Introduction
This Web Quest is designed to help you
explore the impact of the Great
Depression, what it did to the American
economy and the lives of the millions.
Read the following facts to reacquaint
yourself with the Great Depression, then
follow the directions and answer the
questions on your own sheet of paper.
 October 29, 1929: The Great Crash of the Stock Market
 4 million Americans were invested heavily in the stock
market—many lost everything.
 Factories began to close because they had no money or
customers.
 Thousands of workers lost their jobs or endured pay cuts.
 Restaurants and small businesses closed because they had
no customers
 By 1932, more than 12 million people were unemployed
(1/4 of the American workforce).
Parts of the Web Quest
 Part 1: Comparing the Great Depression to the Great
Recession
 Part 2: The Depression’s Impact on the American Family
 Part 3: Images of Breadlines and Hoovervilles
 Part 4: Interpreting Quotes from the Depression
Part I: 1929 vs. 2007
Look at the chart (on the following slide) comparing the Great Depression
(1929-1933) and the Great Recession (2008-2009) and answer the questions
below.
1)
Which economic crisis caused the greatest amount of unemployment? How
much higher was the unemployment rate?
2) How many banks fail during the Depression?
3)
How might this (bank failure) impact the average American?
4) What happened to prices of goods during the Depression?
5)
How is this different than what happened three years ago?
6) How do states respond to the Depression?
7)
How do you think this response will impact the average American? Fully
explain.
Great Depression compared to
Great Recession
Source: CNNMoney.com
Great Depression
Great Recession
Bank Failures
9,096 (50%) of banks
(Jan 1930-March 1922)
57 (.6%) of banks
(Dec 2007-May 2009)
Unemployment rate
25%
8.5%
Economic decline
-26.5%
-3.3%
Largest decline in Dow
Jones Industrial average
-89.2%
-53.8%
Change in prices
-25%
+.5%
Emergency spending
programs
1.5% of GDP for 1 year
2.5% of the GDP for 2 years
States’ response
Raise taxes, cut spending
Federal stimulus plan gives
funds to states to lessen
impact of tax increases.
Increase in money supply by
the Federal Reserve
17% (1933)
125% (Sep 2008-May 2009)
Part II: Impact on Families
Visit Eyewitness to History’s Web site and read about the
impact of the Depression on Families. Answer the below
questions.
1) Why did the divorce rate drop during the Depression?
2) How much did families’ income drop during the Hoover
Administration?
3) As traditional family roles began to change, how did some men
react?
4) How did the Depression change the role of black women?
5) How were minorities treated by the New Deal? Be specific!
Part III
In cities thousands of jobless men roamed the streets looking
for work. It wasn’t unusual for 2,000 or 3,000 applicants to
show up for one or two job openings.
Breadlines were established to prevent people from starving.
And more than a million families lost their houses and took up
residence in shantytowns made up of tents, packing crates and
hulks of old cars. They were called Hoovervilles, a mocking
reference to President Hoover, whom many blamed for the
mess the country was in.
Spend a few minutes looking at the images on the next few
slides. Look at the people. Look at how they live. Then answer
the questions.
Breadlines
Hoovervilles
Hooverville
Part III
1) How would you describe the breadlines during the 1930s?
2) How do you think it would feel to have to wait in that line?
3) Look at the breadline on the second set of images. What is
ironic about this image? How do you think the people standing
in that picture feel?
4) Why do you think the lines are mostly made up of men?
5)
How would you describe a hooverville?
6) What do the signs behind some of the people in the pictures
tell us about what people are doing/experiencing?
7) Look at the mothers in the final set of images. What does their
expression say to you? What do you think they are thinking?
Part IV: Interpreting Quotes
"In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see
some things which were solid and upon which you could base
hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to
hope—nothing of man.”
- Former President Calvin Coolidge, 1932
1) According to Coolidge, what is unique about this economic
downturn?
2) What do you think Coolidge means when he says “nothing of
man?”
3) Do you think it is significant that a former President is making
these observations? Why or why not?
Part IV: Interpreting Quotes
"If, with all the advantages I've had, I can't make a living, I'm
just no good, I guess.”
-An Unemployed Texas School Teacher, 1933
4) What does this quote tell us about the type of people that
are unemployed during the Depression (that may be
different from previous economic recessions)?
5) What does this quote tell us about the psychological toll
the Depression is taking on the unemployed?
Part IV: Interpreting Quotes
“I wanted to stay home and fight poverty with my family. But my
father told me I had to leave . . . But I didn’t have it in my mind to
leave until he told me, ‘Go fed for yourself. I cannot afford to have
you around any longer’”
--Clarence Lee, left home when he was 16
6) What does this quote tell us about the experience of some
teenagers during the Depression?
7) Why do you think some families felt they had to kick out their
older children? What does this tell us about the severity of the
Depression?
8) Make a prediction: What do you think teenagers who left home
did?