Georgia before the Great Depression

“The roaring 20s” During the 1920s the United States was enjoying a lot of prosperity. BUT NOT GEORGIA!

Depressing Georgia’s Agriculture Boll weevil What: Long-snouted beetle that laid eggs in the cotton bolls Larvae ate the cotton (the white, fluffy part)   Originally from Mexico When: Arrived in Georgia in 1915 Immediate effects: Destroyed 1000s of acres of cotton -Cotton production dropped -Cotton Prices dropped

-Farmers diversify crops (plant different crops) Boll Weevil Long-term affects: --Farms failed -Farm-related businesses failed -Farmers diversify crops (plant different crops) -Poultry becomes more important than plant crops -Industry grows -Georgia was already in a depression before the 1930s -Farmers left GA for cities in the North

Drought 1924 What: lack of precipitation for a long time Immediate effects: -Loss of crops + Slowed down the boll weevil -375,000 farm workers left GA Long-term effects (similar to boll weevil effects) -Farms failed -Banks failed -Businesses failed -Depression -Industry

Exodus of Farm Workers When: 1920s-1960s What: 1000s of southern farmers (mostly African-American) moved North to work in factories, shipyards, steel mills, meat packing plants Immediate effects: -Farms and farm-related businesses shut down -Population of African-Americans decrease in the South and increase in the North

Exodus of Farm Workers Long-term effects: -Overcrowded cities -Poverty -competition between blacks and whites for jobs -KKK and racism spread throughout the U.S.