1. Great Depression Begins
“Mellon pulled the whistle, Hoover rang the bell, Wall Street gave the signal, and the country went to hell.”

2. Election of 1928 Herbert Hoover v. Alfred Smith
Hoover wins with his campaign: “closer to triumph over poverty than ever” (Hoover predicts the end of poverty)
20’s marked the reign of prosperity (although it was on a shaky foundation)
Quite and reserved
“Two cars in every garage”

3. Herbert Hoover

4. Warning signs of Economic Downturn:
speculation (buying on chance of quick profit),
buying on margin (paying a small % down and borrowing the rest),
Inflation of stock prices

5. Stock Market Crashes
Oct. 1929: prices begin to fall = confidence waivers
Oct 29, 1929: BLACK TUESDAY, bottom falls out of the market

6. What were the causes?

7. Causes of Depression Overproduction of goods Too much available credit
Less consumption of goods (prices rise, widening of gap between rich and poor)
Farm surplus (increase during WWI, then decreased demand afterward but production remained the same)
High tariff (to protect American industry, but hurts worldwide trade)
No banking regulations
Hawley Smoot Tariff: 1930, highest tariff ever, designed to protect but does the exact opposite

8. Hard Times Hit Home Rural Areas: can grow own food, but many lose land
Cities: jobs lost and evictions
People lose life savings in stock markets and bank closures

9. Dust Bowl—severe drought in mid-west mostly caused by disregard for the land, few trees, and lack of soil erosion techniques
Hard to grow food, land unusable, dust storms, etc.
Farms destroyed
Many will leave and head west in search of jobs

10. wrote “Grapes of Wrath” a novel about the Dust Bowl and a
John Steinbeck
wrote “Grapes of Wrath” a novel
about the Dust Bowl and a
group of migrants or “Okies” that left to go west to California
Picture yourself standing in a field,
not an ordinary field of grass and flowers, but a barren field of dust.
You fix your eyes toward the horizon
and a sigh comes over you as a dust storm rolls your way.
This was life during the dust bowl of the 1930's.

11. due to people losing their homes and being evicted shantytowns emerge.
Hard Times Hit Home:
due to people losing their homes and being evicted
shantytowns emerge.
They were made out of
anything you could find.

12. Shantytowns aka Hoovervilles sprang up all across the country.
“Here were all these people living in old, rusted out car bodies…There were people living in shacks made of orange crates. One family with a whole lot of kids were living in a piano box…People living in whatever they could junk together.”
Shantytown visitor outside Oklahoma City

13. Soup kitchen: low cost or free food
Many people can’t afford to buy food or feed their families.

14. Breadlines
Wait in line for hours to receive food, often bread, from charities

15. Hard Times Hit Home Family Life Changes
men on the move in search of jobs
family as source of strength
some families break apart
Social effects: increased suicide (30%), increased mental illness, ethics change, dreams are forsaken, decrease in overall health and nutrition

16. Men on the move in search of jobs, some abandon families altogether

17. Children suffer—malnutrition and poor health during the Great Depression

19. Bonus Army Marches on Washington
Bonus Army is WWI veterans and their families seeking help
Came to Washington to support a bill under debate in Congress to compensate WWI veterans for their service
When the bill failed, Hoover called them squatters and order them to be removed
Eventually they are disbanded violently (over 1000 gassed and 2 shot with many others injured) and their Hooverville is burned and destroyed

20. Bonus Army (WWI veterans and families) march on Washington and set up a Hooverville in the nation’s capital.

21. Hooverville being destroyed in Washington, D. C
Hooverville being destroyed in Washington, D.C. after Hoover calls for the Bonus Army to be disbanded by Federal Troops

22. Hoover’s Resolve
Rugged Individualism: people should succeed through their own efforts and shouldn’t depend on government
Gave no direct relief (cash payments or food provided by gov’t)
Created gov’t agency to help business recover: RFC (Reconstruction Finance Corporation) provides emergency financing to business to prevent failure
All across the country Hoovervilles shantytowns emerge as people are disgraced at Hoover

23. Rugged individualism: people should succeed through their own efforts, without government help

24. Hooverville (Seattle): shantytowns are coined “Hoovervilles” b/c the American people are frustrated and disappointed in Hoover’s effort to relieve the Great Depression

26. Election of 1932
Franklin D. Roosevelt (distant cousin of Teddy Roosevelt), NY governor, pledged a “new deal” for the American people and help for the common man
Democrats win majority in Congress
Hoover remains a lame duck for several months until FDR takes office
Banking system is in crisis and the Great Depression drags on

28. Franklin Delano Roosevelt runs for office in 1932 against Hoover promising a “New Deal”

29. Hoover remains a lame duck after the November 1932 election in which FDR won. The 20th amendment changes inauguration for the President and Congress from March 4 to January 20 each year.

30. FDR must deal with a crisis in banks, the nation’s sick economy, and the other effects of the Great Depression when he takes office.

31. Essential Questions

32. Review Questions How did the Depression affect the lives of children?
Government food programs improved their nutrition
Home responsibilities increased as mothers went to work
Thousands quit school to look for jobs
Many were required to attend school year-round

33. 2. What was the underlying cause of the Great Depression?
Instability in Europe after WWI
Major weaknesses in the U.S. economy in the 1920s
The policies of Presidents Coolidge and Hoover
Black Tuesday on the stock market

34. 3. This Presidential candidate used the slogan “two cars in every garage” to win in 1928.
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Roosevelt
Calvin Coolidge
Warren Harding

35. 4. Which group of people marched on Washington to demand money from the government?
Populists
Bonus Army
Banking leaders
Stock Market brokers

36. 5. What book of the era was written about the Dust Bowl?
Mickey Mouse
Gone with the Wind
Grapes of Wrath
Great Gatsby

37. 6. Which of the following was NOT a cause of the Great Depression?
Overproduction of goods
Underwood Tariff passed under Wilson
Agricultural Surplus
Too much consumer debt

38. 7. Which BEST describes Hoover’s unwillingness to initiate programs to provide direct relief?
Hoover was a socialist by conviction and inclination
Hoover believed that people in trouble should help themselves
Hoover supported tax cuts for big business
Hoover knew that the economic crisis would soon resolve itself

39. Assignment: 1. Create a Short Story. on the lined paper provided
Assignment: Create a Short Story on the lined paper provided (directions/prompt are below) 2. Then Complete the Ch22 The Great Depression begins worksheet on the back side
Use the information from the notes (p. 51) and the pictures along with your book to compose a short story telling about the causes of the Great Depression (why the stock market crashed, etc) and what life was like during the Great Depression. Please imagine that you are living during the time period—what do you face on a day to day basis, what are your feelings, what is the gov’t and Hoover administration doing to help you? Your story must be at least a page.