Quiz  /  Great Depression Quiz

  • 1. 
    What was the risky investing practice that ultimately led to the stock market crash of 1929?

  • International companies were buying up all of the stock in American companies.
  • Businesses mistakenly assumed the American consumers would be willing to purchase big-ticket items like appliances and automobiles throughout the 1920s.
  • Investors had been buying stocks on margin rather than paying for stock purchases in full.
  • Investors had been leveraging their investments through the use of option contracts.

  • 2. 
    Which of the following best describes the distribution of wealth amongst the American public in the 1920s.

  • Rural Americans were finally becoming prosperous after struggling through the previous decade.
  • Wealth was very evenly distributed across all sectors of the American public.
  • The majority of Americans enjoyed comfortable, financially stable lives and poverty rates were at record lows.
  • The majority of the nation’s wealth was held by a small percentage of the population.

  • 3. 
    Which of the following was a cause of the severe drop in employment in the late 1920s and early 1930s?

  • Increased international trade.
  • Falling wages.
  • Laborers lacked the required skills for employment.
  • Demand for expensive items like cars and appliances began to dry up causing factories to lay off unneeded laborers.

  • 4. 
    What actions did President Herbert Hoover take in an effort to get the country out of the Great Depression?

  • He worked to keep wages high, increased federal spending, expanded the Federal Farm Board, blocked immigration, and raised tariffs.
  • He launched the New Deal which focused on relief, recovery, and reform.
  • He took no significant actions because of his laissez-faire philosophy.
  • His main focus was on getting help from Europe since America had proven to be such a crucial ally in World War I.

  • 5. 
    What was the main issue raised by the World War I veterans that organized and called themselves the “Bonus Army”?

  • They sought to collect a bonus in exchange for remaining enlisted in the army.
  • They were promised that they would be paid a bonus in 1945 for their participation in World War I, and the government had no intention of honoring the deal.
  • They were demanding that the bonus they were promised for their service in World War I be paid early.
  • They wanted to increase the size of the United States military.

  • 6. 
    What was the role of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Brain Trust”?

  • To come up with progressive solutions to the problems of the Great Depression
  • To improve medical advancements in neuroscience and help cure his paralysis
  • To weed out disloyal political associates
  • To improve the quality of the American education system

  • 7. 
    What was the result of the election of 1932?

  • Roosevelt and Hoover tied in the Electoral College. The House of Representatives ended up breaking the tie in favor of Roosevelt.
  • Roosevelt defeated Hoover in one of the largest landslides in American history.
  • Hoover narrowly won reelection.
  • Roosevelt won the presidency but lost the popular vote.

  • 8. 
    How was FDR able to renew American confidence in the banking system?

  • He closed all American banks for four days to allow for the implementation of reviews and new policies.
  • He passed new regulations that increased federal oversight over the banks.
  • He used the radio to communicate a message to the American people that promoted the reliability of reopened banks.
  • All of the above.

  • 9. 
    What would the series of progressive actions taken by Roosevelt during the “Hundred Days” session of Congress come to be known as?

  • The Square Deal
  • The Fair Deal
  • The New Deal
  • The Development Deal

  • 10. 
    What did the Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration, and Works Progress Administration all have in common?

  • They were New Deal programs that put Americans to work improving American infrastructure and public buildings.
  • They helped revitalize abandoned farms.
  • They did not gain enough public support to go into effect.
  • They were all attempts by Republican lawmakers to undermine the success of FDR’s New Deal policies.

  • 11. 
    How did the New Deal affect American agriculture?

  • The New Deal programs largely neglected American agriculture and focused almost exclusively on American industry.
  • New Deal programs generally resulted in lower profits for most American farmers.
  • The Agricultural Adjustment Act raised the prices of American agricultural products by paying farmers not to farm portions of their farmland and to destroy certain quantities of their yield.
  • The Civilian Conservation Corps provided money to tenant farmers and sharecroppers, drastically increasing the available agricultural labor force.

  • 12. 
    Which of the following describes the changing workforce of the Great Depression Era?

  • Women began entering the workforce in larger numbers.
  • More young people opted to remain in school instead of entering the workforce.
  • African Americans suffered employment rates significantly higher than whites, but did benefit from several New Deal employment programs.
  • all of the above

  • 13. 
    What was the impact of the Dust Bowl on American agriculture?

  • Word of the Dust Bowl brought thousands of Americans to the southern Great Plains with hopes of cashing in on the abundant fertile soil.
  • The Dust Bowl led to the mass exodus of nearly half a million farmers from the southern Great Plains due to the lack of farmable soil.
  • The Dust Bowl enticed thousands of women to become farmers in the southern Great Plains.
  • The Dust Bowl led to a boom of African American farm ownership in the southern Great Plains.

  • 14. 
    What was the reaction of American “big business” to FDR’s New Deal programs?

  • Nation-wide, business leaders were eager to lend their support to Roosevelt’s recovery programs.
  • Business leaders were indifferent to Roosevelt’s New Deal programs as they had little effect on large business interests.
  • Business leaders largely opposed Roosevelt’s New Deal and viewed them as attempts to interfere with the free enterprise system.
  • Business leaders used their political weight to help lobby for the creation of additional New Deal programs.

  • 15. 
    What was the premise of Senator Huey Long’s “Share the Wealth Plan”?

  • The rich would be taxed in order to pay for a home and stipend for every American.
  • America would turn away from capitalism and become a fully communist nation.
  • Businesses had to pay higher dividends to their shareholders or face stiff penalties.
  • all of the above

  • 16. 
    What did the Revenue Act of 1935 put in place?

  • A mandatory minimum wage for all American workers
  • The Internal Revenue Service
  • A public registry of all money earned by American workers
  • An increased tax rate on large corporations and wealthy Americans

  • 17. 
    What was the result of the Works Progress Administration’s efforts?

  • A total of 650,000 miles of roads were either built or repaired.
  • Nearly two million Americans were put to work.
  • Thousands of public buildings, airports, and bridges were built.
  • all of the above

  • 18. 
    What was the purpose of the Social Security Act?

  • To further tax the wealthiest Americans
  • To supply retired Americans with monthly pensions
  • To help build relations between America and foreign businesses
  • To support Americans who lost their jobs

  • 19. 
    What was the function of the large labor unions founded in the 1930s like the Congress of Industrial Organizations?

  • To give workers the ability to negotiate as a group for things like better wages and better working conditions
  • To create more government jobs to help ease America’s growing unemployment rate
  • To add more government oversight and control over the working class
  • To generate meaningful statistics about employment rates in the United States

  • 20. 
    What was the result of Roosevelt’s plan to pack the Supreme Court with justices who support the New Deal?

  • The Supreme Court increased to 15 justices.
  • The move was widely criticized as an overreach of Presidential authority and ultimately failed.
  • Five of the Supreme Court justices were removed from their positions and replaced with justices who favored FDR’s New Deal programs.
  • The move was widely celebrated as a sign of America’s commitments to the promises of the New Deal.
Report Question
warning
access_time
  Time