3.3 The Dirty Thirties: The Great Depression & The Dust Bowl Essential Question: What factors led to the Great Depression? What were the effects of the Depression and how did people cope with life’s struggles during the Great Depression? How did Hoover’s policies about the Great Depression influence people’s opinion of him?

Review of the Roaring 20s In what ways were the 20s different compared to the previous decades in America? Spending - Consumerism Advertising Business New technology for farmers Exports/imports

President Herbert Hoover In 1929, former Secretary of Commerce (from Harding and Coolidge Administrations) Herbert Hoover became America’s 31st president. He was elected under on the platform for “American Modernization” He thought to achieve this, government needed to continue its policy on having little to no control over businesses including banking and the stock exchange What are the consequences of this (good and bad)?

From Boom to Bust The causes of the Great Depression are widely debated.  There was no single cause, but several things when working together made it happen. a weak banking system over-production of goods over spending (kind of like today) bursting credit bubble High tariffs (tax on a good of trade) Stock Market Crash

Wall Street Crash The Wall Street Crash in October of 1929 was one of the main causes of the Great Depression.  This stock market crash was the most devastating crash in the history of the United States.  On “Black Tuesday,” October 29, 1929, the stock market lost $14 billion, making the loss for that week an astounding $30 billion.  It took 23 years for the stock market to hit the high it was at before the crash.

Problems with the Market But, why did the market crash exactly??? Answer: Stocks were being sold on margin What does this mean exactly?

Buying on Margin Buying on margin is an example of using leverage (or borrowed money) to maximize your gain when prices rise. This type of leverage is great in a favorable (bull) market, but it works against you in an unfavorable (bear) market. Say you want to buy a house a $100,000 house, but don’t have the hard cash to pay for it, what do you do? You purchase it with a $90,000 mortgage/loan (borrowed money) But, after a year, the house falls in value to $80,000 (property values can decrease during economic hard times – like today) Your outstanding debt of $90,000 is now greater than the value of the property/house Because you owe more than you own, it is negative net worth (Leverage is a double-edged sword) Shares of stock work the same way – if you can’t buy as many shares as you want – you borrow the money from a broker (buy stock on margin), if the stock you bought dives, you owe more than you own – then you go bankrupt

High Tariffs “Europeans can’t buy goods from Americans because Europeans can’t sell goods in the American market. Obviously, they don’t have the chance to earn the money they need to buy our goods.” What does this statement mean? That high tariffs also led to the Great Depression Europeans were limited on what they could buy from America and what they could sell to America because of high tariffs

Snowball Effect What do you think peoples’ reaction to this event was? Customers rushed to their banks to withdraw their money, causing disastrous “bank runs.”   People who had been very wealthy lost everything they had and some committed suicide.   Many companies went out of business and huge numbers of people lost their jobs.  At the peak of the depression in 1932, 1 out of every 4 people were without a job (25% of population) Between 1930 and 1935, nearly 750,000 farms were lost through bankruptcy or sheriff sales.

“Hoover-isms” People who lost their homes often lived in what were called “Hoovervilles,” or shanty towns, that were named after President Herbert Hoover. There was also “Hoover Stew” which was the name for food handed out to the poor at soup kitchens.   “Hoover Blankets” were newspapers that were being used to cover people like a blanket.  “Hoover Hogs” were jack rabbits that were used for food “Hoover Wagons”  were broken down cars that were pulled by mules. How do you think these terms reflect the people’s opinion of Hoover? THAT HE WAS TO BLAME FOR THE DEPRESSION – WHY? BECAUSE HE DID NOTHING TO HELP THE PEOPLE OUT http://kmgreatdepression.weebly.com/hoovervilles.html

Hobos Some people who became homeless would ride on railroad cars, because they didn’t have money to travel. Some believe that more than 50,000 people were injured or killed while jumping trains. Many of these people traveled together and were called hobos

Effects on Children Almost half of the children who were living in the United States at that time did not have enough food, shelter, or medical care. Many suffered diseases. By the 1930s, thousands of schools were operating on reduced hours or were closed down entirely. Some three million children had left school, and at least 200,000 took to riding the rails either with their parents or as orphans

Effects on Women and Non-natives African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans and women were bitterly discriminated and the hardest hit during the Great Depression. They were looked at as the groups that could take jobs away from white men. 

Effects on the Family The Great Depression also changed the family in several ways. Many couples delayed getting married, and divorce rates and birth rates dropped. Some men also abandoned their families.  A 1940 poll revealed that 1.5 million married women had been abandoned by their husbands.

Monopoly and other Symbols of the Depression The board game Monopoly, which first became available in 1935, became popular because players could become rich during the playing of the game.   The “Three Little Pigs“ was seen as a symbol of the Great Depression, with the wolf representing the Depression and the three little pigs representing average citizens who eventually succeeded by working together.

The Originals

Depression Goes Worldwide The Depression did not only affect the country of America, but who else might it affect? Other countries who depended on us for goods and trade The fact that the Depression spread to other continents and nations shows that nations were interdependent on the finances of each other

Worldwide per capita Income during the Depression

Farming in the 20s Was far less profitable due to mechanization and overproduction With the immergence of new machines, fewer farm hands were needed In addition, machines were better able to tear at the earth in much larger quantities than people had been able to As a result, there was a huge amount of goods being grown (too much), and this made the price drop Scarcity equals value (let me explain)

Causes of The Dust Bowl To keep up with the population growth and the need for more crops in the 1930s, farmers over-plowed the land in the Great Plains. A drought occurred making matters worse The land was nothing more than a huge area of loose dry dirt with no vegetation holding it into the ground

The Dust Bowl Severe drought and dust storms made the Great Depression even worse, because it dried out farmlands and forced families to leave their farms. On May 9, 1934, a dust storm carried about 350 million tons of dirt 2,000 miles eastward and dumped four million tons of prairie dirt in cities as far away as Chicago. The drought and dust killed tens of thousands of animals and some people.

What would you think if you had seen this for the first time?

After the Dust Settled

Dust Storms Today in Arizona

Effects of the Dust Bowl Thousands of people migrated to the west coast from the plains region affected by drought So what were some of the options people had at this time in response to the Dust storms ruining their crops? Let’s see how you would decide what was best for you and your family if you had been faced with this decision – BUT FIRST. . .

Quiz – The Depression Short Answer What two things led to less farming profits in the 20s? Why couldn’t Europeans buy American goods? Who did the American people blame for the Depression? What percentage of workers in America were unemployed by 1932? What geographic factor led to the Dust Bowl?