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Year 11
AQA

President Hoover and the 1932 presidential election

I can assess the significance of Herbert Hoover's response to the Great Depression.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

President Hoover and the 1932 presidential election

I can assess the significance of Herbert Hoover's response to the Great Depression.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. President Hoover believed in the idea of ‘rugged individualism’.
  2. The public often argued that Hoover's policies failed to help them during the Great Depression.
  3. Hoover lost the 1932 election and was beaten by Franklin D. Roosevelt by a landslide.
  4. Roosevelt's promise of 'a New Deal for the American people' was very popular with American voters.

Keywords

  • Rugged - someone may be described as rugged if they are tough and determined

  • Retaliation - retaliation involves harming another person or group after they have acted in a way which hurt you

  • Public works - public works involve the construction of roads, bridges, hospitals and similar things that are paid for by the government

  • Pension - a pension is money paid to a person once they are elderly and no longer work

  • Relief - food, money or services provided to people in need is called relief

Common misconception

President Hoover did nothing to try and help Americans during the Great Depression.

At times, Hoover refused to act to provide relief, especially at the start of the Great Depression, but by 1932, the president was taking more action to try and help, such as setting up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.


To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: President Hoover and the 1932 presidential election, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Before attempting the final task, get pupils to discuss the following: (1) how similar were Hoover and Roosevelt's policies? Why did this matter? (2) why would the opinions of houseless and unemployed Americans be important in the 1932 election? Who were these people more likely to support?
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Equipment

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Content guidance

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

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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.
Write the missing word. A was a long queue formed at charity-run soup kitchens during the Great Depression.
Correct Answer: breadline, bread line, Breadline
Q2.
Write the missing number. One in American workers was unemployed by 1932.
Correct Answer: four, 4, Four
Q3.
What were Hoovervilles?
Large cities built during the Great Depression.
Rural farming communities set up during the Great Depression.
Correct answer: Camps built by the homeless during the Great Depression.
Q4.
How did African American unemployment compare to the national average during the Great Depression?
African American unemployment was four times higher than the average.
Correct answer: African American unemployment was double the average.
African American unemployment was the same as the average.
African American unemployment was half the average.
African American unemployment was a quarter of the average.
Q5.
Why could millions of Americans living in the Midwest during the 1930s be called refugees?
They moved as they wanted to find better paying work elsewhere.
The Great Depression led to widespread conflict in these areas.
Correct answer: Environmental change destroyed their farming land, forcing them to move.
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Wall Street Crash leads to share prices plummeting.
2 - Many shareholders bankrupted.
3 - Banks begin to fail.
4 - Ordinary Americans lose their savings.
5 - Consumers spend less of their income.
6 - Company profits fall and businesses fail.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match up each key word with its correct definition.
Correct Answer:Pension,Money paid to a person once they are elderly and no longer work
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Money paid to a person once they are elderly and no longer work

Correct Answer:Public works,Construction projects on things like roads paid for by the government
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Construction projects on things like roads paid for by the government

Correct Answer:Relief,Food, money or services provided to people in need is called relief
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Food, money or services provided to people in need is called relief

Q2.
Write the missing surname. Franklin D. won the 1932 presidential election by a landslide.
Correct Answer: Roosevelt
Q3.
What did Roosevelt's New Deal promise?
Correct answer: More government support to help Americans.
More rugged individualism to help Americans.
More use of technology to help Americans.
Q4.
Which statement is most accurate?
President Hoover offered no support whatsover to struggling Americans.
Correct answer: The support President Hoover provided was criticised as too little too late.
Hoover provided large amounts of support during the Great Depression.
Q5.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following developments to explain how US tariff policy harmed American businesses.
1 - Hawley-Smoot tariff introduced.
2 - European governments retaliate with their own tariffs.
3 - US exports to Europe become less competitive.
4 - US businesses make less money from selling abroad.
5 - More US businesses fail.
Q6.
Starting with earliest, sort the following steps to explain how Roosevelt planned to help the economy recover.
1 - Increase government funding for public works.
2 - New jobs generated in areas such as construction.
3 - People have more money to spend.
4 - Businesses sell more and can begin to grow again.
5 - Employment rises further.

Additional material

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