Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Always check for updated links to U.S. history sites.

Allow two weeks for the study of the Great Depression and the New Deal.

The best situation is when a student reads a question stem and the answer choices and knows the correct answer immediately. 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 reconsider the remaining choices carefully. 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.

While Hoover moved to stem the effects of the stock market crash and the onset of the Depression, he was unable to do so. According to the authors of the text, one of the differences between Hoover and Roosevelt that led to Hoover's defeat was his inability to win the confidence of the American people that his efforts would work. Some may consider Roosevelt radical in his policies; the authors believe that he steered a moderate course. Point out to students that Roosevelt's goal was business recovery, not massive government spending. "Pump priming" was a means to an end. Roosevelt's policies never succeeded in bringing the nation fully out of 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?

You might also find these additional readings useful in developing students' background knowledge or for DBQ activities: