The Great Depression Flashcards

1
Q

Why did the great depression begin?

A

Factories were overproducing products, wealth was unevenly distributed, Stock Market Crash, sales started to slow (Europe didn’t need products anymore).

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2
Q

Why did so many banks fail during the Great Depression?

A

Many people began pulling their money out of banks, and banks went bankrupt because they couldn’t give them all the money that they were pulling out of the bank

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3
Q

How did people lose money to banks during the Great Depression?

A

When banks shut down, they lost all their money because the banks couldn’t return it.

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4
Q

When was the date that stock prices hit a historical low and the Great Depression started?

A

October 29, 1929

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5
Q

What is buying stocks on credit?

A

When the stock is paid off later with the profit from the stock when sold. Example: buy a 1$ stock, but not pay for it. Pay for it later when you sell the stock for 2$

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6
Q

Why did so many people start selling stocks?

A

When people who knew about stocks started selling, everyone else panicked and started selling their stocks.

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7
Q

How long did the Great Depression last?

A

Almost a decade

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8
Q

What taxes typically went to schools at the time?

A

Local property taxes on homes and businesses

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9
Q

Why did schools have to make extreme budget cuts?

A

So many people lost their homes, and so many businesses and factories were being closed that the schools had barely any tax money to work with

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10
Q

What did schools do to cut expenses now that they had less money?

A

Hired less teachers, putting more students in classrooms (up to 60), desks and textbooks weren’t purchased, children sat on the floor, shared old desks, and shared old textbooks, kindergartens were cut from schools, schools nurses were not rehired, many classes like foreign language and PE were cut to save money. Teachers pay were also lowered extremely, some districts even payed them in script, or simply by allowing them to live at the school and donated food portions which they could cook over the classrooms stove.

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11
Q

What were okies?

A

People migrated from Oklahoma

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12
Q

Why did so many kids miss school?

A

They were working for their families to try to get money to get food, taking care of younger children at home, or they couldn’t afford school supplies

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13
Q

What does WPA stand for and what did it do?

A

Works Project Administration, and it made work projects across America in order to create jobs

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14
Q

What does the FDIC stand for and what did it do?

A

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, it made sure that the money of depositors in banks was protected

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15
Q

What was Roosevelt’s first 100 days?

A

Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office, where he and congress passed many new laws and programs to help recover from the great depression

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16
Q

What was the given name to shantytowns?

A

Hoovervilles

17
Q

Who was elected president in 1932?

A

Franklin Roosevelt

18
Q

Who was president at the beginning of the great Depression?

A

Hoover

19
Q

What was happening with farmers that contributed to the Great Depression?

A

Farmers were overproducing food, meaning that the cost went down. This caused many farms to shut down and go bankrupt, causing a shortage in food and contributing to the great depression.

20
Q

Define WPA.

A

(Works Project Administration). Established national work programs to create jobs.

21
Q

Define Social Security Act.

A

Provided workers with unemployment insurance and retirement benefits

22
Q

Define FDIC.

A

(Federal Deposit Insurance Company). Protected money of depositors in banks.

23
Q

What was Roosevelt’s first 100 days?

A

Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office was when he and Congress passed many new laws and programs to help recover from the great depression.

24
Q

What effect did the Stock Market Crash of 1929 have on the U.S. economy?

A

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 caused an economic downturn. Banks fail, loss of savings, factory closings.

25
Q

Explain how the unequal distribution of income helped lead to the Great Depression

A

60% of Americans earn less than $2,000 - meaning that they couldn’t buy many products to continue the nation’s money flowing.

26
Q

How were children affected by the Depression?

A

Children often couldn’t go to school as it was either too expensive (school supplies or clothes) or they had to stay home and take care of younger children/work on the farm.

27
Q

What was the nickname given to shantytowns (cheap housing, named after a president)? And why?

A

Hoovervilles because President Hoover wouldn’t help all the poor and unemployed because he believed it wasn’t the government’s job and should be left to charities to do.

28
Q

What was the New Deal?

A

The New Deal was of programs and projects instituted during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that aimed to restore prosperity to Americans

29
Q

How were teachers affected by the Great Depression?

A

Less teachers were hired and their pay was also lowered extremely. Some districts even paid them in script, or simply by allowing them to live at the school and donated food portions which they could cook over the classroom’s stove. More women teachers were hired than men because they could be paid less for doing the same job.

30
Q

What is wrong with buying stocks on the margin?

A

Buying on the margin would be when the stock is paid off later with the profit from the stock when sold. However, if the stock’s value went down and you sold it, then you’d be in debt. People who bought stock on the margin at a higher price would be wiped out. Because now the stock price is very low and they can’t pay back their loan – people lose their life savings

31
Q

What were some effects of unemployment on people’s lives?

A

When people lost their jobs, they lost their income and had to live off their minimal savings. This led to them not being able to afford necessities (like food and water), medical care, clothes, supplies for their children, cars, houses, and many other luxuries. When they couldn’t afford the mortgage for their house, they lived in Hoovervilles where infection was easily spread. No money = hard life.

32
Q

Who was president at the beginning of the Depression?

A

President Herbert Hoover.

33
Q

Who was elected president in 1932?

A

Franklin Roosevelt.

34
Q

What were at least two effects of the Dust Bowl on the United States?

A

Farmers couldn’t make food as a bunch of land was wasted. People began moving West to California to escape the Dust Bowl. As no food was being harvested, it couldn’t be traded with other countries - meaning that the economy couldn’t benefit from it.