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US History Exam Flashcards

US history exam cards covering WWII home front opinion, FDR, immigration restriction, and key political debates.

16 cards· by GuruOwl

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  1. 01
    In 1943, how many Americans believed in the Holocaust?
    Only a minority fully accepted reports of mass murder at the time. Contemporary wartime polling showed many Americans dismissed atrocity reports as rumor or greatly underestimated the scale — belief was limited and incomplete in 1943.
    USHMM / wartime polls: large shares treated early reports as exaggerated propaganda; full public recognition grew later as more evidence emerged.
    wwiiholocaustpublic-opinion
  2. 02
    Before being reelected for a third term as president, how many Americans approved of running a third time? (FDR)
    Public opinion was divided; a substantial share opposed breaking the two-term tradition, though FDR still won in 1940. Exact poll shares varied by firm and date, but third-term candidacy was controversial rather than broadly assumed.
    Washington’s two-term precedent held until FDR; the 22nd Amendment later formalized the limit after his four terms.
    fdrpresidencygsc-priority
  3. 03
    "In this bill we find racial discrimination at its worst—a deliberate attempt to go back 84 years in our census" — who said this, and about what?
    Robert H. Clancy (1924), criticizing the Immigration Act of 1924 (National Origins Act) for discriminatory national-origin quotas.
    immigration1920sgsc-priority
  4. 04
    What did critics mean by saying the 1924 immigration bill’s “blow may be aimed at peoples of eastern and southern Europe”?
    The National Origins quota system favored Northern/Western European immigration and sharply restricted Southern and Eastern Europeans (and excluded Asians).
    immigration1920sgsc-priority
  5. 05
    Why did some 1924 immigration critics mention “recent allies in the great war—Poland and Italy”?
    They argued it was unjust to restrict immigrants from nations that had fought alongside the US in WWI while favoring other European groups.
    immigrationwwi
  6. 06
    What did the Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson–Reed Act) do?
    Established permanent national-origins quotas that drastically cut immigration, especially from Southern/Eastern Europe, and effectively barred Asian immigration.
    immigration1920s
  7. 07
    What was the two-term tradition before FDR?
    An unwritten precedent, associated with George Washington, that presidents should serve no more than two terms — broken by FDR’s four elections.
    fdrconstitution
  8. 08
    What did the 22nd Amendment establish?
    A constitutional two-term limit for the US presidency (ratified 1951), reacting to FDR’s four terms.
    constitutionpresidency
  9. 09
    What was a major reason many Americans remained isolationist in the late 1930s?
    Memories of WWI costs, the Great Depression’s domestic focus, and belief that European conflicts were not America’s fight — reflected in Neutrality Acts.
    interwarforeign-policy
  10. 10
    What were the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s designed to do?
    Keep the US out of foreign wars by restricting arms sales, loans, and travel involving belligerent nations.
    interwarforeign-policy
  11. 11
    What was Lend-Lease (1941)?
    A program allowing the US to supply Allies with war material while remaining formally non-belligerent before Pearl Harbor fully brought the US into WWII.
    wwiifdr
  12. 12
    What event brought the United States fully into World War II?
    The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
    wwii
  13. 13
    What was the Great Migration?
    The mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to Northern and Western cities in the 20th century for industrial jobs and to escape Jim Crow.
    african-american-history
  14. 14
    What was the New Deal?
    FDR’s domestic program of relief, recovery, and reform in response to the Great Depression — expanding federal responsibility for economic security.
    fdrdepression
  15. 15
    What was the primary purpose of the Social Security Act (1935)?
    Create a federal social insurance system (old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, aid to dependent groups) as a New Deal safety net.
    new-deal
  16. 16
    What was Executive Order 9066?
    FDR’s 1942 order authorizing military exclusion zones that led to the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.
    wwiicivil-liberties