Great Depression: 1929-1940
Period when economy
plummeted and unemployment
rose rapidly
Chapters 22 and 23
The Economy Looks Ugly
• Cause and Effect
– New Homes
– Living on Credit
– Distribution of Wealth
– Market Crash
– Banks Close
– Hawley-Smoot Tariff
II. Close-Up
A.) Decline in housing
- led to job losses in many related fields
(plumbing, design, carpentry, etc.)
B.) Living on Credit:
- Put more people into debt
- Leads to lack of consumer spending
C.) Uneven Distribution of Wealth:
- Many poor, few rich
- Fallout of middle class
- Nobody to buy the surplus of goods
D.) Stock Market Crash (Oct. 29 “Black Tuesday”)
- Millions lose their savings on the market
E.) Bank Closings:
- Millions of Americans lose their savings
accounts
F.) Worldwide Depression:
- Difficult for Americans to sell goods abroad
G.) Hawley-Smoot Tariff:
- Raised tariffs (tax)
- Increased unemployment in industries that
could no longer export to Europe
III.) Causes of the Depression (Recap)
• Tariffs and war debt that cut countries out of
American economy
• Farmers overproduce (Can’t Sell!)
• Easy Credit (Many go into debt)
• Unequal distribution of income (No middle
class to buy bulk of goods)
IV.) Looking Ahead
• How could the worldwide depression have
helped leaders like Hitler take control?
- Receptive to a leader that promised better
times
- Angry at other countries for Germany’s debt
- Offered a scapegoat (The Jews)
Hardships and
Suffering
I. People’s Lives
A.) City Life
- Jobless, folks lived on the streets or in Shantytowns
(Hoovervilles)
- Many rely on bread lines and soup kitchens for food
B.) Rural Life
- Many banks foreclose on farmers (take their
property)
- Dust Bowl on the Great Plains (1933-1936)
* Many farmers leave and move to Pacific
coast Work as farmhands
Hooverville Kids
New York Bread Line
II. Family Life
A.) Men
- Most wandered the streets/country looking
for work
- Feeling “down on their luck”
B.) Women
- Kept families together (Grapes of Wrath)
- Kept track of finances
- Worked outside the home
- It was just as hard for women to show their
hardships
C.) Life as a hobo
- Travelled and
worked where they
could
- Had a very
defined sub-culture
Hobo Code
I.) Dealing with the Depression
A.) Hoover
- Believed in “rugged
individualism”
- Government should
not help individuals
- Indirect help for the
poor
What would you do?
II.) The New Deal
A.) F.D.R. (1933)
1. Glass-Steagall Act 1933
- Fed. Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC)
- Provided insurance up to $5K
2. Federal Securities Act 1933
- Companies were liable for misinformation
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
3. National Industrial
Recovery Act (NIRA)
- set wages,
established labor
standards
- wanted to ensure
fair business
standards/promote
industrial growth
B.) Critics of the New Deal
- Huey Long: Believed FDR did not do enough
- Conservatives believed New Deal gave too
much control to the Fed.
- Economists disliked Deficit Spending
IV.) Eleanor Roosevelt
• Helped her husband with social programs
• Traveled the country, reported her findings
• Help provide ideas for the New Deal
V.) Second New Deal
A.) FDR’s second 100 days in office
1.) Farmers
- Many had lost their farms
- Soil Conservation Act & Domestic Allotment Act
2. Students/Young people
- High unemployment
- Works Progress Admin. (WPA)
5. Retired Workers
- Poverty
- Social Security Act
Set aside money for retirement
6. Disabled, Dependents
- Social Security Act
-- Unemployment Compensation: State tax
on employers