1929 - 1941. great depression economic disaster that hit the united states following the stock...
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1929 - 1941
Great DepressionGreat Depression
• Economic disaster that hit the United States following the stock market crash of 1929
• It involved widespread business failure and massive unemployment
Causes of the Great Causes of the Great DepressionDepression
Cause #1Cause #1
1. Over speculation on stocks• Stocks bought on margin – part
cash/part credit• Loans could not be repaid after
Stock Market Crash• People’s homes repossessed
Cause #2Cause #2
2. Black Tuesday October 29,1929• Stock Market crashed • 16 million shares traded (daily
average 4 million)• Many businesses instantly went
bankrupt
Cause #3Cause #33. Failure of Federal Reserve
• Failed to supply banks with enough money to prevent the banking system from collapsing
• Caused Americans to lose their savings
Cause #4Cause #44. Smoot-Hawley Act
• Put high tariffs (taxes) on imported goods to force people to buy American products
• Other countries placed retaliatory tariffs on American products
• These actions stopped world trade and caused businesses to fail
Impact of the Great Impact of the Great DepressionDepression
Unemployment & Unemployment & HomelessnessHomelessness
• 25% of Americans unemployed
• Hoovervilles – neighborhoods of homeless people; named after President Herbert Hoover
Businesses FailedBusinesses Failed• Surviving
businesses had to cut wages and fire most employees
• Labor unions became militant
Businesses FailedBusinesses Failed• Demanded
companies rehire workers
Collapse of Financial Collapse of Financial SystemSystem
• Banks did not have any money for people to borrow
• Federal Reserve did not have money to loan banks so they could stay open
Farm Foreclosures and Farm Foreclosures and MigrationMigration
• Dust Bowl – farm area of U.S. which experienced a drought in 1920’s and 1930’s
• Farmers went bankrupt and couldn’t pay bank loans
Farm Foreclosures and Farm Foreclosures and MigrationMigration
• Farmers moved west to California to work on fruit farms
Political UnrestPolitical Unrest• Bonus Army –
20,000 WWI veterans marched on Capital demanding pension payments
Political UnrestPolitical Unrest• People
demanded government do something to create jobs and generate money
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