Senior Library Books
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LEVEL 1
brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)
LEVEL 2
provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.
LEVEL 3
lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)
Linked Databases
Search for specific information on The Great Depression using these databases. For the best search results use specific key words relating to the topic you are exploring, for example: Great Depression, New Deal, Hoover, Roosevelt, 1929, etc.
- Britannica Schools This link opens in a new window
Britannica School covers the core subject areas of English, Maths, Science and History. Interactive lessons, activities, games, stories, worksheets, manipulatives, study guides and research tools.
- Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre Plus This link opens in a new window
This resource provides the largest collection of full text from leading regional and international newspapers and periodicals, full-text reference books, tens of thousands of full-text biographies, and a collection of images containing more than one million photos, maps, and flags.
Introduction
The Great Depression (1929-39) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and rising levels of unemployment as failing companies laid off workers. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its nadir, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. (History.com Staff, 2009)
Introduction
- History.com Staff. (2015). The Great Depression. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/great-depressionThis website gives a brief overview of The Great Depression using text, videos, speeches and pictures.
- Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008). The Great Depression. Retrieved from http://www.shmoop.com/great-depression/The Great Depression was the worst collapse in the history of American capitalism. Throughout the 1930s, neither the free market nor the federal government was able to get the country working again.
- Great Depression and the New Deal of the 1920's & 1930's history guide. (2015). Retrieved from http://history.searchbeat.com/greatdepression.htm.This website offers information surrounding the Great Depression through a list of websites, photo galleries and movies.
- New Deal networks. (2015). Research and study. Retrieved from http://newdeal.feri.org/.The New Deal Network is an educational guide to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The New Deal Network is sponsored by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the Institute for Learning Technologies at Teachers College/Columbia University. NDN is funded in part through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- Reed, L. (1998). Great myths of The Great Depression. Retrieved from http://www.mackinac.org/4013.Students today are often given a skewed account of the Great Depression of 1929-1941 that condemns free-market capitalism as the cause of, and promotes government intervention as the solution to, the economic hardships of the era. In this essay based on a popular lecture, Mackinac Center for Public Policy President Lawrence W. Reed debunks the conventional view and traces the central role that poor government policy played in fostering this legendary catastrophe.
- Great Depression. (2016). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/high/article/37849Great Depression, worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world, sparking fundamental changes in economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory.
- New Deal. (2016). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/high/article/55453New Deal, the domestic program of the administration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1939, which took action to bring about immediate economic relief as well as reforms in industry, agriculture, finance, waterpower, labour, and housing, vastly increasing the scope of the federal government’s activities.
Key Terms
- capitalism noun - an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.
- chronology noun - the science of arranging time in periods and ascertaining the dates and historical order of past events.
- causation noun - anything that produces an effect; cause.
- economic adjective - pertaining to the production, distribution, and use of income, wealth, and commodities.
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Body created by Congress in 1933 to put millions of young men to work on conservation projects throughout the United States. CCC workers reforested timberlands, fought forest fires, built public roads, and maintained public parks. The CCC was one of the most popular relief and recovery programs of the New Deal.
- Crash of 1929 "Black Tuesday" The massive crash of the U.S. stock market on “Black Tuesday,” October 29, 1929. The crash occurred after American investors dumped more than 16 million shares in one day. Within two months, more than $60 billion had been lost. The crash was the primary catalyst for the Great Depression.
- Works Progress Administration (WPA) A government administration created in 1935 to hire over 10 million American men to construct public works projects such as roads, bridges, and public buildings. The WPA, one of the most significant programs created during the Second New Deal, helped provide immediate relief for many Americans during the Great Depression.
- New Deal The principles of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, especially those advocated under the leadership of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for economic recovery and social reforms.
- Nineteenth Amendment A constitutional amendment ratified in 1920 to grant women the right to vote. Not surprisingly, the number of voters in the presidential election later that year nearly doubled compared to the numbers from the election of 1916.
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