US History B
Name__________________________
Unit 1: The Great Depression- Text Assignments
Objective: The following questions will help to guide students reading and note taking through chapters
17 & 18 Please remember to read carefully and observe the textbook, sometimes you can learn more from
the pictures than the words.
Causes of the Depression
1. Over speculation and buying on margin:
2. Uneven distribution of income
3. High Tariffs
4. Mechanizations
5. Farm Problems
Chapter 17 Section 1 Causes of the Great Depression
Define:
Stock Market:
Bull Market:
Margin:
Margin call:
Speculation:
Black Tuesday:
Installment plan:
Hawley-Smoot Tariff:
Answer:
Who were the two candidates in the 1928 Election? Who won and why?
What was the stock market like in the 1920’s?
What was the impact of the stock market crash on banks (two ways)?
How did bank failures contribute to the Great Depression?
Chapter 17 Section 2 Life During the Great Depression
Define:
Bread Lines & Soup Kitchen:
Shantytowns (Hoovervilles):
Hobos:
Dustbowl:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck:
Answer:
What chain of events turned the once-fertile Great Plains into the Dust Bowl?
How did artists, photographers and writers such as John Steinbeck, reflect the characteristics of the
1930’s?
Chapter 17 Section 3 Hoover Responds
Define:
Reconstruction Finance Corporation:
Relief:
Answer:
What did Hoover do in response to the Great Depression?
Why did Hoover oppose deficit spending?
Why did Hoover oppose the federal government’s participation in relief programs?
What was the “Bonus Army” and how did Hoover respond to them?
How did Americans react as the Depression continued?
Chapter 18 Section 1 Roosevelt Takes Office
Answer:
What events in Roosevelt’s life shaped his ideas and character?
What was the nation’s condition when Roosevelt took office?
Chapter 18 Section 2 The First New Deal
Define:
Hundred Days:
Fireside Chats:
Answer:
What ideas did Roosevelt’s advisers support?
How did the government restore confidence in the banking system?
What New Deal programs helped farmers and homeowners?
What three New Deal programs provided work relief to the unemployed?
Chapter 18 Section 3 The Second New Deal
Define:
Deficit spending:
American Liberty League:
Huey Long & hi Share the Wealth plan:
Father Coughlin & his ideas:
Answer:
Explain the controversy about the Works Progress Administration
Why did the Supreme Court consider the NIRA codes unconstitutional in the Schechter vs Unisted States
(sick chicken) case?
What did the Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act) do for workers?
Describe the process set up by the NLRB to settle conflicts between unions and employers
What happened to union membership as a result of the Wagner Act? How did the member ship change
from 1933 to 1939?
Identify the purpose of the CIO. How is it different from AF of L? What are the two largest industries
where unions made a difference?
Describe the tactics used by workers again General Motors after two union members were demoted.
What became one of the most powerful unions in the US as a result of the conflict?
Describe the Social Security Act’s major goal. Who else was included in the benefits?
What groups were left out of the Social Security Act? Why was this fact a particular problem for many
African Americans?
What principle was established by the Social Security Act? Why did President Roosevelt believe the
program should be paid for by payroll taxes?
Chapter 18 Section 4 The New Deal Coalition
Answer:
Describe the new coalition that supported the Democratic Party
Who were Mary Bethune and Francis Perkins?
Explain FDR’s court packing plan. In what way did Roosevelt win? In what way did he lose?
Who was John Maynard Keynes and what is Keynesian economics? What did Keynes want FDR to do
about the economy?
Describe the benefits set up by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Explain government’s new role as a legacy of the New Deal.