The Great Depression changed America forever

For Kids

It took a world war to end the Great Depression. Some historians time the end with the U.S. entry into World War II and the need for soldiers and armaments. Other historians believe it took the entire war effort to turn America's economy around, and that the Great Depression ended with the end of World War II in 1945.

Whenever it ended, the Great Depression changed America forever. Expansion of New Deal programs meant the government intervened even more in people's daily lives, giving them jobs and aid and new forms of insurance. Labor strikes and unions allowed for new ways of thinking. Radio and movies became powerful forms of expression and communication. There were new systems of welfare, new work practices, and changes in family life. Some of the alphabet agencies created during the Great Depression, agencies like the Social Security Administration (SSA), are still in place today, still doing the job they were created to do in the 1930s to help people and to better regulate many activities in business. Beyond all this, people had to rework their understanding of their role in their community, their nation, and in the world. It was quite a time!

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Games and Quizzes for Kids about the Great Depression 

For Teachers

Lesson Plans about the Great Depression and the New Deal