Newport University Libguides: Primary Sources on the Great Depression
Library of Congress: Primary Sources on The Great Depression and WWII
Sam Houston University: The Great Depression & New Deal: Primary Source Collections
Southern Connecticut University: The Great Depression 1929-1939
History Central: America's Great Depression (1929-1939) Primary Source Documents
Washington State University: Everyday Life During the Great Depression
Washington State University: Economics and Poverty
Washington State University: Culture and Arts During the Great Depression
Digital History: Children and the Great Depression
Songs about the Great Depression
Songs and their lyrics, including the iconic 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?', made famous by Bing Crosby.
The Pen and the Pad: Famous Poems of the Depression
Pantoum (Poem) of the Great Depression, by Donald Justice
Breadline, by Florence Converse
Another poem of the Great Depression.
The Impact of the Great Depression on Early Modernism
Includes the famous cartoon “October 29 Dies Irae” (Latin for 'Day of Wrath') about the Stock Market Crash, as well as an analysis of the iconic 1936 'Migrant Mother' photograph, and a link to the gospel song 'Everybody Needs a Prayer', which expresses the hopes and concerns of a troubled nation.
PRIMARY SOURCES: A Social History for Every Classroom: The Great Depression and WWII
PRIMARY SOURCES: Virginia Commonwealth Libraries: The Great Depression
The ENTIRE collection of resources provided by the BBC Library can be searched on ONE single, powerful search platform, which retrieves print books, eBooks, database articles and websites. Click HERE for assistance.
1. Causes of the Depression
2. Daily life During the Depression
The Great Depression caused widespread homelessness and illness, fueled discrimination, and increased migrant labor. Investigate the Impact of poverty (especially on children), rise of crime, role of cars, electricity, radio and cinema (see Wendy L. Lanier; David E. Kyvig)
Possible Key Question: To what extent was the Depression-era motto: “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without' an accurate reflection of what life was like for ordinary people during the worst economic downturn in modern history?
3. The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression
Possible Key Question: How did the development of the American Dust Bowl make Americans refugees in their own country?
Possible Key Question: How important was the Dust Bowl issue during the Great Depression, and how effective were New Deal programs in alleviating the problem?
4. The New Deal
Investigate Aims, What ideas and actions were involved (see your textbook), Opposition to it, What it achieved (see Norman Lowe) and How effective it was (your textbook).
Significant programs: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Possible Key Question: In what ways did the New Deal permanently change the federal government's role in the affairs of the United States?
Possible Key Question: Was the New Deal successful in ending the Depression in America, and what was its role in restoring public confidence and creating relief programs for Americans?
Possible Key Question: Eric Rauchway (The Great Depression and the New Deal, Oxford University Press, 2008) states that 'The openly experimental, obviously fallible, always compromised quality of the New Deal programs and their progeny illustrated the imperfect nature of the democracy that they led to'. How can this comment be justified?
Possible Key Question: In what ways, and why was the New Deal considered to be a controversial policy by some?
Note: See Historiography (i.e. how interpretations of the same events shift with time as a result of many different factors) of New Deal in Bruce Dennett and Stephen Dixon - later edition)
5. Impact of World War II on the New Deal
(see your textbook)
6. Impact of Historical Figures
7. Legacy / Results of the Great Depression
(Your textbook is a good starting point)
(see Gene Smiley; Linda and Charles George)