USHC- 6.3b Explain the causes and consequences of the Great Depression, including the disparities in incomes and wealth distribution; the collapse of the farm economy and the effects of the Dust Bowl; limited government regulation; taxes, investment; and stock market speculation; policies of the federal government and the Federal Reserve System; and the effects of the Depression on the people.

The Impact on People It was the worst economic disaster to ever hit the US ***At one point the unemployment rate was 25% ***The US had no system of unemployment benefits ***People are unable to pay mortgages or rent. They lost their homes. ***Wages and hours of those still employed were cut ***People rushed to withdraw money from the bank causing them to close (run on the bank) ***When the banks failed, then everybody who had money in the bank lost it

Impact on Families ***Marriages were delayed ***The birth rate fell ***Divorce rates declined, but many men abandoned their families Other families pulled together to help each other out Unemployed men lost status, and women and children were forced into the workforce to help families

The Dust Bowl During WWI farmers had unknowingly stripped the land of its protection. Poor farming techniques and drought combined to create a disaster in the early 1930’s. ***The Dust Bowl -was a series of storms that hit the mid-west. They picked up loose soil and huge clouds of dust blanketed houses and even cities. Hundreds of thousands of farmers were displaced to become homeless migrants. John Steinbeck wrote a book called The Grapes of Wrath about displaced farmers from Oklahoma. These displaced people went to California where they were called Okies.

Impact (continued) ***Countless numbers of people became homeless and many people had to rely on soup kitchens and breadlines that provided food for the poor. ***Homeless people in the cities would gather together to live in homemade shacks. These makeshift villages were called “Hoovervilles” State and private charities could not alleviate the suffering, and increasingly people looked to the federal government for solutions