Course Content
Lesson Plans
Out of Many: A History of the American People ©2000
by Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, and Armitage
Focus Lesson 21
Chapter 24: "The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929–1940"
AP* Course Description
- Depression, 1929–1933
- Wall Street crash
- Depression economy
- Moods of despair
- Agrarian unrest
- Bonus march
- Hoover-Stimson diplomacy; Japan
- New Deal
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Background, ideas
- Philosophy of New Deal
- 100 Days, "alphabet agencies"
- Second New Deal
- Critics, left and right
- Rise of CIO; labor unions
- Supreme Court fight
- Recession of 1938
- American people in the Depression
- Social values, women, ethnic groups
- Indian Reorganization Act
- Mexican-American deportation
- The racial issue
Key Components
- Instructor's Manual: pp. 134–139
- Study Guide, Vol. II: pp. 70–79
- Documents Set, Vol. II: pp. 341–359
- Test Item File: pp. 221–229
Key Web Sites
Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Always check PHSchool.com for updated links to U.S. history sites.
- The American Experience: Eleanor Roosevelt
- New Deal Network
- Tennessee Valley Authority
- America's Library
Key Words and Terms
- bull market
- Hoover's Plan
- election of 1932
- New Deal
- Dust Bowl
- Indian policy
- court-packing scheme
- recession
- Schecter v. United States
Suggested Pacing
Allow two weeks for the study of the Great Depression and the New Deal.
Test Strategy
The best situation is when a student reads a question stem and the answer choices and knows the correct answer immediately. However, this may not always happen and students need a strategy for dealing with a difficult question. As they read through the answer choices, they should eliminate any that are obviously incorrect. Then they should go back and carefully reconsider the remaining choices. If they know something about the content and can eliminate one or two choices, they should guess—even the College Board suggests this. You can reassure them that they would need to guess incorrectly four times in order to get a full-point deduction on their raw score, but a single correct guess will give them a full-point addition to their raw score.
Key Concepts
- The factors that led to the Depression
To help students understand and remember the factors that led to the Great Depression, suggest that they make a graphic organizer with "Causes of the Depression" in the center. Among the information that should appear on the organizer are the bull market or stock trading, buying on margin, installment buying, investment trusts, corporations with excess capital, static wages and salaries for workers, unequal distribution of wealth, and so on. Students should be prepared to answer the question: How did these factors affect the average American—farmer, laborer, office worker, and so on? - FDR's plans for business recovery
Point out to students that Roosevelt's goal was business recovery, not massive government spending. "Pump priming" was a means to an end. To help students remember the many important pieces of legislation passed during Roosevelt's first two terms in office, make copies of the chart on p. 79 of the Study Guide, Vol. II. The chart will focus students' attention on the significant legislation from 1932 to 1940.
Summing Up Student Understanding
Make copies of the "Photograph Analysis Worksheet" on p. 193 in the Instructor's Manual. Divide students into small groups and assign one photograph or art work from Chapter 24 to each group—for example, the photograph by Dorothea Lange on p. 720. Have the groups complete the worksheet and compare their information with the rest of the class. Use the discussion as an opportunity to remind the class of the importance of the Federal Art Project and Eleanor Roosevelt's support for it.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
You might also find these additional readings useful in developing students' background knowledge or for DBQ activities:
- American Issues: Vol. II Since 1865, edited by Unger and Tomes—Chapter 9
- The Power of Words: Vol. II From 1865, edited by Breen—Chapter 8
- Constructing the American Past, Vol. II, edited by Gorn, Roberts, and Bilhartz—Chapter 9
- American Experiences: Volume II From 1877, edited by Roberts and Olson (secondary source readings)—Part Five