Great Depression Web Quest

This Web Quest is designed to test your ability to work with and analyze historical documents.  As you analyze the documents, thoroughly answer the questions that accompany each one.

Historical Context:  The Great Depression was one of the worst times in American history. On October 29, 1929 a date better known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed sending the economy into its worst condition in American history. The crash resulted in extreme unemployment and poverty for many across the country. In response, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt devised the New Deal which had many new plans and ideas to bring the nation out of the depression.

Task: Using information from at least 6 of the documents  and your knowledge of United States history, write an essay in which you:

Ø      Describe the economic problems that existed during the Great Depression.

Ø      Discuss the strategies used by Franklin Roosevelt to deal with these economic problems.

 

 

Step 1- On a separate sheet of paper, you will copy the Document number and title and then answer the accompanying question. Be sure to answer each question thoroughly. This will be handed in with your essay.

Step 2- Each Document will fit into a category on a T Chart we will make together. The categories are "Problems of the depression" "Strategies to overcome the depression." You will need to fit each document into 1 of the categories. This will help you in writing the essay. 

Step 3- You will write a well constructed essay. This essay will need to have an introduction with a clear thesis, several body paragraphs and a conclusion, using at least 6 of the documents.

Documents to analyze

Answer the questions that accompany each document on your document analysis sheet. .

Document

Questions
#1 Unemployment  
1. What was the unemployment rate in 1929? in 1931? In 1933?
Document #2 Stock Market Performance  
2. What was the year and high point of the stock market?

3. What was the year and Low point?

 
Document #3 Living Conditions  
4. What is the name given to these neighborhoods?

5. Describe the living conditions here.

 
Document # 4 Charity Line  
6. What are these people waiting in line for?

 

7. Why is the line so long?

 
Document #5 Coffee and Donuts  
8.What do all of these people have in common?

 

9.What are they waiting in line for?

 
Document #6 "Out of the way"  
10. What is the person on the stoop supposed to represent?

11. Who is holding the broom? What is he sweeping away?
Document #7 Depression era Farms  
12. What is this picture an example of? 

13. How does this situation affect prices??

14. How will this surplus of cotton affect farmers?

 
Document #8 Price of Wheat 1925-1933  
15. What was the price of Wheat at its high point? And at its low point?

16. What was the effect of prices on farmers?

Document #9 President elect 1932  
17. What is this man's name?

 

18. Describe his characteristics in this picture.

19. How did people feel looking at this picture during the 1930s?

 
Document #10 Chatting with the nation  
20. What is this man doing?

 

21. What was the name given to these speeches?

 

22. How did these speeches affect its audience?

 
Document #11 New Deal Advertisement: WPA  
23. What program is being advertised here?

 

24. What is the goal of this program?

 
Document #12 New Deal  
25. Who is the man in the middle of this cartoon?

 

26. List 2 goals of his "alphabet soup".

 
Document #13 New Deal Ad: Road Repave  
27. Who is paying the men in this picture to work?.

 

28. What type of project are the men working on?

 
Document #14 New Deal Clinic  
29. Who is the patient in this picture?

 

30. Based on this cartoon, who are the surgeons?

 
Document #15 Project Construction  
31. What is being constructed in this picture?

 

32. What were 2 effects this project had on the economy?

 
Document #16: Power Lines  
33. What are the men in this picture doing?

 

34. What New Deal Program do these men work for?

 
Document #17: Banking reform  
35. What does this do?

36. How does it affect people today??

Document #18. Tennessee Valley Authority  
37. How many states had dams built in them?

 

38. List 2 ways this program helped people during the depression.
Document # 19- Social security  
39. According to the document, what will the social security act provide?

 

40. How will this program help get American through the problems of the depression?

 

Essay Directions
Historical Context:  The Great Depression was one of the worst times in American history. On October 29, 1929 a date better known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed sending the economy into its worst condition in American history. The crash resulted in extreme unemployment and poverty for many across the country. In response, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt devised the New Deal which had many new plans and ideas to bring the nation out of the depression.

Task: Using information from at least 6 of the documents  and your knowledge of United States history, write an essay in which you:

Ø      Describe the economic problems that existed during the Great Depression.

Ø      Discuss the strategies used by Franklin Roosevelt to deal with these economic problems.

 

Historical Context:  The Great Depression was one of the worst times in American history. On October 29, 1929 a date better known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed sending the economy into its worst condition in American history. The crash resulted in extreme unemployment and poverty for many across the country. In response, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt devised the New Deal which had many new plans and ideas to bring the nation out of the depression.

Task: Using information from at least 6 of the documents  and your knowledge of United States history, write an essay in which you:

Ø      Describe the economic problems that existed during the Great Depression.

Ø      Discuss the strategies used by Franklin Roosevelt to deal with these economic problems.

 

In your essay, be sure to:

***Address all aspects of the Task by accurately analyzing and interpreting at least 6 documents

***Write an introduction with a strong thesis.This is what you will prove and comes directly from the 2 parts of the task.

***Incorporate information from the documents

***Incorporate relevant outside information

***Support the thesis with relevant facts, examples, and details

***Be sure to reference the documents IE "In document 2 it shows that....."

 ***Use a logical and clear plan of organization

***Introduce the theme by establishing a framework that is beyond a simple restatement of the Task or Historical Context and conclude with a summation of the theme