Chapter 21 Section 2 Americans Face Hard Times US 2

Misery and Despair Grips Americas Cities Unemployment reached 25% in 1933, had never been above 3.7% during the 1920’s Workers who kept jobs often had hours cut and brought home significantly less money than pre-depression Families were forced to wait on breadlines or go to soup kitchens to get their next meal Americans sold all of their belongings to be able to pay rent and keep their homes, yet many were evicted and sent to the streets Hoovervilles, shantytowns built in many of the nations cities, housed the homeless in makeshift tents and shacks One of the largest Hoovervilles was located in NYC in Central Park

Poverty Devastates Rural America Page 712-713 What problems did farmers face during the Great Depression? What happened to the cost of wheat and cotton between 1929 and 1932? How many farmers lost their land between 1930-1934? Define Tenant Farmers

The Dust Bowl The Great Plains region had been heavily farmed during the early 1900’s Water was a normal problem for the region but a drought in the 1930’s was far worse than normal By 1932 drought, loose topsoil from farming and high winds caused the “Dust Bowl” Dust storms could be as high 8,000 feet and move up to 100 mph Some farmers decided the combination of the dust storms and depression were too much to handle and moved West for jobs, these people were called Okies The Dust Bowl forced the government to intervene and help farmers by building dams in western rivers to provide water to the plains

Impact of Depression on Family Life Men who lost their jobs: some worked tirelessly to find new jobs or string together enough work to get by while others simply deserted their families becoming “Drifters”: homeless, jobless hitchhiking and riding the rails (estimated 1 million men by 1933) birthrate dropped to the lowest in US history Children often dropped out of school and looked for ways to find work to help the family Divorce rate dropped (can’t afford separate households) Wedding plans postponed During the depression the idea of family changed, many families were broken up due to the economic strain or extended families moved in together

Minorities suffer hardships African Americans were “the last to be hired, and first to be fired” according to a Howard Univ. sociologist Lost jobs to “whites” (In South, no right to jobs if whites need them) Unemployment at 56% by 1933 for black Americans State and local Relief programs discriminated: Relied on Black churches (ex. Father MJ Divine in Harlem) Relied on National Urban League Reasons African-Americans left South: Many were kicked off farms where they had sharecropped Denied civil rights: education, voting, healthcare Increase in lynchings There were few jobs available in the West because of the influx of Okies coming from the Plains In the Southwest US many states worked to encourage Mexican Americans to move back to Mexico, Americans called this “repatriation”