Fact or Fiction: The Great Depression

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About This Quiz

Are today's economic woes going to spiral us into another one? We wouldn't touch that issue with a 10-foot pole, frankly -- so we're just going to stick with history for this quiz. Can you separate Great Depression fact from fiction?

Contrary to popular belief, the Great Depression didn't originate in the United States. It started with the economic collapse of Great Britain, which then caused the American stock market to crash.

fact

fiction

almost fact: The British collapse was actually caused by the economic instability of Western Europe, so technically it started there.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

Nope. It was obviously a very complex situation, and the United States certainly wasn't the only country having economic trouble, but the Depression did originate in the States.

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The stock market crash on Oct. 29, 1929 -- "Black Tuesday" -- wasn't really a sudden, one-day event.

fact

fiction

almost fact: "Black Monday" is actually the infamous day in question.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

True. After a peak in September, the market had been heading downhill for weeks and finally crashed on \"Black Thursday,\" October 24. The collapse continued, and the next Tuesday was when people really started to panic and get out of the market.

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A group of powerful Wall Street bankers tried to halt the collapse by buying huge blocks of blue-chip stocks at high prices.

fact

fiction

almost fact: It was actually the government that did this, not the bankers.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

Yes, the president of the Stock Exchange used the banks' money to buy up the stocks at inflated prices. It didn't work.

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Because of the Soviet Union's isolationist policies, it wasn't really affected by the Great Depression.

fact

fiction

almost fact: It was Hitler's Germany that was largely unaffected by the Depression.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

The Soviets had plenty of problems during this period, but because the country was basically cut off from the rest of the world, its issues weren't really related to the Great Depression.

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At the height of the Great Depression in 1935, the unemployment rate in the United States was almost 50 percent.

fact

fiction

almost fact: The rate is correct, but it was in 1933. Things were better by 1935.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

The unemployment rate hit its peak in 1933 -- but it was \"only\" 25 percent.

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The biggest "Hoboville" in the United States was a massive encampment on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

fact

fiction

almost fact: They weren't called "Hobovilles" -- they were "Hooverille," after President Hoover.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

That's right about the \"Hooverville\" thing. But St. Louis actually had the biggest one, with about 1,000 residents.

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"The Grapes of Wrath," perhaps the defining novel of the Great Depression, follows the Clampett family on their journey from Oklahoma to California.

fact

fiction

almost fact: It was the Joads, not the Clampetts.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

D'oh. It was the Joads, not the Clampetts from \"Beverly Hillbillies.\"

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The first part of FDR's New Deal was a restructuring of the economy.

fact

fiction

almost fact: The first part of the New Deal was a massive employment program.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

Yes, FDR started off in 1933 by reworking the economy, and then in 1935 the \"Second New Deal\" focused on job creation.

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When World War II ended, so did the Great Depression in the United States.

fact

fiction

almost fact: The Great Depression actually ended in the United States when the country entered the war.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

The upswing in manufacturing that came with the United States' entry into WWII is what finally brought the country out of the Depression.

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It wasn't until 1971 that the Dow Jones returned to its pre-crash levels.

fact

fiction

almost fact: It was 1954.

Correct Answer

Wrong Answer

It was 25 years before the Dow got back up to 1929 numbers -- so that was in 1954.

FINISH QUIZ

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