Year 11 - History
Effects of the Great Depression on American society
America 1920–1973, Opportunity and inequality
Study Hub
Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit pupils undergo a period study that provides an unfolding narrative which tells a story about a period that shaped the world we live in today. They look at the key events, developments, people and stories that defined the chosen period.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to evaluate the effects of the Great Depression on different groups in American society.
Key Notes
- Business failures, unemployment, poverty and homelessness were common hardships faced during the Great Depression.
- Different groups experienced the bust years differently.
- The very rich often retained more of their wealth than poorer Americans.
- African Americans and people of Mexican heritage generally experienced greater hardship than the average American.
Vocabulary To Learn
- mortgage: a mortgage is money that you borrow from the bank to buy a home
- sharecropper: a sharecropper was a farmer who rented a small area of land from a landowner; they had to give a share of the crops they grew to their landlord
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- All groups in America experienced increased hardship as a result of the Great Depression.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Summarise this historical learning in two key ideas.
Business failures, unemployment, poverty and homelessness were common hardships faced during the Great Depression. Different groups experienced the bust years differently.
2. Define this history term and explain why it matters in this topic. 'mortgage'
a mortgage is money that you borrow from the bank to buy a home.
3. Correct this common history misconception using evidence language.
Mistake: All groups in America experienced increased hardship as a result of the Great Depression. Correction: Increased hardship was the most common experience during the Great Depression but there still gains for some groups: overall female employment increased and some Americans, such as Hollywood stars, were still able to become very wealthy.
More Lessons In This Unit
- 1930s American popular culture Study Guide
- American people and the 'boom' in the 1920s Study Guide
- American recovery from the Great Depression Study Guide
- American society in the 1920s Study Guide
- Black Power and the Civil Rights Movement Study Guide
- Causes of the 'boom' Study Guide
- Change in Post-War America Study Guide
- Civil rights legislation in the 1960s Study Guide
- Direct action and the Civil Rights Movement Study Guide
- Losers of the 'boom' in 1920s America Study Guide
- Martin Luther King and peaceful protest Study Guide
- McCarthyism and the second Red Scare Study Guide
- Opposition to the New Deal Study Guide
- Post-war American popular culture Study Guide
- President Hoover and the 1932 presidential election Study Guide
- Racial tension in early 20th century America Study Guide
- Roosevelt's New Deal Study Guide
- Segregation in the USA Study Guide
- Social and civil progress in the USA, c.1950-1973 Study Guide
- The American Dream in the 1940s and 1950s Study Guide
- The Great Depression Study Guide
- The New Frontier and Great Society Study Guide
- The Red Scare in 1920s America Study Guide
- The role of Henry Ford in the 'boom' Study Guide
- The US Feminist Movement in the 1960s and 1970s Study Guide
- The Wall Street Crash Study Guide
- Women and the 'boom' in 1920s America Study Guide
- World War Two and the US economy Study Guide
- World War Two and US society Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 11 History guide library.