuban immigrants in the early 1960s because the government assumed that the immigrants were mere sojourners, and would return to Cuba as soon as Castro was no longer in power.

Question

2. Thousands of Cuban parents sent their children to the United States through Operation Pedro Pan in the early 1960s because they feared that, if their children stayed in Cuba, they would be

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Cuban parents who sent their children to the United States through Operation Pedro Pan were not worried about their children’s physical well-being, but about the kind of upbringing they would experience in Communist Cuba. For example, public schools indoctrinated students in revolutionary rhetoric, and the government required all boys to serve in the military. The CIA allegedly escalated parents’ fears by spreading the rumor that the Communist government would take kids away from their parents from age five to eighteen.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Cuban parents who sent their children to the United States through Operation Pedro Pan were not worried about their children’s physical well-being, but about the kind of upbringing they would experience in Communist Cuba. For example, public schools indoctrinated students in revolutionary rhetoric, and the government required all boys to serve in the military. The CIA allegedly escalated parents’ fears by spreading the rumor that the Communist government would take kids away from their parents from age five to eighteen.

Question

3. In the context of the Cold War, why was it significant that nearly 250,000 Cubans immigrated to the United States after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. The fact that Fidel Castro’s rise to power caused 248,000 Cubans to flee the country seemed like a symbolic slap in the face to communism. It suggested that hundreds of thousands of people would rather leave their birthplace and homeland than live in a Communist regime. This wave of immigrants was a symbolic Cold War victory for the United States.
Incorrect. The answer is a. The fact that Fidel Castro’s rise to power caused 248,000 Cubans to flee the country seemed like a symbolic slap in the face to communism. It suggested that hundreds of thousands of people would rather leave their birthplace and homeland than live in a Communist regime. This wave of immigrants was a symbolic Cold War victory for the United States.

Question

4. Although the United States claimed that Operation Pedro Pan was intended as a humanitarian effort to help the Cuban people, some people who participated in the program as children now wonder if the program was actually rooted in

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. Now that the Operation Pedro Pan children are grown adults, many look back on their experience and wonder if the United States wasn’t completely forthright about the real intentions behind the program. The official word was that the program was a humanitarian effort to save children who were threatened by the despotism of Castro’s regime, but today some of the now-grown children suspect that the program may have been rooted entirely in Cold War politics. Operation Pedro Pan illustrates how powerfully the Cold War shaped American policies in the mid-twentieth century.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Now that the Operation Pedro Pan children are grown adults, many look back on their experience and wonder if the United States wasn’t completely forthright about the real intentions behind the program. The official word was that the program was a humanitarian effort to save children who were threatened by the despotism of Castro’s regime, but today some of the now-grown children suspect that the program may have been rooted entirely in Cold War politics. Operation Pedro Pan illustrates how powerfully the Cold War shaped American policies in the mid-twentieth century.

Question

5. This essay supports which of the following historical arguments?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. Operation Pedro Pan is a significant Cold War moment because it illustrates just how powerful the fear of communism was during this era. The United States was so concerned about the spread of communism—especially to a country less than two hundred miles away from the United States—that it was willing to soften or deprioritize other aspects of federal policy.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Operation Pedro Pan is a significant Cold War moment because it illustrates just how powerful the fear of communism was during this era. The United States was so concerned about the spread of communism—especially to a country less than two hundred miles away from the United States—that it was willing to soften or deprioritize other aspects of federal policy.