Key Vocab
What does buying on "credit" mean?
Buying now and paying later.
What is the name of the day the stock market crashed in 1929?
Black Tuesday October 29, 1929.
What was a bread line?
A line of people waiting for free food from a charity or the government.
Who won the 1932 election — Hoover or Roosevelt?
Roosevelt (FDR).
What are the Three R's of the New Deal?
Relief, Recovery, and Reform.
What word describes buying stocks hoping to get rich fast without thinking about the risks?
Speculation.
True or False: By 1933, most U.S. banks were still open and operating normally.
False, 11,000 of the nation's 25,000 banks failed.
What happened to schools during the Depression?
About 2,600 closed by 1933, leaving 300,000+ kids without school.
Did Hoover support giving direct relief to struggling Americans?
No — he believed people should take care of themselves. (rugged individualism)
What did the CCC do for young Americans and what did the CCC do?
Gave them jobs doing outdoor conservation work like planting trees and building trails.
If someone buys a stock "on margin," what do they do?
Pay a small amount upfront and borrow the rest.
How did buying on credit help cause the Depression?
Americans piled up debt. When they couldn't pay it back, spending stopped, businesses failed, and workers lost jobs.
Name ONE group hit especially hard by the depression and explain why.
Accept any — e.g., African Americans faced 50%+ unemployment and were excluded from most relief programs.
Name ONE thing Hoover did to try to help during the Depression.
Built the Hoover Dam, created the RFC, or signed the Federal Home Loan Bank Act.
What did the Social Security Act do for older Americans?
Created monthly pension payments for retired workers age 65 and older.
Did the Hawley-Smoot Tariff help or hurt the economy? Why.
t hurt it — other countries raised their own tariffs and world trade collapsed.
Why were farmers struggling even before the stock market crashed?
rop prices dropped 40%+ after WWI. Farmers couldn't pay their debts and hundreds of thousands lost their farms.
What caused the Dust Bowl?
Farmers had plowed up prairie grasses for decades. When drought hit, nothing held the soil and giant dust storms destroyed farmland.
How was FDR different from Hoover in how he talked to Americans?
FDR used simple, everyday language that made people feel hopeful. Hoover was formal and distant.
What were the Fireside Chats and why did they matter?
Radio speeches where FDR talked to Americans in simple language. They helped people feel calm and hopeful during the Depression.
What is direct relief?
Money or food from the government directly to the people.
Name TWO causes of the Depression and explain how they made each other worse.
Accept any two — e.g., margin buying + bank failures: falling stock prices meant people couldn't repay loans, banks failed, and people lost their savings, deepening the crisis.
Who were the Okies and why did they leave?
Families from the Dust Bowl who lost their farms to drought and debt. They moved west — mostly to California — looking for work.
Why did so many Americans vote for Roosevelt in 1932? Give TWO reasons
The Depression worsened under Hoover, he did too little too late, FDR promised a New Deal, and he spoke directly to ordinary people with hope.
Was the New Deal a success or a failure? Give ONE piece of evidence.
Accept either — Success: unemployment fell from 25% to 9% by 1937. Failure: the Depression didn't end until WWII and many Black workers were excluded from Social Security.