US History MCQs

US Great Depression MCQs with Answer

When did the US Great Depression begin?
A) 1920
B) 1929
C) 1933
D) 1945
Answer: B) 1929

Which significant event is often seen as the trigger for the Great Depression?
A) World War I
B) The stock market crash of 1929
C) The New Deal
D) Prohibition
Answer: B) The stock market crash of 1929

What was the name of the economic theory that advocated minimal government intervention during the Great Depression?
A) Keynesian economics
B) Laissez-faire economics
C) Socialism
D) Marxism
Answer: B) Laissez-faire economics

Which US president was in office when the Great Depression began?
A) Woodrow Wilson
B) Herbert Hoover
C) Franklin D. Roosevelt
D) Calvin Coolidge
Answer: B) Herbert Hoover

What term was used to describe the makeshift communities of homeless people during the Great Depression?
A) Shantytowns
B) Skid Rows
C) Ghettoes
D) Communes
Answer: A) Shantytowns

Which industry was hit particularly hard during the Great Depression, leading to widespread unemployment?
A) Agriculture
B) Technology
C) Banking
D) Entertainment
Answer: A) Agriculture

What was the unemployment rate in the United States during the peak of the Great Depression?
A) 5%
B) 10%
C) 20%
D) 30%
Answer: D) 30%

The period of severe dust storms and agricultural damage during the Great Depression is known as the:
A) Hurricane Era
B) Dust Bowl
C) Soil Erosion Crisis
D) Agrarian Plague
Answer: B) Dust Bowl

Which program was initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression?
A) Prohibition Act
B) Social Security Act
C) Clean Air Act
D) Civil Rights Act
Answer: B) Social Security Act

What were the communities established by the government to provide housing for the poor during the Great Depression called?
A) Tenement Houses
B) HUD Residences
C) Federal Housing Projects
D) Hoovervilles
Answer: D) Hoovervilles

Which famous book by John Steinbeck depicted the struggles of a family during the Great Depression?
A) “The Grapes of Wrath”
B) “To Kill a Mockingbird”
C) “Of Mice and Men”
D) “The Catcher in the Rye”
Answer: A) “The Grapes of Wrath”

What was the common name for the group of World War I veterans who marched to Washington, D.C. to demand early payment of their pensions during the Great Depression?
A) The Red Cross Marchers
B) The Veterans’ Brigade
C) The Bonus Army
D) The G.I. Rebellion
Answer: C) The Bonus Army

Which major piece of legislation passed during the Great Depression aimed to regulate the securities industry and restore investor confidence?
A) Glass-Steagall Act
B) Wagner Act
C) Securities Act of 1933
D) Emergency Banking Act
Answer: C) Securities Act of 1933

The Great Depression had a significant impact on cultural and artistic expression. What movement emphasized depicting life as it truly was, often showing the hardships of the era?
A) Surrealism
B) Cubism
C) Abstract Expressionism
D) Social Realism
Answer: D) Social Realism

What was the main goal of the New Deal policies during the Great Depression?
A) Promote isolationism
B) Maintain the gold standard
C) Provide immediate relief and long-term reform
D) Encourage laissez-faire economics
Answer: C) Provide immediate relief and long-term reform

What term refers to the severe drop in international trade during the Great Depression?
A) Trade stagnation
B) Trade isolation
C) Trade embargo
D) Trade collapse
Answer: D) Trade collapse

Which US president succeeded Herbert Hoover and implemented the New Deal policies?
A) Woodrow Wilson
B) Calvin Coolidge
C) Franklin D. Roosevelt
D) Harry S. Truman
Answer: C) Franklin D. Roosevelt

What agency was established by the New Deal to provide financial assistance and retirement benefits to the elderly during the Great Depression?
A) Social Security Administration
B) Federal Reserve System
C) Department of the Treasury
D) Medicare and Medicaid Services
Answer: A) Social Security Administration

What term describes the period of financial market instability and widespread panic that contributed to the depth of the Great Depression?
A) Market Reformation
B) Economic Downturn
C) Financial Crisis
D) Wall Street Crash
Answer: D) Wall Street Crash

What was the general term used to describe the makeshift settlements where people lived during the Great Depression, often made of cardboard and scraps?
A) Tent Cities
B) Shanty Towns
C) Temporary Camps
D) Nomad Villages
Answer: B) Shanty Towns

What was the nickname given to the day of the stock market crash, signaling the start of the Great Depression?
A) Black Thursday
B) Black Friday
C) Black Tuesday
D) Black Monday
Answer: C) Black Tuesday

What economic term refers to a prolonged period of economic downturn with high unemployment, decreased consumer spending, and reduced production?
A) Hyperinflation
B) Stagflation
C) Recession
D) Depression
Answer: D) Depression

What was the primary cause of the Great Depression?
A) Rapid population growth
B) Excessive government intervention
C) Speculative stock market bubble
D) Massive natural disasters
Answer: C) Speculative stock market bubble

Which industry did not experience a significant decline during the Great Depression?
A) Banking
B) Automobile manufacturing
C) Agriculture
D) Construction
Answer: A) Banking

What was the goal of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) established during the Great Depression?
A) Providing loans to struggling businesses
B) Insuring bank deposits to prevent bank failures
C) Supporting the stock market
D) Promoting international trade
Answer: B) Insuring bank deposits to prevent bank failures

Which industry suffered the most severe losses during the Great Depression, leading to widespread unemployment?
A) Steel
B) Textiles
C) Mining
D) Railroads
Answer: B) Textiles

What was the nickname given to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s series of radio broadcasts during the Great Depression?
A) Fireside Chats
B) Radio Dialogues
C) Presidential Updates
D) Town Hall Meetings
Answer: A) Fireside Chats

Which New Deal program aimed to provide work relief for unemployed young men during the Great Depression?
A) Social Security
B) Civilian Conservation Corps
C) Works Progress Administration
D) Tennessee Valley Authority
Answer: B) Civilian Conservation Corps

What was the main impact of the Great Depression on international trade?
A) Increased protectionism
B) Expanded free trade agreements
C) Creation of a global currency
D) Enhanced economic cooperation
Answer: A) Increased protectionism

What act passed during the Great Depression aimed to regulate the activities of banks and prevent another banking crisis?
A) Glass-Steagall Act
B) Social Security Act
C) Wagner Act
D) Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
Answer: A) Glass-Steagall Act

What was the name of the area in New York City where unemployed and homeless individuals gathered during the Great Depression?
A) Union Square
B) Central Park
C) Wall Street
D) Times Square
Answer: A) Union Square

What international economic event exacerbated the effects of the Great Depression by reducing global trade and investment?
A) World War I
B) Treaty of Versailles
C) Great Recession
D) Smoot-Hawley Tariff
Answer: D) Smoot-Hawley Tariff

What was the purpose of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) established during the Great Depression?
A) Monitoring international trade
B) Regulating the stock market and protecting investors
C) Providing social welfare programs
D) Overseeing agricultural production
Answer: B) Regulating the stock market and protecting investors

What was the overall impact of the Great Depression on the global economy?
A) Increased economic stability
B) Growth of international trade
C) Decreased government intervention
D) Widespread economic downturn
Answer: D) Widespread economic downturn

What term refers to the practice of people selling their stocks in a panic to get out of the market during the Great Depression?
A) Bull market
B) Speculation
C) Margin call
D) Panic selling
Answer: D) Panic selling

Which social issue was a focus of the New Deal programs during the Great Depression?
A) Immigration reform
B) Religious freedom
C) Racial segregation
D) Labor rights
Answer: D) Labor rights

What term describes the practice of purchasing stocks with borrowed money during the Great Depression?
A) Bull market
B) Speculation
C) Margin buying
D) Short selling
Answer: C) Margin buying

What was the goal of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) during the Great Depression?
A) Promote agricultural exports
B) Increase crop yields
C) Raise food prices by reducing production
D) Provide direct payments to farmers
Answer: C) Raise food prices by reducing production

What term refers to the economic downturn that occurred before the Great Depression and was a precursor to it?
A) Recession
B) Stagflation
C) Depression
D) Financial crisis
Answer: A) Recession

What was the name of the large-scale infrastructure program initiated during the Great Depression to provide jobs and stimulate the economy?
A) Works Progress Administration (WPA)
B) Social Security
C) Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
D) Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Answer: A) Works Progress Administration (WPA)

What was the primary objective of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) during the Great Depression?
A) Promote international trade
B) Regulate labor unions
C) Encourage economic competition
D) Stimulate industrial recovery through government intervention
Answer: D) Stimulate industrial recovery through government intervention

What term refers to the period of financial uncertainty and reduced economic activity that followed the initial stock market crash of 1929?
A) Great Recession
B) Stock Panic
C) Economic Crisis
D) Stock Market Fallout
Answer: B) Stock Panic

Which aspect of the Great Depression contributed to a rise in crime and gangster activity?
A) Government-sponsored crime rings
B) Prohibition of alcohol
C) Unregulated financial markets
D) Lax law enforcement
Answer: B) Prohibition of alcohol

Which US president implemented a series of economic policies that were criticized for exacerbating the effects of the Great Depression?
A) Warren G. Harding
B) Calvin Coolidge
C) Herbert Hoover
D) Franklin D. Roosevelt
Answer: C) Herbert Hoover

What organization was established by the New Deal to oversee the regulation of the stock market and protect investors from fraud?
A) Federal Reserve System
B) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
C) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
D) National Recovery Administration (NRA)
Answer: B) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

What was the role of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) during the Great Depression?
A) Supporting agricultural subsidies
B) Providing financial aid to struggling banks and businesses
C) Regulating the stock market
D) Promoting international trade
Answer: B) Providing financial aid to struggling banks and businesses

Which New Deal program aimed to improve the living conditions of tenant farmers and sharecroppers during the Great Depression?
A) Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
B) Works Progress Administration (WPA)
C) Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
D) Rural Electrification Administration (REA)
Answer: D) Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

What term describes the economic theory that advocates government spending during times of economic downturn to stimulate economic activity?
A) Supply-side economics
B) Laissez-faire economics
C) Keynesian economics
D) Monetarism
Answer: C) Keynesian economics

What was the general attitude of President Hoover toward government intervention in response to the Great Depression?
A) Strong support for intervention
B) Mixed approach to intervention
C) Minimal government intervention
D) Total government control
Answer: C) Minimal government intervention

What long-term effect of the Great Depression contributed to the global shift in economic power from Europe to the United States?
A) Rise of international cooperation
B) Strengthened colonial empires
C) Expansion of European markets
D) Erosion of European economic dominance
Answer: D) Erosion of European economic dominance

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