Chapter 22 Section 1 and 2
The Stock Market Crash and Social
Effects of the Depression
Dow Jones Industrial Average
• An average of the stock
prices of major
industries
• Reached an all time
high during Hoover’s
Presidency
• People paid a great deal
to the rising stock
market
Black Tuesday
• October 29, 1929
• 16.4 million shares
were sold
– Compared to an average
of 4 to 8 million
Great Crash
• The massive collapse of
the stock market in
1929
• Overall losses totaled
$30 billion
List and briefly describe 5 ways the
Great Crash spread to all Americans.
• Risky loans hurt banks
• Consumer borrowingtook out loans and
could no longer pay
them back
• Bank runs
• Bank failures
• Savings wiped out
• Cuts in production
• Rise in unemployment
Business Cycle
• Over a period of time,
the economy grows,
then contracts
Great Depression
• Time period from 1929
to 1941
• The most severe
economic downturn in
American history
Which part of the business cycle did
the Great Depression represent?
• A trough
How did the unstable economy in the
1920s contribute to the Great Depression?
• Production far
outpaced demand
• Wealth was unevenly
distributed
• The boom in stock
market prices was
based mainly on
borrowed money, not
real value
List and briefly describe the 3
underlying causes of the Depression.
• An unstable economy
• Overspeculation
• Government policieslimited money supply to
discourage lending and
speculation, but this left
people short on money
Hooverville
• Towns of shacks, or
shanties, made from
anything people could
use to construct a
shelter
Who lived in Hoovervilles?
- Unemployed laborers
and their families
Dust Bowl
• Massive dust storm that
consumed the midwest
What factors led to the creation of the
Dust Bowl in the 1930s?
• Exhaustion of the
topsoil
• Drought
• Wind erosion
What impact did the Depression have
on health?
• Many went hungry
• Children suffered from
poor diet and
inadequate medical
care
How did the Great Depression impact
families?
• Living condition
declined
• Had to give up personal
interests/hobbies
• Many men were
ashamed and left their
families
• Women lost jobs
What were some causes and effects of increased
discrimination during the Great Depression?
• Competition for jobs
• Legal system ignored
civil rights for nonwhites
• Individual racism
• Deportations
• Lynchings
• High African American
unemployment
What can you learn about the Depression
from Wilson Ledford’s experiences?
• His experiences
demonstrate the
hardships of finding
work, which was often
only temporary or was
located far from home
• He and his family made
the best of the situation
in order to survive