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THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930’S
“Brother can youspare a dime?”
STOCK MARKET CRASH OF 1929
“Black Thursday”,
October 24, 1929
“Black Tuesday”,
October 29, 1929
STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN SOCIETY DISINTEGRATES
Factories and mines close
Banks are worthless
Consumer buying comes to a standstill
1932 – AMERICAN DREAMS ARE SHATTERED
14 million Americans are jobless (almost 1/3 the workforce)
Banks foreclose on houses and farms
No food, no clothes, no jobs
Recycled lifestyle
Causes of the Great Depression Buying on Credit American factories were putting out
too many products When the stock market crashed and
everyone lost money, no one had money to buy goods
Prices fell Agricultural surpluses soared
Stock Market problems
Speculation: Too many Americans were engaged in speculation – buying stocks & bonds hoping for a quick profit
Margin: Americans were buying “on margin” – paying a small percentage of a stock’s price as a down payment and borrowing the rest
Bank Failure
After the crash, many Americans panicked and withdrew their money from banks
Banks had invested in the Stock Market and lost money
In 1929- 600 banks fail By 1933 – 11,000 of the 25,000
banks nationwide had collapsed
Unemployment and bankruptcy Between 1928-1932, the U.S.
Gross National Product (GNP) – the total output of a nation’s goods & services – fell nearly 50% from $104 billion to $59 billion
90,000 businesses went bankrupt
Unemployment leaped from 3% in 1929 to 25% in 1933
Hoovervilles
The Great Depression brought hardship, homelessness, and hunger to millions
Across the country, people lost their jobs, and their homes
Some built makeshifts shacks out of scrap material
Before long whole shantytowns (sometimes called Hoovervilles in mock reference to the president) sprung up
One of the common features of urban areas during the era were soup kitchens and bread lines
Soup kitchens and bread lines offered free or low-cost food for people
Dustbowl Approaching Stratford, Texas, 1934
Dust Storm Approaching Kansas
Aftermath of a Dust Storm
DUST BOWL (DUST STORMS) OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS 1934-1935
Black SundayApril 14, 1935
24 hours of a blinding dust storm
Dreaded black-blizzard covers entire disaster area
Drought adds further devastation
THE VICTIMS OF THE DUST BOWL
Colorado Kansas Oklahoma New Mexico Texas
Devastation of their cropland
Respiratory health issues
Unsanitary living
Rampant crime
Debt-ridden families
Dustbowl Affects
Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado were the hardest hit regions during the Dust Bowl
Many farmers migrated to California and other Pacific Coast states
DUST BOWL ORPHANS
Mass exodus to California
Opportunities in Russia
Migrant workers become source of cheap labor
Great Depression
The 1930s created the term “hoboes” to describe poor drifters
300,000 transients – or hoboes – hitched rides around the country on trains and slept under bridges (thousands were teenagers)
Injuries and death was common on railroad property; over 50,000 people were hurt or killed
Hoover Blamed for Depression Hoover was not quick to react to the
depression He believed in “rugged
individualism” – the idea that people succeed through their own efforts
People should take care of themselves, not depend on governmental hand-outs
He said people should “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”
Franklin Roosevelt Elected Franklin Roosevelt ran for the residency in
1932 Hoover didn’t have a chance of winning,
too many people blamed him for the depression
FDR’s platform for the election was known as the THREE R’s: Relief, Recovery, Reform
First Hundred Days: a whirlwind of reform was taken during this period
Roosevelt’s recovery plan was named New Deal
New Deal
Short range goals: relief and immediate recovery-next two years
Long range goals: permanent recovery and reform of abuses
Bank Reform
Glass Steagall Banking Reform Act- Created the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation Peoples deposits were insured up to $5000
Money was taken off the gold standard Gold was purchased at increased rates,
getting more paper money into circulation, causing inflation and relieving some debtors problems
Creating Jobs and Improving Economy Civilian Conservation Corps
Reforestation Firefighting Flood control Swamp drainage
Federal Emergency Relief Act Short term relief
Agricultural Adjustment Act Money to farmers to meet their mortgages
Home Owners’ Loan Corporation Refinance mortgages of nonfarm homes
Creating Jobs and Improving Economy Federal Housing Administration
Loans given to improve old houses or complete new ones
Social Security Act Money that can be collected by older
generation not working Passed primarily as a help to World War I
Vets National Recovery Administration
Hours of labor reduced allowing more people to work during the day