_Morgan Munoz_ _1_

Name Period

UNIT 6 STUDY GUIDE

The Great Depression and FDR’s New Deal

Section 1 – Causes of the Great Depression

1. What was the philosophy of both Harding and Coolidge toward government involvement with business? _ Both
Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge opposed government regulation of business_

2. Who was Andrew Mellon? _ the Secretary of the Treasury_

3. What FOUR things did Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon do to stimulate economic growth in the U.S.:
1) _ he reduced government spending and cut the federal budget_
2) _ he refinanced the national debt at a lower interest rate to greatly reduce the U.S. debt_
3) _ he persuaded the Federal Reserve to lower the interest rate for the general public_
4) _ he worked to reduce taxes with the belief that it would allow businesses and consumers to spend and
invest their extra money_

4. Give THREE things that contributed to Hoover’s popularity in the late 1920s:
a) _ organizing food rationing during World War I _
b) _ balance government regulation with his idea of cooperative individualism_
c) _ policies that modernized the American economy and led to widespread prosperity for millions of
Americans_

5. Give FIVE warning signs that the economy was about to go bad in 1928:
a) _ an uneven distribution of wealth_
b) _ large companies dominated the economy_
c) _ too many Americans were buying on credit, which increased their personal debt_
d) _ businesses that had grown rapidly in the early ‘20s were producing too many goods_
e) _ people gambling on the stock market_

6. What was the long bull market? _ a long period of rising stock prices_

7. What does it mean to buy stock “on margin”? _ they paid just part of the cost of the stock and took out a loan
from a stockholder to pay for the rest_

8. Stockholders could issue a _margin call_, which is when the stockholder demands repayment of a loan.

9. What would an investor have to do if his margin was called on a stock that ended up losing him money? _
investors would have to quickly sell their stocks to pay off the loan/ practice speculation_
10. What does buying on “speculation” mean in the stock market? _ new investors would buy stock without
considering a company’s earnings_

11. On what date did the stock market crash take place? _ October 29, 1929_; what did this day become known
as? _Black Tuesday_

12. The first thing hit by the stock market crash were _banks_.

13. Give THREE things that caused banks to close following the stock market crash:
a) _ Many banks had lent money to stock speculators_
b) _ They also had invested depositors’ money in the stock market hoping to get higher returns_
c) _ many banks lost money on their investments and many speculators could not repay their loans_

14. How were most Americans impacted by bank closings? _ People who had deposits in these banks lost all their
savings_

15. Give FIVE major cause of the Great Depression:

a) _ overproduction of manufactured goods_
b) _ many Americans bought high-cost items such as cars and home appliances on the installment, or credit,
plan_
c) _ many people fell into debt_
d) _ manufacturers cut production. This cut in production led to people being laid off their job_
e) _ The slowdown in one industry would affect other industries, putting more and more Americans out of work_

16. The tariff that raised the tax on foreign imports but hurt the economy because it hurt American sales from
foreign countries was the _Hawley-Smoot_ Tariff.

17. How did the Hawley-Smoot Tariff hurt the economy? _ although it protected American manufacturers from
foreign competition, it hurt American sales from foreign countries_

Section 2 – Life During the Great Depression

18. Why didn’t Hoover act immediately at the start of the Great Depression? ______________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

19. Because they lost their jobs and could not afford to pay their rent, many people were ___________________
and became homeless.

20. Many of these homeless people built shacks of old wood known as _________________. Many shantytowns
were called ________________________ because many people blamed President Hoover for their problems.
21. Unemployed Americans who began to wander around the country, walking, hitchhiking or riding the railroads
were known as __________________.

22. Give THREE causes of the Dust Bowl:

a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________________________________

23. Many Midwestern families packed their belongings into old cars they called _________________ and headed
the west to the state of________________________ to find better opportunities.

24. What were “Okies”? ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

25. What were the TWO major forms of entertainment that helped people “escape” during the Great Depression:
a) _______________________________________ b) _______________________________________

26. The person who produced the first feature-length animated film when he produced Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs was __________________________. The first character he created was _______________________.

27. Short daytime dramas known as ________________________ were popular and provide people with escapes.
They were given this nickname because of the programs sponsors.

28. Grant Wood’s most famous painting which portrays a stern farmer and his daughter in front of their humble
farmhouse was called _________________________________ and symbolized the feelings of many farmers.

29. John Steinbeck’s story of an Oklahoma farm family which fled the Dust Bowl to find a better life in California
was called _________________________________________.

30. The American cowboy and humorist from Oklahoma who many say helped them get through the Great
Depression was ______________________________.

31. What was the significance of the work of photojournalists such as Margaret Bourke-White and Dorothea
Lange? __________________________________________________________________________________

32. Dorothea Lange’s most famous photo – ________________________________ – is considered to be the best
example of photography capturing the helplessness of the times.
 Section 3 – Hoover Responds

33. In an effort to create jobs, Hoover tried to increase ___________________________, which government
financed building projects where the government hires people to build things that serve the public interest.

34. Give TWO reasons why Hoover’s public works projects did not work:
a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________

35. The voluntary lending organization created by Hoover in 1931 which persuaded a number of New York bankers
to contribute to the organization to create a pool of money was the ___________________________________.

36. Hoover asked Congress to step in and help out by creating the ______________________________________
to make loans to banks, railroads and farming institutions.

37. Hoover oppose the federal government’s participation in relief programs because he believed it was the job of
_________________ and ___________________ governments – not the national government – to give direct
relief to the people.

38. Give THREE ways that farmer’s revolted against the government in the 1930s:
a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________

39. The veterans who marched on Washington D.C. in an effort to their bonus money from the government were
called the _____________________

40. How did Hoover’s actions against the Bonus Army forever tarnish his image? ___________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

41. How did Herbert Hoover’s actions during the Depression change the role of the Presidency? ______________
________________________________________________________________________________________
 Section 4 – Roosevelt Takes Office

42. Give THREE reasons why many voters were against Herbert Hoover in the Election of 1932:
a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________________________________

43. Give FIVE aspects of Franklin Roosevelt’s background that made him popular with many Americans:
a) _______________ b) _______________ c) _______________ d) _______________ e) _______________

44. Give THREE things Roosevelt did as Governor of New York that showed his use of government power to help people in need:
a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________________________________

45. Give THREE reasons people were impressed with FDR:

a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________________________________

46. Because he had a disabilitating disease, Franklin Roosevelt heavily counted on what person? _____________

47. Why did many states declare bank holidays in 1933? ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

48. By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, most of the _____________________ were closed while 25
percent American workers were ___________________.

49. After taking office, FDR knew the main thing he had to do was to restore the nation’s ____________________.

50. What did FDR mean when he said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself? _________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

51. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first three months when he had numerous laws passed in an effort to slow the
Depression that became known as the _________________________.

52. The bills that Congress passed and Roosevelt signed into law that were meant to put an end to the Great
Depression became known as Roosevelt’s _________________________________.

53. How did the effort of FDR during the Hundred Days help lift the spirits of Americans, even though it didn’t end
the Depression? ___________________________________________________________________________
 Section 5 – The First New Deal

54. Why did President Roosevelt choose advisers who had differing views on how to solve the nation’s problems?
________________________________________________________________________________________

55. What did the advisers who blamed business leaders for causing the Depression want the government to do?
________________________________________________________________________________________

56. President Roosevelt realized that one of the first things he had to do was to restore the people’s confidence in
the ___________________ industry.

57. To let the American people know what he was trying to accomplish, FDR used radio address which came to be
known as ___________________________.

58. Give THREE New Deal laws that were passed to help the banks and the stock market:
a) ___________________________ b) ___________________________ c) ___________________________

59. The agency was set up to regulate the stock market and prevent fraud was the _________________________
_______________.

60. The agency that greatly increased the confidence people had to deposit money back in banks by providing
government insurance on bank deposits was the _________________________________________________.

61. The federal agency created that paid farmers for not growing certain crops and certain livestock was the
____________________________________________.

62. What were THREE results of the Agricultural Adjustment Act:

a) ___________________________ b) ___________________________ c) ___________________________

63. The law that suspended the anti-trust laws and allowed business, labor, and government to cooperate in setting
up voluntary rules for each industry was the _____________________________________________________.

64. Give TWO federal agencies created by Roosevelt’s New Deal that worked to provide debt relief:
a) _______________________________________ b) _______________________________________

65. Name FOUR federal agencies FDR set up that would organize work programs for the unemployed:
a) ________________________________________________________
b) ________________________________________________________
c) ________________________________________________________
d) ________________________________________________________
66. The government agency that employed men between 18 and 25 under the watch of the national forestry
service and planted trees, fought fires, and built reservoirs was the __________________________________.

67. To put construction workers back to work, FDR created the ________________________________________,
which began a series of construction projects.

68. Name FIVE projects that the Public Works Administration took on after it was created in 1933:
a) _______________ b) _______________ c) _______________ d) _______________ e) _______________

69. The federal agency started in the winter of 1933 that employed four million people, but it cost taxpayers a lot of
money was the ________________________________________________________________.

70. Name FOUR projects that the Civil Works Administration took on after it was created in the winter of 1933:
a) ___________________ b) ___________________ c) ____________________ d) ___________________

71. What did President Roosevelt accomplish in his first year in office? _________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 6 – The Second New Deal

72. After his first two years in office for Roosevelt, _______ million jobs had been created, but _______ million
were still unemployed and the nation’s total income was still only ___________ of what it had been in 1929.

73. Conservatives opposed the New Deal because Roosevelt had begun _________________________, which is
the practice of paying for government programs with borrowed money instead of tax dollars. This is often done
in an attempt to boost the economy without raising taxes.

74. Politicians and business leaders who opposed the New Deal joined together to create the _________________
________________, which was an organized resistance by politicians and businessmen against the New Deal.

75. Why were people on the left (liberals) critical of the New Deal? ______________________________________

76. Who was Huey Long? ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

77. Who was Father Charles Coughlin? ___________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

78. Give TWO facts about the Townsend Plan:

a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
79. Name THREE programs or agencies created by the Second New Deal:
a) ________________________________________________________
b) ________________________________________________________
c) ________________________________________________________

80. Give THREE things the Works Progress Administration did:

a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________________________________

81. What was the argument FOR unions? _________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

82. What was the argument AGAINST unions? ______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

83. Give THREE things that the National Labor Relations Board was given the power to do:
a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________________________________

84. What was the UAW (United Auto Workers)? _____________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

85. What was the Social Security Act? ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

86. Give FOUR major goals of the Social Security Act:

a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________________________________
d) ______________________________________________________________________________________

87. What principle did the Social Security Act set? ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
 Section 7 – Roosevelt’s Second Term

88. By 1936, most black voters had switched their support to the ___________________ because of the New Deal.

89. President Roosevelt made history in 1936 when he appointed the first woman to a cabinet position when he
chose _________________________________________ to be his Secretary of Labor.

90. The political party that formed in the mid-1930s that was made up of supporters of Huey Long, Father Coughlin
and Dr. Francis Townsend was the _______________________________________.

91. What was a major reason FDR was able win the 1936 election so easily? ______________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

92. What was the court-packing plan? _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

93. What THREE events weakened President Roosevelt’s reputation:

a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________________________________

94. What was the significance of the Supreme Court ruling on the Wagner Act? ____________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

95. What caused the economy to go into a recession in 1937? _________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

96. Who did FDR send to the South during his second term to get a better idea of living conditions there?
_____________________________

97. The New Deal programs FDR had created a ___________________________, which were safeguards and
relief programs that protected them against economic disaster.

98. What was one long-term effect of the New Deal? _________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________