1. Americans Face Hard Times
Discuss the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effects on the depopulation of rural regions, with particular attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California
EQ: How did the Great Depression affect the lives of urban and rural Americans?

2. Unemployment and Bankruptcy
100,000+ businesses and 4,000+ banks closed between 1929 and 1932
unemployment skyrocketed up to 25% by 1933
Ford fired 75,000 workers
income dropped %
debts remained the same
thousands searched the country for jobs and there were none

3. Unemployment and Bankruptcy, con’t
volunteer groups and local governments couldn’t provide enough help
Long Breadlines
“Hoovervilles” appeared near many communities
Towns policed the rails to keep migrants from stopping in their towns
11.6.3

4. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
They used to tell me
I was building a dream.
And so I followed the mob
When there was earth to plow
Or guns to bear I was always there
Right on the job.
I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead.
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad I made it run
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad
Now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower up to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime.
Once I built a tower,
Now it's done.
Once in khaki suits,
Ah, gee we looked swell
Full of that yankee doodle dee dum!
Half a million boots went sloggin' through hell
And I was the kid with the drum!
Oh, say don't you remember?
They called me Al.
It was Al all the time.
Say, don't you remember?
I'm your pal.
Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Brother can you Spare a Dime - Song and Video
11.6.3

5. The Dustbowl Long drought dried out the Midwest
strong winds carried away millions of tons of topsoil from North Dakota down to Texas
100 mile/hour winds blew dirt 8,000 feet in the air
the dirt blew as far as Boston
led to government-funded irrigation projects
11.6.3

6. Answers:
1. B
2. D

7. Farmers and Migrant Workers
farmers couldn’t make money because prices fell
Wheat fell from $2.16 in 1919 to $0.38 in 1932
Cotton fell from $3.52 in 1919 to $0.65 in 1932
banks seized and sold farms and equipment
350,000 Okies and Arkies went to CA for migrant labor
Okies and Arkies just like in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath

8. Impact on Families some fled the cities to go back to the country
men worked at lower pay
women tried to find ways to earn money
children dropped out of school
11.6.3

9. Impact on Minorities tensions between ethnic groups increased
unemployment among AA’s was 50% in 1932
100,000s of Hispanics were repatriated to Mexico
11.6.3

10. Essential Question – 1 paragraph, SUTW
How did the Great Depression affect the lives of urban and rural Americans?