1920s Economy
Stock prices are rising, and investors feel confident. What type of market is this?
Bull market
What was the name given to October 29, 1929, when stock prices went down?
Black tuesday
What were the makeshift communities built by homeless people during the Depression called?
Hoovervilles
What was the name of the environmental disaster that affected the Great Plains in the 1930s?
the dust bowl
What was President Hoover's general belief that Americans should work hard and solve problems with limited government help called?
Rugged individualism.
What is one problem farmers faced during the 1920s?
They grew too many crops, causing prices to fall and making it harder to earn money.
Why was buying stocks on margin risky when stock prices fell?
Investors still owed borrowed money even when their stocks lost value.
What is a bank run?
When many customers try to withdraw their money from a bank at the same time
Name one natural cause and one human cause of the Dust Bowl.
Natural cause: drought. Human cause: plowing up native grasses, leaving soil exposed to wind.
What did the Federal Farm Board (FFB) try to do to help farmers?
Support farm prices by helping stabilize agricultural markets and purchasing crops
What did buying on credit allow people to do?
Buy goods now and pay for them later.
If you borrow money to buy stocks, what is it called?
Buying on margin
A family waits outside a charity for free food. What was this kind of line called?
A bread line
Why did many Dust Bowl families move west?
Dust damaged their farms and crops, so they searched for jobs and better living conditions.
What was the purpose of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)?
It provided emergency loans to banks, railroads, and other businesses to help stabilize the economy.
What is the difference between a bull market and a bear market?
A bull market has rising stock prices. A bear market has falling prices
What does the Dow Jones track?
The performance of a group of major stocks.
How could bank failures affect people who had never invested in the stock market?
They could lose their savings if their bank failed and deposits were not protected
Farmers removed native grasses to plant crops. How did this make the soil more likely to blow away?
The grasses normally held the soil in place, so without them the wind could blow the soil away
Who were the Bonus Army, and why did they come to Washington, D.C. in 1932?
World War I veterans who demanded early payment of their promised service bonuses during the Depression.
Why was it a problem that many Americans could not afford all the goods businesses were making?
Businesses could not sell everything, so they lost money and sometimes cut jobs
How did the stock market crash help cause the Great Depression?
People lost money, banks failed, businesses struggled, and many workers lost their jobs.
Give two ways the Great Depression changed everyday life for American families.
unemployment, homelessness, hunger, migration, children leaving school, or families relying on charity
Who were the “Okies”?
People, especially from Oklahoma and nearby states, who moved west to find work.
Who was president when the Great Depression began?
Herbert Hoover