"The Great Depression" Video Questions
Answer two questions from the sections you watched that day for homework. Answers need to be in complete sentences.
Part 1, The Great Shake Up
1. How did the Great Depression "democratize" American society?
2. What were some of the differences in the personalities and political tactics of FDR and Herbert Hoover?
3. Many men "took to the rails" during the Great Depression. How were these hobos a type of economic indicator?
4. How did the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) alleviate some of the distress of the Great Depression?
Part 2, Face the Music
1. While most industries suffered during the Depression, there were some that flourished. What industries thrived during the Depression? Why did these industries experience growth and prosperity while other industries experienced decline and failure?
2. What was the role of censorship during the 1930s? How is censorship accomplished today?
3. Radios became a household staple in the 1930s. How did a radio provide the listener with a link to the outside world and help ease the loneliness of isolation? How did FDR use the medium of radio to encourage and reassure the country?
4. Dorothea Lange's photograph "Migrant Mother" is the most popular image of the Great Depression. Why did this photograph have such an impact?
Part 3, Striking Back
1. Unionization changed the nature of business relations between workers and employers. How were these relations different before and after the legalization of unions?
2. The violence of the 1930s was the result of a "wounded society." How was the U.S. a wounded society?
3. Although most Americans suffered during the Depression, African-Americans were particularly hard hit. How and why did African-Americans experience tougher times during the Depression than their white counterparts?
4. During the 1934 Southern textile strikes, mill workers all across the South united to close down the mills. Why did these strikes fail? What price did the workers pay for their attempts to unionize the mills?
Part 4, Desperate Measures
1. The Bonus Army marched on Washington in 1932. What was the Bonus Army? Why did it march on Washington? Was the Bonus Army's demands justified? Were their actions justified?
2. Huey Long, the Populist governor of Louisiana, was a hero to the poor and a demagogue to the upper classes. Why did Huey Long appeal to the working classes? Why did the upper classes loathe him?
3. What was the appeal of the Communist Party to some Americans in the 1930s?
4. How did World War II finally end the Depression?