The Roaring 20's
Name one major cultural movement centered in Northern cities in the 1920s that showcased African American literature, music, and arts.
The Harlem Renaissance
Define “buying on margin.”
Buying on margin = purchasing stock with a small cash down payment and borrowing the rest.
Who defeated Herbert Hoover in 1932 and promised a “New Deal”?
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Name the “Three R’s” of the New Deal.
Relief, Recovery, Reform
Name one prominent critic from the left and one from the right listed in the materials.
Left critics: Francis Townsend, Huey Long, Father Coughlin. Right critic: American Liberty League.
Identify two technological/consumer changes of the 1920s that helped create a new mass culture
Radio adoption, automobiles, household electricity, movies.
List three major, interacting causes of the Great Depression mentioned in the materials.
Agricultural overproduction, speculation/stock market bubble, expansion of credit, income/wealth disparities, laissez-faire regulation, unpaid war debts.
What was the Bonus Army and why did it matter politically for Hoover?
Bonus Army = WWI veterans who marched for early bonus payment; Hoover’s handling (use of troops) made him appear unsympathetic.
Match the program to its primary goal: CCC, TVA, FDIC (choose Relief, Recovery, or Reform for each).
CCC = Relief (jobs for young men); TVA = Recovery/Reform (regional development, electricity); FDIC = Reform (bank deposit insurance).
What was the American Liberty League’s main objection to the New Deal?
Liberty League said New Deal programs threatened individual liberty and expanded executive power beyond constitutional limits.
Explain how installment plans and buying on margin changed consumer behavior and contributed to economic fragility.
Buying on margin allowed investors to borrow to buy stocks with a small down payment; installment plans let consumers buy durable goods on credit—both increased demand and debt and magnified losses when prices fell.
Explain how agricultural overproduction affected rural Americans before the 1929 crash
Overproduction drove farm prices down; many farmers became destitute; sharecroppers and tenant farmers were particularly harmed.
Contrast Hoover’s volunteerism approach with one interventionist policy he later pursued (name it and explain briefly)
Hoover’s volunteerism vs. Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) loans to banks and big businesses.
Describe one way the Social Security Act provided both relief and reform.
Social Security provided old-age pensions (contributory insurance) and categorical assistance for dependent mothers/children—immediate relief for eligible groups and long-term reform via a safety net.
Summarize the Supreme Court’s rulings that posed problems for the New Deal (cite at least one law overturned).
Supreme Court struck down NIRA as beyond presidential power to regulate interstate commerce; also struck parts of AAA.
Describe the significance of the Scopes Trial for the cultural conflicts of the 1920s.
The Scopes Trial highlighted urban/rural and modernist/traditional conflicts over teaching evolution vs. literal Bible interpretation.
Describe the role of bank runs and bank failures in worsening the economic collapse. Use figures or trends from the documents.
Bank runs caused suspensions and failures (e.g., bank suspensions rose to about 4,004 in 1933), wiping out savings and reducing lending.
Cite two statistics from the materials that show how severe unemployment or bank failures were at the Depression’s peak
Unemployment peaked ~25% in 1933; bank suspensions reached 4,004 in 1933.
Explain why the TVA was important for rural recovery in the South; include at least two benefits it provided.
TVA built dams, provided electricity, controlled floods, created jobs, replanted forests, built fertilizer plants—improving health and promoting economic development.
Describe Roosevelt’s court-packing plan and why critics called it “court packing.”
Roosevelt proposed adding up to six new justices to the 9-member Court (1937) arguing workload/age; critics argued it would allow him to pack the Court with New Deal supporters and upset separation of powers.
Evaluate how tax policy and wealth concentration in the 1920s could have affected long-term economic inequality.
Tax cuts for top earners concentrated wealth; though top bracket rates fell, share of taxes paid by the wealthy rose—indicating income concentration; lower tax progressivity reduced redistribution and likely widened inequality.
Analyze how laissez-faire policies and weak regulation of financial markets contributed to the speculative bubble and crash.
Reduced regulation allowed speculation and banks to use depositor funds in risky investments; buying on margin created a bubble; when confidence fell the system collapsed.
Evaluate whether Hoover’s actions were adequate given the crisis, using evidence from the provided text (short essay-style response).
Balanced analysis citing Hoover’s attempts (RFC, public works) but limits in reaching ordinary citizens and political costs (Hoovervilles, Bonus Army).
Assess how the Emergency Banking Act and the first Fireside Chat together helped stabilize public confidence in banks.
Emergency Banking Act allowed safe banks to reopen; fireside chat reassured depositors; combined they returned $1 billion in reserves and calmed panic.
Using the sections on African Americans and lasting consequences, analyze how New Deal programs reinforced or failed to address racial inequality (include one concrete program example and one long-term consequence such as redlining)
Evidence that many programs were implemented via local control that discriminated—examples: NRA allowed separate and lower pay scales for blacks, FHA refused mortgages in white neighborhoods, CCC had segregated camps; long-term consequence: redlining and generational wealth gaps.