Mr. Judd Streetsboro High School

The Great Depression took place from 1930 to During this time the prices of stock fell 40%. 9,000 banks went out of business. 9 million savings accounts were wiped out. 86,000 businesses failed. Wages were decreased by an average of 60%. The unemployment rate went from 9% all the way to 25%. About 15 million jobless people. Facts and Figures

So, what caused this Great Depression? Low Interest Rates Federal Reserve kept interest low; this encouraged companies to borrow money and expand more than necessary. It also encouraged member banks to make risky loans. Overproduction Companies (and farmers) made more goods than could be sold. Uneven Distribution of Wealth While manufacturing output per person rose 32%, the average worker’s wage increased only 8%. Therefore, most Americans did not earn enough to buy up the flood of goods they helped produce. High Tariffs High tariffs like the Hawley-Smoot restricted foreign demand for American goods. Stock Market Speculation Low interest rates encouraged borrowing money to speculate, endangering bank solvency. Falling Demand With too many goods unsold, production was cut back and employees were laid off.

Cyclical Effect Automobile sales declined The loss of demand meant less demand for: Industry slowed, which caused: Which helped contribute further to: oil steel rubbertextiles Lower wages unemployment

Heavy stock speculation and buying on margin led to the stock market crash on Oct. 29, sometimes referred to as Black Tuesday.

Hard Times Hoovervilles

Bread Lines and Soup Kitchens

During the 30s, there were thousands of foreclosures. Farmers borrowed money from banks to buy more land or new machinery. Farmers pledged their assets as security on the loan. After the stock market crashed people could not pay their loans and lost everything. The Depression in Rural Areas

The Dust Bowl Drought, winds and over farming wreaked havoc on the Great Plains during the 1930’s. Listen to Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Blues

Plagued by dust storms and evictions, many farmers left behind their land and went to California. These migrants, known as Okies, found work as farmhands. “I wouldn't pray just for a old man that's dead, 'cause he's all right. If I was to pray, I'd pray for folks that's alive and don't know which way to turn.” --John Steinbeck, “The Grapes of Wrath”

During the Great Depression, as many as 300,000 transients-or hoboes- wandered the country, hitching rides on railroad boxcars and sleeping under bridges. By 1939, over 50,000 trespassers had been killed or injured on railroad property.

Children Suffer Hardships Poor diets and a lack of money for health care led to a dramatic rise in malnutrition and diet-related diseases-such as rickets. Many left school to work.

“Migrant Mother” (1936) Dorothea Lange “I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet… she said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food.” --Dorothea Lange (Photographer)

Gassing the Bonus Army In 1932, World War I veterans and their families marched on Washington, D.C. to demand the immediate payment of a bonus they had been promised for military service. When some of the marchers refused to leave after the Senate denied their request, President Hoover called out the regular army. Gas was used to disband the marchers. Most Americans were stunned and outraged by the government’s treatment of the veterans. This was a huge blow to President Hoover’s image.

Hoover and Federal Projects On the one hand, President Hoover opposed federal welfare and intervention in the economy. On the other hand, he felt that government had a duty to help solve problems and ease suffering. “… handouts will weaken people’s self- respect and “moral fiber.” Lets build a dam!!

Hoover Dam