Deck 25: The Great Depression and the New Deal

Question 1

The chapter introduction tells the story of federal investigator Lorena Hickok to make the point that

A) the decade of the Depression and the New Deal was also the decade of gangsters, environmental abuse, . and underground radical movements.
B) while New Deal programs helped many Americans, a closer look revealed inefficiency, corruption, and waste.
C)Franklin Roosevelt not only had to lead the nation out of the Depression, he also had to cope with . entrenched opposition to his reforms within the federal government itself.
D) Depression-bound Americans found hope in liberal social welfare programs of an activist federal government.

Answer 1

Depression-bound Americans found hope in liberal social welfare programs of an activist federal government.

Question 2

Which of the following statements about the hard times of the Great Depression is NOT true?

A) Marriages and births, symbols of faith in the future, decreased.
B) Mothers who stayed home found their traditional roles more disrupted than their husbands'.
C) For the first time, emigration out of the United States exceeded immigration into it.
D) Over half the female labor force continued to work in domestic service or in the garment trades.

Answer 2

Mothers who stayed home found their traditional roles more disrupted than their husbands'.

Question 3

FDR not only strengthened the office of the presidency, he tried to dominate the other branches of government. He was relatively successful during his first administration, in ________, but unsuccessful during his second, in ________.

A) getting Congress to pass his legislative proposals; reshaping the Supreme Court
B) appointing sympathetic judges to the lower courts; getting Congress to sustain his vetoes
C) Supreme Court rulings on the constitutionality of the New Deal; his attempts to purge the Democrats
Who had begun opposing him
D) building up the federal bureaucracy; reducing the power of the states

Answer 3

getting Congress to pass his legislative proposals; reshaping the Supreme Court

Question 4

Under the National Recovery Administration, industry was encouraged to adopt "codes of fair practice" that would do all of the following EXCEPT

A) keep wages above set minimums, and hours below set maximums.
B) free prices from monopolistic constraints.
C) outlaw child labor and sweatshops.
D) allow union organization.

Question 5

One of the most important achievements of the New Deal in the area of banking was included in a 1933 act. This key reform

A) was the uniting of investment and commercial banking so that bankers could more readily transfer depositors' money.
B) was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, so that the government would guarantee bank deposits.
C) allowed weak banks to default on corporate loans, so that they could meet their obligation to individual depositors.
D) was the creation of the Federal Reserve System to regulate the banking industry.

Question 6

It could be argued that the most important Indian reform of the New Deal was that

A) the tribes regained control over Indian land.
B) Indians were no longer under state jurisdiction.
C) Indian land owners could sell their property.
D) tribal governments could now rule the reservations.

Question 7

Over the years, Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans turned to ________, traditional societies that provided members with social support, life insurance, and sickness benefits.

Question 8

Beginning in 1938, the All-American Canal diverted the Colorado River to irrigate the ________ in California.

Question 9

Under the leadership of social worker Mary W. ________ ("Molly"), the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee played a critical role in the election of 1936.

Question 10

The deliberate policy of "________"
action-government spending in bad times, taxing in good-was the startling new theory by British economist John Maynard Keynes.

Question 11

What effect did the Great Depression have on national morale? On individual morale? On family life?

Question 12

List three factors that contributed to the creation of the Dust Bowl. Explain the human and environmental consequences of the Dust Bowl.

Question 13

What were the responses of private charities and local and state governments to unemployment? How effective were they?

Question 14

What was Herbert Hoover's Great Depression program? On what assumptions was it based?

Question 15

What was the Bonus Army, and how did Hoover's response to it help undermine his presidency?

Question 16

The late nineteenth century was characterized by a boom-and-bust business cycle of precipitous declines, followed by slow but steady recoveries. Why did the Great Depression of the 1930s fail to follow this pattern?

Question 17

How did popular culture-whether in the form of best-selling novels, games, films, or radio programs- reflect and respond to the ravages of the Great Depression?

Question 18

Compare and contrast the Great Depression experiences of Mexican Americans and African Americans. In your opinion, which group fared better?

Question 19

Consider the following statement: Hoover was an American Nero who ineffectually fretted rather than fiddled while the nation rusted rather than burned. Agree or disagree, explaining in either case why.

Question 20

The election of 1932, said Herbert Hoover, was "a contest between two philosophies of government."
Describe the competing philosophies of government offered by Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt in the election of 1932. What was Roosevelt's campaign strategy, and why did he win?