A Noble Heritage Chapter 8 Quiz – The Golden Land
1.
Between 1881 and 1920, approximately ______ Ashkenazi Jews immigrated to America’s shores from Eastern Europe. a) 500,000 b) One million c) Two Million d) Three million
2.
Most of the Polonsky men who immigrated to America were ______. a) Tradesmen such as tailors, painters, watchmakers, and laborers b) Professionals, such as pharmacists, dentists, and physicians c) Rabbis and teachers d) Unemployed
3.
Nathan Polonsky and his sons, Joseph, and Leon Polonsky, were involved with ______. a) The Jewish Orphan Asylum of Brownsville b) The Pride of Judea Children’s Home c) The Shpoler Zeida Descendants’ Foundation d) All of the above
4.
Prior to 1900, American Jews comprised less than one percent of the nation’s population; by 1930 they comprised about ______ percent. a) 1.5% b) 2.5% c) 3.5% d) 4.5%
5.
By the early 20th century, federal officials began interpreting harshly the public charge provision of the 1891 Immigration Act. The arbitrariness became more pronounced in 1902, when ______, an undisguised nativist, became Federal Commissioner of Immigration for the Port of New York. a) Reverend A. E. Patton b) Alfred Schultz c) William B. Williams d) Robert Watchorn
6.
Nativists, in official government capacities, used the excuse of ______ to turn away Jewish immigrants, even those trying desperately to escape cruelty and oppression. a) Pauperism b) Inability to speak English c) Minor passport irregularities d) All of the above
7.
In 1922, educational discrimination became a national issue when Harvard announced it was considering a quota system for Jewish students, and as late as ______, Dartmouth openly admitted and defended a quota system against Jewish students. a) 1935 b) 1945 c) 1955 d) 1965
8.
Anti-Semitism in America reached its peak during the interwar period (1919–1939). During this period, which of the following threats to the Jewish community arose? a) The rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s b) The virulent anti-Semitic works of Henry Ford c) The radio speeches of Father Charles Coughlin in the late 1930s d) All of the above
9.
Thrust into a new and unfamiliar social environment, our second-generation ancestors must have felt an enormous pressure to assimilate into American culture, and to escape the stigma that was associated with being recent Russian Jewish immigrants. This often led them to ______. a) Hide their religion b) Shun other Russian Jews c) Americanize their names d) Marry non-Jews
10. Born of Dutch-Sephardic parents in the ghetto of London, ______ negotiated the formation of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and became its first president in 1886 a) Jacob H. Schiff b) Samuel Gompers c) Eugene Victor Debs d) Robert Watchorn
11. ______ led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU), which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers. a) Jewish Union organization b) The Progressive Movement c) The Triangle Shirtwaist fire d) All of the above
12. Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, and especially those from the Russian Pale of Settlement, were largely distrustful of power and authority, which for years had tried to coerce and persecute them. True or False?
13. Left wing organizations such as the Arbeter Ring and the Jewish People’s Fraternal Order played an important part in Jewish community life until World War II. True or False?
14. Through his presidential candidacies, as well as his work with labor movements ______ would eventually become one of the most well-known Socialists in America. a) Jacob H. Schiff b) Samuel Gompers c) Eugene Victor Debs d) Robert Watchorn 15. The arrival of our Polonsky ancestors in America between ______ and their first few years here, coincided with the peak years of Socialism’s national influence a) 1900 and 1910 b) 1905 and 1914 c) 1910 and 1920 d) 1915 and 1924 16. ______ named their first son after Eugene Victor Debs in 1920. a) Rachil Polonsky and Herman Adler b) Pauline Polonsky and Harry Rabinowitz c) Fanny Polonsky and Charlie Chaber d) Vera Polonsky and Max Erskine