Credit and Default during the Great Depression

What was the role of easy credit and default in causing the Great Depression, and how did it affect American life? In this lesson, students explore how widespread use of easy credit and loan defaults helped cause the Great Depression. They’ll learn key terms like credit, installment plans, default, and the snowball effect. Students will analyze a primary source quote and a graph to understand how borrowing and debt spiraled out of control. Activities will include caption writing and graph interpretation. To show understanding, students will answer short questions and complete a final writing task on how easy credit and defaults weakened American life and confidence in the economy.

Included in this resource:

Do Now - Anonymous Ohio factory worker primary source quote analysis with scaffolding questions
The Great Depression and the Snowball of Debt reading passage with scaffolding questions
Credit Usage and Loan Defaults graph analysis with scaffolding questions
Application/Closing/Higher-Order Thinking Assessment: Why did the snowball effect of debt and default have such a big impact on the economy during the Great Depression?
Answer key for teachers (suggested)
★ Please make an executive decision whether or not this lesson can be executed with your students based upon the preview file. Thank you!

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