Recent American history
Questions and answers
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Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.
- World War I
- World War II
- Korean War
- Vietnam War
- (Persian) Gulf War
The United States joined World War I in 1917 and fought in World War II from 1941, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, until Germany and Japan surrendered in 1945.
Textbook · World War II ↗ -
Who was President during World War I?
- (Woodrow) Wilson
Wilson, the 28th President, served from 1913 to 1921 and led the country when it entered the war in Europe in 1917, a year before the fighting ended on November 11, 1918.
Textbook · World War I ↗ -
Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
- (Franklin) Roosevelt
Roosevelt was elected in 1933, when the Depression was at its worst, and was still President when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. Elected four times, he died in office in 1945.
Textbook · Franklin Roosevelt ↗ -
Who did the United States fight in World War II?
- Japan, Germany, and Italy
Germany started the war by attacking Poland in 1939, Japan and Italy joined its side, and the United States entered after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Textbook · World War II ↗ -
Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
- World War II
Eisenhower commanded American forces in World War II, then served as the 34th President from 1953 to 1961, during the Cold War and the start of the space race.
Textbook · The Cold War ↗ -
During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
- Communism
After World War II the United States and the Soviet Union stopped trusting each other, and the United States tried to keep more countries, like China and North Korea, from becoming communist.
Textbook · The Cold War ↗ -
What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
- civil rights (movement)
Soon after World War II many Americans began a movement against state laws that separated people by race and kept them from voting. It led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Textbook · The Civil Rights Movement ↗ -
What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?
- fought for civil rights
- worked for equality for all Americans
King led peaceful protests against racial discrimination and laws that separated people by race, and helped convince Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Textbook · The Civil Rights Movement ↗ -
What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States?
- Terrorists attacked the United States.
Terrorists hijacked four planes, crashing two into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon, while passengers fought back on the fourth, which crashed in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people died.
Textbook · September 11, 2001 ↗ -
Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.
- Cherokee
- Navajo
- Sioux
- Chippewa
- Choctaw
- Pueblo
- Apache
- Iroquois
- Creek
- Blackfeet
- Seminole
- Cheyenne
- Arawak
- Shawnee
- Mohegan
- Huron
- Oneida
- Lakota
- Crow
- Teton
- Hopi
- Inuit
Over 500 American Indian tribes live in the United States today. The Cherokee were among the five southern nations forced west on the Trail of Tears between the 1830s and 1850s.
Textbook · The Louisiana Territory ↗