Virginia and US History SOL Module 5: a complete overview of the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II

What Module 5 actually demands

Module 5 covers the interwar period and World War II (all of standard VUS.10, in Reporting Category 3, 1914 to 1945). It is a tight chronological arc: the boom of the Twenties, the collapse of the Depression, the government's New Deal response, and the global cataclysm of World War II. The Enduring Issues are scarcity and the role of government (Depression and New Deal), conflict and human rights violations (the war and the Holocaust), and power.

This guide ties together the matching dot-point pages, each with its own worked questions: the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the New Deal, the road to World War II, World War II abroad, and the World War II home front.

The Roaring Twenties (VUS.10)

The 1920s boomed on mass production (the automobile), consumer credit, and advertising, and roared culturally with jazz and the Harlem Renaissance. But the decade clashed: Prohibition fueled crime, nativist quota laws and a revived Klan spread, and the Scopes Trial pitted science against religion. Prosperity built on credit was fragile.

The Great Depression (VUS.10)

The 1929 crash triggered the Depression, but overproduction, credit and speculation, bank failures, uneven wealth, and high tariffs were the deeper causes. The effects: about a quarter unemployed, lost savings, Hoovervilles, and the Dust Bowl. Hoover's limited response failed.

The New Deal (VUS.10)

FDR's New Deal pursued relief, recovery, reform. Programs (CCC, WPA, TVA, FDIC, SEC, Social Security) eased suffering and reformed the economy. Its lasting legacy: a permanent expansion of the federal government's role in the economy and a safety net, a contested change.

World War II (VUS.10)

Totalitarian dictators rose; appeasement failed; war began in 1939. The isolationist United States aided the Allies (Lend-Lease) until Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941) brought it in. The Allies won in Europe (Stalingrad, D-Day, V-E Day 1945) and the Pacific (Midway, island-hopping). The Holocaust murdered six million Jews. Truman's atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war. At home, war production ended the Depression, women took war jobs, and Japanese Americans were interned (Korematsu).

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and application questions covering Module 5. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

1. Describe the Harlem Renaissance. (2 marks)
2. State one reason the 1920s economy boomed and one cultural conflict of the decade. (2 marks)
3. State the event most associated with the start of the Great Depression. (1 mark)
4. Give one cause of the Depression besides the crash and one effect on ordinary people. (2 marks)
5. State the three goals of the New Deal. (3 marks)
6. Explain how the New Deal changed the role of the federal government. (2 marks)
7. State what event brought the United States into World War II. (1 mark)
8. State the significance of D-Day (June 6, 1944). (2 marks)
9. Define the Holocaust. (1 mark)
10. State what the Supreme Court ruled in Korematsu v. United States (1944). (1 mark)