CHAPTER
22
The Great Depression Begins
Overview
Time Lines
SECTION
1 The Nation’s Sick Economy
SECTION
2 Hardship and Suffering During the Depression
SECTION
3 Hoover Struggles with the Depression
Chapter Assessment
Transparencies
CHAPTER
22
The Great Depression Begins
“The illusory prosperity and feverish optimism which
marked preceding years have given way to fearful
economic insecurity and to widespread despair.”
Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr., 1931
THEMES IN CHAPTER 22
Economic Opportunity
Immigration and Migration
The American Dream
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CHAPTER
22
The Great Depression Begins
“The illusory prosperity and feverish optimism which
marked preceding years have given way to fearful
economic insecurity and to widespread despair.”
Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr., 1931
What do you know?
• What do you already know about the Great
Depression?
• Have you ever discussed the Depression with a
relative who lived through it?
If so, what did he or she say?
Read the quote above and answer the following:
• What does La Follette suggest about the
prosperity and optimism of the years
preceding the Depression?
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CHAPTER
22
Time Line
The United States
October 1929 The stock market crashes.
June 1930 The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act
becomes law.
July 1930 Congress creates the Veterans
Administration.
1931 Hoover proposes a one-year delay in
repayment of war debts and reparations.
Between 4 million and 5 million Americans
are unemployed.
1932 The Reconstruction Finance Corporation is
established.
1933 More than 13 million Americans are
unemployed.
Average annual income drops to $1,500 per
family.
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CHAPTER
22
Time Line
The World
1930 Army officers led by José Uriburu seize
control of the government in Argentina.
1931 Austria suffers economic collapse.
September 1931 Japan occupies Manchuria.
1932 Ibn Saud becomes king of Saudi Arabia.
September 1932 From prison, Mohandas K.
Gandhi leads a protest against British
policies in India.
1933 Adolf Hitler comes to power.
Japan withdraws from the League of Nations.
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SECTION
1
The Nation’s Sick Economy
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Learn About
economic problems affecting industries, farmers, and
consumers at home and abroad.
To Understand
the causes of the Great Depression.
SECTION
1
The Nation’s Sick Economy
Key Idea
Economic problems affecting industries,
farmers, and consumers lead to the Great
Depression.
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SECTION
1
The Nation’s Sick Economy
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Section 1 Assessment
SUMMARIZING
What were some of the causes and effects of the 1929 stock
market crash?
speculation
falling stock
prices
buying on margin
loss of
confidence
Stock Market
Crash
bankrupt
businesses
bank failures
loss of savings
high
unemployment
worldwide
depression
SECTION
1
The Nation’s Sick Economy
Section 1 Assessment
ANALYZING CAUSES
How did the economic trends of the 1920s help cause the
Great Depression?
THINK ABOUT
• what happened in industry
• what happened in agriculture
• what happened with consumers
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SECTION
1
The Nation’s Sick Economy
Section 1 Assessment
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
Judging from the events of the late 1920s and early 1930s,
how important do you think public confidence is to the
health of the economy?
THINK ABOUT
• what happened when overconfidence in the stock market
led people to speculate and buy on margin
• what happened when lack of confidence caused people to
sell stocks and close out bank accounts
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SECTION
2
Hardship and Suffering During the Depression
Learn About
living conditions during the Great Depression.
To Understand
how people coped with hard times.
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SECTION
2
Hardship and Suffering During the Depression
Key Idea
The Great Depression brings suffering of
many kinds and degrees to people from all
walks of life.
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SECTION
2
Hardship and Suffering During the Depression
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Section 2 Assessment
SUMMARIZING
What groups of people were affected by the Great Depression?
How were they affected?
GROUP
EFFECTS OF DEPRESSION
urban poor
lived in shantytowns, ate in soup kitchens or bread lines
African Americans
experienced increased discrimination
Latino Americans
experienced increased discrimination
farmers
lost land and headed west
unemployed men
wandered country looking for work
SECTION
2
Hardship and Suffering During the Depression
Section 2 Assessment
COMPARING AND CONTRASTING
Compare what happened to city dwellers and to farmers
during the Great Depression. How was it similar and
different?
THINK ABOUT
• what happened to their livelihoods
• what happened to their homes
• what help was available to them
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SECTION
2
Hardship and Suffering During the Depression
Section 2 Assessment
RECOGNZING EFFECTS
How did the Dust Bowl affect the entire country?
THINK ABOUT
• the effect on farmers on the plains
• the effect on California and other states where the Okies
resettled
• the effect on the East
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SECTION
3
Hoover Struggles with the Depression
HOME
Learn About
President Hoover’s response to the Great Depression.
To Understand
why the Hoover administration lost public support.
SECTION
3
Hoover Struggles with the Depression
Key Idea
President Hoover tries to restore confidence
and halt the Depression, but his actions are
ineffective.
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SECTION
3
Hoover Struggles with the Depression
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Section 3 Assessment
SUMMARIZING
What did President Hoover say and do in response to the
Depression?
“Any lack of
confidence in the
economic future . . .
is foolish.”
“rugged individualism”
public-works programs
HOOVER’S RESPONSES
sending of troops
against Bonus Army
Boulder Dam
Federal Farm Board
Reconstruction Finance
Corporation
Federal Home Loan Bank Act
SECTION
3
Hoover Struggles with the Depression
Section 3 Assessment
3
ANALYZING ISSUES
How did Hoover’s belief in “rugged individualism” shape his
policies during the Depression?
THINK ABOUT
• what that belief implies about government action
• Hoover’s policies
• whether those policies were consistent with his beliefs
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SECTION
3
Hoover Struggles with the Depression
Section 3 Assessment
CLARIFYING
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt heard about the attack on
the Bonus Army, why was he so certain that Hoover was
going to lose?
THINK ABOUT
• the American public’s impression of Hoover
• Hoover’s actions to fight the Depression
• how people judged Hoover after the attack
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Chapter
22
Assessment
1. How did what happened to farmers during the 1920s
foreshadow events of the Great Depression?
2. Why was uneven distribution of income bad for the
economy?
3. What were some of the effects of the stock market crash
in October 1929?
4. What effect did the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act have on
the economy and why?
5. How were shantytowns, soup kitchens, and bread lines
a response to the Depression?
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Chapter
22
Assessment
6. Why did minorities often experience an increase in
discrimination during the Great Depression?
7. What pressures did the American family experience
during the Depression?
8. Why did Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
believe that the government should do nothing about
the Depression?
9. How did Hoover’s treatment of the Bonus Army affect
his standing with the public?
10. In what ways did Hoover try to use the government to
relieve the Depression?
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