Cash crops: the growth of a single crop
indigo, tobacco, rice, cotton..thanks Ian
River valley provided arable land for
plantations, and transportation route for
crops
Causes of the Great Depression
Cash crops: the growth of a single crop
1. Old industrial base is outdated, time for
indigo,
tobacco,
rice,
cotton..thanks
Ian
new equipment
River
valley
land for
2. Crisis
in the provided
farm sectorarable
–
OVERPRODUCTION
plantations,
and transportation route for
crops
3. Availability of easy
credit (installment
plans)
4. Unequal distribution of income, too little
money in the hands of working people.
Idle Factory
Employment
Line
Cash crops: the growth of a single crop
indigo, tobacco, rice, cotton..thanks Ian
River valley provided arable land for
plantations, and transportation route for
crops
A haunting sense of failure and uncertainty
about the future – powerlessness and
Crash of 1929 reveals
weaknesses in the economy
Farming- prices fall constantly during the 1920’s post war
depression decreases demand. R
Industry is becoming more concentrated/consolidated;
Government is pro – business. Two hundred companies
control 51%of the economy and it becomes stiff and rigid.
Growing concentration of wealth: Per Capita income grows
by 9%, but 75% of that growth goes to the top 1%
Integrated global economy has structural instability
and chaotic volatility
The Great Depression
After the Stock Market Crash of 1929
1. 1933 6,000 banks have closed
2. Between 1929-1933 Nation’s total GNP
drops from 104-59 billion
3. Unemployment leaped from 3% (1.6
million) in 1929 to 25% (13 million) in
1933
4. 1 Out of every 4 workers was out of a
job
What is an economic depression?
Employment
Line
Idle
Factory
14
Unemployment (in millions)
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
4.5
4
Bank Failures
3.5
In thousands
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
35
30
Business failures (In thousands)
25
20
15
10
5
0
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
Idle
Factory
Bread line
Employment
Line
THE DUST BOWL
Causes?
Effects?
“Necessity is the mother of invention”
Taming the Great Plains
1830
Homework
1900
In 1830 it took 3 hours to produce a bushel
of grain, by 1900 it took 10 minutes.
The American Farmer is introduced to a
variety of labor saving machines that
increased their efficiency and
productivity. By 1890 there are 900
manufacturers of farm machinery.
The American farmers takes out loans to
purchase new equipment. The efficient
cultivation of crops leads to
OVERPRODUCTION and a market
surplus!!
Corn Prices
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Cents
Per
Bushel
1870
Overproduction drives the prices of crops
down…..What does this mean for the American
farmer??
"And then the dispossessed were
drawn west- from Kansas, Oklahoma,
Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and
Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out,
tractored out. Car-loads, caravans,
homeless and hungry; twenty
thousand and fifty thousand and a
hundred thousand and two hundred
thousand. They streamed over the
mountains, hungry and restless restless as ants, scurrying to find work
to do - to lift, to push, to pull, to pick, to
cut - anything, any burden to bear, for
food. The kids are hungry. We got no
place to live. Like ants scurrying for
work, for food, and most of all for
land."
The Dust Bowl
Causes
Homesteaders 1860’s
Effects
Uprooted Farmers 1930’s
Post Civil War land rush drew Unemployed farmers leave
thousands of families west failed farms and the dust bowl
search for free land and new
in search of work
opportunities
HOOVER’s APPROACH
1. Insensitive towards the American people
2. Hoover believes in economic
individualism and viewed government
response as temporary supports
“Associationalism”
3. Felt capitalism would fix itself
…Prosperity is just around the corner
4. More of a cheerleader….
Bonus Army demonstrators are
dispersed by armed guards and tear
crops:gas
theongrowth
of
a
single
July 29, 1932.
Cash
crop
indigo, tobacco, rice, cotton..thanks Ian
River valley provided arable land for
plantations, and transportation route for
crops
BONUS ARMY, 1932
Cash
crops:
the
growth
of
a
single
crop
1. WWI veterans owed bonus in 1945 and
indigo,
tobacco,
rice,
cotton..thanks
Ian
17,000 vets march on DC to petition for
an
early
bonus
(Senate
kills
the
bill)
River valley provided arable land for
plantations,
and
route
2.
After defeat
of transportation
bill 2,000 stay for
thefor
summer of 1932crops
and are dispersed by
the US Army (PR nightmare)
Army coming in is a typical governmental
response to labor unrest
I promise
a New Deal!
Prosperity is
just around
the corner
The
Election of
1932
FDR claims he will employ with bold consistent experimentation when
he gets in office
INTRO to FDR
1. Americans ready for a change
2. Elected with 23 million votes (57% of
voting population)
3. More of a quarterback…willing to
experiment
Franklin D. Roosevelt
First Inaugural Address
Saturday, March 4, 1933
So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to
fear. . .is fear itself. . . nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which
paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable
problem if we face it wisely and courageously.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
First Inaugural Address
Saturday, March 4, 1933
RECOGNIZE
the problem/crisis
ASSERTION we will survive and prosper
LEADERSHIP –
This nation asks for action, and action now.
The Great Depression fundamentally
reshapes the way the American people think
about the role of government
.
#1 Creates security in the system to change
the length and harshness of business cycle
#2 Changes the expectations about what
government could and should do
Federal Budget: 1920 $3 billion
1930 $6 billion