New Deal Web Quest to complete

Easier - The 'Great Depression' was a period in United States History when business was poor and many people were out of work.

Harder - The Great Depression began in October 1929, when the stock market in the United States dropped rapidly. Thousands of investors lost large sums of money and many were wiped out, lost everything. The 'crash' led us into the Great Depression. The ensuing period ranked as the longest and worst period of high unemployment and low business activity in modern times. Banks, stores, and factories were closed and left millions of Americans jobless, homeless, and penniless. Many people came to depend on the government or charity to provide them with food.

The Depression became a worldwide business slump of the 1930's that affected almost all nations. It led to a sharp decrease in world trade as each country tried to protect their own industries and products by raising tariffs on imported goods. Some nations changed their leader and their type of government. In Germany, poor economic conditions led to the rise to power of the dictator Adolf Hitler. The Japanese invaded China, developing industries and mines in Manchuria. Japan claimed this economic growth would relieve the depression. This militarism of the Germans and Japanese eventually led to World War II (1939-1945).

In the United States, President Herbert Hoover held office when the Great Depression began. The economy continued to slump almost every month. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President in 1932. Roosevelt's 'new deal' reforms gave the government more power and helped ease the depression. The Great Depression ended as nations increased their production of war materials at the start of World War II. This increased production provided jobs and put large amounts of money back into circulation.

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,1936-1940

from American Memory, Library of Congress

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/wpaintro/wpahome.html

Here you can read life histories gathered and written by the staff of the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project for the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects). The

histories describe the informant's family education, income, occupation, political views, religion and mores, medical needs, diet and miscellaneous observations.

Related Websites:

2) America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-

OWI, 1935-1945 from American Memory, Library of Congress

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html

3) By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943

from American Memories, Library of Congress

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaposters/wpahome.html

Surviving the Dust Bowl from PBS's The American Experience

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/

This site includes a timeline of the disaster, a map of the affected areas, and profiles of people who were involved.

More Dust Bowl Websites:

2) The Dust Bowl http://www.nasm.si.edu/ceps/drylands/dust.html

3) Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection from American Memory, Library of Congress

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html

New Deal Network

http://newdeal.feri.org/

This great website has lots of information on the 'New Deal', photographs, articles, and lots more.

Websites By Kids For Kids

Great Depression, a Great Disaster (2000 ThinkQuest Junior Project)

http://library.thinkquest.org/J001569/

This site focuses on the causes of the Great Depression.

Great Depression (Part of a 1996 ThinkQuest Project titled 'Recent History')

http://library.thinkquest.org/3483/Rhist/gd.html

The website contains a brief summary of the Depression, plus a few memories added by visitors to the site.

More Websites About the Great Depression

1930s Project

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/front.html

This site examines the years between Black Tuesday and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, through the film, print, radio, and design of the era.

Great Depression of Canada

http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/canadianhistory/depression/depression.html#CAUSES

This project describes events in Canada during the Depression in the 1930's.

Great Depression from The WritingDEN (Grade 6-12)

http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/h15/direct.htm

WritingDEN is designed for students seeking to improve their English reading,comprehension, and writing skills. Multimedia presentations are divided into three levels of difficulty: words, sentences and paragraphs. This is the section on the Great Depression. To learn more about the WritingDen, visit http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/.

Riding the Rails from PBS's The American Experience

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rails/

At the height of the Great Depression, more than a quarter million teenagers were living on the road in America, many crisscrossing the country by illegally hopping freight trains. This site designed to accompany the film of the same name includes program description, a timeline, a teacher's guide, and more.

Related Websites:

2) Hobo History http://members.tripod.com/HoboJeepers/hobo.htm

3) Hobo Signs http://www.worldpath.net/~minstrel/hobosign.htm

4)Riding the Rails http://www.erroluys.com/frontpage.htm

Songs of the Great Depression

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/cherries.html

Here you can read lyrics to popular Depression-era songs including 'We're In the Money' and 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'

Strip District: Shantytown: Looking Southwest

http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/strip/strip_n24.html

This site includes a photograph of a "Hooverville" in Pittsburgh during the Depression era. You will also find a quote from a guide book of the era about these shantytowns.

Related Websites:

2)Hooverville: Oakland, CA, 1937 (Click arrow to see photograph collection)

http://newdeal.feri.org/ron/ab04info.htm

4) Hooverville: Shantytown of Seattle's Great Depression

http://www.historylink.org/output.CFM?file_ID=741