Ms. HENRY
US / Unit 7 / The Great Depression – Class Work
Name ______________________________________
Unit 7: The Great Depression – Class Work
Overview
After the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, the US entered a period of economic turmoil. Americans faced
hard times where unemployment rose. Americans could not pay their debt. Banks failed. In 1932, Americans
voted Hoover out of the White House and voted Franklin Delano Roosevelt into the White House. Roosevelt
introduced the New Deal as his plan to change the depression. In this unit, we will study the effects the Great
Depression had on the lives of Americans. We will also study what the federal government did to change the
economic situation and to help Americans.
As we study this time period, we will answer the following questions:
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Why did stock market crash in 1929?
What caused the Great Depression?
How did the Great Depression affect people’s lives?
How did the government respond to the economic crisis?
Was the New Deal effective?
Timeline
Stock Market Crash
October 29, 1929
PROGRESSIVE ERA
1900-1914
IMPERIALISM
(1893-1917)
WW I
(1917-1919)
Roaring 20s
(1920-1929)
The New Deal
(1933-1939)
Great Depression
(1932-1939)
WW II
(1940-1944)
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Causes of the Great Depression
Stock Market Crash of 1929
What is a stock market?


What is a “stock market crash”?
 People want to sell their shares,
People can own a piece
but no one wants buy those
or a share of a
shares
corporation
Stock Market is where  Value, or price, of shares
decreases
those shares are traded
 Volume of the market decreases
What caused the stock market to crash on October 29, 1929?
 Speculation: making a financial investment without the guaranteed return
of your investment
o During the 1920s many people speculated  they made investments
that did not guarantee a return,
 Example: the stock market
 Debt: when you borrow money and you owe it to back
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o During the 1920s many people borrowed money to make stock
purchases  Buying on Margin
o When a person is not able to pay his debt, both the lender and the
borrower lose.
 If someone doesn’t repay his debt, the lender is out that money
too.
How did the crash of the stock market contribute to the Great Depression?
 Some people, but not everyone, lost money
o When some people lost money, they couldn’t pay their debts
 When people couldn’t pay their debt, the lenders lost money
 It’s a bad cycle
Was the crash of the stock market the only cause of the Great Depression?
 No  there were many factors
Global Depression: The United States was not the only nation that experienced an
economic downturn. Europe nations had tremendous debt following World War I. World
trade declined during the 1920s.
How do economic problems in other nations affect the US?
 The US couldn’t collect the Europeans war debt so US lost
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money
 Other nations couldn’t buy American goods so the US lost money
 Tariffs: taxes on goods imported from other countries
o US raised tariffs to encourage Americans to buy American
goods to stimulate the economy
o Only increased the effects of the depression around the
world
Banking Crisis: “run on banks”
Why were people “running to the banks”?
 Banks use the money people put in savings to lend out
 People who lost money in the stock market couldn’t pay their
debt to the bank
 Banks didn’t have money for people who wanted to get their
savings out of the bank
Business Failures: In 1930s more than 26,000 businesses went bankrupt.
 Define bankrupt: When a business can’t pay its debt and therefore the business has
to close
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How did the failure of business affect the economy?
 When business close, they can’t employ people; people lose their jobs
o Unemployment rises
Unemployment: In 1929, approximately 3% of Americans were unemployed. In 1932,
nearly 25% of Americans were unemployed.
How did high unemployment affect the economy?
 When people lose their jobs, their don’t have money to buy goods
o When people can’t buy goods, more business who sell goods go bankrupt and
fail
What are these men waiting for? Why?
 FREE coffee and doughnuts
 Because they are unemployed and can’t afford people
 Charitable organizations would hand out break or other food to out of
work Americans
Falling Crop Prices: People throughout America could not afford food. Farmers were left
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with unsold surplus of crops. Cotton prices dropped from 16 cents in 1929 to 6 cents in
1931.
How did falling crop prices and unsold crops affect the economy?
 Because price crops dropped, farmers
couldn’t make enough money from
selling their crops.
 Farmers couldn’t pay their debts and
lost their farmers
How did President Hoover plan to deal with the economic crisis?
 He thought charities should take care of people
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What was a hooverville?
 Communities of people living
in tents
Why were people living in hoovervilles?
 Unemployed people lost their
homes and lived in temporary
shelter == tents
How did Americans feel about Hoover?
People blamed Hoover for the economic situation and blamed him for not fixing the
economic problems
Children protesting during the Bonus March
Hard Times
How did the economic crisis affect people’s daily lives?
 People lost their jobs
 People lost their homes
 People could afford food to eat
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How does this woman appear?
 SAD
What do notice about her clothing?
 It’s dirty and torn
What do you notice about her children?
 They hide their faces from the
camera
 They lean on their mother
 They seem sad or ashamed
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DISCONTENT:
Bonus Army: 10,000 World War I veterans and their families marched in Washington DC.
The Veterans were demonstrating support for a bill to grant veterans early payment of the
pension bonuses owed from their service during the war. The bill was defeated.
During the Bonus Army’s demonstration, veterans camped out in hoovervilles and empty
office buildings in DC. After the defeat of the bill, 2,000 of the Bonus army remained in
DC and refused to leave. President Hoover used the army to vacate the squatters.
“My husband went to Washington. To march with . . .the bonus boys. He was a machine
gunner in the war. He’d say . . . Germans gassed him in Germany. And his own
government . . . gassed him and run him off the country up there with a water hose, half
drowned him.” --- Wife of Bonus Army member, quoted in Hard Times by Studs Terkel
From this woman’s statement, what methods did the army use to get rid of the Bonus army
protesters?
 Water cannon, gas,
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Are their methods shocking? Why?
 You don’t expect the US government to treat veterans this way.
 You expect the government to treat veterans with respect.
Who is elected President in 1932?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
What does this map show?
 The election results from the 1932 election
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From looking at the map, how would you describe Roosevelt’s victory in the election?
 FDR won by a landslide --- an overwhelming victory
“First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we
have to fear is fear itself – . . . The people of the United States
have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate
that they want direct, vigorous action.”
Franklin Roosevelt First Inaugural Address, 1933
During the Great Depression, what do Americans fear?
 Poverty, unemployment, losing their homes,
 being unable to provide for themselves and their family
Why does Roosevelt say “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” mean?
 Americans don’t have to be afraid of poverty because help is on the way
What is Roosevelt trying to inspire in the American people?
 Confidence in America
 Confidence in the government
 Confidence in his plan to fix the economic situation
THE NEW DEAL
Roosevelt promised “a new deal for the American people.” During the first 100 days of
his Presidency, Congress passed an unprecedented number of laws. Congress passed every
measure that Roosevelt asked for.
First New Deal: Primarily Programs that provided relief for Great Depression problems.
The Emergency Banking Act: Roosevelt temporarily closed all the banks in the nation
creating a “bank holiday” until the government inspected the banks to assure that they
were financially sound. Made federal loans available to banks.
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Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: the federal government insures that the deposits
you have in the bank. So if you went to take you money from the bank, you would get
exactly that amount.
Which problem of the Great Depression were these laws meant to relieve?
 Run on banks
 Banks not having money to pay to people who wanted to make withdrawals
Civilian Conservation Corp: employed men ages 17-23 to plant trees, build roads, other
conservation projects.
What problem of the Great Depression was this meant to relieve?
 Unemployment and poverty
 CCC: Put young men to work  their checks went directly to their parents
Agricultural Readjustment Act: paid farmers subsidies not to plant crops and to kill
livestock.
What problem of the Great Depression was this meant to relieve?
 Falling crop prices
 Farms losing their farms
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Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): A government owned corporation that created
economic development in the Tennessee Valley region. This region of the United States
was economically troubled before the depression and suffered greatly during the Great
Depression. The TVA provided economic opportunity by building dams, generating
electricity, manufacturing and providing fertilizers, and conservation projects in region.
What problem of the Great Depression was the TVA meant to relieve?
 Specific relief in the area of the Tennessee valley
 Relieve poverty, unemployment and farming trouble in the area
How is the TVA different from other New Deal Programs?
 TVA was not nation wide
 It only helped the Tennessee Valley region
Second New Deal: Programs that tried to REFORM
Works Progress Administration: (WPA) employed millions of unskilled laborers in
building, art and improvement projects. The WPA employed artists in various works
painting, sculpting and writing.
What problem of the Great Depression was the WPA meant to reform?
 Generate more employment for unskilled laborers and artist
 Improve infrastructure in the country
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National Labor Relations Act (NLRA): law protects works engaged in collective
bargaining and strikes. The law protected unions from interference from employers.
What problem of the Great Depression was the NLRA meant to reform?
 Help works to unionize
 Protect unions
 Unions protect labors
Social Security Act: Provided pensions for elderly, unemployment compensation and
disability benefits.
What problem of the Great Depression was the Social Security Act meant to reform?
 Force people to save for retirement, provide security (a check) for the unemployed,
provide security (a check) for the disabled
Describe the cartoon?
 Uncle Sam – America – is the old man who is sick
 Congress is his wife who called the doctor
 FDR is supposed to be a doctor
 Bottle on the table have the initials of various New Deal programs
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What criticism is the cartoon making of the New Deal?
 None of these New Deal programs has cured America of the Great Depression
 FDR just keep trying new things
In his inaugural address, Roosevelt suggested that a temporary departure from “the normal
balance of executive and legislative power” might be necessary and that he would ask
Congress for “broad Executive Power to wage a war against the emergency.
How does that describe the New Deal?
 Congress enacts whatever law or programs the President proposes
Why is an imbalance of power between the executive and legislative a problem?
 The Constitution provides for checks and balances
 If there is an imbalance of power between the executive and legislative – that
is unconstitutional
Is the New Deal Constitutional?
Opponents of the New Deal challenged these laws in court. When the cases came before
the Supreme Court, the Court overturned some New Deal legislation – finding each law
unconstitutional.
What was Roosevelt’s plan to protect the New Deal from being overturned by the Supreme
Court?
 He proposed adding new justices to the court (changing the number
o There are 9 Supreme Court Justices
o Each Justice is appointed for life (until death or he chooses to retire)
How would “court packing” protect the New Deal?
o The president gets to nominate the justices to the Supreme Court
o FDR would nominate judges favorable to the New Deal so that no more New
Deal legislation would be found unconstitutional
How did Congress respond to Roosevelt’s plan?
 Members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat, opposed the court packing
plan
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How did the Supreme Court respond?
 The Judges stopped finding New Deal Programs unconstitutional
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