End of an Era Lesson Answer Key

A. Read (Chapter 20, pages 87–94)

1. List at least four of FDR's achievements as president.
• He led the nation through a depression and a world war.
• He strengthened the two-party system.
• He brought new people into government.
• He worked to protect our nation’s natural heritage.
• He inspired people to believe in their country and want to do their
best for it.
• He created government programs to assist those in need.
• He won the war and set the stage for the prosperity that was to
follow.

2. How did the Allies react as they discovered more and more
concentration camps?
The Allies reacted with cold fury.

3. Approximately how many people died in the concentration camps?

More than 10 million human beings died in the concentration
camps.
4. In which concentration camp did Anne Frank die as a prisoner? How
do we know so much about Anne Frank and her family?
Anne was in Bergen-Belsen. She kept a diary, which was found
and published.

5. What brought an end to the totalitarian leadership of Mussolini and

Hitler in April 1945?
Benito Mussolini was hanged by Italians fighting on the side of the
Allies and Hitler killed himself.

B. Use What You Know

Congress established the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Commission in 1955. Forty-two years later, on May 2, 1997, the
memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

The following are suggested reasons for building a memorial to

FDR:
• Roosevelt led the nation through two of its worst times—the Great
Depression and World War II.
• He inspired the American people. He made Americans believe in their
country.
• He believed in government by the people. He started many programs
to help the disadvantaged.
• He strengthened the two-party political system.
• He brought new people into government. He included the “excluded.”
• He cared about the environment.
• He showed that handicaps don’t have to be obstacles.
• He won the war and worked tirelessly for postwar peace.
• He believed in four essential freedoms: freedom of speech and
expression; freedom for each person to worship God in his own way;
freedom from want; and freedom from fear.