1.
The great depression

2. Causes of the depression
2a, 2c, 5a, 6b
Causes of the depression

3. Key terms and people Herbert Hoover Speculation Black Tuesday
Business Cycle
Great Depression
Hawley-Smoot Tariff

4. Prosperity hides trouble
The Roaring Twenties was a REPUBLICAN decade
Harding and Coolidge advocated big business
Laissez-faire
1928 Election
Herbert Hoover will run for the Republicans
Easily wins the election

5. Problems in the agricultural sector
Farmers faced difficult times in the 1920s
They had increased production during WWI to meet war demands
More land, more machines, etc
After the war, demand dropped sharply
However, production remained high
Farmers couldn’t sell their crops=prices plummeted
Couldn’t pay their hefty debts
The result was a rural depression

6. Uneven distribution of wealth
Wealth disparity
The wealthy were getting richer, but the poorer continued to get poorer
The wealthy couldn’t make up for what they poor couldn’t afford to buy
Easy Credit
The ability to purchase goods on credit hid the problem for a while
Americans were accumulating more and more debt

7. The stock market crashes
Speculation
Too much money being poured into stock market
People hoping to get rich overnight
Buying on the margin meant that people owed A LOT of money
October 29, 1929
Black Tuesday
People rushed to sell their stocks and the market crashed
Millions lost their life savings in a matter of hours

8. The great depression begins
Lasted from *****
The Banks Collapsed
Crisis in confidence
People “ran” to the banks to withdraw their money
“Bank runs” caused banks to fail and close their doors
Some people lost any money that they had deposited in the banks
The “feds” had limited money supply prior to crash to discourage lending. Not enough money in circulation to help rebound the stock market crash

9. Businesses close and unemployment rises
Stocks falling
Businesses closed plants and laying off workers
Snowball effect: production cuts continued to grow
Tariffs Add to the Problems
Hoover tried to fix the problem
Protect American business from foreign competition
Issued the Hawley-Smoot Tariff (highest ever)
Backfiredstopped all international trade and worsened the worldwide depression

10. Primary causes of the depression
Unsold agricultural surplus
Increasing farm debt
Hardships in Europe
Uneven wealth distribution
Rampant stock market speculation

11. Americans face hard times
2b, 5a, 5c
Americans face hard times

12. Key Terms and people Bread line Hooverville Tenant farmer Dust Bowl
Okies
Repatriation

13. American cities Massive unemployment
Led to widespread poverty and homelessness
Breadlines: where people lined up for handouts from charities or public agencies
Hoovervilles: makeshift shantytowns of tents and shacks built on public land or vacant lots
Name showed that the American people blamed Hoover for the Depression

14. Rural america Crop prices fell even further
Many farmers left their farms to find work
Farmers that couldn’t pay their bills lost their farms and became tenant farmers
Working for bigger landowners rather than themselves
The Dust Bowl
Affected the Great Plains
Resulted from drought, loss of topsoil, and high winds
Many people migrated from the area
Okies

15. Women, children, and minorities
Shared in the anxiety and stress
Had to take on work to supplement family’s income
Children
Some ran away from home
Some quit school
Minorities
Had to endure racism
Magnified their communities’ economic hardships

16. Hoover’s response fails
1b, 2c, 6a
Hoover’s response fails

17. Key terms and people Localism Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Trickle-Down Economics
Hoover Dam
Bonus Army
Douglas MacArthur

18. Volunteerism At first, Hoover followed a “hands-off” policy
Social Darwinism
Soon realized this was not going to work
Hoover called on business leaders to maintain employment, wages, and prices
Essentially it was a policy of doing NOTHING
Called on wealthier individuals to give more many to charities

19. Cautious RESPONSE FAILS
Hoover had faith in localism
Problems could best be solved at local and state levels
Believed businesses and individuals would find better and faster solutions if they were allowed to work them out themselves
Government legislation imposed on them would not benefit them

20. Hoover adopts more activist policies
Hoover was being blamed for the Depression
Associated his name with suffering
Hoover decides to use federal resources
Believed the country suffered from a lack of credit
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Government loans to railroads and businesses
Loaned money to banks so they could lend to businesses
Trickle-down economics
Hoover Dam
Brought much needed employment

21. Bonus army
World War I veterans had been promised a bonus to be paid in 1945
The “Bonus Army” marched on Washington demanding early payment to help alleviate the Depression
Hoover vetoed the bill and a riot broke out
Hoover called on General Douglas MacArthur to get the Bonus Army out of Washington
Used excessive force
Photographs showed up in the newspapers and Hoover, once again, received the blame
This was the “nail in his presidential coffin”