ALEX | Alabama Learning Exchange

The Great Depression

Classroom Resource Information

Title:

The Great Depression

URL:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/great-depression/a/the-great-depression

Content Source:

Other
Khan Academy

Type:

Informational Material

Overview:

This article from Khan Academy gives an overview of the Great Depression which was the worst economic downturn in US history. It began in 1929 and did not abate until the end of the 1930s. The stock market crash of October 1929 signaled the beginning of the Great Depression. By 1933, unemployment was at 25 percent and more than 5,000 banks had gone out of business. Although President Herbert Hoover attempted to spark growth in the economy through measures like the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, these measures did little to solve the crisis. Franklin Roosevelt was elected president in November 1932. Inaugurated as president in March 1933, Roosevelt’s New Deal offered a new approach to the Great Depression. This article can be used during a lesson on the Great Depression and includes assessment questions at the end for students to answer. Students can read the article in a whole group or individually. It can also be assigned through Google Classroom.

Content Standard(s):

Social Studies
SS2010 (2010)
Grade: 11
United States History II: The Industrial Revolution to the Present

6 ) Describe social and economic conditions from the 1920s through the Great Depression regarding factors leading to a deepening crisis, including the collapse of the farming economy and the stock market crash of 1929. [A.1.a., A.1.b., A.1.d., A.1.f., A.1.i., A.1.j., A.1.k.]

• Assessing effects of overproduction, stock market speculation, and restrictive monetary policies on the pending economic crisis

• Describing the impact of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act on the global economy and the resulting worldwide depression

• Identifying notable authors of the 1920s, including John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, and Zora Neale Hurston (Alabama)

• Analyzing the Great Depression for its impact on the American family

Examples: Bonus Army, Hoovervilles, Dust Bowl, Dorothea Lange

Unpacked Content

Strand: Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government

Course Title: United States History II: The Industrial Revolution to the Present

Evidence Of Student Attainment:

Students:

Analyze the social, political, and economic conditions that contributed to the Great Depression.
Identify and describe the effects of the Great Depression on American life and art.

Teacher Vocabulary:

assess
identify
analyze
Great Depression
stock market crash
overproduction
speculation
Smoot-Haley Tariff Act
John Steinbeck
William Faulkner
Zora Neale Hurston
Bonus Army
Hoovervilles
Dust Bowl
Dorothea Lange
Jim Crow
Japanese Internment
Southern Tenant Farmers' Union

Knowledge:

Students know:

The social, political, and economic conditions from the 1920s through the Great Depression.
Social and political factors and policies that were influenced by and that contributed to the deepening crisis during the Great Depression.
Economic factors and policies that contributed to the beginning of the Great Depression and the deepening crisis as the Great Depression continued in the United States and globally, including the effects of overproduction, stock market speculation, restrictive monetary policies, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
The ways authors' works during the Great Depression were influenced by and influenced the social, political, and economic realities of the time.
The impact of the Great Depression on class, region, race, and gender relations during the time period of the 1920s to the 1940s.

Skills:

Students are able to:

Analyze the social, political, and economic conditions of a specific historical period.
Determine and evaluate the factors that contributed to a specific historical period.
Evaluate works of art and literature from a specific time period in order to determine their impact.
Determine central ideas of primary and secondary sources.
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

Understanding:

Students understand that:

There were various political, social and economic conditions that contributed to the Great Depression.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards

AAS Standard:
SS.AAS.11.6- Define economic depression; recognize the general causes of the Great Depression including overproduction of crops, stock market crash; recognize the effects of the Great Depression including collapse of the farm economy, unemployment, bank failure, homelessness and soup kitchens.

Tags:

New Deal, President Herbert Hoover, SmootHawley Tariff Act, The Great Depression

License Type:

Custom Permission Type
See Terms: https://www.khanacademy.org/about/tos
For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
https://creativecommons.org/licenses

Accessibility

Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings

Comments

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This resource provided by:

Author:

Ginger Boyd

ALEX Classroom Resource

The Great Depression