Final Exam Study Guide Spring 2014 Possible Essay Questions The Great Depression came dramatically with the stock market crash but the causes of the Depression had been planted well before 1929 Discuss what brought on the Great Depression and why Hoover was not able to properly address the crisis There were five main things that brought on the Great Depression 1 Stock Market Crash of 1929 Many believe erroneously that the stock market crash that occurred on Black Tuesday October 29 1929 is one and the same with the Great Depression In fact it was one of the major causes that led to the Great Depression Two months after the original crash in October stockholders had lost more than 40 billion dollars Even though the stock market began to regain some of its losses by the end of 1930 it just was not enough and America truly entered what is called the Great Depression 2 Bank Failures Throughout the 1930s over 9 000 banks failed Bank deposits were uninsured and thus as banks failed people simply lost their savings Surviving banks unsure of the economic situation and concerned for their own survival stopped being as willing to create new loans This exacerbated the situation leading to less and less expenditures 3 Reduction in purchasing Across the Board With the stock market crash and the fears of further economic woes individuals from all classes stopped purchasing items This then led to a reduction in the number of items produced and thus a reduction in the workforce As people lost their jobs they were unable to keep up with paying for items they had bought through installment plans and their items were repossessed More and more inventory began to accumulate The unemployment rate rose above 25 which meant of course even less spending to help alleviate the economic situation 4 American Economic Policy with Europe As businesses began failing the government created the Smoot Hawley Tariff in 1930 to help protect American companies This charged a high tax for imports thereby leading to less trade between America and foreign countries along with some economic retaliation 5 Drought Conditions While not a direct cause of the Great Depression the drought that occurred in the Mississippi Valley in 1930 was of such proportions that many could not even pay their taxes or other debts and had to sell their farms for no profit to themselves The area was nicknamed The Dust Bowl Herbert Hoover tried to fix the Great Depression although he was a little too late Some of the projects he tried was the Boulder Dam which was designed to jump start the economy and add jobs He wanted to reform banking to provide mortgage relief and funnel more federal money into business investment Congress passed the Federal Home Loan Bank Act which lowered mortgage rates for homeowners and allowed farmers to refinance their farm loans and avoid foreclosure Hoover s most ambitious economic measure was Reconstruction Finance Corporation authorizing to provide emergency financing to banks life insurance companies railroads and other large businesses Though Franklin Delano Roosevelt indeed in fact create the New Deal helping 6 million people become employed he did not fix the Great Depression World War 2 was the main reason that the United States got out of the Great Depression How did the experiences of African Americans during World War II lay the foundation for the modern civil rights movement Explain why the movement finally took off in the 1950s What caused it to do so The African Americans who fought in WW I thought this act of patriotism would lead to more acceptance in postwar America They were disappointed when it didn t By WW II their son s were determined that their participation in the war effort would be recognized When it wasn t they took a proactive position to demand recognition which led into the early Civil Rights movement In effect the Civil Rights movement finally brought the Civil War to a successful conclusion a hundred years after it was fought Demographics were more favorable Many blacks had been engaged in World War II and had proven their value alongside others fighting in the war While some of these were poorly treated by their fellow countrymen those who were liberated along with members of the armed forces of other allied countries treated them as equals and with more respect Following the War there was an upsurge in the world economy and a massive baby boom The counter culture was just developing and the numbers were becoming more favorable for younger members of the society to turn the tables on the older ones Integration of schools in the north allowed blacks with an education to mix and mingle with blacks in the south who were either disallowed from receiving any education and or who were receiving a second rate as compared with their white contemporaries education How did the New Deal alter the role of the national government In your answer discuss specific New Deal reforms The New Deal changed the role of government completely Before the New Deal government had essentially no role in steering the economy or in providing for the people After the New Deal the government has come to play a huge role in both of these things Before the New Deal the government was expected to be more or less laissez faire It was supposed to just stay out of the way and let the economy rise or fall naturally If people were too old to work they needed to rely on family If a bank failed its depositors were out of luck The New Deal changed all of that Since the New Deal the government has started to take care of us It provides Social Security and Medicare for the elderly It runs the FDIC to insure our bank deposits It lowers taxes and increases spending and does other things like that when the economy goes into a recession Because of the New Deal the government has taken a huge role in the economy This is something that simply was not the case before the New Deal Some specific new deal reforms Agricultural Adjustment Act protected farmers from price drops by providing crop subsides to reduce production educational programs to teach methods of preventing soil erosion The Civil Works Administration provided public works jobs at 15 week to four million workers in 1934 And the Federal Emergency relief act distributed millions of dollars of direct aid to unemployed workers Choose a character in history for example a woman businessperson African American socialist large farmer tenant farmer city dweller union worker and so