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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was unique about the crevasse at Mounds Landing?
(a) It was the only one along the Mississippi.
(b) It was the largest along the Mississippi.
(c) It was the only one on the Northern Mississippi.
(d) It was the smallest along the Mississippi.

2. What ongoing problem existed at the mouth of the Mississippi River that prohibited shipping?
(a) Rocky cliffs.
(b) Piracy.
(c) A strong undertow.
(d) Sandbars and large amounts of deposited sediment.

3. How were the levees along the Mississippi different from levees in other places?
(a) They are shorter.
(b) They are taller.
(c) They are built to a higher standard.
(d) They are made of different materials.

4. Which three rivers continued to rise as their levees fail?
(a) White, Mississippi and Missouri.
(b) Arknsas, Mississippi, and Colorado.
(c) Arkansas, Colorado, and Missouri.
(d) Arkansas, White and Mississippi.

5. What did St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes demand if Thompson's plan is implemented?
(a) Full compensation for the damages that are done.
(b) New levees to be built.
(c) A share of the profits.
(d) To become part of New Orleans.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did waves effect the levees?

2. What was LeRoy Percy's problem with the Klan?

3. Why wasn't Humphrey's report accepted well in the United States?

4. What was "changing the fabric of society" in the Delta region during WWI?

5. What did Thompson and others feel would damage the economy of New Orleans?

Short Essay Questions

1. Thompson has the idea of dynamiting the levees to the south of New Orleans, but who gets the idea primarily accepted by everyone?

2. Much of the Delta region is underwater from the failure of levees, yet the people of Greenville still have faith in their protection levee. What happens to their levee?

3. How involved in the flooding is Coolidge when he is the President of the United States?

4. Humphreys has his friend, Charles Howell, inspect the progress Eads is making on the jetties. Howell makes a report that the jetties aren't working the way Eads said they would. Eads in turn has a friend of his disclaim Humphreys' report. Why does Humphreys lie in his report?

5. One night, a boat approaches the levee that protects St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parshes and is shot at. Why was the boat shot at?

6. Although the blacks are traditionally known for harvesting cotton, LeRoy Percy does not seek their help to avoid any racial tensions. Instead, Percy imports thousands of Italians and racial problems still emerge. Why does this happen?

7. The author wrote that during the 1800's "the prevailing attitude is that the Mississippi River can be controlled if the laws of nature governing the river were understood." What could John M. Barry mean by this?

8. It is said in Chapter 13 that the slower the flood, the more dangerous it is. Why would a slow flood be more dangerous than a fast moving flood?

9. A racist governor is elected into office in Mississippi, yet it is still considered a safe place for the blacks to work. However, when waters begin to rise, black convicts are ordered to lay on the levee and use their bodies as sandbags. Does everyone follow Percy's influence to alleviate discrimination?

10. What would be the purpose of one town sabotaging the levee in another town?

(see the answer keys)

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