Great Depression and the New Deal

Causes of the Great Depression

100

Question: What major 1929 event signaled the start of the Great Depression?

Answer: The stock market crash (Black Tuesday)

200

Question: What risky stock market practice involved buying shares for quick profit while ignoring potential losses?

Answer: Speculation

300

Question: What economic condition meant Americans were spending money they did not actually have?

Answer: Living on credit / Easy credit

400

Question: What two related economic problems contributed to the Great Depression by limiting purchasing power?

Answer: Unequal distribution of income and consumers having less money to spend

500

Question: How did easy credit and buying on margin together worsen the stock market crash?

Answer: Investors borrowed heavily to buy stocks, and when prices fell they could not repay loans, causing widespread losses

Life During the Great Depression

100

Question: What were the small communities of makeshift homes built by the homeless called?

Answer: Hoovervilles

200

Question: Which groups experienced higher unemployment rates during the Great Depression?

Answer: African Americans and Latinos

300

Question: How did many men respond to unemployment when they could no longer support their families?

Answer: They left home and became hoboes to search for work

400

Question: What environmental disaster forced many farming families to leave this place? (2 answers)

The Dust Bowl / The Great Plains

500

Question: What hardships did women and children face during the Great Depression?

Answer: Women canned food and sewed clothing while facing discrimination, and children suffered malnutrition and lack of education

Presidents of the time

100

Question: Who was president at the start of the Great Depression?

Answer: Herbert Hoover

200

Question: What belief emphasized self-reliance and limited government involvement during Hoover’s presidency?

Answer: Rugged individualism

300

Question: What group of World War I veterans marched on Washington, D.C., demanding early bonus payments?

Answer: The Bonus Army

400

Question: Why did Hoover’s response to WW1 veterans hurt his public image?

Answer: The military used force and gas to remove the veterans

500

Question: How did Hoover’s and Roosevelt’s views on government action differ during the Great Depression?

Answer: Hoover favored limited government involvement, while Roosevelt supported active federal intervention through the New Deal

The New Deal & Its Legacy

100

Question: What were the three main goals of the New Deal?

Answer: Relief, recovery, and reform

200

Question: Which New Deal program provided jobs for young men doing conservation work?

Answer: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

300

Question: Which New Deal program created long-term financial support for elderly and disabled Americans?

Answer: Social Security Administration (SSA)

400

Question: Why did critics argue the New Deal made the federal government too powerful?

Answer: It expanded federal involvement in the economy and increased presidential authority

500

Question: Which two New Deal financial institutions still exist today, and what do they do?

Answer: The FDIC protects bank deposits and the SEC regulates the stock market