"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?": Effects of the Great Depression
- Rosie Jayde Uyola
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Target: I can explain the social impact of the Great Depression by analyzing the rise of "Hoovervilles" and the desperation of the unemployed.
Key Vocabulary
Unemployment Rate: The percentage of people who want a job but cannot find one. During the Depression, this reached 25% (1 out of every 4 people).
Hoovervilles: Shanty towns made of cardboard and scrap metal where homeless families lived. They were named after President Herbert Hoover because people blamed him for not helping.
Breadlines & Soup Kitchens: Places where charities gave free food to the starving. Lines were often blocks long.
The Dust Bowl: A massive drought in the Great Plains (Midwest) that destroyed farms and forced thousands of farmers ("Okies") to migrate to California.
Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)
Directions: Read the prompt below and write a 5-8 sentence response.
Prompt: Imagine your family loses all their money and your house. You have to move into a public park and build a shack out of old cardboard boxes to survive. It is freezing cold. If the President of the United States said, "It is not the government's job to help you," how would you feel? Who would you blame for your suffering? |
Sentence Starter: I would feel... If the President refused to help, I would blame him because...
Part 2: Analyzing the Sources
Directions: Analyze the two documents below and then answer the questions that follow.
Source 1: "The Metropolis of Hooville" (New York Times, 1933)
Context: A reporter describes a "Hooverville" in Seattle. Thousands of these shanty towns appeared across America as people lost their homes.
Original Text | Simplified Text |
"It is the abode of the forgotten man... This is a creative community. Its citizens have constructed their own homes out of the refuse of the city. Tin cans, flattened out, serve as shingles. Packing boxes are transformed into walls... There is no charity here. The men are proud. But they are hungry. They call their town 'Hooverville'—a bitter tribute to the man they hold responsible for their plight." | "It is the home of the forgotten man... This is a creative community. Its citizens have built their own homes out of the city's garbage. Flattened tin cans are used as roof shingles. Old wooden shipping boxes are turned into walls… There is no charity here. The men are proud, but they are starving. They call their town 'Hooverville'—a bitter nickname for President Hoover, the man they blame for their suffering." |
Source 2: Photograph - "The Breadline" (New York City, 1932)
Context: With 25% of Americans unemployed, millions relied on free food from charities just to survive.
Description: The photo shows a line of hundreds of men standing on a city sidewalk. They are dressed in worn-out coats and hats. They are standing close together, looking tired and defeated. They are waiting for a bowl of soup and a piece of stale bread. The line stretches as far back as the camera can see.
Analysis Questions
Directions: Answer the writing questions and the two Multiple Choice questions.
1. According to Source 1, why did the homeless people name their shanty town "Hooverville"?
Sentence Starter: They named it "Hooverville" as a "bitter tribute" because they blamed...
2. Look at Source 2. How does this image challenge the American idea of the "American Dream" (that if you work hard, you will be successful)?
Sentence Starter: This image challenges the American Dream because these men look like they want to work, but... Instead of being successful, they are forced to...
Regents-Style Multiple Choice
3. The terms "Hoovervilles," "Hoover Blankets" (newspapers), and "Hoover Flags" (empty pockets) were all used during the Great Depression to:
(1) Praise President Hoover for his quick response to the crisis
(2) Show support for the Republican Party's economic policies
(3) Express anger at President Hoover for his refusal to provide direct government aid
(4) Encourage people to recycle materials to help the war effort
4. In addition to high unemployment, farmers in the Great Plains (Midwest) faced a specific environmental disaster in the 1930s known as:
(1) The Dust Bowl
(2) The San Francisco Earthquake
(3) Hurricane Katrina
(4) The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Part 3: Exit Ticket (5 minutes)
Directions: Answer the following prompt in a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences).
Prompt: Using evidence from both sources, describe the effects of the Great Depression on the American people. How did the loss of jobs lead to the scenes in the Hooverville (Source 1) and the Breadline (Source 2)? |
Sentence Starter: The Great Depression had a devastating effect on American families. Because the unemployment rate was so high, people lost their homes and were forced to build... (Source 1). They blamed the President for this, calling them "Hoovervilles." Furthermore, hunger became a major problem. As shown in Source 2, thousands of men had to wait in... just to eat. This shows that the Depression destroyed people's...