AP US History Unit 7: 1890-1945: World Wars Era — Free Review Games.

Progressives aimed to reform the social, political, and economic problems created by rapid industrialization, urban growth, and corrupt political machines.

Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare sinking American ships, combined with the Zimmermann Telegram proposing a German-Mexican alliance, pushed the U.S. into WWI.

The 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote, culminating decades of activism by the suffrage movement.

The October 1929 crash triggered a severe economic downturn that became the Great Depression, lasting throughout the 1930s.

Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor killed over 2,400 Americans and prompted Congress to declare war on Japan the following day.

Sinclair's novel exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry, prompting Congress to pass food safety legislation.

The New Deal's three goals were immediate relief for the unemployed, economic recovery, and long-term reforms to prevent future depressions.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural flowering that showcased Black artistic achievement and challenged racial stereotypes through literature, music, and art.

Over 120,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated to internment camps without due process, an action later acknowledged as a grave injustice driven by racism.

Social Security created the first federal system of old-age pensions, unemployment benefits, and welfare assistance, fundamentally expanding the government's role in citizens' lives.

Post-WWI anxiety about Bolshevism and anarchism led to mass arrests and deportations targeting immigrants and radicals, often violating civil liberties.

Severe drought and poor farming practices turned the southern Plains into a dust wasteland, destroying livelihoods and forcing mass migration, most famously to California.

Reservationists and irreconcilables in the Senate opposed joining the League, fearing it would entangle the U.S. in foreign conflicts and limit congressional war powers.

The Court unanimously struck down the NIRA, ruling that Congress had delegated too much power to the executive, prompting FDR's controversial court-packing plan.

Wartime labor demands drew millions of women (symbolized by Rosie the Riveter) and minorities into industrial and military roles, challenging prewar social norms despite continued discrimination.

The Sixteenth Amendment (1913) gave Congress the power to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states by population. The 'Seventeenth Amendment' instead established direct election of U.S. senators, a different Progressive reform. Students should link each Progressive-era amendment to its specific structural change in government.

Muckrakers like Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens investigated and publicized corporate abuses and political corruption, generating public pressure for regulation. 'To promote American imperialism abroad' misidentifies their purpose, which was domestic reform journalism, not foreign policy advocacy. The exam expects students to connect investigative journalism to specific Progressive legislation it inspired.

The Federal Reserve Act created a central banking system to provide elastic currency, regulate banks, and stabilize the financial system after repeated panics. 'Break up monopolistic trusts' describes antitrust action like the Clayton Act, not the Fed's monetary function. Students should distinguish Progressive economic reforms by their specific institutional purpose.

The Selective Service Act authorized the federal government to conscript men for military service, providing the manpower needed for U.S. entry into WWI. 'To suppress antiwar dissent' instead describes the purpose of the Espionage and Sedition Acts, a separate wartime measure. Students should keep wartime mobilization laws distinct from wartime civil liberties restrictions.

These acts made it a crime to interfere with military recruitment or make disloyal statements about the government, and they were used to imprison antiwar activists like Eugene Debs. 'Regulate wartime industrial prices' instead describes the War Industries Board's role, an economic rather than civil-liberties function. Students should recognize how wartime security laws can restrict First Amendment freedoms.

The Bonus Army consisted of WWI veterans and their families who camped in Washington, D.C., seeking immediate payment of bonus certificates promised for their wartime service. 'Striking factory workers demanding union recognition' describes labor unrest such as the 1934 strikes, a different Depression-era conflict. The event is significant because its forcible removal by the army damaged Hoover's public image.

Smoot-Hawley raised tariff rates on thousands of imported goods, intended to protect domestic producers during the early Depression. 'Lowering tariffs to encourage international trade' is the opposite of what the law did, and such a policy actually worsened the global trade collapse through retaliatory tariffs. Students should understand how protectionist policy can deepen rather than solve economic downturns.

The CCC employed young unemployed men in reforestation, park development, and soil conservation projects, combining relief with environmental work. 'To insure bank deposits against failure' instead describes the FDIC, a separate New Deal financial reform. Students should be able to match each New Deal agency to its specific target population and function.

Lend-Lease allowed the U.S. to send weapons, supplies, and equipment to Britain, the Soviet Union, and other Allies without requiring immediate payment, aiding them before formal U.S. entry into the war. 'To formally declare war on Germany' is incorrect because the U.S. remained officially neutral until Pearl Harbor. Students should recognize Lend-Lease as a step toward involvement short of full belligerency.

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act, known as the GI Bill, offered veterans tuition assistance, low-interest home and business loans, and unemployment compensation to ease their return to civilian life. 'To desegregate the armed forces' instead describes Truman's 1948 Executive Order 9981, a later and separate policy. Students should note the GI Bill's long-term role in expanding the postwar middle class.

The Nineteenth Amendment resulted from decades of suffragist organizing, and its ratification marked a major Progressive-era achievement in expanding democratic participation. 'It ended child labor practices nationwide' is incorrect since federal child labor laws were repeatedly struck down by the courts and not fully secured until the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. Students should connect suffrage to the broader Progressive push to expand and purify democracy.

Without deposit insurance, fearful depositors rushed to withdraw savings, and banks holding only a fraction of deposits in reserve could not meet demand, causing widespread failures. 'The abolition of the gold standard' did not occur until later New Deal policy changes and was not a cause of the initial bank panics. This pattern explains why the New Deal created the FDIC to restore public confidence in banking.

Progressives rejected pure laissez-faire and argued that government regulation, such as antitrust enforcement and consumer protection laws, was necessary to curb corporate abuses and protect ordinary citizens. 'Government should completely nationalize major industries' overstates Progressive aims, which sought regulation rather than state ownership, a position associated more with socialism. This distinction helps students avoid confusing moderate Progressive regulation with more radical economic restructuring.

Unlike the Sherman Act, which relied on after-the-fact lawsuits, the FTC Act created a standing regulatory body with investigatory power to monitor competition continuously and prevent unfair practices before they caused harm. 'It eliminated all corporate mergers entirely' misstates the law, which regulated rather than banned business combinations outright. Students should see this as part of the Progressive shift toward proactive, expert-driven administrative regulation.

Wilson viewed the conflict as a European struggle and sought to keep the U.S. out, reflecting a longstanding tradition of avoiding entangling alliances while maintaining trade with both sides. 'The U.S. lacked any economic ties to the warring nations' is false since American banks and industries had extensive trade and loan connections, especially with Britain and France. Students should understand that neutrality became increasingly difficult to maintain as economic entanglement grew.

The intercepted telegram showed Germany offering to help Mexico reclaim lost territory if it allied against the U.S., which shocked Americans and pushed public opinion toward supporting entry into the war. 'It announced Germany's willingness to end unrestricted submarine warfare' is incorrect since Germany had in fact resumed unrestricted submarine warfare around the same time, further provoking the U.S. This event illustrates how a single diplomatic revelation can rapidly shift public sentiment toward war.

The War Industries Board standardized production, allocated raw materials, and set prices to maximize efficient wartime manufacturing, representing significant federal control over the economy. 'It drafted soldiers directly into combat units' instead describes the function of the Selective Service System, a separate wartime body. This model of federal economic coordination previewed similar mobilization efforts used during World War II.

Many Progressives, influenced by moral reform movements, believed alcohol consumption contributed to poverty, family violence, and urban corruption, so banning it fit their broader social improvement agenda. 'They wanted to increase federal tax revenue from alcohol sales' is backwards, since Prohibition eliminated a major source of tax revenue rather than increasing it. Students should recognize Prohibition as an example of the moral-reform strand within the broader, multifaceted Progressive movement.

Hoover believed in rugged individualism and voluntarism, encouraging businesses and charities to address the crisis while resisting direct federal relief payments to individuals. 'He called for massive deficit spending on public works' misrepresents his approach, since large-scale deficit spending on relief became the hallmark of FDR's later New Deal, not Hoover's limited measures. This contrast helps students understand why voters turned to FDR's more activist government in 1932.

The AAA paid farmers subsidies to cut production of crops and livestock, aiming to reduce surpluses and raise falling agricultural prices during the Depression. 'By nationalizing all farmland under federal control' is incorrect, since the program worked through incentives to private farmers rather than government seizure of land. Students should recognize this as an early example of federal intervention to manage agricultural markets.

The Wagner Act protected workers' rights to form unions and bargain collectively, and it created the National Labor Relations Board to enforce these rights against employer interference. 'To establish the first federal minimum wage' instead describes part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, a later New Deal law. Students should distinguish New Deal labor laws by their specific protections, since several overlapping acts addressed different worker issues.

The TVA built dams to control flooding, generate cheap hydroelectric power, and create jobs, transforming the economically depressed Tennessee Valley through direct government investment. 'It privatized electricity production to encourage market competition' contradicts the program's design, which involved public ownership of power generation rather than privatization. This program illustrates the New Deal's willingness to use direct federal enterprise, not just regulation, to address regional poverty.

Before the Wagner Act, employers could legally fire or blacklist workers for union activity, but the act made such practices illegal and created the NLRB to enforce workers' organizing rights. 'It set the first eight-hour workday standard' misattributes an earlier reform goal that predates this specific 1935 law. This shift explains the dramatic rise in union membership during the later 1930s.

The Neutrality Acts of the 1930s restricted arms sales and loans to nations at war, reflecting a desire to avoid the entanglements blamed for WWI involvement, even as fascist aggression escalated. 'Congress declared war on Germany after its invasion of Poland in 1939' did not happen since the U.S. remained neutral until Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Students should understand isolationism as a direct reaction to disillusionment with WWI intervention.

Government contracts for weapons, ships, and supplies drove factories to full capacity, effectively ending Depression-era unemployment and demonstrating the economic power of large-scale federal spending. 'It reduced the size of the federal government's role in the economy' contradicts the actual expansion of federal economic management during total war mobilization. Students should link WWII spending to the broader debate over deficit spending's role in ending economic depressions.

The OPA capped prices on goods and issued ration coupons for items like gasoline, sugar, and rubber to prevent wartime inflation and ensure fair distribution of scarce resources. 'It regulated stock market trading' instead describes the Securities and Exchange Commission's role, a separate New Deal-era agency. Students should connect wartime economic controls to the broader pattern of expanded federal authority during national emergencies.

The Double V Campaign, promoted by Black newspapers, linked the fight against fascist racism overseas to the struggle against Jim Crow segregation and discrimination within the United States. 'It sought to end the military draft entirely' misrepresents the movement, which supported Black participation in the war while demanding equal treatment. This campaign is a key link between WWII mobilization and the later civil rights movement.

The NIRA created codes of fair competition negotiated between government, business, and labor to set prices, wages, and production standards in an effort to end the deflationary spiral. 'It created the Social Security system' instead refers to a separate 1935 law passed after the NIRA had already been ruled unconstitutional. Students should recognize the NIRA as an early, more centralized New Deal experiment before the Court's Schechter decision forced a shift in strategy.

Long's 'Share Our Wealth' program called for steep taxes on the rich and guaranteed minimum incomes, arguing FDR's programs left inequality largely intact. 'They wanted to eliminate all federal relief programs entirely' describes conservative critics, not left-wing figures like Long who wanted more aggressive redistribution. This tension shows how the New Deal faced pressure from both the left and the right simultaneously.

Randolph's threat of a massive march on Washington pressured FDR to issue Executive Order 8802, banning racial discrimination in defense industry employment and creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee. 'It led directly to the desegregation of the U.S. military' did not occur until Truman's 1948 executive order, a separate and later action. Students should see this as an early example of Black leaders leveraging wartime labor needs to win civil rights concessions.

Progressivism drew together middle-class reformers, muckrakers, suffragists, and temperance advocates who pursued varied and at times contradictory goals, sharing only a broad commitment to using organized action and government to address industrial-era problems. 'It rejected all forms of government regulation in favor of pure free markets' is the opposite of Progressive philosophy, which embraced regulation as a reform tool. Recognizing this diversity helps students avoid oversimplifying Progressivism as one coherent political program.

The Court initially struck down laws like the NIRA and AAA as unconstitutional overreach, but after FDR proposed adding justices in 1937, the Court began upholding subsequent New Deal measures, easing the political crisis without a formal expansion. 'FDR successfully expanded the Court to fifteen justices to pass his agenda' is false since Congress never passed his court-packing plan. This episode illustrates how political pressure, not just legal doctrine, can shape judicial behavior during constitutional crises.

The centralized economic coordination pioneered by bodies like the War Industries Board demonstrated that the federal government could effectively direct production and resources, a precedent New Dealers and WWII planners drew upon. 'WWI eliminated the need for wartime price controls in future conflicts' is contradicted by the extensive price controls imposed by the Office of Price Administration during WWII. This continuity shows how crisis-era institutions can create lasting templates for future government action.

As African Americans moved north seeking wartime industrial jobs, they entered cities where Progressive reformers had focused on issues like housing and sanitation, but many reform efforts largely overlooked or actively excluded Black communities from their benefits. 'It reversed urbanization trends by moving populations back to the rural South' is factually backwards, since the Great Migration was fundamentally a movement from South to North and rural to urban. This intersection reveals the racial limitations often present within otherwise expansive Progressive reform agendas.

New Deal programs like Social Security and the Wagner Act added a regulatory and social safety net framework atop the existing capitalist system, leading historians to debate whether this was reform or revolution. 'The New Deal fully nationalized major industries, ending private enterprise in America' overstates its scope, since most industries and banks remained privately owned throughout and after the 1930s. This debate reflects a broader historiographical question about continuity versus change that recurs throughout the AP exam.

The CPI generated pro-war propaganda and stoked suspicion of German Americans and dissenters, using persuasion techniques that sat uneasily alongside Progressive ideals of an informed, rational citizenry participating in democracy. 'It was created to oppose Wilson's war policies' is incorrect since the CPI was a government agency established specifically to build support for Wilson's war effort. This tension shows how wartime necessity can conflict with peacetime democratic values, a recurring theme across both World Wars.

Hoover's belief in limited government and voluntary cooperation proved inadequate to the scale of the crisis, and FDR's New Deal embraced sustained federal spending, regulation, and direct relief as legitimate and necessary government functions. 'Both presidents pursued nearly identical policies of federal relief spending' ignores the significant scale difference between Hoover's limited measures like the RFC and FDR's expansive alphabet agencies. This shift marks a lasting change in American expectations about the federal government's responsibility during economic crises.

The Atlantic Charter, agreed to by Roosevelt and Churchill, articulated principles like national self-determination and collective security that later influenced the founding charter of the United Nations. 'It created the Lend-Lease program to aid Britain' is incorrect since Lend-Lease was established earlier in 1941 through separate legislation. Students should note how wartime diplomacy began shaping postwar international institutions even before America formally entered the conflict.

To combat collapsing farm prices caused by overproduction, the AAA paid farmers to plow under crops and slaughter livestock, a policy that raised prices for producers but appeared contradictory when many unemployed Americans could not afford enough food. 'The AAA increased food production to lower prices for consumers' is the opposite of the actual policy mechanism, which deliberately reduced supply. This paradox illustrates the tension between producer-focused and consumer-focused economic relief during the Depression.

Even as tens of thousands of Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated to internment camps based on racial suspicion, Japanese American soldiers in the highly decorated 442nd Regiment fought and died for the United States, exposing the inconsistency between wartime rhetoric of freedom and the government's discriminatory policies. 'Internment ended immediately after the formation of the 442nd Regiment' is false since internment camps continued operating until the war neared its end in 1945. This contradiction is a key example examiners expect students to analyze when discussing the gap between American ideals and wartime practice.

While New Deal programs provided relief and reform, unemployment remained significant through the late 1930s until wartime production demands and deficit spending on a much larger scale finally eliminated joblessness, leading some historians to credit the war more than the New Deal for full recovery. 'World War II caused a decline in industrial production compared to the 1930s' contradicts the historical record, since wartime output dramatically increased industrial production. This debate encourages students to weigh evidence about the relative scale and timing of different government interventions.

The proposed constitutional amendment reflected deep isolationist and antiwar sentiment by requiring a popular vote before a war declaration unless the U.S. was directly attacked, aiming to prevent the kind of entanglement many blamed for WWI. 'It successfully passed and prevented U.S. entry into World War II' is false, since the amendment was narrowly defeated in the House in 1938 and never became law. This near-miss illustrates just how strong isolationist sentiment remained in Congress right up until Pearl Harbor.

The Sixteenth Amendment allowed Congress to tax income directly, generating a steady federal revenue source that could fund the growing regulatory and social programs Progressives championed. 'It authorized direct election of U.S. senators' instead describes the Seventeenth Amendment, a separate structural reform passed the same year. Students should keep these two 1913 amendments distinct, since they address government revenue and representation respectively.

FERA distributed federal funds to state and local relief agencies to provide direct cash assistance to unemployed and struggling Americans early in the New Deal. 'To insure bank deposits against loss' instead describes the FDIC's separate function within New Deal banking reform. Students should recognize the wide variety of New Deal agencies, each targeting a distinct aspect of relief, recovery, or reform.

Wilson envisioned a peace based on national self-determination, free trade, and a League of Nations to prevent future wars, but Allied leaders like Clemenceau insisted on punitive reparations and territorial losses that punished Germany far more harshly. 'The Treaty of Versailles fully implemented all of Wilson's Fourteen Points' is incorrect, since most of his idealistic points were significantly compromised during negotiations. This gap between Wilson's vision and the final treaty helps explain later resentment in Germany and disillusionment among American internationalists.

Rationing limited civilian consumption of items like gasoline, rubber, and sugar so that critical materials could be directed toward military production, ensuring the armed forces had adequate supplies. 'To eliminate the need for wartime taxation' is incorrect since the government simultaneously raised taxes and sold war bonds to fund the war effort alongside rationing. Students should see rationing as one part of a broader home-front strategy for total war mobilization.

With millions of men serving overseas, women took on factory and shipyard jobs previously held almost exclusively by men, producing weapons, aircraft, and other war materials. 'Women's workforce participation declined significantly during the war' is the opposite of what occurred, as female labor force participation increased substantially during this period. This shift is significant for setting a precedent, even though many women were pressured to leave these jobs after the war ended.

Passed within days of FDR's inauguration, the act authorized a bank holiday during which examiners assessed banks' soundness, allowing healthy banks to reopen with restored public trust and closing insolvent ones. 'It created the Securities and Exchange Commission' instead refers to a later 1934 law addressing stock market regulation, a different financial reform. This swift action is often cited as an early example of FDR's effective use of the 'first hundred days' to address the banking crisis.

The 1939 revision allowed warring nations to buy U.S. arms as long as they paid immediately and transported the goods on their own ships, a policy that effectively favored Britain and France since they controlled Atlantic shipping lanes over Germany. 'It required the U.S. to remain completely isolated from any international trade' contradicts the policy's actual purpose, which was to permit limited trade while avoiding the risks of extending credit or using American ships. This incremental shift shows how the U.S. moved gradually away from strict neutrality even before Pearl Harbor.

FDR used the phrase to justify expanding American industrial support for Britain and other Allies through measures like Lend-Lease, positioning the U.S. as a supplier of democracy's defense without formally entering the fighting. 'It called for a complete embargo on trade with Britain' is the opposite of the policy's intent, which was to increase aid to Britain, not cut it off. This rhetorical framing helped shift public opinion toward greater involvement in the years leading up to full U.S. entry into the war.

The Social Gospel movement urged Christians to address social ills such as poverty, unsafe working conditions, and urban blight as part of their religious duty, inspiring figures like Jane Addams to establish settlement houses and push for reform. 'It argued that poverty was a sign of moral failure that government should not address' describes an older Gilded Age Social Darwinist attitude that the Social Gospel movement actually challenged. Students should connect this religious motivation to the broader coalition of forces driving Progressive reform.

The Court ruled that the government's justification of military necessity outweighed individual constitutional rights, upholding internment even though no individual Japanese Americans had been shown to pose a specific security threat. 'It struck down internment as unconstitutional immediately in 1944' is false, since the ruling actually validated the policy, and it was not formally repudiated by the courts until decades later. Students should treat this case as a key example of how wartime fear can lead courts to compromise constitutional protections.

Progressive municipal reformers pushed structural changes like commission government and city managers to reduce the influence of corrupt political machines and replace patronage-based decision-making with professional, efficient administration. 'They transferred all city governance authority to state legislatures' misrepresents the reform, which aimed to improve local governance rather than eliminate local authority altogether. This reflects the broader Progressive faith in expertise and efficient administration as solutions to political corruption.

The severity and duration of the Depression, combined with New Deal relief, recovery, and reform programs, shifted popular expectations so that many citizens began to see government intervention and social insurance as a legitimate and necessary function. 'Public trust in government institutions declined sharply due to New Deal failures' contradicts FDR's sustained popularity and repeated re-election, which reflected broad public support for his approach. This shift in expectations laid groundwork for later expansions of the American welfare state.

The act required truthful labeling of ingredients and banned the interstate sale of adulterated or mislabeled food and pharmaceutical products, addressing public health concerns raised by muckraking journalism. 'To break up monopolies in the meatpacking industry' describes antitrust action rather than the consumer protection labeling and safety focus of this specific law. Students should connect this act to Upton Sinclair's exposure of unsanitary conditions, which spurred its passage alongside the Meat Inspection Act.

As prices fell, businesses reduced production and cut wages or laid off workers to cope with shrinking profit margins, which further reduced consumer purchasing power and demand, pushing prices down even more in a vicious cycle. 'Falling prices immediately increased consumer purchasing power and ended the recession' ignores how deflation simultaneously depressed wages and employment, offsetting any nominal price benefit. Understanding this deflationary spiral helps explain why the Depression proved so difficult to escape without significant government intervention.