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754 Chapter 25 | Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? The Great Depression, 1929-1932
a more community-based lifestyle.
25.4 Assessing the Hoover Years on the Eve of the New Deal
In Hoover, Americans got the president they had wanted, at least at first. He was third in a line of free- market Republican presidents, elected to continue the policies that had served the economy so well. But when the stock market crashed in 1929, and the underlying weaknesses in the economy came to the fore, Hoover did not act with clear intentionality and speed. His record as a president will likely always bear the taint of his unwillingness to push through substantial government aid, but, despite that failing, his record is not without minor accomplishments. Hoover’s international policies, particularly in regard to Latin America, served the country well. And while his attitude toward civil rights mirrored his conviction that government intervention was a negative force, he did play a key role changing living conditions for Native Americans. In all, it was his—and the country’s—bad luck that his presidency ultimately required a very different philosophy than the one that had gotten him elected.
Review Questions
1. Which of the following is a cause of the stock market crash of 1929?
5. Which of the following groups or bodies did not offer direct relief to needy people?
A. too many people invested in the market
B. investors made risky investments with
borrowed money
C. the federal government invested heavily in
business stock
D. World War I created optimal conditions for
an eventual crash
A. the federal government
B. local police and schoolteachers
C. churches and synagogues
D. wealthy individuals
2.
3.
4. Which of the following protests was directly related to federal policies, and thus had the greatest impact in creating a negative public perception of the Hoover presidency?
A. the Farm Holiday Association
B. the Ford Motor Company labor strikes
C. the Bonus Expeditionary Force
D. the widespread appearance of “Hooverville” shantytowns
Which of the following groups would not be considered “the deserving poor” by social welfare groups and humanitarians in the 1930s?
A. vagrant children
B. unemployed workers
C. stock speculators
D. single mothers
A. lower farm wages in the South
B. the belief that white workers needed jobs
more than their black counterparts
C. white workers taking historically “black”
jobs, such as maids and janitors
D. widespread race riots in large urban centers
What were Hoover’s plans when he first entered office, and how were these reflective of the years that preceded the Great Depression?
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6.
7. Which of the following hardships did African Americans not typically face during the Great Depression?
What attempts did Hoover make to offer federal relief? How would you evaluate the success or failure of these programs?
8.
Which of the following was not a key factor in the conditions that led to the Dust Bowl?
A. previous overcultivation of farmland
B. decreasing American demand for farm
produce
C. unfavorable weather conditions
D. poor farming techniques regarding proper
irrigation and acreage rotation