Which of the following was one of the five listed causes of the Great Depression?

• A. High Tariffs that hurt trade
• B. The invention of the Internet
• C. The creation of the Federal Reserve
• D. The end of Prohibition

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested here is how government policy on trade helped trigger the Great Depression. High tariffs reduce international trade by making imported goods more expensive and prompting other countries to retaliate with their own tariffs. When the global market for exports shrank, factories cut production, layoffs rose, and consumer demand fell further, feeding a downward economic spiral that intensified the Depression.

The other options don’t fit that common list of causes. The invention of the Internet happened many decades later, so it couldn’t be a cause. The Federal Reserve was created earlier (in 1913), and while its policies are debated, its creation isn’t typically counted as one of the Depression’s five listed causes. The end of Prohibition occurred later and is not regarded as a primary driver of the downturn.