Opener: (You’ll see in the next slide) December 5th, 2016 Learning Target: I will be able to identify the causes and issues of the Great Depression so that I can understand what life was like at the time. Literacy Target: To gain both general and content specific knowledge Opener: (You’ll see in the next slide) Grab some paper….Get ready for notes!

Which of these numbers seems the most staggering to you? Why? Opener ¼ The unemployment rate rose to 25% 1/3 Between 1929-1933, the quantity of goods and services produced in the US reduced by 30% 80% The stock market lost 80% of its value Which of these numbers seems the most staggering to you? Why? Jamie, here I will ask all the students to stand, and then have the appropriate amount of them take a seat (1/4th, 1/3rd, or 80%) and I will explain what each number represents. If you put this in presentation mode you will see that they appear one at a time.

Setting the Scene (Review) “The Roaring Twenties were the period of Great American Prosperity which was built on shaky foundations.” J. Paul Getty Post WWI Good times of the 1920s Spending big, Living large Hoover is President Surplus of crops after the war (red flag!) Very small upper class and very large lower class “The rich get richer, the poor get poorer” Introduction of credit Hides the problem (red flag!) Europe owes the U.S. a lot of money So where did it go wrong?

The Crash (also review) September 3rd, 1929 The stock market begins to sputter and fall October 24th, 1929 “Black Tuesday” Stock prices plummet. Panic begins. People try to sell stocks for anything. October 29th, 1929 “Black Thursday” Stocks completely collapse. Banks begin calling in loans. People try to pull their money out of banks, cleaning out their reserves

Banks Collapse (start taking new notes ) 1929: 641 Commercial Banks Failed 1930: 1,350 more 1931: 1,700 more In total, 7,000 banks failed Why the banking collapse? Misguided monetary policies The Federal Government had limited money supply in 1929 in order to discourage lending Result: Not enough money in the system when the panic started This led to deflation : reduction of the level of prices in the economy

Take a moment Summarize the ideas so far Then share with a partner Don’t forget to sign your partner’s paper!

Businesses Fail, Unemployment Soars Seeing the stocks fall, people stop spending so much money Leading to…companies panic and begin to lay off employees By 1933, 25% of Americans were unemployed Becomes a cycle-- Worker Incomes Shrink Spend Less Money Businesses cut production Close more factories Cut hours and/or fire workers

Tariffs Tariff: a tax paid on imports or exports, usually done to protect the domestic marketplace Smoot-Hawley tariff (1930) Increased the cost of imported goods in an attempt to protect the U.S. markets Based on Protectionist ideals—protect the domestic market by restraining foreign trade Led to retaliation in some countries protective tariffs were made against U.S. goods This completely closed some markets, and harmed international trade The Depression goes global

Not just an American depression… Europe was still struggling with war debt Prosperous 1920s in Europe was based on American loans When the U.S. stock crashes, there was less money going to Europe Debts pile up and economies go down in Europe Germany could no longer pay U.S. agrees to suspend payment from France and England Same cycle begins to happen in Europe Tariffs begin to hurt European business as well

Take a moment Give one get one Write one thing you find interesting Share, then write down your partner’s idea Don’t forget to sign your partner’s paper!

Hard Times in America If jobs weren’t cut, hours were People began to move around to look for jobs Many families relied on soup and bread kitchens to feed their families Families sold anything of value to stay afloat Still, many Americans were evicted from their homes and moved into homeless camps

Hoovervilles Homeless families began to move into makeshift shantytowns Shantytown: a settlement of improvised housing within cities made of whatever is available Most people there lived in tents or shacks One of the largest ones sprung up in Central Park. This one is in Seattle The term refers to President Hoover

Prices Plunge, Famers lose out Farms were over-producing since WWI Farms fell into debt because they couldn’t sell their crops After the crash, people couldn't afford as much food Farms fell further into debts, not able to sell most of their harvest. Then they couldn’t pay for their seed, equipment , or pay their existing debts Led to falling prices in food Ex: A bushel of wheat in 1919 cost $2.16; in 1932 it sold for 38 cents People still couldn’t pay this; farmers still lost money. ANOTHER CYCLE Many families lost their farms because of this 1930-1934, almost one million farmers lost their farms

Take a moment Draw it out Sketch an idea from the information so far Share with a partner Don’t forget to sign your partner’s paper!

The Dust Bowl To make the situation worse, there was an ecological disaster Huge drought in the plains states + poor farming techniques = the Dust Bowl Plowed up the natural grasses of the prairie, made the topsoil loose Did not rotate crops, which ruined the soil Normal winds on the plains began to sweep up massive clouds of the remaining soil Mostly in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado

Migration Between the poor income from farming and the Dust Bowl, thousands had to move to find work Whole families would move to find work became known as Okies Rumors of jobs did not often work out Large population boom in cities because of rumors of jobs

Family Life Hard on men, who had been the traditional “breadwinners” Women did anything they could to support the family Children often fell by the wayside Many ran away, and many quit school Other children worked to support the family Many families broke apart

Minorities Americans who identified as minorities often got the short end of the stick Last to be hired, first to be fired Blacks experienced new racism Legal Mexican immigrants and their American children were often forced to return to Mexico through repatriation Repatriation: the process of returning a person to their place or origin, usually voluntarily How? In this case, encouragement from local, state and federal government

Take a moment In a word Define the Great Depression only using one word Share with a partner Don’t forget to sign your partner’s paper!

Closure What caused the Great Depression? Why do you think studying the Great Depression is important? Self Reflection (1-4) and “Today I learned”