Georgia
Studies
Unit 6: Early 20th
Century Georgia
Lesson 1: The Great
Depression
Study Presentation
Lesson 1: The Great
Depression
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
– How did forces of nature affect the
economy of Georgia?
– How did state and national political
policies influence the growth and
development of Georgia and the
future of politics in the state?
The Roaring Twenties
• 1920 – 19th Amendment gave women the right
to vote and more women began to enter the
workforce.
• Flappers: name given to women who took on
the new fashion – known for short hair, makeup, dancing, drinking
• Jazz (Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington)
and Blues (Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith)
became popular forms of music.
• First women in Georgia legislature: Bessie
Kempton Crowell & Viola Ross Napier
• Rebecca Latimer Felton first woman in U.S.
Senate
Life in the Roaring Twenties
• Life in US after World War I was good
• More modern conveniences freed women
from household chores
• Electricity became more available
• Other inventions included gas stoves,
toasters, sliced bread, baby food
• Radio: WSB started in Atlanta
• 1927: first talking motion picture
• Walt Disney creates Mickey Mouse
• Charles Lindbergh makes first ever nonstop
flight from New York to Paris, France.
The Destruction of King Cotton
• Boll weevil: insect which ate Georgia’s most
important cash crop
• Price of cotton also dropped
• 1924: major drought (period with little or no
rain) hit Georgia
• Georgia farmers did not have the “good life”
that many Americans enjoyed
• Farms closed forcing banks and farm-related
business to close
• Great Migration – Many tenant farmers leave
Georgia to work in northern factories.
The Klan Strengthens
• Targeted African Americans, Jews,
Catholics, and immigrants
• Number of members increased in every
state
• 1925: Klan march on Washington with
40,000 members
• Declining membership by the end of the
decade as members were linked to
racial terrorism
The Bottom Drops Out
• Stock Market: Place where shares of
ownership in corporations (stock) are bought
and sold
• “Black Tuesday” – October 29, 1929: Stock
market prices fall greatly; millions of people
loose all their wealth
• Total losses by end of year: $40 billion
• Example: U.S. Steel was $262 per share –
dropped to $22 per share
• Some stocks worth less than 1¢
Causes of the Great Depression
• Many people had borrowed too much money
• Factories produced more goods than they could
sell
• As people and businesses had problems making
money, banks did not get paid for loans
• “Speculation” in the stock market: paying only a
portion of the price of a stock hoping that the value
will go up
• Runs on banks: people were afraid they would
lose their money if it was left in the bank
• laissez-faire: attitude that the economy would fix
itself if left alone
Living Through the Depression
•
•
•
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1932: 13 million unemployed
9,000 banks closed
31 Georgia banks failed
Hoovervilles: named for President Hoover –
shacks where homeless people gathered
• Soup kitchens set up by charities and
governments to feed hungry
• Schools were often forced to close or shorten
schedules
• Georgians were already suffering from economic
problems before Black Tuesday
The New Deal
• 1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt elected
president
• New Deal: Roosevelt’s plan to end the
depression
– Examined banks for soundness
– Give jobs to unemployed workers
– Tried to improve American’s lives
• Paved the way for recovery though all
programs did not work
Georgia and the New Deal
• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) – Created
jobs for young men. Men worked in exchange
for housing, food, and money. Built many of
GA’s parks, sewer systems, bridges, etc.
• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) – Raised the
price of farm products by limiting supply.
Farmers were paid to produce less to drive the
price up so each farmer made for money for
their crops.
• Rural Electrification Authority (REA) –Brought
electricity to the rural (country) areas of the U.S.
• Social Security Act – Passed in 1935. Helped to
provide old-age benefits for retiring workers.
Also offered insurance for the unemployed and
disabled.
African Americans During
the New Deal
• Did not benefit from many New Deal
programs
• WPA: Works Public Administration – did
employ many African Americans
• Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet”: influential
African Americans working with President
Roosevelt:
– Mary McLeod Bethune
– Clark Foreman
– Robert Weaver
– William Hastie
Georgia’s New Deal
Governors
• Richard B. Russell
– Worked to reorganize state government like a successful
business
– Elected to U.S. Senate and served for 38 years
• Eugene Talmadge
– Did not like New Deal programs in Georgia
– Elected Governor of GA in 1932 and 1934.
– Outspoken critic of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New
Deal programs in Georgia.
• Eurith “Ed” Rivers
– Worked with Roosevelt to increase New Deal spending in
Georgia
– Began programs for public housing
– Term ended with corruption problems
Georgia’s New Deal
Governors (Cont.)
• Talmadge re-elected in 1940
– Began to use some New Deal programs
– Used his power as governor to remove state
officials working to integrate Georgia’s state
colleges
• Ellis Arnall
– Reformed Board of Regents and state prisons
– Removed poll tax
– New state constitution