SAT II US History : U.S. Social History from 1899 to the Present

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II US History

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : U.S. Social History From 1899 To The Present

“How you gonna keep them down on the farm after they have seen Paris?”

The above quote likely refers to                .

Possible Answers:

the decline of American agriculture due to foreign competition.

the difficulty for American men trying to reintegrate into society after World War I.

the growth in atheism and agnosticism.

the desire to re-segregate the South.

the social upheaval that followed the women’s liberation movement.

Correct answer:

the difficulty for American men trying to reintegrate into society after World War I.

Explanation:

The quote refers to the difficulty of American men to reintegrate into society following World War I. The majority of Americans in that era had never been more than a few hundred miles from their homes, let alone across continents. In addition, many men suffered from extreme trauma from the events they witnessed and participated in. A lot of jobs had been taken up by women, in the absence of male workers, and post-war society faced the problem of how to resolve this disparity.

Example Question #2 : U.S. Social History From 1899 To The Present

The massive increase in underground crime syndicates during the 1920s is largely attributable to which Constitutional amendment?

Possible Answers:

The Eighteenth Amendment's prohibition of alcohol possession and sales

The Sixteenth Amendment's imposition of a federal income tax

The Nineteenth Amendment's guarantee of women's suffrage

None of the other answers

The Seventeenth Amendment's guarantee of direct election of senators

Correct answer:

The Eighteenth Amendment's prohibition of alcohol possession and sales

Explanation:

The Eighteenth Amendment was the culmination of a decades long temperance movement that sought to end all alcohol sales, distribution, and consumption in America.  Initially celebrated as a progressive victory, the legal enforcement of prohibition proved a nightmare, and legions of criminal gangs began to control the illegal alcohol sales.  The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty First Amendment in 1933.

Example Question #56 : U.S. Social History

Which court case struck down the doctrine of "separate but equal" in the field of public education?

Possible Answers:

 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Loving v. Virginia

Dred Scott v. Sanford

Marbury v. Madison

Plessy v. Ferguson

Correct answer:

 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Explanation:

In Brown, Chief Justice Earl Warren expressed that in the arena of public education, "separate but equal" is inherently unequal, unfair, and unconstitutional. Plessy v. Ferguson is a prior case that upheld the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Example Question #61 : U.S. Social History

Which of the following best describes the status of Black soldiers in the United States Army during World War I?

Possible Answers:
Black Americans were encouraged to enlist, but excluded from the draft
Black soldiers were fully integrated into existing regiments, serving alongside their white compatriots
Black Americans were refused entry into the armed forces
Black soldiers were placed in segregated units, generally under the command of a white officer
Black Americans were subject to the draft, but were not allowed to willfully enlist
Correct answer: Black soldiers were placed in segregated units, generally under the command of a white officer
Explanation:

Black soldiers were almost exclusively placed in segregated units, away from their white compatriots. These regiments were usually commanded by white officers. Many black soldiers were held away from the primary areas of battle, this was generally a result of the racist view of many Americans that blacks were unfit or unwilling to fight with the same efficacy as their white peers. 

Example Question #62 : U.S. Social History

What was the Supreme Court Case that outlawed racial segregation in public schools?

Possible Answers:
Baker v. Carr
Brown v. Board of Education
Plessy v. Ferguson
Furman v. Georgia
Miranda v. Arizona
Correct answer: Brown v. Board of Education
Explanation:

The decision in Brown v. Board of Education stemmed from a case brought by an African American family from Topeka, Kansas, challenging that city’s policy of having two school systems, one for white children and one for African-Americans.  The unanimous decision in Brown outlawed racial segregation in public schools throughout the nation as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Example Question #63 : U.S. Social History

Which one of the following institutions was fully racially integrated across America first?

Possible Answers:
State Colleges and Universities
Public Secondary Schools
The Armed Forces
Public Transportation
Prisons
Correct answer: The Armed Forces
Explanation:

 On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, fully integrating every branch and level of the United States Military.  Secondary Schools and State College were not integrated by court order until the 1950s, while public transportation did not get fully integrated nationwide until the 1965 Civil Rights Act.  Prisons in the south were generally segregated until the 1970s.

Example Question #64 : U.S. Social History

Which amendment repealed prohibition?

Possible Answers:
Sixteenth
Twenty-Fourth
Twenty-First
Eighteenth
Fifteenth
Correct answer: Twenty-First
Explanation:

Prohibition was enacted following the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment. For many Americans it represented an unnecessary intrusion of rural, Protestant ideals on a key aspect of urban, working class life. The lax enforcement of the law, coupled with a significant demand for alcohol created, amongst other things, the rise of the American Mafia and widespread corruption in Politics and Civil Society. It was repealed thirteen years later, in 1933, with the passage of the Twenty-First Amendment. 

Example Question #65 : U.S. Social History

“We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other 'tangible' factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.”

The above passage is taken from which Supreme Court Case?

Possible Answers:

Plessy v. Ferguson

Gibbons v. Ogden

McCulloch v. Maryland

Brown v. Board of Education

None of those mentioned

Correct answer:

Brown v. Board of Education

Explanation:

That quote is an excerpt from the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) case. The case established that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional in practice, because it was inherently unequal. The case reversed a previous decision made by the Supreme Court, in 1896, in the Plessy v. Ferguson case, which had mandated that “separate but equal” was constitutional. It was a landmark case in the growing civil rights movement of the era.

Example Question #66 : U.S. Social History

In the 1920s, young women who bobbed their hair, wore short skirts, drank, smoked, and communicated disdain for social and sexual mores (often while enjoying jazz) were known as what?

Possible Answers:

Libbers

Flappers

Roaring Twenties Gals

Roarers

Freebirds

Correct answer:

Flappers

Explanation:

Young women of the 1920s who dressed and behaved as such were collectively known as Flappers.

Example Question #67 : U.S. Social History

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, this term was contemptuously applied to men and women from Oklahoma (and surrounding states), who had migrated to California seeking work.

Possible Answers:

Nogoodniks

Okies

Carpetbaggers

Muckrakers

Sooners

Correct answer:

Okies

Explanation:

Migrants from Oklahoma and nearby states, like Arkansas, were lumped together and called "Okies."

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