The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, beginning in the United States. The timing of the Great Depression varied across the world, in most countries, it started in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. The Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how intensely the global economy can decline. The Great Depression started after the stock market crash of October 29, 1929, also known as Black Tuesday. The market crash signaled the beginning of the Great Depression.
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. The programs and reforms were in response to the economic crisis known as the Great Depression. The New Deal was based on the assumption that the power of the federal government was needed to prop up wages, prices, and profits. The New Deal is usually considered to have consisted of two phases. The first phase (1933–34) attempted to provide recovery and relief from the Great Depression through programs of agricultural and business regulation, inflation, price stabilization, regional planning, and public works. The second phase (1935–36) was more liberal and focused on achieving long-term institutional changes in the economy such as Social Security and welfare programs.
Riddles can be a fun and thought-provoking way to learn more about historical events like the Great Depression and New Deal. Here are 54 riddles about this impactful period in American history, along with answers:
Riddles About Causes of the Great Depression
1. I’m a day when stocks crashed big, beginning America’s slide. With speculation I did rig, prosperity I did deride. What daydark am I?
Answer: Black Tuesday (the stock market crash of 1929 that began the Great Depression)
2. I’m a policy that worsened the depression across the land. By raising tariffs high, I restrict trade throughout the land. What short-sighted act am I?
Answer: The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (raised import taxes, spurring retaliation and reducing trade)
3. We’re excesses of the Roaring Twenties, leading to overbuilt industry. With reckless investing and buying on margin, soon stocks did diminish rapidly. What are we?
Answer: Speculation and overproduction (excess in the 1920s worsened the market crash)
4. I’m a crisis of banking where money people could not retrieve. With assets frozen, it became a nationwide catastrophe. What panic am I?
Answer: The Banking Panic of 1933 (bank failures reduced public confidence in the economy)
5. We’re four consecutive years of falling prices and output declines seen. With less production, unemployment rose, a depression we clearly mean. What are we?
Answer: The Great Depression (period from 1929-1933 of economic contraction and hardship)
Riddles About Life During the Great Depression
6. We’re small towns of the dispossessed, for lack of work and food distraught. Built of scrap and scavenged bits, where despair and poverty were wrought. What are we?
Answer: Hoovervilles (homeless encampments named after President Hoover)
7. I ride the rails and freight cars too,though seen as vagrant I may be. I wander searching for work, a hobo of American history. Who am I?
Answer: Hobos (homeless travelers who rode trains to find work)
8. I’m a time of drought and blowing dust that filled the Plains high. Farms turned to wasteland blown away, as crops and livestock did die. What disaster am I?
Answer: The Dust Bowl (devastating drought on the Great Plains in the 1930s)
9. We’re camps of last resort for those with nowhere to go. Though cramped and lacking, we offered refuge from the winds and snow. What are we?
Answer: Relief camps (temporary makeshift housing for the homeless to survive hard times)
10. I’m found on streets forlorn, desperate mothers’ hungry sign. Will work for food I plead, to survive these harsh times benign. What am I?
Answer: Signs of the poor begging for work or food to live
Riddles About Government Response – Herbert Hoover
11. I urged self help and restraint, shunned direct federal relief. Believed in voluntarism, that government aid could only miff. Who am I?
Answer: President Herbert Hoover (took limited action based on laissez-faire beliefs)
12. We convene to advise the president on tackling the Depression’s woes. But our ideas were ignored, so ineffectual we chose. What unsuccessful group are we?
Answer: President’s Organization on Unemployment Relief (1930 group with little impact)
13. I was built to harness the mighty Colorado River. Though construction continued, I could not power recovery. What mammoth dam am I?
Answer: Hoover Dam (major project started by Hoover, opened 1936)
14. We repealed prohibition, but could not counter economic fears. We proved unable to end the Depression, during Hoover’s term those dreary years. What ineffectual group are we?
Answer: United States Congress (failed to stop the Great Depression from worsening)
15. I’m a town of vets promised money that never came. My false promise sparked outrage that Hoover was to blame. What am I?
Answer: Washington, D.C. (the bonus march where vets demanded early payment)
Riddles About Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal
16. I inspired hope with my fireside chats and New Deal fame. I assumed broad powers to counter depression, crisis, and shame. Who am I?
Answer: President Franklin D. Roosevelt (leader during Great Depression and World War II)
17. We’re Roosevelt’s big bundle of programs for reform across the land. From welfare to work relief, agriculture, finance, and more in his grand plan. What are we?
Answer: New Deal (sweeping set of government programs from 1933-1939)
18. I’m Roosevelt’s corps sent to work the land, plant trees, and more. We built parks and roads, providing jobs for those unemployed and poor. What am I?
Answer: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (employed young men on conservation projects)
19. I helped the jobless artist by funding creative works. From murals to music and more, employment this program perks. What am I?
Answer: Federal Art Project (employed artists on creative projects)
20. We measured weather, crops, and more when Roosevelt called our name. We surveyed rivers, forests, and land as part of his conservation aim. What federal agency are we?
Answer: The Civilian Conservation Corps (mapped resources and infrastructure)
Riddles About New Deal Agencies and Programs
21. I aided the farmer by paying subsidies for not growing crops. By reducing surpluses, farm prices I sought to prop. What am I?
Answer: Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) (paid farmers to curb overproduction)
22. I regulated the stock trade and brought back investor trust. By requiring disclosure, I aimed for markets more robust and just. What am I?
Answer: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (regulated Wall Street trading)
23. I helped refinance mortgages and lessen foreclosure qualms. By extending loans, I sought to stabilize the farm. What administration am I?
Answer: Farm Credit Administration (lent money to farmers to prevent farm foreclosures)
24. We generate power across the land as part of Roosevelt’s great works. Hydroelectricity we provide, jobs too our labor perks. What authority are we?
Answer: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (major public works program)
25. I sought to bring justice to exploited low-wage workers nationwide. By empowering unions, better pay and conditions I tried. What act am I?
Answer: National Labor Relations Act (strengthened powers of unions and workers’ rights)
Riddles About New Deal Social Welfare Programs
26. I provided relief in cash to the jobless, needy, and afflicted. Though criticized by some, I aided folks when they were conflicted. What program am I?
Answer: Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) (gave direct assistance to the needy)
27. I provided retirement income for many when they could not earn. Bringing elderly security, payments regularly I turn. What program am I?
Answer: Social Security (government-funded pension system)
28. I helped youths find conservation work when idle time was creeping. Building infrastructure, job skills we were gaining, while critics still were peeping. What corps am I?
Answer: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (employed young men on conservation projects)
29. We shelter the homeless, the disabled, and others in need. We provided care and refuge for those unable to fend or feed. What were we?
Answer: Federal transient camps (temporary housing for the homeless during the Depression)
30. I helped the jobless youth avoid aimless depression qualms. In conservation and vocational pursuits I seek to develop strong arms. What program am I?
Answer: National Youth Administration (NYA) (provided work-relief for unemployed youth)
Riddles About Evaluating the New Deal Impact
31. I’m still cited as an example of crisis leadership at its best. Though not without critics, my action proved superior to all the rest. Who am I?
Answer: President Franklin D. Roosevelt (praised for bold leadership during the Great Depression)
32. We gave struggling folks jobs, reforms, care, electricity, and more. But joblessness persisted, suggesting our benefits the Depression could not restore. What are we?
Answer: New Deal programs (helped spur recovery but did not end unemployment)
33. My massive spending and public works could not cure every ill. But I expanded government’s role to serve the people, their needs to fulfill. What deal am I?
Answer: The New Deal (did not end the Great Depression but transformed government’s role)
34. I accused the New Deal of undermining freedom and rights. I argued against government overreach and interference in free markets and fights. Who am I?
Answer: New Deal critics (said it went too far in expanding government power)
35. We struck down some of FDR’s programs as unconstitutional overreach. We limited how far government expansion under the New Deal could teach. What are we?
Answer: The Supreme Court (found some New Deal programs overextended federal power)
Riddles About the End of the Great Depression
36. I ramped up spending during World War II, boosting jobs and manufacturing. With increased production I helped end the Great Depression’s devastating reigning. What program am I?
Answer: Massive war time government spending (helped reduce unemployment and spur recovery)
37. I rationed goods and banned strikes to support the WWII initiative. Shared sacrifice I promoted, helping the economy recuperate. What agency am I?
Answer: Office of Price Administration (rationed goods and controlled prices during WWII)
38. We worked in factories to fill military orders and defeat tyranny. Rosie the Riveter we were, powering prosperity and recovery. Who are we?
Answer: Women workers during WWII (filled jobs to boost manufacturing)
39. I was signed in 1944, providing benefits to returning GIs. With unemployment help and more, I sought their financial qualms to minimize. What act am I?
Answer: The GI Bill (aid package for returning WWII veterans, including unemployment)
40. With the war’s end I emerged, consumer goods now in supply. With savings and pent-up demand, post-war prosperity was nigh. What economic boom was I?
Answer: Post-WWII economic expansion (war production converted to consumer goods)
Riddles About Lessons from the Great Depression
41. I’m proof of capitalism’s excess, the risky speculation some admire. With devastating consequences unchecked, I reveal flaws in the system entire. What event am I?
Answer: The Stock Market Crash of 1929 (revealed problems with laissez-faire capitalism)
42. I’m a safeguard enacted to avoid another banking collapse. Insuring deposits, by panic and runs I help absolve. What FDR reform am I?
Answer: FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) (protects against bank failures)
43. We regulate banks and the stock trade, transparency we dictate. By curbing abuse and excess, we aim stability to perpetuate. What post-Depression agencies are we?
Answer: SEC and Federal Reserve (created to regulate banking and finance)
44. I’m proof of expansive government’s power when crisis demands action. Though controversy I still stir, I showed what government intervention can traction. What deal am I?
Answer: The New Deal (demonstrated the federal government’s ability to intervene in the economy)
45. My tragic refugee flight showed hardship when drought ravaged the plains. Seeking a better life out west, suffering my family sustains. What was I?
Answer: Dust Bowl migration (families fled ecological disaster in Plains states)
Conclusion
In conclusion, these riddles about key events, people, policies, and outcomes of the Great Depression and New Deal era provide a thought-provoking way to reflect on this impactful period. They highlight causes of the economic crisis, the human toll and government response, as well as lessons we continue applying today. Studying this period provides insight into leadership in crisis, the role of government intervention, and safeguards to prevent similar catastrophes in future. The riddles and answers above aim to condense broad history into bite-sized chunks, showing how the past continues to inform the present.
