Great Depression Test Review
1. What were the causes of the Great Depression? What was the immediate effect of each
cause?
Stock market crash – banking crises when everyone tried to take all their money out of
the bank
Decline in crop prices – increased farmers debt
Hawley Smoot Tariff – decreased international trade
Buying on margin (over-speculation) – banking crises when people couldn’t pay back their
loans
Overproduction and underconsumption
Federal Reserve raised interest rates – slowed down the economy, increased
unemployment
2. What is the significance of the year 1929?
Stock market crash and beginning of the Great Depression
3. Why did many banks fail after the stock market crashed?
Because people couldn’t pay back their loans
Because too many Americans wanted to take all of their money out of the banks
4. Why did many farmers fail to experience the prosperity of the 1920s?
Overproduction of agricultural goods
5. What were the effects of the Great Depression?
Businesses closed their doors, increased unemployment, bread lines
6. Why is Dorothea Lange significant during the Great Depression?
Showed the suffering of Americans during the Great Depression
7. What was the intent of the Mexican Repatriation Act?
Reduce competition for jobs
8. During the 1930s, were did Dust Storms occur? What caused the Dust Bowl and how did
farmers respond to it?
Great Plains (Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado)
Over farming and drought left the land exposed to soil erosion and dust storms
Migrated to California and cities to try to find jobs
9. How did the Great Depression affect people’s attitude toward the government?
Threatened people’s faith in democracy
10. Compare and contrast President Hoover and President Roosevelt’s responses to the Great
Depression.
President Hoover – rugged individualism, little government involvement in economic
problems
President Roosevelt – fireside chats (reassure the public), New Deal – increase
government involvement in economic problems
11. What problems did Roosevelt face at the beginning of his presidency?
Domestic (Great Depression, high unemployment, prohibition, farm relief)
Foreign (high tariffs, war debts, world economy)
12. Why did Roosevelt create the New Deal? How did he justify this change in government?
End the Great Depression and fix the economy
Justified by saying that something needs to be done, because doing nothing is not
working
13. How did the government attempt to improve the condition of farmers during the New Deal
period?
Agricultural Adjustment Act – subsidize (pay) farmers for their crops or to not grow crops
14. How did the New Deal change American political thinking?
People look to the government to solve economic and social problems
15. How did the New Deal change the role of government?
Increased the role of the government
People rely on the government to fix their economic troubles
16. What was Eleanor Roosevelt’s important contribution to the FDR’s Presidency?
Advocated for the poor, women, and African Americans
17. What was the Republican (conservative) response to the New Deal?
Endangering free-enterprise (similar to socialism), didn’t trust the government to solve
problems, didn’t want to end rugged individualism (self-reliance)
18. Who were Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and Francis Townsend?
Huey Long – redistribute wealth/money
Father Coughlin – criticize the New Deal on the radio
Francis Townsend – came up with the idea for social security
19. Why did the Supreme Court block many New Deal Policies (eminent domain)? How did
Roosevelt respond to this action?
The Federal Government was violating the 10th Amendment and using more power than
the Constitution allowed and that the government could not limit property rights using eminent
domain (government can take your land as long as they “justly compensate”
Roosevelt’s response – trying to put more people on the Supreme Court (judicial branch)
who would support his New Deal/legislative program
20. Why did Congress block Roosevelt’s attempt to appoint more justices to the Supreme Court?
Increase the power of the executive branch – violating separation of powers
21. List New Deal Programs.
Civilian Conservation Corps, Works Progress Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority,
Social Security, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Securities and Exchange Commission,
Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Federal Housing Administration, Home Owners Loan
Corporation
22. Why were the Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works
Progress Administration created?
Decrease high unemployment rates by giving people jobs
23. How does Social Security work? How did it change the role of the government? Does it
continue to affect Americans today?
Provides a fixed income for people who can’t work
The government is more responsible for people’s economic welfare
Yes
24. What was the goal of creating the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as, the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation?
Securities and Exchange Commission – regulates the stock market
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – insures bank deposits
Restore people’s faith in financial institutions (banks and the stock market)
25. Explain the role of the Federal Housing Administration in today’s society.
Helps people to obtain mortgage loans from the bank