THE GREAT

DEPRESSION
Worksheets
 The Great Depression Facts

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic

depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing
of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most
countries it started in 1930 and lasted until the late 1930s or
middle 1940s. It was the longest, deepest, and most
widespread depression of the 20th century.
Herbert Hoover was president when the Great Depression
began. He declared in March 1930, that the U.S. had
passed the worst and argued that the economy would
sort itself out. The worst, however, had just begun and
would last until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
 The Great Depression Facts
The causes of the Great Depression are widely debated.
There was no single cause, but several things when working
together made it happen. A weak banking system,
over-production of goods, over spending, and bursting credit
bubble were just some of the reasons. The Wall Street Crash
of 1929 was one of the main causes of the Great Depression.
This stock market crash was the most devastating crash in
the history of the United States. On Black Tuesday,
October 29, 1929, the stock market lost $14 billion, making
the loss for that week an astounding $30 billion. It took 23
years for the stock market to hit the high it was at before
the crash.
As news of the stock market crash spread, customers rushed
to their banks to withdraw their money, causing disastrous
bank runs. People who had been very wealthy lost
everything they had and some committed suicide. Many
companies went out of business and huge numbers of people
lost their jobs. At the peak of the depression, 1 out of every
4 people were without a job. Between 1930 and 1935, nearly
750,000 farms were lost through bankruptcy or sheriff
sales.
 The Great Depression Facts
People who lost their homes often lived in what were called
Hoovervilles, or shanty towns, that were named after
President Herbert Hoover. There was also Hoover Stew
which was the name for food handed out to the poor at soup
kitchens. Hoover Blankets were newspapers that were
being used to cover people like a blanket. Hoover Hogs
were jack rabbits that were used for food, and Hoover
Wagons were broken down cars that were pulled by mules.
Some people who became homeless would ride on railroad
cars, because they didnt have money to travel. Some believe
that more than 50,000 people were injured or killed while
jumping trains. Many of these people traveled together and
were called hobos.
Almost half of the children who were living in the United
States at that time did not have enough food, shelter, or
medical care. Many suffered diseases. By the 1930s,
thousands of schools were operating on reduced hours or
were closed down entirely. Some three million children had
left school, and at least 200,000 took to riding the rails
either with their parents or as orphans.
 The Great Depression Facts
African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican
Americans and women were bitterly discriminated
against and the hardest hit during the Great
Depression. They were looked at as the groups that
could take jobs away from white men.
The Great Depression also changed the family in
several ways. Many couples delayed getting married,
and divorce rates and birth rates dropped. Some men
also abandoned their families. A 1940 poll revealed that
1.5 million married women had been abandoned by their
husbands.
Severe drought and dust storms made the Great
Depression even worse, because it dried out farmlands
and forced families to leave their farms. On May 9,
1934, a dust storm carried about 350 million tons of
dirt 2,000 miles eastward and dumped four million
tons of prairie dirt in Chicago. The drought and dust
killed tens of thousands of animals and some people.
 The Great Depression Facts
The board game Monopoly, which first became available
in 1935, became popular because players could become
rich during the playing of the game. The Three Little
Pigswas seen as a symbol of the Great Depression,
with the wolf representing the Depression and the
three little pigs representing average citizens who
eventually succeeded by working together.
Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945)
became president in March 1933, and promised a New
Deal for the American people.

Herbert Hoover
with Franklin D.
Roosevelt on the
day of Roosevelts
inauguration.
 Herbert Hoover
Americans named many of the products of hardship in
the Great Depression after Herbert Hoover. What did
each of these terms mean?
Hooverville: ________________
_______________________
Hoover Stew: _______________
_______________________
Hoover Hogs: _______________
_______________________
Hoover Blankets: ____________
_______________________
Hoover Wagons: _____________
_______________________

Why did people name these things after Herbert Hoover? Do

you think that it was fair to name these things after him?
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