1. What were the causes
of the Great Depression?
a.Stock
Speculation
b.Weak Banking
System
c.Economic
Policies
d.Overproduction
of Goods
e.Decline in the
Farming Industry
a. Stock
Speculation: People
over speculated on
stocks, using
borrowed money
(bought on margin)
that they could not
repay when stock
prices crashed, and
the banks demanded
payment.
October 29, 1929
• Black Tuesday
Bank Panic in New York City
b. Weak Banking
System: The Federal
Reserve Board failed to
prevent the collapse of
the banking system.
- Many people had
bought on credit for
consumer goods and on
margin for stock
purchases. These loans
could not be repaid.
In one of the largest pea camps in California. February, 1936.
• c. Economic Policies: When
President Hoover enacted
tariffs on European goods,
these same nations enacted
retaliatory tariffs on the
goods from the United States.
-High tariffs strangled and
discouraged international
trade.
-In addition, President Hoover
believed it was not the role of
the government to control the
economy, and he called on
local charities and local
governments to help the needy.
• Unemployed men vying for jobs at the
American Legion Employment Bureau in Los
Angeles during the Great Depression
d. Overproduction of
Goods: Farmers and
factories had been
producing a surplus for the
war.
-Prices for farm products fell
so low that it cost farmers
more to grow crops than they
could make selling them.
-Also, the markets were
flooded with consumer
goods that Americans could
no longer afford.
e. Decline in the
Farming Industry:
Farmers could no
longer repay loans
because
overproduction
caused the prices for
farm products to fall.
In addition, farming
techniques no longer
supported farming in
much of the southern
Great Plains.
Farm Foreclosures
• The grasses that had held
the soil together had been
"busted" up in order to
plant wheat. When the
years of drought occurred,
the soil could not hold up
against the powerful dust
storms that moved
thousands of acres of topsoil
hundreds of miles away.
• This area was nicknamed
the Dust Bowl, and
thousands of farm families
were forced off their farms
for good.
2. How were Americans impacted
by the Great Depression?
Squatter's Camp, Route 70, Arkansas, October, 1935.
a. A large number of banks and
businesses failed.
b. One-fourth of workers were without
jobs.
Brother
can you
spare a
dime?
http://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=CVE
72Ae82Tw
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1932)
They used to tell me I was building
a dream
And so I followed the mob.
When there was earth to plow or
guns to bear,
I was always there, right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building
a dream
With peace and glory ahead -Why should I be standing in line,
just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it
run,
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad, now it's
done -Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun,
brick and rivet and lime.
Once I built a tower, now it's done -Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee, we looked
swell
Full of that Yankee Doodle-de-dum.
Half a million boots went slogging
through hell,
And I was the kid with the drum.
Say, don't you remember they called
me Al,
It was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your
pal -Say, buddy, can you spare a dime?
c. Large
numbers of
people were
hungry and
homeless.
They lived in
makeshift
communities
called
"Hoovervilles."
Hoover Takes Action
• At first,
President
Hoover was
against
offering
direct
government
relief.
• Instead, he
asked private
charities such
as the YMCA,
to help.
d. Farmers'
incomes fell to
low levels, and
many left their
farms for good.
This sector of
the economy
was the hardest
hit.
The Bonus
Army
• World War I
veterans were due
to be paid a bonus
in 1945.
• In 1932, over
20,000 jobless
veterans protested
in Washington,
D.C. demanding
immediate
payment.
World War I veterans block the steps of the Capital during the Bonus March, July
5, 1932 seeking early payment of a bonus scheduled for 1945 assembled in
Washington to pressure Congress and the White House.
Hoover resisted the demand for an early bonus. Veterans benefits took up 25%
of the 1932 federal budget.
Even so, as the Bonus Expeditionary Force swelled to 60,000 men, the president
secretly ordered that its members be given tents, cots, army rations and medical
care.
Handpainted sign on Bonus Army truck states: "We Done a
Good Job in France, Now You Do a Good Job in America"
• In clashes with police,
four veterans were killed.
• Hoover ordered General
Douglas MacArthur to
clear out the veterans using
cavalry, tanks, tear gas and
machine guns.
* The brutal treatment of
the Bonus Army lowered
Hoover’s popularity even
further. The nation was
poised for a new leader to
lead them out of the
depression.
The United States Army burned this and similar camps to the
ground after routing the many thousands of protestors that
were camped out in the national capital with tanks, tear gas,
and troops of armed soldiers. (July 28, 1932)
Most people resorted to
building residences out of box
wood, cardboard, and any
scraps of metal they could
find. Some individuals even
lived in sewer mains.
Great Depression:
Impact on Americans
All Graphs from: www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us34.cfm
Great Depression:
Stock Prices
Stock Prices
Sep. 3, 1929
Nov. 13, 1929
American
Telephone
General
Electric
General
Motors
New York
Central
Radio
U.S. Steel
1932 Low
304
197 1/4
70 1/4
396 1/4
168 1/2
34
72 3/4
36
7 5/8
256 3/8
160
8 3/4
101
261
26
150
2 1/2
21 1/4
1. What does this chart tell you about stock
prices before and after the stock market
crashed?
Great Depression:
Unemployment Rate
Average Unemployment
Rate
1879-89
8 percent
10 percent
1889-99
1899-1909
4 percent
1909-19
4 percent
1919-29
4 percent
1929-39
18 percent
1939-49
5 percent
1949-59
4 percent
1959-69
5 percent
1969-79
6 percent
2. What does this chart tell you
about workers?
Great Depression:
Bank Failures
Bank Failures
1929
659
1930
1,352
1931
1,456
1932
2,294
1933
5,190
3. What does this chart tell you about
the number of banks (and businesses)
that failed?
Great Depression:
Unemployment
Unemployment as
Percentage of the Labor
Force
1900
5 percent
1910
5.9 percent
1920
4 percent
1925
4 percent
1929
3.2 percent
1930
8.7 percent
1932
23.6 percent
1933
24.9 percent
1934
21.7 percent
1935
20.1 percent
1936
16.9 percent
1937
14.3 percent
1938
19 percent
1939
17.2 percent
1940
14.6 percent
1950
5 percent
4. What does
this chart tell
you about
people’s lives
up until 1940?
Great Depression:
Family Income
Family Income, 1929
over $10,000
2.3 percent
$5,000-10,000
8 percent
2,500-$5,000
19 percent
$2,000-2,500
11 percent
$1,500-2,000
18 percent
$1,000-1,500
21 percent
under $1,000
21 percent
5. What does this chart tell you
about families?
• A large number of banks and
businesses closed.
• 25 % of workers were without jobs.
• Large numbers of people were
homeless and living in poverty.
• Household incomes fell to low
levels.
In 1932,
Franklin D.
Roosevelt was
Elected
President
• FDR offered
Americans
a “New Deal ”.
FDR Gave Many Americans Hope.
"The only thing we have to fear is
fear itself..."
3. What were the major features of
the New Deal?
“New Deal
Rhythm” –
Political
Propaganda
http://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=Vn
0QN5zXz9w
President Roosevelt
won in a landslide
election.
-He used government
programs to help the
nation recover from
the Great Depression
in his "New Deal for
Americans".
1933 - "We're in the
Money"
http://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=UJOjTNuuEVw
$$$ We're in the money $$$
We're in the money,
We're in the money;
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We're in the money,
The sky is sunny;
Old Man Depression, you are through,
You done us wrong!
We never see a headline
'Bout breadline, today,
And when we see the landlord,
We can look that guy right in the eye .
We're in the money
Come on, my honey
Let's spend it, lend it,
Send it rolling around!
All: We're in the money,
We're in the money;
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We're in the money,
The sky is sunny;
Old Man Depression, you are through,
You done us wrong!
We never see a headline
'Bout breadline, today,
And when we see the landlord,
We can look that guy right in the eye.
Look that guy right in the eyeLook that guy right in the eyeWe're in the money
Come on, my honey
Let's spend it, lend it, send itLet's spend it, lend it, send it
Rolling, rollingRolling around!
Additional Verse
Gone are my blues,
And gone are my tears;
I've got good news
To shout in your ears.
The silver dollar has returned to the fold,
With silver you can turn your dreams to gold!
Hundred
Days
• In the first onehundred days,
FDR and
Congress
enacted many
programs to
directly aid
Americans.
• Hoover eventually set up public works
programs, where the government hired
people to construct schools, dams and
highways.
The New Deal
included these
programs:
CCC
TVA
AAA
NRA
SSA
FDIC
WPA
PWA
a. Federal Work Programs
- CCC
- PWA
- WPA
CCC:
Civilian Conservation Corps
Provided jobs for young
men to plant trees and
build bridges.
PWA:
Public Works Administration
• Built ports,
schools,
bridges,
dams, and
aircraft
carriers.
http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/wp-content/blogs.dir/10/files/2009/06/pwa3.jpg
WPA:
Works Progress
Administration:
Built hospitals,
schools, parks,
airports, and
employed artists,
writers, musicians.
b. Environmental Improvement
Programs:
TVA: Tennessee
Valley Authority
Built dams to
provide cheap
electric power to
southern states.
Fort Loudon Dam, Tennessee.
c. Farm Assistance Programs
• AAA:
Agricultural
Adjustment
Act
• Paid farmers not
to grow crops.
http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2005/bigvolanto.jpg
d. Increased Rights for Labor
NRA: National
Recovery Act
• Helped set
standards
for production,
prices, and wages.
http://www.iss.k12.nc.us/schools/nihs/smeyer
/USAnra.jpg
e. Safety Net
• SSA: Social
Security Act
• Set up a system
of pensions for
elderly,
unemployed,
and
people with
disabilities.
SSA:
Social Security ActSet up a system of
pensions for
elderly,
unemployed, and
people with
disabilities.)
f. Banking Safety
• FDIC:
Federal Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
• Insured
savings accounts
in banks.
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/wpcontent/uploads/2009/03/fdic-cartoon-2-2.jpg
• Great Depression Images
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gplaqa2yRgg
• What Caused the Great Depression?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff1picZAWc0
• The Plow That Broke the Plains, ca. 1937
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQCwhjWNcH8
1. What is “stock
speculation”?
•Stock speculation
is buying stock on
margin (credit)
2. Why did so many
Americans over speculate in
the 1920’s?
• Americans assumed that
stocks values would keep
going up and they would
make the borrowed money
back.
3. What are “import tariffs”
and why would high tariffs
discourage international
trade?
• Import tariffs are taxes on
items shipped to our country.
• High tariffs make the price
of items go up and
Americans lees like likely to
buy them.
4. What happened to many
banks and businesses
when the stock market
crashed?
• Many banks and business
went bankrupt and their
employees lost their jobs.
5. What percentage of
American workers
could not find a job
during the Great
Depression?
•25% or one fourth of
Americans was out of
work.
6. What is the job of the
Federal Reserve?
• The job of the Federal
Reserve is to regulate the
economy by controlling
the flow of money into the
banking system. It failed
to do this in the 1920s.