Unit 5: Great Depression and New Deal

Essential Question for

California State Social Studies Standards
 11.6 Students analyze the different explanations for the
the Year: To what extent
Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally has the United States
changed the role of the federal government. become the nation that it
o Understand the explanations of the principal causes originally set out to be?
of the Great Depression and steps taken by the
Federal Reserve, Congress and the President to
combat the economic crisis.
o Discuss the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, unwise agricultural practices and their effect
on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right with particular
attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California.
o Analyze the effects of and the controversies arising from New Deal economic policies and the expanded
role of the federal government in society and the economy since the 1930s (e.g., Works Progress
Administration, Social Security, National Labor Relations Board, farm programs, regional development
policies and energy development projects such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, California Central
Valley Project, Bonneville Dam).

The Great Depression

Big Idea
 Failure of American domestic economic policies leads to the Great Depression.

Essential Questions:
 What were the causes of the Great Depression?
 What were the responses of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover to economic disaster?

Essential Knowledge
 Hawley-Smoot Tariff  Dust Bowl – soil dried up, Oakies move
 Stock market, buying on margin to CA, CA resents them
(speculation)  Hoover’s views on direct federal relief
 Farming/climatic conditions (Okies and  Causes of the Great Depression*
Arkies)  Hobos ‘riding the rails’ and why
 International market  Cyclical effect of decreased demand
 Overproduction/under consumption  High tariffs effect on economy
 Uneven distribution of wealth  Methods of ‘escaping’ the Great
 Reconstruction Finance Program Depression
 Bonus Army  Deficit Spending
 Bull market  Public Works
 Speculation  Hoover’s methods of dealing with the
 Margin GD
 Hoovervilles (shanty towns) o Reconstruction Finance
 Hobos/transients Corporation
 Bank Failures – what happened to o Views on direct federal relief
people’s $$$

1
New Deal
Big Idea
 Government policies work to rebuild the American economic and social systems.

Essential Question
 How did the New Deal attempt to address the causes and effects of the Great Depression?
 What were the new rights acquired by organized labor?
 What were the New Deal policies that led to relief, recovery and reform in America?
 What were the long term influences of the New Deal on American society?

Essential Knowledge
 First New Deal  Advisors favor some form of government
 Second New Deal intervention in the economy
 New Deal Agencies (WPA, Social Security,  Court Packing Plan
NLRB, TVA, SEC, CCC, NRA, AAA, FERA, FDIC,  ND creates a safety net
PWA, regional policies)  New Deal Agencies/Laws
 Labor and other reforms (AFL-CIO, UFW) o NLRB / Wagner Act: Binding
 Constitutionality (court packing) arbitration, collective bargaining
 Growth the executive branch under FDR o AAA – paid farmers not to grow
 FDR’s methods of dealing with the GD certain crops
o Bank Holiday o TVA
 1st thing to do – restore confidence in the o SSA
banks o CCC
 Compare and Contrast Hoover and FDRs
attempts to end the Depression

Potential Primary Sources

 FDR’s 1st Inaugural Speech
 Women on the Breadlines
 FDR’s Fireside Chats
 Dorthea Lange’s Photography