Mr. Melton
U.S. History C
Unit 1
Chapter 21 – The Great Depression Begins, and Chapter 22 – The New Deal
Vocabulary and Questions
Chapter 21, p. 671-695
VOCABUALRY: NUMBER, WRITE THE WORD, AND DEFINE.
1. gross national product
8. Hooverville
2. Herbert Hoover
9. drought
3. buying on Margin
10. Dust Bowl
4. Federal Reserve system
11. Okie
5. Black Tuesday
12. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
6. Great Depression
13. Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
7. foreclosure
QUESTIONS: ANSWER IN COMPLETE SENTENCES
Section 1
1. What effect did America’s mood have on individuals’ financial decisions?
2. Name two signs of weakness in the American economy in the 1920’s.
3. Why is it significant that much of the nation’s wealth was owned by a small number of people?
4. Why would an investor who had not bought stocks on margin have been in a better position to survive the
crash than one who had?
5. Why did the stock market crash have such a powerful impact on the overall economy?
6. How did the collapse of the stock market come to hurt so many people who did not have money invested in
the stock market?
Section 2
7. What is the significance of the fact that there were few government relief programs in the early 1930’s?
8. What can you tell from the fact that the shantytowns of homeless Americans came to be known as
Hoovervilles?
9. Do you think those affected by the Dust Bowl were victims of nature or responsible for their own fate?
10. Why do you think so many people blamed themselves for their misfortune during the Great Depression, in
spite of the fact the millions of Americans were in a similar situation?
Section 3
11. In what ways were Hoover’s basic beliefs similar to those of President Harding and Coolidge?
12. Defend Hoover’s commitment to avoiding direct relief to individuals.
13. What was the general reaction of the American people to Hoover’s performance?
Chapter 22, p. 696-732
VOCABULARY: NUMBER, WRITE THE WORD, AND DEFINE.
1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
9. Second New Deal
2. public works
10. Social Security
3. fireside chat
11. CIO
4. Eleanor Roosevelt
12. deficit
5. Hundred Days
13. John Maynard Keynes
6. New Deal
14. Frances Perkins
7. subsidy
15. Black Cabinet
8. Huey P. Long
16. minimum wage
QUESTIONS: ANSWER IN COMPLETE SENTECES
Section 1
1. What factors made Roosevelt a good choice for the Democratic nomination in 1932?
2. How did FDR’s beliefs about government represent a change from those of Hoover?
3. Why do you think FDR’s first act as president was to try to restore confidence in the nation’s banking
system?
Section 2
4. What was Roosevelt’s 1936 election strategy?
5. What factors undermined support for Roosevelt and his programs?
Section 3
6. How did women and African Americans fare under the policies of the Roosevelt administration?
7. What can you conclude about the importance of movies in American life based on the average weekly
audience in the 1920’s?
Section 4
8. On what grounds did people praise and criticize the New Deal?
9. Do you think the positive impact of the New Deal outweighed the negative impact? Explain.