Section 1: The Nation’s Sick Economy pp. 670-677
1. What does it mean to "buy on margin"? How did this practice contribute to creating the
Great Depression?
2. Why did so many banks fail so quickly during the early 1930s?
3. Give specific examples to show how the superficial prosperity of the late 1920s hid
troubling weaknesses in the country.
4. Identify reasons why agriculture suffered more throughout the 1920s than any other part
of the country.
5. How was the distribution of income so unequal in the United States during the
1920s? How was this bad for the economy?
6. What does it mean to "buy on margin"? How did this practice contribute to creating the
Great Depression?
7. How did the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 worsen the worldwide depression?
8. What role did the effects of World War I play in affecting the world economy?
Section 2: Hardship and Suffering during the Depression pp. 678-683
1. How did the Great Depression affect the lives of ordinary people in cities, towns, and on
the farms?
2. How were shantytowns, soup kitchens, and bread lines a response to the
Depression? How successful were they?
3. What created the "Dust Bowl" of the mid-1930s? What were its effects on the people of
the Great Plains and West Coast?
4. Why did so many men leave their homes during the Depression? Where did they go?
5. How did the Great Depression affect women and children?
Section 3: Hoover Struggles with the Depression pp. 684-689
1. What did President Hoover mean by the term "rugged individualism?" How did this reflect
his views about the role of government?
2. Why did many people blame President Hoover for the nation's increasing problems?
3. How did President Hoover finally try to use the government to relieve the Depression?
4. How did President Hoover's treatment of the Bonus Army affect his standing with the
public? FDR’s reaction?
Section 1: A New Deal Fights the Depression pp. 694-700
1.
Be familiar with the New Deal chart
2.
3.
4.
5.
What were the three major goals of the New Deal?
Why did FDR engage in a series of "Fireside chats" with the American people?
How did Congress and the president attempt to save the banking system in 1933?
Why did people regard FDR's court-packing scheme as a threat to the constitutional
principle of separation of powers?
6. What did Father Coughlin, Dr. Townsend, and Senator Huey Long dislike about the New
Deal?
Section 2: The Second New Deal Takes Hold pp. 701-707
1. What role did Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt play in her husband's administration?
2. What arguments could be used by the supporters and critics of the Works Progress
Administration [WPA] and the National Youth Administration [NYA]?
3. What were the major provisions of the Wagner Act of 1935? Why could it be called the
"Magna Carta of Labor?"
4. What were the three areas covered by the original Social Security Act of 1935? Why might
it be considered the most important achievement of the entire New Deal era?
Section 5: The Impact of the New Deal pp. 721-725
1.
2.
3.
4.
How did the Social Security system represent a change from past government policies?
How did New Deal programs benefit as well as harm the environment?
In what ways was the New Deal a success? a failure?
Identify the New Deal programs that are still in place today.