Civics question 104 of 128
When did the Great Depression start?
2 accepted answers
- The Great Crash (1929)
- Stock market crash of 1929
You only need to give one of these. The officer accepts any of them.
Source: official USCIS question list for the 2025 version of the civics test. This site is independent and not affiliated with USCIS.
Background
The Great Crash of 1929, also accepted as the stock market crash of 1929, is when the Great Depression started. The market fell hardest in late October, on the days remembered as Black Thursday and Black Tuesday, ending a decade in which shares had been bought heavily with borrowed money. The crash by itself did not cause the whole depression. It destroyed savings and confidence, but the deeper damage came from what followed: waves of bank failures that wiped out deposits, a sharp contraction of the money supply, falling prices that made every debt heavier, and tariffs that shrank world trade. Stocks lost close to ninety percent of their value by 1932 and did not regain 1929 levels for a quarter century.
This background section is written by US Citizenship Test Practice to explain the civics fact. It is not part of the USCIS question list, and the official answer above is the one to give at the interview.
Where this question sits
It is part of Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information, inside the American History section of the test.
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