What caused the Great Depression, and how did it affect ordinary Americans?
Analyze the causes and consequences of the Great Depression, including the stock market crash, bank failures, overproduction, the Dust Bowl, and the human impact of unemployment and poverty (GSE SSUSH17, Domain 4).
An EOC-level answer on the Great Depression for the Georgia Milestones US History exam: the causes (the 1929 stock market crash, bank failures, overproduction, and buying on margin), the Dust Bowl, the human toll of unemployment and poverty, and the failure of Hoover's response, with worked stimulus and technology-enhanced questions.
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What this topic is asking
SSUSH17 asks you to analyze the causes and consequences of the Great Depression (1929 to the late 1930s), the worst economic crisis in American history. You need the causes (the stock market crash, bank failures, overproduction, buying on margin), the Dust Bowl, the human toll of unemployment and poverty, and the failure of President Hoover's response. This is a major Domain 4 topic and the setup for the New Deal.
The causes of the Depression
The human toll
The Depression devastated ordinary lives. Unemployment rose to roughly 25 percent; families lost homes and savings; shantytowns called "Hoovervilles" appeared; and many went hungry. The crisis touched nearly every part of society, shaking Americans' faith that hard work guaranteed security.
The Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl deepened the Depression's agricultural crisis and produced one of its most famous images of hardship and migration.
Hoover's failed response
Try this
Q1. Identify three causes of the Great Depression. [3]
- Cue. Any three of: the 1929 stock market crash; buying on margin (borrowing to invest); bank failures; overproduction and underconsumption; uneven wealth and excessive debt.
Q2. Explain the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl. [2]
- Cue. Causes: severe drought plus poor farming that stripped the soil, so winds blew the dried topsoil into huge dust storms. Effects: ruined farmland and drove many families west (often to California) seeking work.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of GaDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
GA Milestones (US History, style)1 marksBuying stocks 'on margin' in the 1920s contributed to the Great Depression because itShow worked answer →
A single-select item (Domain 4, SSUSH17).
Correct answer: let investors borrow money to buy stock, so the 1929 crash left many unable to repay their debts.
Buying on margin meant paying only a fraction of a stock's price and borrowing the rest; when prices collapsed, investors could not repay the loans, and the losses spread through the banks. Markers reward identifying margin buying as borrowing to invest. Distractors such as "required full cash payment" reverse the meaning.
GA Milestones (US History, TE)2 marksPart A: What environmental disaster struck the Great Plains in the 1930s, forcing many farm families to migrate west? Part B: Select the statement that best explains its causes.Show worked answer →
A two-part evidence-based (technology-enhanced) item (Domain 4, SSUSH17).
Part A (1 point): the Dust Bowl.
Part B (1 point): the best statement is that years of severe drought combined with poor farming practices that stripped the soil, so winds blew the dried topsoil into huge dust storms, ruining farmland and driving families (often to California) in search of work. Markers reward identifying the Dust Bowl and explaining drought plus poor farming as its causes.
Related dot points
- Evaluate Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal as a response to the Great Depression, including relief, recovery, and reform programs, Social Security, and the expanded role of the federal government (GSE SSUSH18, Domain 4).
An EOC-level answer on the New Deal for the Georgia Milestones US History exam: Franklin Roosevelt's relief, recovery, and reform programs, the goals of the alphabet agencies, Social Security, the debate over the New Deal, and how it permanently expanded the role of the federal government, with worked stimulus and technology-enhanced questions.
- Analyze how the rise of big business, consumer culture, and mass media transformed American life in the 1920s, including the automobile, credit, radio and movies, and the Harlem Renaissance (GSE SSUSH16, Domain 4).
An EOC-level answer on the Roaring Twenties for the Georgia Milestones US History exam: the consumer economy built on the automobile and credit, the rise of mass media in radio and movies, the new role of women, and the Harlem Renaissance, with worked stimulus and technology-enhanced questions.
- Analyze the social and cultural conflicts of the 1920s, including Prohibition, nativism and immigration restriction, the revived Ku Klux Klan, and the debate between modernism and traditionalism (GSE SSUSH16, Domain 4).
An EOC-level answer on the cultural conflicts of the 1920s for the Georgia Milestones US History exam: Prohibition and its failure, nativism and immigration quotas, the revived Ku Klux Klan, and the clash between modern urban culture and traditional rural values seen in the Scopes Trial, with worked stimulus and technology-enhanced questions.
- Examine the origins of World War II and US entry, including the aggression of the Axis powers, the move from neutrality to Lend-Lease, and the attack on Pearl Harbor (GSE SSUSH19, Domain 4).
An EOC-level answer on US entry into World War II for the Georgia Milestones US History exam: the aggression of the Axis powers and the failure of appeasement, the shift from neutrality through Lend-Lease, and the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into the war, with worked stimulus and technology-enhanced questions.
- Examine the major developments and domestic impact of World War II, including key turning points, the Holocaust, the home front and the role of women, Japanese American internment, and the atomic bomb (GSE SSUSH19, Domain 4).
An EOC-level answer on World War II for the Georgia Milestones US History exam: the war in Europe and the Pacific (D-Day, the Holocaust, island hopping), the home front and the role of women and minorities, Japanese American internment, and the atomic bombs that ended the war, with worked stimulus and technology-enhanced questions.
Sources & how we know this
- United States History Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) — Georgia Department of Education (2017)
- Georgia Milestones United States History Study/Resource Guide for Students and Parents — Georgia Department of Education (2022)