Chapter 18

In what year was the gap between the annual high and the annual low in the stock market largest?

1929

The stock market took its steepest dive on October 29, 1929, the day now known as

Black Tuesday

In 1932, the press began calling the World War I veterans who were marching to Washington, D.C., to demand early payment of promised bonuses the

Bonus Army

Wiped out by the Depression and by drought, many penniless families left the Dust Bowl and headed to

California

What can you conclude about how Hoover would respond to the Great Depression as president?

He would be hesitant to intervene in the economy

What weekly photojournalism magazine was introduced in 1936 by TIME magazine publisher Henry Luce to instant success?

Life

The first feature-length animated film was

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

What happened when President Hoover asked the Federal Reserve Board to put more currency into circulation?

The Board refused to increase the money supply

As stock prices declined in 1929, the Hawley-Smoot Tariff led to

a decline in U.S. exports

One reason that the stock market crash led to the Great Depression was that in 1929, the top 5 percent of all American households earned 30 percent of the nation's income, an example of

an uneven distribution of income

What percentage of American households owned stocks by 1929?

approximately 10%

In May 1932, the Senate voted down a bill that would have

authorized early payment of World War I veterans' bonuses

During the Great Depression, many farmers were forced to turn their farms over to

banks that held their mortgages

In the early 1930s, to pay for public works projects that would create enough jobs, the government would have to raise taxes or

borrow money

A long period of rising stock prices is known as a

bull market

The National Credit Corporation tried to rescue troubled banks by allowing them to

continue lending money in their communities

At the time of the stock market crash, the government did not insure bank deposits, so

customers lost their savings if a bank collapsed

During the Great Depression, when a bank collapsed,

depositors lost their savings

During the Great Depression, many farmers who were already under pressure from debt and falling prices were devastated by

drought and the "Dust Bowl."

Movies produced during the Depression usually focused attention on the plight of the homeless and the unemployed.

false

President Herbert Hoover's response to the Depression led to his landslide victory in the 1932 presidential election.

false

President Hoover supported the provision of federal government relief, or money given directly to impoverished families.

false

Some farmers began destroying their crops to protest against foreclosures on their land.

false

The Depression improved steadily during President Hoover's administration.

false

The stock market crash of 1929 was the sole cause of the Great Depression.

false

Walt Disney produced the first feature-length animated film, Animal Crackers, in 1937.

false

Before the late 1920s, stock prices

generally reflected the stocks' true value

Although the Reconstruction Finance Corporation loaned about $238 million to banks, railroads, and building-and-loan associations by early 1932, it failed to

increase its lending sufficiently

One cause for the decline in sales of automobiles in the years leading up to the Great Depression was

increased unemployment

The bull market of the 1920s lasted only as long as

investors continued putting new money into the market

During the stock market crash of October 1929, prices were driven down by

investors selling stocks at a frenzied pace

In the 1920s, the Federal Reserve contributed to weaknesses in the stock market by

keeping interest rates low

The Emergency Relief and Construction Act provided

loans to the states for direct relief

The original purpose of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was to

make loans to businesses

In the 1930s, daytime radio dramas such as The Guiding Light were often sponsored by

makers of laundry soaps

Stockbrokers who made loans that allowed investors to buy stocks could issue a ____________________ to protect their loans.

margin call

During the 1930s, how many Americans went to the movies each week?

more than 60 million

Manufacturing output per person-hour rose 32 percent in the 1920s, but the average worker's wage increased only 8 percent, which meant that

most Americans did not earn enough to buy the goods they helped produce

During the Depression, most people were able to enjoy which two popular forms of entertainment?

movies and radio

Nicknamed "soap operas" in the 1930s, radio programs such as The Guiding Light

offered information as well as entertainment

In addition to the stock market crash in 1929, a key cause of the Great Depression was

overproduction

Thousands of World War I veterans came to Washington, D.C., in 1932 to lobby Congress to

pass legislation giving veterans their promised bonuses early

Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and other painters of the 1930s were referred to as the

regionalist school

President Hoover wanted state and city governments rather than the federal government to provide money directly to impoverished families, known as

relief

In addition to the stock market crash of 1929, the economy was shaken by a slowdown in

retail sales

In search of work or a better life, many unemployed people

rode the rails

What portion of the U.S. workforce was unemployed by 1933?

roughly 25%

Herbert Hoover states that during World War I, the people of the United States had to rely on the government to

solve economic problems

During the Depression, charities set up ____________________ to give poor people meals.

soup kitchens

A decline in the sales of automobiles meant that there was less demand for

steel

During the 1930s, dairy farmers in Georgia blocked highways and

stopped milk trucks, dumping the milk into ditches

In his novel The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner exposed the hidden attitudes of characters in a fictional Mississippi county using a technique called

stream of consciousness

"Hunger marches" in Washington, D.C., and other cities were organized by

the American Communist Party

Which of the following measures to address the Depression was enacted by Congress and signed by President Hoover only reluctantly?

the Emergency Relief and Construction Act

The "Dust Bowl" was located in

the Great Plains

To portray life around them, artists and writers of the 1930s often used ____________________ as subjects in their work.

the homeless and unemployed

"Okies" were usually farmers who sold their land and used the profits to travel to California and begin new lives.

true

As the bull market of the late 1920s continued to soar, many investors began buying stocks on margin, making only a small cash down payment and borrowing the rest.

true

Blaming the president for their plight, newly homeless people established shantytowns they called Hoovervilles.

true

Buyers hoping to make a fortune overnight in the stock market engaged in speculation, betting that the market would continue to climb.

true

During the Depression, self-deputized citizens in the Southwest rounded up Mexicans—often without regard to their citizenship status—and forcibly returned them to Mexico.

true

During the Depression, the jobless stood in breadlines for free food, lined up outside soup kitchens set up by private groups, or went hungry.

true

Films such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington celebrated national heroes and the excitement of the big city.

true

In July of 1932, the U.S. Army expelled the Bonus Marchers from Washington, D.C., with tear gas and fixed bayonets.

true

In the 1920s, buying on margin was a method of buying stocks with mostly borrowed money.

true

President Hoover did more than any prior president to expand the federal government's economic role, but he failed to resolve the economic crisis of the Great Depression.

true

When people could not pay their rent or mortgage but would not leave the dwelling, they were evicted by court officers.

true

While many immigrants chose to leave the United States as a result of the Great Depression, others

were forced out by the government and by citizen groups

As a result of the stock market crash, some banks suffered more losses than they could absorb and

were forced to close

Buying on margin was a method of buying stocks

with mostly borrowed money