The Great Depression
Mr. Mancuso
Terre Haute South
Economic Troubles
1920’s were good economic times (roaring
20’s)
 Many Americans purchased new products
on credit (1929-7 billion dollars)
 People were buying things on margin
buying
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Black Thursday
October 24, 1929-stock market crashes
 Investors who were nervous about interest
rates began to sell stock shares.
 Dow Jones Industrials lost 12 percent.
Stock market would not get to 1929 values
for 25 years.
 Black Tuesday-October 29, 1929-prices
went lower. $30 billion was lost by mid
November.
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Bank Crisis
Only a small percentage of Americans
were involved in the stock market crash.
 People defaulted on their loans
 This forced banks to close.
 Depositors lost confidence in banks and
tried to withdraw money from the bank.
This caused bank panics and bank
closings.
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Stats
Gross Domestic Product (what we
produce as a nation) fell from $103 billion
in 1929 to $53 billion in 1933.
 Click here to see a link to more statistics.
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Other Causes
Europe was in a depression (war debts
and reparations against Germany caused
this)
 Because the rest of the world was at war,
they could not buy American goods.
 Income gap between rich and poor.
 Natural business cycle (what goes up
must come down)
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Unemployment
1929-1.5 million people were unemployed.
 1933-15 million people were unemployed.
 Surplus of labor caused wage cuts.
 Some people didn’t get to work the
number of hours that they wanted to work
(underemployment)
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Teenagers in the Depression
(railroad)
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Teenagers had different roles.
Riding the bulls.
A Sad Christmas. 
Losing a brother
Pictures from the Depression
City Life
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Suicide rate went up.
Federal government did little to assist people
(rugged individualism)
Neighbors tried to help one another with
problems.
Breadlines
Soup Kitchens
Songs
Shantytowns/Hoovervilles
Life on the Farm
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Increased poverty made it harder for people to buy farm
products
Farmers lost their land to foreclosure
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Dust Bowl (led to insanity and suicide)
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Picture 1 Picture 2
Picture 1 Picture 2
People were forced to move, like the Joads in The
Grapes of Wrath
Anti-immigration movement because immigrants were
taking up jobs (jobs that others did not want)
What people did for fun
Family life
 Board games
 Movies
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Staring Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse
Literature
Lost Horizon by James Hilton
 The Sound of the Fury by William Faulkner
 Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathaniel West
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Herbert Hoover
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Thought Great
Depression would be a
temporary problem.
Opposed direct relief
Rugged individualism
Encouraged volunteerism
In his defense, nobody
had ever had to deal with
this type of situation.
How would this type of
situation be handled
today?
More Hoover
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Did establish Federal Farm Board in 1929.
Group had a budget of $500 million.
Goal was to find ways for farmers to help
themselves (rugged individualism)
Hoover instructed Farm Board to buy up surplus
crops. Also instructed farmers to produce fewer
crops. This would cause prices to rise.
Farmers did not do this and prices continued to
fall.
Helped banks through Reconstruction Finance
Corporation.
John Maynard Keynes
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Economist.
Policies are known as
Keynesian Economic
Theory
Thought that if you
increased
government
spending, you could
jump start the
economy.
Reactions
Protests began to rise by 1932.
 Communist Party and Socialist Party
gained momentum.
 The Bonus Army
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1932 Election
Despite all of the problems, Republicans
re-nominate Herbert Hoover out of
respect.
 Everybody knows Hoover will lose, as
people hold Hoover, and the Republican
Party responsible for the Great
Depression.
 Democrats nominate Franklin D.
Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt’s cousin.

Hoover
1932 Election
versus
Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Simply known as FDR
 Attacked Hoover’s record, did not mention
specific policies.
 Optimistic
 America blamed Republicans for the Great
Depression
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