The Great Depression
US History II
Chapter 14: The Great Depression Begins (1929-1933)
Study Questions
Section 1: The Nation’s Sick Economy
1. Give specific examples to show how the superficial prosperity of the late 1920s hid troubling weaknesses in the country.
2. Identify reasons why agriculture suffered more throughout the 1920s than any other part of the country.
3. How did the McNary-Haugen Bill attempt to help the farmers? Why did President Coolidge veto it twice?
4. How were Americans able to live beyond their means in the 1920s?
5. How was the distribution of income so unequal in the United States during the 1920s? How was this bad for the economy?
6. Why did Herbert Hoover win the 1928 presidential election?
7. What is the economic significance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
8. What happened on “Black Tuesday”?
9. Define the period known as the “Great Depression”.
10. Why did so many banks fail so quickly during the early 1930s?
11. How many people were unemployed in 1929? 1933?
12. What happened to ordinary workers during the Great Depression?
13. How did the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 worsen the worldwide depression?
14. List the major causes of the Great Depression.
Section 2: Hardship and Suffering During the Depression
15. How did the Great Depression affect the lives of ordinary people in cities, towns, and on the farms?
16. How were African-Americans affected by the Depression? (See the box Another Perspective)
17. What created the "Dust Bowl" of the mid-1930s? What were its effects on the people of the Great Plains and West Coast?
18. According to the map titled, “The Dust Bowl,” approximately how many miles of damage, north to south, was caused by the Dust Bowl?
19. Why did so many men leave their homes during the Depression? Where did they go? What were they called?
20. How did the Great Depression affect women and children?
21. What were the social and psychological effects of the
Chapter 14: The Great Depression Begins (1929-1933)
Study Questions
Section 1: The Nation’s Sick Economy
1. Give specific examples to show how the superficial prosperity of the late 1920s hid troubling weaknesses in the country.
2. Identify reasons why agriculture suffered more throughout the 1920s than any other part of the country.
3. How did the McNary-Haugen Bill attempt to help the farmers? Why did President Coolidge veto it twice?
4. How were Americans able to live beyond their means in the 1920s?
5. How was the distribution of income so unequal in the United States during the 1920s? How was this bad for the economy?
6. Why did Herbert Hoover win the 1928 presidential election?
7. What is the economic significance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
8. What happened on “Black Tuesday”?
9. Define the period known as the “Great Depression”.
10. Why did so many banks fail so quickly during the early 1930s?
11. How many people were unemployed in 1929? 1933?
12. What happened to ordinary workers during the Great Depression?
13. How did the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 worsen the worldwide depression?
14. List the major causes of the Great Depression.
Section 2: Hardship and Suffering During the Depression
15. How did the Great Depression affect the lives of ordinary people in cities, towns, and on the farms?
16. How were African-Americans affected by the Depression? (See the box Another Perspective)
17. What created the "Dust Bowl" of the mid-1930s? What were its effects on the people of the Great Plains and West Coast?
18. According to the map titled, “The Dust Bowl,” approximately how many miles of damage, north to south, was caused by the Dust Bowl?
19. Why did so many men leave their homes during the Depression? Where did they go? What were they called?
20. How did the Great Depression affect women and children?
21. What were the social and psychological effects of the