SAQs for APUSH Topic 8.9— The Great Society

Twenty-five questions designed to help students review for the annual exam and that relate to a set of domestic programs launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65 and that sought, above all else, the total elimination of poverty and racial injustice.

1. President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society attempted to use federal legislation and programs to end racial discrimination. Name and briefly describe how Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society attempted to use federal legislation and programs to end racial discrimination.
2. President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society attempted to use federal legislation and programs to eliminate poverty. Name and briefly describe how Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society attempted to use federal legislation and programs to eliminate poverty. Also name and briefly describe the work of a 1968 “commission” that blamed lack of economic opportunity, failed social service programs, police brutality, racism, and the white-oriented media for the 1967 long, hot summer of race riots.
3. President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society attempted to use federal legislation and programs to address social issues (other than the elimination of poverty and the ending of racial discrimination.) Name and briefly describe how Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society attempted to use federal legislation and programs to address social issues (other than the elimination of poverty and the ending of racial discrimination.)
4. President Lyndon Johnson was a Democrat; hence the word “liberal” aptly describes the President’s political leanings. After World War II (which includes the time period of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society), liberals found expression in a series of Supreme Court decisions that expanded civil rights and individual liberties. Name and briefly describe one Supreme Court decision
5. APUSH students are often first introduced to the words liberal and conservative when learning how, during the 1930s, policymakers responded to the mass unemployment and social upheavals of the Great Depression by redefining the goals and ideals of “modern American liberalism.” One bit of evidence in support of this claim is something called President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. What did President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal seek to accomplish?
6. Briefly describe one historical event, development, or process that occurred before President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.
7. Approximately what percent of the American workforce went unemployed in the years leading up to the New Deal?
8. During the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, along with the work of other liberal policymakers, transformed the U.S. into a limited welfare state? What is a limited welfare state?
9. During the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal attempted to end the Great Depression by using government power to provide relief to the poor. Name and briefly describe one bit of evidence in support of this claim.
10. During the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal attempted to end the Great Depression by using government power to stimulate recovery. Name and briefly describe one bit of evidence in support of this claim.
11. During the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal attempted to end the Great Depression by using government power to reform the American economy. Name and briefly describe one bit of evidence in support of this claim.
12. After Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, liberalism came under increasing attack from a resurgent conservative movement. Those that advocated in favor of this movement called for a robust national defense, low taxes, minimum government regulation, and traditional social values. What are “traditional social values?”
13. After Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, conservatives increasingly argued that liberal programs (such as Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” and Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal”) were counterproductive in fighting poverty and stimulating economic growth. Name and describe a famous speech given by Ronald Reagan in the late 1960s and 1970s that argued that liberal programs were counterproductive in fighting poverty and stimulating economic growth.
14. After Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, conservatives, fearing juvenile delinquency, urban unrest, and challenges to the traditional family, increasingly promoted their own values and ideology. What challenge to the traditional family did conservatives in the years after Johnson’s Great Society most fear?
15. After Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, conservatives and liberals clashed over many new social issues, the power of the presidency and the federal government, and movements for greater individual rights. Describe how conservatives and liberals clashed over the War Powers Act. Describe a movement for greater individual rights that conservatives and liberals clashed over.
16. In 1980, a conservative (Ronald Reagan) ran for president. What were some of the more important things Ronald Reagan said in his 1980 Republican Party nomination speech?
17. Ronald Reagan’s victory in the presidential election of 1980 represented an important milestone, allowing conservatives to enact significant tax cuts and continue the deregulation of many industries. What was one “industry” that was “deregulated” as a result of Ronald Reagan’s victory in the presidential election of 1980?
18. Briefly describe one similarity and one difference between Ronald Reagan’s supply-side economics and the liberal “Keynesian economics” long favored by Democrats and other liberals.
19. Briefly describe one similarity and one difference between Ronald Reagan’s “Let’s Make America Great Again” and Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal.”
20. Briefly describe one similarity and one difference between Ronald Reagan’s “Let’s Make America Great Again” and Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society.”
21. President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society envisioned new opportunities for immigrants. Briefly describe one historical event, development, or process that occurred before the Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
22. Briefly describe one historical event, development, or process that after President Lyndon Johnson’ signing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
23. After President Lyndon Johnson’ signing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, immigrants from around the world sought access to the political, social, and economic opportunities in the United States. Describe one important political opportunity the post-1965 immigrants sought access to. Also one important social opportunity and one important economic
24. Briefly describe one major historical similarity and one major historical difference between the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
25. Briefly describe one major historical similarity and one major historical difference between the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and the Immigration Act of 1924.
26. Briefly describe one major historical similarity and one major historical difference between the immigrants who came to America during the First Industrial Revolution (1800–1865) and the immigrants who came to America after President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Same question but for the immigrants who came to America during the Second Industrial Revolution (1864–1914)
27. President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 resulted in a significant altering of the ethnic makeup of the U.S. Briefly describe one major piece of evidence in support of this claim.