Fill in the following as you read; this goes sequentially, from start to finish.
1.
The reading claims that 20s prosperity was a cruel
_________illusion________________.
2. In the 20s, most Americans lived below the ____________poverty_________ line.
3. Labor productivity (what each work produced) rose in the 20s, but their
_______wages________ fell.
4.
70% of Native Americns earned less than $_______2000____________ per year.
5.
Farm prices remained ___________depressed___________________ since WW1.
6.
Many farmers were in long term _________debt___________________, with high
taxes and prices falling for their products.
7. As a result, millions of farmers d________defaulted___________________ on their
loans (& losing their farms).
8. From 1920-29, ______________5000___________ of the country’s 30,000 banks failed.
9. As the decade progressed there was a heavy burden of consumer
__________debt_______, and this led to a drop in consumer spending.
10. In the 1920s, there was a poor distribution of income (the wealthy gained, while wages
for the lower and middle classes did not keep up). Why, according to the reading, was
this a problem?
The richest people spent most of their money on luxuries, which didn’t require a lot of jobs from
the lower class to produce, which meant the income of the few increased, while the income of
the many continued to decrease to lower and lower levels.
11. In 1930, the US Congress passed the Hawley-Smoot
__________tarrif________________ in an attempt to protect American industry from
foreign competition. This caused international trade to decline by:
_____30____%. This actually hurt American manufacturers more than it helped.
12. Unlike some of Europe, the US had no federal system of
____________unemployment insurance______________ to help laid off workers.