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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. As other cities are flooding, why did panic erupt amongst the residents in New Orleans?
(a) They can see the water rising along the levee.
(b) There has been a series of murders.
(c) There are no jobs.
(d) They can't get any food into the city.

2. Whose biography was told?
(a) Coolidge.
(b) LeRoy Percy.
(c) Will Percy.
(d) Hoover.

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

4. What happened within 10 days of the change in the crevasse at Mounds Landing?
(a) A hurricane.
(b) One million acres of land was under 10 feet of water.
(c) A dam was built.
(d) A drought.

5. When was the first recorded flood of the Mississippi River?
(a) 1743.
(b) 1643.
(c) 1882.
(d) 1543.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did spring flooding in the upper Mississippi River cause?

2. Why did President Coolidge hire Herbert Hoover?

3. In what ways was New Olreans described?

4. What was Thompson's proposition to prevent the levees from failing?

5. Prior to Thompson's plan being implemented, what happened to the refugees south of the levee?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. Both Ellet and Humphreys are in competition to survey the Mississippi River. Ellet's report came out first and Humphreys takes Ellet's report as a personal insult. Why would Humphreys be insulted by Ellet's report?

4. What are the terms that are reached for the levee that protects St. Bernard and Plaquemines to be destroyed?

5. How do the politics in New Orleans operate during the time of the flood in 1927?

6. The railroads and river make the Delta region flourish, yet there is a shortage of workers in the area. How will the better treatment of blacks by LeRoy Percy help this problem?

7. As committees are formed to decide about dynamiting the levee, the Mounds Landing crevasse is brought up in conversation. Why is this crevasse brought into the conversation?

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

9. 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?

10. World War I has begun and the Delta area is flourishing, yet lacking in manpower. Percy is a big influence for the fine development of the area, yet the more successful the area's development becomes, the more Percy's popularity decreases. Why do you think this happens?

(see the answer keys)

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