Great Depression Quiz Bowl
1.
What is the Economic Cycle? Draw it. a.
Prosperity – Recession – Depression – Recovery – Prosperity
2.
Why did many economic advisors believe that the Depression was a natural event and would be over shortly? a.
A period of Prosperity will eventually turn into a period of recession and then depression and after a while the depression will turn into recovery and then prosperity again. It’s a cyclical system that is on the long term always increasing because of inflation. b.
Usually this period of depression will only last a few years at the very most
3.
What made the Great Depression stand out from other ones that we have had before this time? a.
The amount of time it lasted. b.
This slump that we refer to as the Great Depression lasted ten years. c.
This is by far the longest depression that our country has ever gone through.
4.
Even with the different economic plans that our government tried we did not truly recover until what major world event? a.
WWII
5.
Why did our economy recover at this time? a.
During wartime there was a large market for our goods, our government was buying and producing weapons which meant that they needed a very large workforce, farmers once again had a market for their goods and so on it went through all of our industries.
6.
Who won the election of 1932 and what party was he? a.
FDR, Republican
7.
Why was his election pretty much a shoe in? a. The Democrats were blamed for the Depression therefore who ever ran on the
Republican Ticket was almost guaranteed to win.
8.
What disease did FDR contract in 1921 and what effect did it have on him? a.
Polio b.
Confined him to a wheelchair most of the time
9.
What was the final nail in Hoover’s Presidential Coffin so to speak? Explain in full.
a.
The putting down of the Bonus Army by Federal Troops b.
The Bonus Army was a force of 20,000 WWI Veterans who had turned up in
Washington demanding that their Bonus for fighting which had been promised to them years before be paid now. They needed the money to feed their families. c.
Hoover refused and the Men set up camp on the edge of the capital saying that they refused to leave until their bonus was paid. d.
Hoover got angry and sent in General Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D.
Eisenhower to remove these men. e.
They marched in with the army and by using tear gas and their bayonets they moved the men out of the camp and destroyed it. f.
This was all captured on film by news crews and added support to charges that
Hoover was a cold hearted leader who had no sympathy. The Bonus Army

Great Depression Quiz Bowl soldiers were starved, ragged, and unarmed while our army was well fed and armed. This made him look like a Tyrant.
10.
Why are these Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower going to be important in the future? a.
Both would be very important generals during WWII b.
MacArthur in the Pacific Theater c.
Eisenhower in the European Theater d.
Both as Supreme Commanders of the Allied forces in these spheres e.
Eisenhower will also become President of the US
11.
FDR’s plans to aid the American people and to end the depression was known as? a.
The New Deal
12.
What was the Bank Holiday? a.
FDR closed the banks so that he would have time to figure out and implement new plans to protect people’s money
13.
What is the lowest wage that a worker can get paid- set by government?
a. Minimum Wage
14.
What is the term for the most hours that a worker can work in a week, without extra compensation, how many hours is it? a.
Maximum Hours b.
40
15.
What were the 3 R’s, and explain them?
a.
Relief- immediate aid b.
Recovery- try to get economy running again c.
Reform- long term goal to prevent another Depression from ever happening again
16.
What was the name of the organization which insured everyone’s savings up to
$5,000? Stopped the runs on the banks. a.
FDIC- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
17.
What does this organization insure you up to today?
a.
250,000
18.
What was the name of the act which pushed crop prices up by cutting down amount of crops produced. Basically the government would pay farmers not to grow crops, still happens today.
a.
AAA- Agriculture Adjustment Act
19.
What are processing taxes and give me an example? a.
Charging a tax for the processing of a natural resource into a finished product b.
Wheat to Flour
20.
What was the name of the act which brought electricity to remote farm districts?
a.
REA- Rural Electrification Administration

Great Depression Quiz Bowl
21.
What was the name of the organization that brought many jobs to a certain region by doing things like running power lines, building parks, roads, and dams?
a.
TVA- Tennessee Valley Authority
22.
What was the name of the act which distributed money to care for the poor? a.
FERA- Federal Emergency Relief Administration
23.
What was the name of the act which found jobs for over 4,000,000 people? a.
CWA- Civil Works Authority
24.
What was the name of the act which had People build conservation projects? a.
CCC- Civilian Conservation Corps
25.
What act had the same function as the CWA? a.
WPA- Works progress Administration
26.
Who won the election of 1936?
a.
FDR
27.
How did he win it, what can be attributed to his success?
a.
His personality, the New Deal had not worked yet however he was always optimistic and said that conditions would improve
28.
What was the name of FDR’s radio shows and what did he do on them?
a.
Fireside Chats b.
He would sit beside his fireplace and tell the American Public about how the country was doing, what they could do to help, and what the government was doing to help
29.
What was Roosevelt’s Brain Trust? a.
His advisor’s mostly college professors, he was using the nations brightest minds to try to solve the problem of the Depression
30.
What was the Dust Bowl? Explain in detail. a.
Not only did the late 1920’s bring about hardships economically and mentally but even the weather seemed to mimic the times. b.
Farmers in Oklahoma were in bad shape because of a severe drought that took place and dried out the land. c.
Then came high winds, which moved the soil everywhere and turned a once fertile region into a semi-desert. d.
Caused many Farmers to flee the area and head west to California to pick
Oranges and other crops e.
They were migrant workers living out of their cars looked down on by the native
California population
31.
What were some criticisms of the New Deal? a.
Business leaders claimed that many of the programs implemented by FDR were unconstitutional, AAA and NIRA especially b.
Also people felt that it was either interfering to much or not enough c.
It hadn’t helped yet

Great Depression Quiz Bowl
32.
Who wanted to implement a plan known as Share our Wealth and what was this? a.
Senator Huey Long of Louisiana b.
That we should tax away all income over 1 million dollars and use it to help the rest of the people in our country c.
Kind of like a Capitalistic version of Communism
33.
Who wanted to implement an old age Revolving Pension for people over 60 and what program is this like today? a.
Dr. Francis Townshend b.
Social Security
34.
How old do you have to be to receive Social Security? a.
65
35.
What was probably the most important thing that our government learned from
Roosevelt’s New Deal policies during the Depression? a.
That increasing government spending helps the economy
36.
What is this called? a.
Deficit Spending
37.
What is a result of this practice? a.
An increasing Federal Deficit
38.
What was the Welfare State and why was it important? a.
When the federal government had to start to take a much larger role in providing for its people, welfare, unemployment, etc… b.
It took power away from the state and local governments
39.
What is the term for old age insurance paid for partially by the workers and their employers? a.
SSA- Social Security Act b.
Money was paid to you based on how long you paid into it and also gave unemployment to people
40.
To try to protect our workers what were some of the things that our government did to lower the number of workers? a.
Deported Mexican Immigrant workers who were both unemployed and employed to get jobs for our domestic workers and the lessen the strain on the government to care for our unemployed
41.
Why did Minority’s support Roosevelt’s New Deal when it did not do much to help them and at times it hurt them? a.
They saw his efforts as an effort to help them in a time when no one else cared at all about them. b.
Also his policies which hurt them were not directed to hurt them, it was just a side effect of the plans which helped so many others
42.
What was Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet? a.
Distinguished African American’s whose government service began with New
Deal

Great Depression Quiz Bowl
43.
How did the New Deal and the 1920’s effect African American’s? a.
They voted Democratic because the Republican Party had not done anything for them since the Civil War b.
Many AA were moving to the Northern States and Cities to get away from the
KKK and all of the racial problems of the south, they crowded into Ghetto’s
44.
Why did the ghetto’s turn out to be a good thing in a way for African American’s? a.
They were the majority there and they did not have to deal with the segregation and unfairness of their situation in the rest of the city
45.
What was the problem that the Black’s dealt with? a.
They did not get very good jobs and they got only the dirtiest, longest, hardest, and lowest paying jobs b.
They were always the last hired and the first fired c.
By 1932- more than 30% of African and Mexican American’s were unemployed
46.
What is the period in which FDR passed many laws to aid in the implementation of the New Deal? a.
FDR passed many laws to aid in the implementation of the New Deal during the
Hundred Day’s emergency session of Congress.
47.
What was the Bank holiday and what was the purpose of it? a.
Bank Holiday- FDR closed the banks so that he would have time to figure out and implement new plans to protect people’s money
48.
What are the three R’s of the New Deal- based on three general aims?
1.
Relief- immediate aid
2.
Recovery- try to get economy running again
3.
Reform- long term goal to prevent another Depression from ever happening
49.
Measures to help Agriculture
1.
AAA- Agriculture Adjustment Act- Push prices up by cutting down amount of crops produced. Basically the government would pay farmers not to grow crops, still happens today.
2.
AAA- paid for this by charging Processing Taxes- tax the companies that process the good into the final product- wheat into flour
50.
What was Roosevelt’s Supreme Court Reform Plan? a.
He tried to appoint extra Judges to the SC which would be favorable to his policies b.
It did not pass and luckily for Roosevelt the Justices unfavorable to it died or resigned and he appointed new ones which were friendly to him c.
All of his policies were defended and lasted