9/19
• Based on our class activities, describe
how the following groups of Americans
were impacted by the Depression:
– Men
– Women
– Children
– Immigrants
– Farmers
The Hardships of the Great
Depression
What are the facts?
• Upon the crash of the stock market,
depositors began to “rush” the banks to
withdraw their money
• However, banks did not have the money to
cover customers withdrawals due to bad
investments & loans
• Overall, over 5,000 banks closed during
the depression, & $3.2 billion were lost
What are the facts?
• In addition to losing money, Americans
also lost their jobs
• Unemployment reached 25% by 1933
• Minorities were usually the first to lose
their jobs
• Some states even created laws forbidding
the hiring of married women for certain
male oriented jobs.
What are the facts?
• Due to the troublesome times, many
people began to turn to soup kitchens and
bread lines for meals and warmth
• Before 1933 (pre-FDR), relief programs
were only provided by local gov’ts and
charities. The federal gov’t did not
provide any relief
What are the facts?
• Most Americans had a negative
attitude toward public assistance
anyway
• Some states even took away rights of
those collecting relief (voting, owning
property, etc.)
What are the facts?
• American families were also torn apart
– Men had difficulty coping; 2 million left
families behind; suicide rate increased by 30
%
– Women, if employed, were blamed for male
unemployment; some even starved to death
to feed their children
– Children were suffering from malnutrition,
which led to illness & disease; school closed
& many children worked menial jobs
What are the facts?
• Due to bank closures & unemployment,
people began to lose their homes
• Many families lived in crowded, unheated
tenements apartments
• Others resorted to living in shantytowns,
also known as “Hooverville's” (WHY?)
• These “towns” were overcrowded & had
sanitation problems.
Dust Bowl
• Farmers who had suffered economic
hardship even before the stock market crash
were hit the hardest during the Depression
• During the 1920s, many farmers were deeply
in debt due to large bank loans and low
agricultural pricing
• During the Depression drought,
grasshoppers, bank failures, and dust
storms further tormented farmers
• Another problem that caused the Dust Bowl
is lack of crop rotation
Dust Bowl
• Another problem for farmers was when the
government passed the Hawley Smoot Tariff in 1930
– This was the highest protective tariff in U.S. history
– Purpose was to help the growth of American industry and
growth
– How would Europeans or other foreign nations respond to a
U.S. tariff on our goods at a time when majority of nations
are suffering?
• The tariff actually hurt the U.S. economy rather than
helped
– Increased U.S. unemployment
– Decreased world trade by 40%