35 Quiz Questions All About The Great Depression In The USA

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Welcome to our Great Depression trivia quiz, where we delve into one of the most challenging times in American history: the Great Depression.

In these trivia questions, we’ll test your knowledge about the causes, effects, and significant events of this era that shaped the nation.

Get ready to learn and reminisce about this pivotal period with 35 thought-provoking quiz questions all about the Great Depression in the USA. Let’s jump right in!

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Question: What event is considered the start of the Great Depression?

Answer: The stock market crash of 1929, specifically Black Tuesday on October 29, 1929.

Question: What was the primary cause of the stock market crash of 1929?

Answer: The rapid and reckless expansion of the U.S. stock market, where stock prices were much higher than their actual value.

Question: What was the name given to the period of severe dust storms that ravaged the Southern Plains during the Great Depression?

Answer: The Dust Bowl.

Question: Which states were most affected by the Dust Bowl in the USA?

Answer: Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Question: Roughly how many people left the Dust Bowl states during the 1930s due to the environmental disaster?

Answer: Approximately 2.5 million people.

Question: What term was used to refer to the Dust Bowl refugees, particularly those from Oklahoma?

Answer: “Okies.”

Question: What region in California did a significant number of Dust Bowl migrants settle in?

Answer: The agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley.

Question: Which photographer documented rural poverty during the Dust Bowl era for FDR’s Farm Securities Administration?

Answer: Dorothea Lange.

Question: Which artist achieved renown with his Dust Bowl landscapes, capturing the environmental devastation of the era?

Answer: Alexandre Hogue.

Question: What was the nickname for the makeshift communities of homeless people during the Great Depression?

Answer: Hoovervilles.

Question: What was the global economic system that helped spread the effects of the Great Depression throughout the world?

Answer: The gold standard.

Question: Who was the President of the United States when the Great Depression began?

Answer: Herbert Hoover.

Question: Who was the longest-serving President of the United States, serving from 1933 to 1945, and leading the country through the Great Depression and World War II?

Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR).

Question: What were the series of radio broadcasts by President Franklin D. Roosevelt called, which aimed to communicate directly with the American people during the Great Depression and World War II?

Answer: Fireside Chats.

Question: Which New Deal program employed young men to perform conservation and infrastructure projects during the Great Depression?

Answer: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Question: Which famous novel by John Steinbeck, published in 1939, depicts the struggles of migrant workers during the Great Depression?

Answer: The Grapes of Wrath (Book | Movie)

Question: Who was the First Lady of the United States during the Great Depression and a strong advocate for social reform?

Answer: Eleanor Roosevelt.

Question: At the height of the Depression in 1933, what percentage of the total workforce in the United States was unemployed?

Answer: About 25%.

Question: What did FDR pledge to the American people during his speech accepting the Democratic Party nomination in 1932?

Answer: “A New Deal for the American people.”

Question: What was the name given to the package of legislation pushed through Congress by FDR in the First Hundred Days of his presidency?

Answer: The New Deal.

Question: What did the letters in the acronym “AAA” stand for, in the context of the New Deal?

Answer: Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

Question: What did FERA and WPA provide to thousands of unemployed Americans during the Great Depression?

Answer: Jobs in construction and arts projects.

Question: Which New Deal agency sought to stabilize consumer goods prices through a series of codes?

Answer: National Recovery Administration (NRA).

Question: What notion did FDR adopt from John Maynard Keynes to stimulate aggregate demand during the Great Depression?

Answer: Expanded deficit spending.

Question: What were “Okies” during the Great Depression?

Answer: Victims of the drought and dust storms in the Great Plains who migrated to California in search of work. The term was usually referring to “white” migratory agriculture workers.

Question: Which New Deal agency brought electricity to rural areas for the first time?

Answer: Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

Question: What did the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) aim to do during the Great Depression?

Answer: Provide relief to homeowners facing foreclosure.

Question: Which New Deal agency legalized the workers’ right to unionize?

Answer: National Recovery Administration (NRA).

Question: What was the name of the set of laws passed by Congress during the Great Depression aimed at regulating the banking system and stock market?

Answer: The Securities Exchange Act and the Banking Act of 1933 (also known as the Glass-Steagall Act).

Question: Which iconic American building was completed in 1931 during the Great Depression?

Answer: The Empire State Building.

Question: Which iconic film directed by Charlie Chaplin, released in 1936, satirized the industrialization and economic struggles of the Great Depression?

Answer: “Modern Times.”

Question: Which government agency was created to insure depositors’ accounts and stabilize the banking system during the Great Depression?

Answer: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Question: Which legislation, passed during the Great Depression, provided Americans with unemployment, disability, and pensions for old age for the first time?

Answer: The Social Security Act of 1935.

Question: What was the name of the large-scale public works program that employed millions of people during the Great Depression?

Answer: The Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Question: What was the primary factor that eventually ended the Great Depression?

Answer: The manufacturing production increases driven by World War II.