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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Buddy Blankenship in Sixteen Ton, what was the state of coal miners before the Depression?

2. What does Alf Landon say he disliked about Roosevelt's New Deal?

3. What was different about a teachers' strike in the 1930's?

4. What is Stanley Kell's community organization trying to prevent at the time he is interviewed?

5. What does Emma Tiller say in her interview is as important as money?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did The Cradle Will Rock become a lightning rod of controversy?

2. How does Max Shachtman explain the decline of Communism's popularity in America?

3. How much power did coal companies have in the towns they inhabited?

4. What was Dr. Townsend's contribution to the Depression-era discourse?

5. According to Elizabeth Wood, how did public housing develop the stigma it has today?

6. What strange and dangerous episode regarding congressional testimony does C. Wright Patman make?

7. How does Christopher Lasch explain the possibility of a socialist revolt in the 1930's?

8. Describe Harry Hartman's experiences repossessing belongings in the Depression.

9. How did Jack Kirkland become famous during the Depression?

10. What role did Elsa Ponselle play in the forming of the Teacher's Union?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Franklin Roosevelt administration was a hothouse of young minds and genius fiscal conservatives. Write an essay about the crucible of ideas that this administration fostered. What initial ideas came out of this group, and how were they killed out of the gate? What politicking occurred within the administration, in terms of currying favor with the President? What actions did FDR take that alienated huge swaths of his supporters?

Essay Topic 2

In exploring the many divergent movements and personalities that shaped the 1930's, Terkel interviews his subjects about individuals who helped shape the national debate in this time. Write an essay about three dominant voices in America at the time of the Depression:

Part 1) What role did Dr. Francis Townsend play in the national debate regarding helping the poverty stricken? What plans did he offer for taking care of the elderly, and why was he vilified as a result of this plan? What government program eventually emerged from the ideas that Townsend offered in the 1930's?

Part 2) What message did Father Coughlin offer that made him the dominant radio voice, besides Franklin Roosevelt, in the 1930's? What was the appeal of this message to those affected by the poverty of the Depression? How did this populist message transform into something far more insidious as the US approached joining the war against Hitler?

Part 3) What role did Huey Long play in the 1930's? How did his populist policy-making find a national audience, and how did this sudden popularity force Roosevelt to reconsider his Depression policies? Why did Huey Long never run for president himself?

Essay Topic 3

The Great Depression was a period of time during which large organized movements sought to restructure American society. In a three part essay, discuss how several organized groups went about attempting the recreation of a country:

Part 1) What hole in the union movement did the CIO fill in the 1930's? What tactics did the unions use in the rust belt in order to organize industrial workers? What opposition did they face? How much success did the CIO achieve over the course of the Depression? How did its relationship with the AFL change in this time?

Part 2) How did the American Communist movement surge in popularity during the Hoover years, and how did events in Europe destroy much of its credibility? To what extent did Roosevelt's New Deal destroy its ability to accomplish its goals in the 1930's? What members did it lose after Roosevelt built his coalition?

Part 3) How were both the Catholic Worker and the Wobblies different from the unions and the Communists? What was each group's guiding philosophy? Did either one form a coalition during the Depression? What happened to them after the Depression?

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