Question 1

What did the case of the Scottsboro Boys involve?

Accepted Answer

A)   two young communists who were accused of plotting to overthrow the government
B)   two young white women who falsely accused nine young black men of rape on a train
C)   a case where blacks 'schoolteachers had taught the concept of evolution, rather than the Biblical story of the evolution of man
D)   two young boys who were lynched for stealing candy from a white store B

Question 2

What did the case of Norris v. Alabama, decided by the Supreme Court in 1935, state?

Accepted Answer

A)   All Americans have the right to a jury of their peers. Excluding blacks from jury pools was deemed unconstitutional.
B)   The Scottsboro Boys had not been given adequate council, and the trial was not fair because it had occurred in a hostile environment.
C)   The Alabama Supreme Court was correct in jailing the young men for raping the white women.
D)   The Scottsboro Boys had been discriminated against because they were communists. A

Question 3

What was significant about the 1936 presidential election?

Accepted Answer

A)   Black voters outside the South shifted in significant numbers to the Democratic Party.
B)   Fewer blacks than ever voted, since violence and intimidation tactics were rampant.
C)   Black voters inside the South shifted to the Republican Party.
D)   Whites refused to vote for Roosevelt, because of his overwhelming support for black issues. A

Question 4

What organization quickly rushed to the aid of the young black men accused in the Scottsboro case?

Accepted Answer

A)   the NAACP
B)   the Communist Party
C)   the Democratic Party
D)   Clarence Darrow's law firm

Question 5

Which of the following is true about the role of black women in the NAACP?

Accepted Answer

A)   Black women were excluded from the NAACP until the 1950s.
B)   Because they had no political power, they had very little to do with the organization.
C)   Black women often made huge contributions through organizing and fundraising.
D)   Black women were only allowed to lead children's branches of the NAACP.

Question 6

How did the relationship between African Americans and labor unions change during the 1930s?

Accepted Answer

A)   It did not-labor unions remained completely hostile toward blacks.
B)   Labor unions actually became more hostile toward blacks, since jobs were so scarce.
C)   In the 1930s, more labor unions allowed blacks membership, and some even began integrated unions.
D)   The government forced unions to accept any black during the 1930s.

Question 7

How were relief programs handled before the Great Depression?

Accepted Answer

A)   through private charities and individuals
B)   through the federal government
C)   no charities or relief effort existed before the Great Depression
D)   generally, cities had very extensive systems of aid to help the poor and unemployed

Question 8

How did black voting patterns begin to change after the first election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt?

Accepted Answer

A)   Blacks continued to stay with the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln.
B)   Blacks began to shift to the Democratic Party.
C)   Blacks briefly formed their own separate party, just as they had formed separate churches and other institutions.
D)   Blacks split over Roosevelt, with their support about evenly divided between him and Hoover in 1936.

Question 9

Who was central to the NAACP's effectiveness during the 1930s in chipping away at segregation through the court system?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Who was central to the NAACP's effectiveness...

Question 10

Who was black people's main ally within the Roosevelt administration?

Accepted Answer

A)   Franklin Roosevelt himself
B)   no one; the Roosevelt administration was very unfriendly to blacks
C)   Eleanor Roosevelt
D)   Harry Truman

Question 11

What did W. E. B. Du Bois begin to criticize the NAACP for in 1934?

Accepted Answer

A)   not filing enough legal cases to end segregation
B)   being too divided and not helping Marcus Garvey before he was deported
C)   not putting enough emphasis on economic development for blacks
D)   for their record of violent protest against segregation

Question 12

What first was accomplished by Juanita E. Jackson?

Accepted Answer

A)   She was the first black woman admitted to practice law in Maryland, and through her legal cases helped destroy segregation.
B)   She was the first woman to gain a recording contract with a major white label.
C)   She was the first black doctor in the state of Georgia, although she was never allowed to practice.
D)   She was killed by whites after having an affair with a white married man.

Question 13

Why did Houston and Thurgood Marshall focus on gaining blacks access to professional and graduate schools?

Accepted Answer

A)   They desperately needed more lawyers.
B)   The inequalities were very obvious; almost no graduate facilities existed for blacks in the South.
C)   Black graduate schools had been outlawed by many southern states.
D)   Blacks could only get high paying, top jobs in corporations with graduate degrees.

Question 14

How did the Railway Labor Act amendments of 1934 affect the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters?

Accepted Answer

A)   It completely destroyed the union, since it said that black people had no right to organize into unions.
B)   Its provisions eventually forced the Pullman Company to recognize the union and bargain with it in good faith.
C)   It had no effect on blacks, since it failed to include any provisions about unions.
D)   It said companies had to bargain with unions, but was so weak it never had any real effect.

Question 15

What industry saw substantial union organizing among black women?

Accepted Answer

A)   tobacco
B)   iron works
C)   cotton farming
D)   domestic workers

Question 16

Why did John L. Lewis form the Committee for Industrial Organization?

Accepted Answer

A)   He was angry that the AFL refused to incorporate unskilled workers into its ranks.
B)   He wanted to gain power for himself, and make a bid for the presidency in 1940.
C)   He did not like the AFL's new policy of including blacks, and wanted an all-white organization.
D)   He was a very conservative Republican, and thought that labor unions were becoming too liberal.

Question 17

What was a goal of the Detroit Housewives' League, and housewives' leagues established in other cities?

Accepted Answer

A)   to gain women the right to vote
B)   to help increase black economic opportunity through directing black women's purchasing power
C)   to help children have cleaner schools
D)   to gain equal pay for teachers in black schools

Question 18

What was the "Bronx Slave Market"?

Accepted Answer

A)   an area in New York where white racists tried to re-institute the slave trade
B)   an area in New York were black men could go to get jobs, which paid very little
C)   an area in New York where white women could very cheaply obtain day help from black women
D)   a play by Langston Hughes about the difficulties of black life

Question 19

Why were some blacks attracted to the Communist Party during the 1930s?

Accepted Answer

A)   The Communist Party vowed to establish a separate nation for them in Africa.
B)   The Communist Party said it was against racism, but never did anything to prove that.
C)   The Communist Party worked to reduce unemployment and worked against racism.
D)   The Communist Party was a very large, mainstream party in the 1930s, with many members from across the United States.

Question 20

How were jobs allocated in the tobacco industry?

Accepted Answer

A)   Overall, they were allocated pretty fairly-all positions were given out according to skills and ability.
B)   They were allocated strictly by race and gender. This left black women with the most difficult and tedious jobs.
C)   Black women were generally the only workers in the tobacco industry, so they exercised a tremendous amount of political clout.
D)   Generally, only according to seniority within the company.

Exam 18: Black Protests, the Great Depression, and the New Deal