1. Unit 6 - Hardship and Suffering during the Depression

2. The Depression in the Cities
People lost jobs, homes – became homeless
Shantytowns emerge
later called Hoovervilles
Self-constructed homes made from scraps, built on unoccupied land

8. The Depression in the Cities
People lost jobs, homes – became homeless
Shantytowns emerge – later called Hoovervilles
Soup Kitchens and Bread Lines
Provided free or low cost food
Run by Charities and govt. agencies
Became common sights

12. The Depression in the Cities
People lost jobs, homes – became homeless
Shantytowns emerge – later called Hoovervilles
Soup Kitchens and Bread Lines
Provided free or low cost food
Run by Charities and govt. agencies
Became common sights
Minorities
Faced lower wages and higher unemployment rates
Increased racial violence due to job competition with whites

14. The Depression in Rural Areas
Farmers lost their land
Faced with falling prices and rising debt
400,000 farms lost through foreclosure ( )
The Dust Bowl
Drought in Great Plains
Drought combined with poor farming practices
Topsoil blown away
Farmers leave their land – head west
Okies – migrants seeking work on west coast
Hundreds of thousands of families head west

22. Ch 22 sec 3

23. Hoover’s Philosophy on the Depression
Opposed federal welfare or direct relief
Believed handouts would weaken self-respect and moral-fiber
Individuals, charities and local organizations should help

24. Country angry at Hoover for inaction
Displeases Americans
Shantytowns – Hoovervilles
Newspaper blankets – Hoover blankets
Empty pockets turned out – Hoover Flags
Congressional elections of 1930
Democrats win control of House
Republican Majority in Senate down to one
Country angry at Hoover for inaction
Hoover blamed for difficulties of the Depression

25. Hoover Finally Takes Action
Federal Home Loan Bank Act (1932)
Lowered mortgage rates for homeowners
Allowed farmers to refinance and avoid foreclosure
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1932)
$2 Billion in emergency financing for businesses
Hoover believed money would trickle down to the hungry
Businesses continued to fail
Too little too late

26. The Bonus Army (1932)
10-20,000 WWI veterans and their families arrive in Washington, DC
Veterans were owed a bonus to be paid in 1945
Cash and life insurance policy
$500 per soldier
Bonus army wanted money immediately (Patman Bill)
Hoover calls them Communists and criminals
Senate votes against Patman Bill

28. The Bonus Army (1932) Most of the Bonus Army leaves
2000 stay – hope to meet with president
Hoover orders the US Army to remove Bonus Army
11-month old killed
8 year-old partially blinded
2 people shot
Hurts Hoover’s image even more
American outraged by treatment of Veterans.