1930s: The Great Depression

What was life like during the Great Depression? Inquiry Question What was life like during the Great Depression?

The Stock Market Crash: 1929 September 3: Stock prices peaked and then suddenly fell causing panic and selling October 24: Newspapers reported that millions of shares were sold – the market drops again October 29: “Black Tuesday”- investments are now useless and people are bankrupt

Causes of “The Great Depression” Black Tuesday Overproduction of the 1920s: there was now no money to buy goods, so production halts Layoffs & Unemployment: no need for goods means no need for jobs Dependency on Selling to the U.S. Buying on Credit: people used credit in the 1920s and could not pay off debts

What Was Life Like in the Depression? No Homes, No Food People had bought homes on credit and could not afford to pay it back Mortgages and rent couldn’t be paid which caused evictions or repossession of homes People sold everything just to survive

“Bennett Buggy” People could no longer afford gasoline and some hitched horses to cars for transportation Relief Lineups Municipal governments, as well as charities and churches, tried to supply help to those in need.

What Was Life Like in the Depression? No Jobs Companies and farms were going out of business when the stock market crashed – people became desperate People begin writing to Prime Minister R.B. Bennett asking for help…

Prime Minister Richard Bedford Bennett Conservative Party Won the 1930 campaign against W.L. Mackenzie-King who had been Prime Minister from 1921-1930 (with the King-Byng disruption in the middle) Took advantage of a mistake Mackenzie-King made in a campaign speech and ran with it, used it against him Canadians were looking for change and help through the Depression and Bennett promised to “end unemployment” He would lose to Mackenzie-King in 1935 after a last-ditch attempt at winning the people over with a “New Deal” much like President Roosevelt’s in the U.S. PM from 1930-1935

What Was Life Like in the Depression? Letters to Prime Minister Bennett Dear Sir, I am writing to see if their is any help I could get. As I have a baby thirteen days old that only weighs  one pound and I have to keep in cotton Wool & Olive Oil,  and I havent the money to buy it, if their is any help I could get their will be two votes for you next election  Hoping to hear from you soon Yours Truly, Mrs. Jack OHannen  Murray Harbour, PEI Bennett sent the young mother five dollars - enough money to cover groceries for about a month.

Important People, Places and Things What Was Life Like in the Depression? Important People, Places and Things “Black Tuesday”(1929) “Bennett Buggies” R.B. Bennett