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Year 11
AQA

American recovery from the Great Depression

I can evaluate the impact of the New Deal and Second World War on American recovery from the Great Depression.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

American recovery from the Great Depression

I can evaluate the impact of the New Deal and Second World War on American recovery from the Great Depression.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The New Deal supported the American economy.
  2. The 1930s continued to be a difficult time for many people.
  3. WW2 stimulated the American economy.
  4. Unemployment dropped and investment increased during the war.
  5. Experiences of economic recovery in the USA were uneven.

Keywords

  • Stimulated - something is stimulated if it is encouraged to develop, grow or increase its activity

Common misconception

The benefits of WW2 were experienced evenly by all groups of Americans.

Women and African Americans enjoyed many benefits from the stimulus created by WW2, but continued discrimination in the armed forces and on the home front meant that they did not always benefit as much as White Americans did from wartime recovery.

In learning cycle 3, students can be presented with alternative forms of long-term economic data to help compare the New Deal and impact of WW2 (i.e. by studying GDP).
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
A is a person whose job involves joining pieces of metal together.
Correct Answer: riveter, Riveter, riveter
Q2.
Which of the following statements is a description given by Douglas MacArthur, an army general, of the Women’s Army Corps?
Douglas MacArthur called the WACs “my best soldiers”.
Douglas MacArthur called the WACs “my worst soldiers”.
Douglas MacArthur called the WACs “my powerful soldiers”.
Q3.
Which of the following statements is evidence for discrimination affecting Black nurses in the Army Nurse Corps?
They were not paid for their work.
Correct answer: They could not treat White patients.
They were not given proper training.
Q4.
Which laws legalising racial segregation remained in place throughout WW2?
Correct answer: Jim Crow
Fair Employment Practice Committee
the Double V Campaign
Q5.
What was the name of the campaign supporting the USA’s war aims to promote democracy and freedom abroad and for African Americans at home?
Correct Answer: Double V Campaign , the Double V Campaign , the double V campaign
Q6.
A system of limiting the amount of something that each person is allowed to have is .
Correct Answer: rationing, Rationing

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What keyword means being encouraged to develop, grow or increase its activity?
Correct Answer: Stimulated, stimulated
Q2.
In which year was the New Deal introduced?
1929
Correct answer: 1933
1939
Q3.
Which of the following sentences accurately describes the purpose of the Emergency Banking Act?
to create more jobs in the banking sector
to increase the number of banks in the US
Correct answer: to restore confidence in the banking sector
Q4.
Match the problem from the Great Depression with the response provided by the New Deal.
Correct Answer:agricultural crisis,‘Alphabet Agencies’ like the AAA set up

‘Alphabet Agencies’ like the AAA set up

Correct Answer:poverty,Social Security introduced in 1935

Social Security introduced in 1935

Correct Answer:unemployment,CWA and CCC set up

CWA and CCC set up

Q5.
Which of the following statements best demonstrate the discrimination faced by some Americans when looking for work during WW2? Select the correct answers.
Correct answer: Women gained new jobs but were paid less than men.
Correct answer: One aircraft manufacturer hired 10 African Americans from a workforce of 30 000.
The female workforce increased from 12 million to 19 million.
Roughly one million African Americans fought for the US.
Q6.
In which year did the US begin fighting in WW2?
1939
1941
1933