The Great Depression
The Big Idea 1: The collapse of the stock market in 1929 helped lead to the start of the Great Depression.
The Big Idea 2: Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal included government programs designed to relieve unemployment and help the economy recover. The Big Idea 3: All over the country, Americans struggled to survive the Great Depression. |
Learning Objectives:
>Students will learn how how Americans coped with the economic difficulties of the 1930's. >Students will be able to analyze how the collapse of the stock market in 1929 helped lead to the start of the Great Depression. Assessment: > Public Service Announcement, Essay |
Reading Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. |
Writing Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1.B Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources. |
1. Notes Activity- Causes of the Great Depression
2. Reading Activity- Great Depression Notes
After World War I, in the 1920s, the United States economy was booming. The nickname for the 1920s is the “Roaring Twenties” because wealth seemed to be everywhere. The wealth was really just an illusion.1
Black Tuesday
On October 29, 1929, the United States stock market2 crashed. The prices of companies on the stock market had skyrocketed to unrealistic amounts. Companies just weren’t worth that much. When people wanted to get their money out of the stock market, the companies had nothing to give them. Money no longer had the same value. People that had once been working class citizens were now poor. Soon, many people lost their jobs. The day became known as Black Tuesday. It was the first day of the Great Depression.
Scarcity
To most Americans, the Great Depression was a time of scarcity.3 All of a sudden, the economic boom of the 1920s ended. In 1929, all of this wealth collapsed and people had trouble finding work and even finding food. Banks had to close because they just did not have enough money to give people. When banks closed, several people lost their entire life savings. By 1932, one out of every four Americans was unemployed. By 1933, the money value of the New York Stock Exchange was only one fifth of what it had been in 1929. The United States did not fully recover from the Great Depression until the beginning of World War II.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt ran against Herbert Hoover, the president of the United States. Franklin remained determined, realistic, and optimistic.4 In his campaign speeches around the country, he promised to use all of the government’s power to draw the country out of the depression. Roosevelt received 22,800,000 votes to Hoover's 15,700,000.
Roosevelt promised to put people back to work. People wanted jobs and he promised to supply them. His plan was called the New Deal. He was going to use the government’s money to make jobs for people. For example, he hired photographers to capture images of people around the country in their daily life. First of all, their photographs would become part of a national archive, or library, of photographs. Secondly, the photographers now had a job and an income. The government would pay the photographers and then they would spend their money. They could buy food and clothing. Money would keep changing hands. If the photographers bought something at a store, then the storekeeper would now have some money to spend. Roosevelt hoped to spark the economy by giving people money to spend. He started many new government programs to put people back in jobs and to give them a way to provide food, housing, and clothing for themselves and their families.
1 illusion – an idea or vision that is not real
2 stock market – A market that involves trading parts of companies instead of other goods. Individuals can buy part of a company and then share in the profit that the company makes. But if the company loses money, the individual will lose his money too
3 scarcity – lack, not having enough
4 optimistic – having a positive outlook
Black Tuesday
On October 29, 1929, the United States stock market2 crashed. The prices of companies on the stock market had skyrocketed to unrealistic amounts. Companies just weren’t worth that much. When people wanted to get their money out of the stock market, the companies had nothing to give them. Money no longer had the same value. People that had once been working class citizens were now poor. Soon, many people lost their jobs. The day became known as Black Tuesday. It was the first day of the Great Depression.
Scarcity
To most Americans, the Great Depression was a time of scarcity.3 All of a sudden, the economic boom of the 1920s ended. In 1929, all of this wealth collapsed and people had trouble finding work and even finding food. Banks had to close because they just did not have enough money to give people. When banks closed, several people lost their entire life savings. By 1932, one out of every four Americans was unemployed. By 1933, the money value of the New York Stock Exchange was only one fifth of what it had been in 1929. The United States did not fully recover from the Great Depression until the beginning of World War II.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt ran against Herbert Hoover, the president of the United States. Franklin remained determined, realistic, and optimistic.4 In his campaign speeches around the country, he promised to use all of the government’s power to draw the country out of the depression. Roosevelt received 22,800,000 votes to Hoover's 15,700,000.
Roosevelt promised to put people back to work. People wanted jobs and he promised to supply them. His plan was called the New Deal. He was going to use the government’s money to make jobs for people. For example, he hired photographers to capture images of people around the country in their daily life. First of all, their photographs would become part of a national archive, or library, of photographs. Secondly, the photographers now had a job and an income. The government would pay the photographers and then they would spend their money. They could buy food and clothing. Money would keep changing hands. If the photographers bought something at a store, then the storekeeper would now have some money to spend. Roosevelt hoped to spark the economy by giving people money to spend. He started many new government programs to put people back in jobs and to give them a way to provide food, housing, and clothing for themselves and their families.
1 illusion – an idea or vision that is not real
2 stock market – A market that involves trading parts of companies instead of other goods. Individuals can buy part of a company and then share in the profit that the company makes. But if the company loses money, the individual will lose his money too
3 scarcity – lack, not having enough
4 optimistic – having a positive outlook
3. Watch the Video on the Causes of the Great Depression
You are going back in time!!! The US Government has hired you to go back to 1928 and make a Public Service Announcement to the American Public. You are going to make a Public Service Announcement Poster to warn investors who are buying stocks on margin how dangerous it is and the potential harm it can cause to the investor, the stock market and the country. Your PSA should have an illustration and would go on billboards and will be advertised in every American town for all citizens to see. It is up to you to go back in time and prevent Black Tuesday from ever happening! Good Luck!
HERE ARE 4 EXAMPLE OF PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS
***Assessment***
Write an essay answering the following question in as much detail as possible:
Essential Question: What caused the Great Depression?
You may use information that you have learned in the 2 note's activity's and the video that you watched. Be as detailed as possible. You will be graded using the following rubric.
Essential Question: What caused the Great Depression?
You may use information that you have learned in the 2 note's activity's and the video that you watched. Be as detailed as possible. You will be graded using the following rubric.
Extending the Lesson
Jigsaw Puzzle- Picture from the Great Depression
See finished picture on bottom... Good Luck!!!
COMPLETE THE RAFT WRITING ASSIGNMENT ON THE GREAT DEPRESSION