Life during the Great Depression (How depressing!)

Overview of Causes What were the main causes of the Great Depression? Overproduction in agriculture and manufacturing. Uneven distribution of wealth; the rich got richer but didn’t buy more to equal their percentage of wealth Easy credit hid the country’s economic problems. Stock speculation

Short Term Effects Bank Closures Businesses Closing High unemployment Homelessness

Politics in the Mix Hoover was hands off at first and wanted the regular business cycle to take care of itself Opposed direct federal public assistance. Economist John Maynard Keynes argued that after the crash, the government failed to interfere in the economy, allowing it to plummet.

Later when the cycle did not reverse, Hoover reduced taxes Asked for wealthy to volunteer their resources and help on local and state levels. He wanted “trickle-down” economics” Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) $2.5 billion Give money to banks so that they can loan to businesses Public Works Projects: Hoover Dam project

“Brother Can You Spare a Dime?” By 1933, unemployment was 24.9% Hours and wages were cut for the working. Free food offered by local charities breadline

“Why should I be standing in line, Just waiting for bread? Once I built a railroad, I made it run, Made it run against time. Once I built a railroad, now it’s done--- Brother can you spare a dime?”

Poverty in America Unemployed and homeless in the cities “Hoovervilles” Makeshift shantytowns of tents and shacks built on public land or vacant lots

Men and teens traveled the country looking for work “Rode the Rails” Hobos

Farmers Farmers had land and equipment repossessed “We had been poor, but we knew every night there was a bed there, and this was our room….But that all of a sudden changed. When you’re small, you can’t figure these things out. You know something's not right and you don’t like it , but you don’t … let that get you down. You sort of just continue to move.” ~Cesar Chavez Family lost their( his fathers) home in California

Effect on Families Some men rose in strength while others collapsed in despair, literal depression Abandonment Birthrates plummeted Teens left home and “rode the rails” Women worked at odd jobs Children left school

Minorities Last hired, first fired Unemployment for African Americans hovered around 50% by 1932—double the national average. “The Negro was born in depression. It didn’t mean much to him…It only became official when it hit the white man.” Mexican Americans competed with whites for farmhand jobs in the west

The Bonus Army 1932 WWI vets Came to D.C. to get the bonus Congress had promised they would be given in 1945 20,000 marched on D.C. Driven out MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Patton Goodbye Hoover

Bonus Marchers at the Capitol

U.S. Army vs. the Bonus Army Can Hoover be re-elected after this?

Quick Write Brainstorm one problem below and think about how you might have solved the problem back then. Unemployment across the nation Farmers debt Mid-west Drought Urban poverty

Migrant Mother By Dorothea Lange Most famous picture of the Great Depression

What created the Dust Bowl?

Dust Bowl Great Plains experienced a drought in the 1930s. Natural grasses had been ploughed up Named the Dust Bowl Dust clouds: displaced twice as much dirt as was scooped out of the Panama canal. “The Dirty Thirties” Lung Diseases and some go crazy

Leaving the Midwest “Okies” =people moving out the Dust bowl of Oklahoma Many travel to California

Tested by extreme hardship, this generation of Americans forged a character and will strong enough to overcome economic ruin and restore prosperity.