Big Picture

Questions

1. How did the Great Depression lead to making the "American Dream" of homeownership more accessible to average citizens?
2. How did the Great Depression turn into an economic boom?
3. What were the two crucial items essential to the "American Dream"?
4. How did the federal government help create the suburbs?
5. Who was not included in the "American Dream" of owning a home?

Answers

1. The nation's leaders believed that decent, affordable housing and better access to homeownership would be a good foundation for a stable society, so many of the New Deal programs were aimed at assisting people at owning their own homes.
2. Manufacturing and new employment demands caused by war mobilization, plus rising birthrates during and especially after the war.
3. A car and a house. (And possibly a chicken in every Sears-brand pot.)
4. The government had created the Federal Highway System, which made it possible to travel easily between suburban neighborhoods and city centers.
5. Many racial and ethnic minorities—including African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Italian Americans—were unable to get the same kinds of loans that white Americans could get.