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The Fifties

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
 

 1. 
After wartime price controls were lifted in 1946, the cost of goods
A.
increased.
C.
stayed the same.
B.
decreased.
D.
fluctuated often.
 

 2. 
There were many labor strikes after World War II as workers tried to win wage increases and
A.
lower prices.
C.
preserve price controls.
B.
increase hours.
D.
preserve their unions.
 

 3. 
Who vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act?
A.
President Eisenhower
C.
President Coolidge
B.
President Taft
D.
President Truman
 

 4. 
President Truman banned discrimination in
A.
schools.
C.
the military.
B.
public transportation.
D.
higher education.
 

 5. 
During the 1950s the number of working mothers
A.
increased.
C.
stayed the same.
B.
decreased.
D.
was cut in half.
 

 6. 
To help workers improve their economic positions, union leaders
A.
raised wages.
C.
tried to cooperate with management.
B.
outlawed strikes.
D.
cut hours.
 

 7. 
Which of these was not a component of the Landrum-Griffin Act?
A.
outlawed strikes
B.
banned ex-convicts from holding union offices
C.
required frequent elections of officers
D.
regulated the investment of union funds
 

 8. 
Which of these did NOT contribute to suburban growth in the 1950s?
A.
Housing costs were low.
B.
The population increased.
C.
The Highway Act made it easy for people to commute to jobs.
D.
Apartments in the city were overcrowded.
 

 9. 
Which of these things had the most influence over advertising after World War II?
A.
television
C.
billboards
B.
newspaper
D.
radio
 

 10. 
Which Supreme Court case established the legality of “separate but equal” educational facilities?
A.
Brown v. Board of Education
B.
Plessy v. Ferguson
C.
Méndez et al. v. Westminster School District et al.
D.
Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District
 

 11. 
Which Supreme Court case ruling declared segregation illegal in public education?
A.
Brown v. Board of Education
B.
Plessy v. Ferguson
C.
Méndez et al. v. Westminster School District et al.
D.
Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District
 

 12. 
It became a federal crime to prevent qualified persons from voting after passage of the
A.
Montgomery Improvement Association.
B.
League of United Latin American Citizens.
C.
Voting Act.
D.
Civil Rights Act.
 

 13. 
The funeral home in Three Rivers, Texas, refused to handle Félix Longoria's burial because he
A.
was black.
C.
had died during the war.
B.
was Mexican American.
D.
did not pay his debts.
 

 14. 
Which Supreme Court case ruled that the segregation of Mexican American children in a Texas school district was illegal?
A.
Brown v. Board of Education
B.
Plessy v. Ferguson
C.
Méndez et al. v. Westminster School District et al.
D.
Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District
 

 15. 
Many working women lost their jobs after World War II because
A.
men could do a better job.
B.
priority was given to returning veterans.
C.
they had better educational opportunities.
D.
inflation pushed up prices but not wages.
 

 16. 
When Democrats adopted the civil rights plank at the 1948 Democratic Convention
A.
a race riot broke out on the convention floor.
B.
southern delegates angrily left the party to join Republicans.
C.
fierce arguing began among all the different factions of Democrats.
D.
there was a break off of southern delegates and the formation of the States’ Rights Party.
 

 17. 
For most American workers, the 1950s were a time of
A.
greater prosperity than they had ever known.
B.
plentiful blue-collar jobs, but few opportunities for advancement.
C.
unpredictable downsizing and corporate mergers.
D.
hardship and superhuman effort to make ends meet.
 

 18. 
Improved income and mobility resulted in
A.
the development of suburbs.
B.
great strains on America’s highway system.
C.
conflict between lower- and middle-class citizens.
D.
reforms of consumer law.
 

 19. 
Many companies advertised on television because
A.
print advertising no longer appealed to the public.
B.
they liked the variety of programming television offered.
C.
it was a good way to reach and influence a lot of consumers.
D.
it allowed them to reach the upper class, which spent the most money.
 

 20. 
Many teenagers sought release from the conformity of their suburban families through
A.
drugs and alcohol.
C.
shopping.
B.
rock ’n’ roll music.
D.
filmmaking.
 

 21. 
Teenage discontent and rebellion were featured in the works of writers like
A.
Charles Van Doren.
C.
J. D. Salinger.
B.
Elvis Presley.
D.
James Dean.
 

 22. 
To enforce the desegregation law at a school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957,
A.
Governor Orval Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guard.
B.
FBI agents and state police stood guard.
C.
the Little Rock Nine staged protests.
D.
President Eisenhower sent 1,000 federal troops.
 

 23. 
The NAACP and the Montgomery Improvement Association challenged racial segregation of public transportation by
A.
organizing a boycott of the bus system by African Americans.
B.
organizing protest demonstrations and marches in the city.
C.
winning a major court battle on behalf of Rosa Parks.
D.
taking their case to the Supreme Court.
 

 24. 
Many urban areas in the 1950s increasingly became characterized by
A.
dazzling homes of the wealthy.
B.
cleanliness and low crime rates.
C.
slums and many displaced rural and ethnic workers.
D.
sound, pleasant housing for the poor.
 

 25. 
In the 1950s teenagers chose entertainment that criticized
A.
the government.
C.
their parents’ suburban values.
B.
drugs and alcohol.
D.
immigrants.
 

Matching
 
 
Match each item with the correct statement.
A.
automation
J.
Taft-Hartley Act
B.
Committee on Civil Rights
K.
Earl Warren
C.
GI Bill of Rights
L.
beats
D.
George Meany
M.
Dixiecrats
E.
Relocation Act
N.
Thurgood Marshall
F.
Brown v. Board of Education
O.
Progressive Party
G.
Thomas Dewey
P.
white collar
H.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Q.
Labor Party
I.
pink collar
 

 26. 
Segregation in public schools was made illegal after this case.
 

 27. 
Republican presidential candidate in 1948
 

 28. 
head of the AFL–CIO labor union
 

 29. 
This weakened the power of organized labor.
 

 30. 
when machines do work previously done by humans
 

 31. 
These writers challenged the middle-class way of life.
 

 32. 
encouraged American Indians to move into urban areas
 

 33. 
called for an extension of the New Deal and improved relations with the Soviet Union
 

 34. 
political party that called for continued racial segregation
 

 35. 
provided pensions and government loans to help veterans start businesses and buy homes or farms
 

 36. 
created by President Truman to examine racism in the United States.
 

 37. 
jobs such as nursing, teaching, and retail sales, traditionally held by women
 

 38. 
ruled in favor of African American rights in many Supreme Court cases
 

 39. 
spokesperson for the Montgomery Improvement Association
 



 
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