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Great Depression - Practice Questions
____1. In the United States, one of the basic causes of the Great Depression that began in 1929 was the
A) lack of available credit
B) abundance of purchasing power of farmers C) low protective tariffs of the 1920's D) overexpansion of industrial production
____2. A major weakness in the prosperity of the 1920's was that it was
A) confined to the industrial states of the Northeast B) accompanied by runaway inflation
C) based on large Federal expenditures D) unevenly distributed through the population
____3. A major factor contributing to the Great Depression of the 1930's in the United States was the
A) decline in farm prosperity in the 1920's
B) recent increase in population due to immigration C) closing of the frontier
D) heavy military spending in the 1920's
____4. Which feature of the economic boom of the 1920's contributed most to the stock market crash of 1929? A) increased use of the automobile
B) growth of the entertainment industry C) use of new energy sources
D) speculation in real estate and other investments
____5. Which situation was a major cause of the Great Depression?
A) The United States economy depended on foreign trade. B) Prices for agricultural products reached an all-time
high.
C) Consumer demand was low, while industrial production was high.
D) Labor unions grew rapidly.
____6. Which combination of factors contributed most to the start of the Great Depression of the 1930's?
A) immigration restrictions and a lack of skilled workers B) high taxes and overspending on social welfare
programs
C) United States war debts and the declining value of the dollar
D) overproduction and the excessive use of credit
____7. Which major trend characterized the 1920's and continues today?
A) retail buying on installment credit
B) legal discrimination against eastern European immigrants
C) the steadily increasing power of established churches D) the mass migration of northern blacks to southern rural
areas
____8. Which fundamental economic problem of farmers did New Deal policies attempt to solve?
A) overproduction B) scarcity of fertile land C) shortage of labor
D) lack of transportation facilities
____9. An important factor contributing to the start of the Great Depression in the United States was the
A) increase in military spending B) failure to maintain the gold standard C) reduction of tariff rates
D) uneven distribution of wealth
____10. During most of the 1920s, which group experienced the most severe economic problems?
A) owners of small family farms B) workers in the automobile industry C) bankers in urban centers
____11. Which situation helped cause the stock market crash of 1929?
A) excessive speculation and buying on margin B) unwillingness of people to invest in new industries C) increased government spending
D) too much government regulation of business
____12. What was one cause of the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed?
A) Costs associated with World War I had bankrupted the economy.
B) Speculators had purchased shares of stock on margin with borrowed funds.
C) Federal tax cuts had caused high inflation. D) Low farm production had weakened banks.
____13. In the 1930s, which geographic factor most influenced the westward migration of thousands of people from the southern Great Plains?
A) extended drought in farming areas
B) excessive flooding of the Mississippi River C) serious earthquakes in Pacific coastal areas D) destructive hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico
____14. The "dust bowls" described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath had the greatest impact on
A) residents of urban slums B) workers in factory sweatshops C) plantation owners in the rural south D) farmers on the Great Plains
____15. Base your answer on the graph below and on your knowledge of social studies.
Which statement is best supported by the information in the graph?
A) The New Deal had no effect in reducing unemployment.
B) Unemployment reached its peak within a year after the stock market crash.
C) Unemployment was a major issue in the Presidential election of 1932.
D) Increased production in the early stages of World War II had little effect on unemployment.
____16. During the Great Depression, expressions such as Hoovervilles and Hoover blankets showed that President Hoover
A) was seen as a role model
B) used the military to aid the unemployed C) was blamed for the suffering of the poor
___17. Base your answer to the following question on the photograph below and on your knowledge of social studies.
Communities such as the one shown in this photograph from the 1930s were called "Hoovervilles" because of President Herbert Hoover's A) support for federal programs to provide jobs for the unemployed
B) refusal to provide direct federal aid to the homeless C) efforts to help the residents return to their farms D) emergency relief program to provide food to the poor
____18. Base your answer to the following question on the song lyrics below and on your knowledge of social studies.
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
. . . Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick and rivet and lime.
Once I built a tower, now it’s done--Brother, can you spare a dime? . . . — E. Y. Harburg and J. Gorney
These song lyrics are most closely related to A) the writers of the Harlem Renaissance B) unemployment during the Great Depression C) the “Lost Generation” following World War I D) business expansion during the 1950s
____19. One way in which the Gold Rush in 1849 and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s are similar is that both resulted in A) a war with other countries
B) the sale of cheap federal land C) an increase in westward migration
____20. ". . . economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. . . The best contribution of government lies in [stimulating] . . . voluntary [economic recovery programs] in the community. The government – national, state, and local – can join with the community in such programs and do its part."
–Herbert Hoover
This quotation suggests most clearly that in times of economic crisis
A) the national government should take full responsibility for solving economic problems
B) people should be patient and economic problems will solve themselves
C) voluntary and private organizations, with government encouragement, should deal with economic problems D) the government should not be expected to deal with
economic problems since it did not cause them
____21. Which conditions are most characteristic of a depression?
A) high production and high demand B) few jobs and little demand
C) much money in circulation and high stock prices D) supply meeting demand and high employment ____22. Which statement is accurate about American culture
during the Great Depression?
A) The Federal Government provided money to support the arts.
B) Most movies featured realistic themes and unhappy endings.
C) Rock-and-roll music became popular. D) Interest in professional sports declined.
____23. "You cannot extend the mastery of government over the daily working life of the people without, at the same time, making it the master of the people's souls and thought."
–President Herbert Hoover
The idea expressed in the quotation is a basis for President Hoover's belief that the problems of the Great Depression could best be solved by
A) nationalizing major industries
B) requiring business to pay a minimum wage to workers C) relying mostly on private enterprise and individual
initiative to improve economic conditions
D) creating government job programs for the unemployed
____24. The popularity of escapist novels and movies during the Great Depression is evidence that
A) the Great Depression was not really a time of economic distress
B) popular culture is shaped by economic and social conditions
C) American society did not try to solve the problems of the Great Depression
D) the greatest employment opportunities for the average person in the 1930's were in the field of entertainment ____25. Motion pictures were popular during the Great
Depression partly because
A) they were regarded as the best source of education and culture
B) they were an inexpensive means of escaping the reality of economic hardship
C) few other forms of leisure-time activities were available D) Americans wanted to imitate European lifestyles
____26. The Dust Bowl experiences of the Oklahoma farmers during the Great Depression demonstrated the
A) effect of geography on people's lives B) success of government farm subsidies
C) limitation of civil liberties during times of crisis D) result of the Indian Removal Act
____27. President Herbert Hoover’s response to the Great Depression was often criticized because it
A) wasted money on new social programs
B) caused widespread rioting and looting in major cities C) raised taxes on businesses and the wealthy
D) failed to provide direct relief for the neediest persons
____28. In 1933, the most immediate job facing President Franklin D. Roosevelt was to
A) reform the tariff system B) help the unemployed C) keep the nation out of war
D) protect the nation's overseas possessions
____29. Which statement about Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program is most accurate?
A) Protective tariff rates increased.
B) Social welfare programs were expanded. C) Government regulation of business was reduced. D) Government support of environmental conservation
ended.
____30. During the Great Depression, one way New Deal programs tried to stimulate economic recovery was by A) raising tariff rates
B) increasing interest rates C) creating public works jobs D) lowering the minimum wage
____31. Base your answer on the cartoon below and on your knowledge of social studies.
What is the main idea of the cartoon?
A) President Franklin D. Roosevelt used a system of trial and error to improve the economy.
B) President Franklin D. Roosevelt consistently adopted the Depression remedies proposed by Congress. C) Congress and the President were unable to cope with
the Depression.
D) The President and Congress constantly fought over Depression-Era programs.
____32. A major idea in the philosophy behind the New Deal was that
A) the states should accept more responsibility for the funding of social programs
B) individual citizens should solve their own problems C) private organizations are best equipped to solve social
problems
D) the resources of the Federal Government should be used to solve social problems
____33. The main purpose of New Deal measures such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was to A) provide immediate employment opportunities
B) develop rules to limit speculation and safeguard savings C) enable the Federal Government to take over failing
industries
D) assure a guaranteed income for American families
____34. The Social Security Act (1935) is considered an important program because it
A) brought about a quick end to the Great Depression B) provided employment for those in need of a job C) established a progressive income tax
D) extended support to elderly citizens
____35. A major reason for creating the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933 was to
A) build and manage a turnpike in the valley B) provide health care benefits for southerners C) encourage African Americans to settle in the valley D) improve economic conditions in a poor rural region
____36. Since the Great Depression of the 1930's, which action has the Federal Government most often taken to lower the unemployment rate?
A) increased government spending B) raised individual and corporate taxes C) raised the retirement age
D) increased the minimum wage
____37. The government of the United States first became directly involved in supporting the price of agricultural products as a result of
A) increased imports of foreign food products during the Progressive Era
B) the Depression of the 1930's C) participation in World War II
D) the global need for more food after World War II
____38. "In times of economic depression, it is the
responsibility of government to create programs that would provide jobs to the unemployed. The revenues that would be generated will repay the government expenditures." This philosophy was most clearly carried out by the Presidential administration of
A) Woodrow Wilson C) Herbert Hoover B) Warren G. Harding D) Franklin D. Roosevelt ____39. Soon after Franklin D. Roosevelt became President in
1933, he supported
A) stronger civil rights laws to protect African Americans B) increased enforcement of Federal antitrust laws C) expanded programs of direct relief to the unemployed D) increased farm output to feed the hungry
____40. Which idea is closest to a basic principle of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program?
A) the Jeffersonian belief that government should pursue a policy of laissez-faire
B) the belief of 19th-century industrialists that trusts and monopolies benefited the economy
C) the post-Reconstruction Southern policy that prevented blacks from gaining economic power
D) the progressive philosophy that the powers of government should be used to solve social and economic problems
____41. Republican opponents of President Franklin D. Roosevelt criticized the New Deal program on the grounds that it
A) spent more money than was taken in B) weakened the power of the executive branch C) failed to include labor legislation
D) promoted the ideas of laissez-faire economics
____42. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal to add additional justices to the Supreme Court was seen by his opponents as a threat to the
A) principle of federalism B) power of the executive branch C) two-party political system D) system of checks and balances
____43. Which action is often viewed as the most serious attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary? A) appointment of conservative Supreme Court Justices
by President Ronald Reagan
B) President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to reorganize the Supreme Court
C) appointment of Supreme Court Justices to unlimited terms of office
D) periodic increases in the salaries of Supreme Court Justices
____44. In the mid-1930's, critics viewed Franklin D.
Roosevelt's plan to pack the Supreme Court with additional Justices as
A) an ineffective response to the problems of the Great Depression
B) a violation of the principle of checks and balances C) a threat to representative government
D) the beginning of socialism in the judicial system
____45. One difference between the administrations of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Herbert Hoover is that Roosevelt was
A) unwilling to allow government agencies to establish jobs programs
B) unable to win congressional support for his economic program
C) able to ignore economic issues for most of his first term in office
D) more willing to use government intervention to solve economic problems
Answer Key
11M - depression practice [Apr 12, 2010] Answer Key
11M - depression practice [Apr 12, 2010]
1. D 2. D 3. A 4. D 5. C 6. D 7. A 8. A 9. D 10. A 11. A 12. B 13. A 14. D 15. C 16. C 17. B 18. B 19. C 20. C 21. B 22. A 23. C 24. B 25. A 26. A 27. D 28. B 29. B 30. C 31. A 32. D 33. B 34. D 35. D 36. A 37. B 38. D 39. C 40. D 41. A 42. D 43. B 44. B 45. D
