Chapter 14: The Great Depression Begins (1929-1933)- Section 1: The Nation’s Sick Economy

1. Give specific examples to show how the superficial prosperity of the late 1920s hid troubling weaknesses in the country.
2. Identify reasons why agriculture suffered more throughout the 1920s than any other part of the country.
3. How were Americans able to live beyond their means in the 1920s?
4. How was the distribution of income so unequal in the United States during the 1920s?  How was this bad for the economy?
5. What is the economic significance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
6. What is “speculation”? What does it mean to “buy on margin”?  How did these practices contribute to creating the Great Depression?
7. What happened on “Black Tuesday”?
8. Why did so many banks fail so quickly during the early 1930s?
9. How many people were unemployed in 1929? 1933?
10. What happened to ordinary workers during the Great Depression?
11. List the major causes of the Great Depression.

Book Link to Chapter 14: https://icomets.org/ush-textbook/ch14.pdf