AQA GCSE History · AD

America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and inequality

50 exam-style questions with answers for AD America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and inequality in AQA GCSE History (spec 8145). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
State three causes of the economic boom in the 1920s. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: mass production (1); new industries, eg cars and electrical goods (1); hire purchase (1); advertising (1); Republican laissez-faire and tariff policies (1).
Question 2 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Define the term ‘hire purchase’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Buying goods by paying in instalments over time.
Question 3 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Explain how Henry Ford’s methods changed car production. [2 marks]
Answer:
He used the moving assembly line, so each worker did one task (1); production rose and the price of the Model T fell to about $290 (1).
Question 4 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Explain how the motor industry boosted the wider economy. [2 marks]
Answer:
It created demand for steel, rubber, glass and oil (1); new roads, petrol stations and motels created jobs (1).
Question 5 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
State two groups that did not share in the boom. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: farmers (1); African Americans (1); workers in old industries, eg coal and textiles (1); Native Americans (1).
Question 6 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Explain why farmers struggled in the 1920s. [2 marks]
Answer:
They overproduced after the war (1); prices fell, so many could not repay debts (1).
Question 7 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Describe Republican economic policy in the 1920s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Laissez-faire: little government interference in business (1); high tariffs, eg the Fordney-McCumber Act (1922), and low taxes (1).
Question 8 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Define the term ‘buying on the margin’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Buying shares with a small deposit and borrowing the rest, expecting to repay it from profits.
Question 9 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Describe two developments in entertainment in the 1920s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: cinema and talking pictures from 1927 (1); jazz (1); radio (1); spectator sports (1).
Question 10 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Define the term ‘flapper’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A young woman of the 1920s who challenged traditional behaviour, wearing short skirts, smoking and dancing.
Question 11 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Explain why the position of women changed only partly in the 1920s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Women won the vote in 1920 and some had more freedom (1); most women remained housewives and earned less than men (1).
Question 12 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
What was Prohibition? [1 mark]
Answer:
The ban on making, selling and transporting alcohol (18th Amendment), from 1920 to 1933.
Question 13 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
State three reasons why Prohibition failed. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: speakeasies and bootlegging (1); too few agents (1); corruption of police and officials (1); organised crime, eg Al Capone (1); public demand for alcohol (1).
Question 14 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Explain why immigration was restricted in the 1920s. [2 marks]
Answer:
There were fears that immigrants took jobs and brought radical ideas (1); the Emergency Quota Act (1921) and Immigration Act (1924) limited arrivals, especially from southern and eastern Europe (1).
Question 15 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Describe the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. [2 marks]
Answer:
A white supremacist group with millions of members by 1925 (1); it used violence and lynching against African Americans, Catholics, Jews and immigrants (1).
Question 16 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
What was the Red Scare? [1 mark]
Answer:
Fear of communism and anarchism after the Russian Revolution, which led to the Palmer Raids (1919–1920).
Question 17 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part one
Explain the significance of the Sacco and Vanzetti case. [2 marks]
Answer:
Two Italian anarchist immigrants were executed in 1927 for murder despite weak evidence (1); it showed prejudice against immigrants and radicals (1).
Question 18 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
State two causes of the Wall Street Crash (1929). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: overproduction (1); speculation and buying on the margin (1); falling confidence leading to panic selling (1); weak banks (1).
Question 19 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
State three effects of the Depression on Americans. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: unemployment reached about 13 million (1); bank failures and lost savings (1); homelessness and Hoovervilles (1); farmers evicted (1); the Dust Bowl (1).
Question 20 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Explain why Hoover became unpopular. [2 marks]
Answer:
He was seen as doing too little, believing in ‘rugged individualism’ (1); he used troops against the Bonus Army in 1932 (1).
Question 21 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Define the term ‘Hooverville’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A shanty town of the homeless during the Depression, named mockingly after President Hoover.
Question 22 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Explain why Roosevelt won the 1932 election. [2 marks]
Answer:
He promised a ‘New Deal’ and active government (1); he was confident and energetic, while Hoover was blamed for the Depression (1).
Question 23 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Describe Roosevelt’s first Hundred Days. [2 marks]
Answer:
The Emergency Banking Act restored confidence in banks (1); alphabet agencies, eg the CCC and AAA, began relief and recovery (1).
Question 24 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
What was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)? [2 marks]
Answer:
An agency that built dams across seven states (1); it provided jobs, flood control and cheap electricity (1).
Question 25 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
State two achievements of the Second New Deal (1935). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Social Security Act (pensions and unemployment insurance) (1); Wagner Act (rights for trade unions) (1); Works Progress Administration (WPA) jobs (1).
Question 26 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Explain why the Supreme Court opposed the New Deal. [2 marks]
Answer:
It ruled some agencies unconstitutional, eg the NRA in 1935 (1); it believed the federal government was taking powers belonging to the states (1).
Question 27 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Name two radical critics of the New Deal. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Huey Long (‘Share Our Wealth’) (1); Father Coughlin (1); Dr Francis Townsend (1).
Question 28 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
State two limitations of the New Deal. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: unemployment was still around 9–10 million in 1939 (1); African Americans often received less help (1); women gained little (1); recession in 1937 (1).
Question 29 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
What was Lend-Lease (1941)? [2 marks]
Answer:
The USA supplied weapons and goods to Britain and allies (1); payment could be delayed until after the war (1).
Question 30 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Explain how the Second World War ended the Depression. [2 marks]
Answer:
War production created millions of jobs (1); unemployment fell to about 1 million by 1944 (1).
Question 31 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Describe the experiences of women during the Second World War. [2 marks]
Answer:
About 6 million women took war jobs, eg ‘Rosie the Riveter’ (1); they were usually paid less than men and many lost jobs after 1945 (1).
Question 32 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part two
Describe the experiences of African Americans during the Second World War. [2 marks]
Answer:
About a million served, but in segregated units (1); many moved north for war jobs, and the ‘Double V’ campaign demanded victory over racism at home too (1).
Question 33 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
State three causes of post-war prosperity. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: wartime savings spent on consumer goods (1); the GI Bill (1); growth of suburbs (1); the baby boom (1); defence spending in the Cold War (1).
Question 34 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
Define the term ‘American Dream’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The idea that anyone in America can achieve success and prosperity through hard work.
Question 35 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What was McCarthyism? [2 marks]
Answer:
Senator Joseph McCarthy’s campaign from 1950 accusing many Americans of being communists (1); accusations were often without evidence and ruined careers (1).
Question 36 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
Describe the impact of television and rock and roll in the 1950s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Television spread advertising and a shared culture (1); rock and roll, eg Elvis Presley, created a teenage culture that worried older Americans (1).
Question 37 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
Define the term ‘Jim Crow laws’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Laws in Southern states that enforced racial segregation.
Question 38 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What did Brown v Topeka Board of Education (1954) decide? [1 mark]
Answer:
That segregated schools were unconstitutional.
Question 39 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What happened in the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956)? [2 marks]
Answer:
After Rosa Parks’ arrest, African Americans boycotted buses for over a year (1); the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation illegal (1).
Question 40 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What happened at Little Rock (1957)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Nine African American students tried to attend a white high school (1); President Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect them (1).
Question 41 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
Describe Martin Luther King’s methods. [2 marks]
Answer:
Non-violent direct action, such as marches, boycotts and sit-ins (1); speeches, eg ‘I have a dream’ at the 1963 March on Washington (1).
Question 42 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
Describe Malcolm X’s views. [2 marks]
Answer:
He criticised integration and non-violence, supporting separation and self-defence (1); he was a leader in the Nation of Islam (1).
Question 43 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
Define the term ‘Black Power’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A movement from the mid-1960s stressing Black pride, self-reliance and sometimes armed self-defence, eg the Black Panthers.
Question 44 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It banned discrimination and segregation in public places and employment.
Question 45 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What did the Civil Rights Act of 1968 do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It banned discrimination in the sale and renting of housing.
Question 46 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
Describe Johnson’s ‘Great Society’ policies. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: Medicare for the elderly (1); Medicaid for the poor (1); the Economic Opportunity Act (1); funding for education, eg Head Start (1).
Question 47 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What was the National Organization for Women (NOW)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A women’s rights group founded in 1966 by Betty Friedan and others to campaign for equality.
Question 48 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What was the Equal Pay Act (1963)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A law requiring men and women to be paid equally for the same work.
Question 49 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
What did Roe v Wade (1973) decide? [1 mark]
Answer:
That women had a constitutional right to abortion.
Question 50 · Spec 3.2.1 AD, Part three
Explain why the Equal Rights Amendment was not ratified. [2 marks]
Answer:
Conservative opponents, led by Phyllis Schlafly, campaigned against it (1); they argued it would harm traditional family roles, so too few states ratified it (1).

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America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and inequality

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