The Great Depression

Slide 1

The Nations Sick Economy

• Towards the end of the 1920’s serious problems threatened economic prosperity.

• Railroads, textiles, steel barely made a profit.

• Crop prices declined causing farmers to lose their farms.

• Congress tried to help the farmers with price supports, but Coolidge vetoed them.

• More than 70% earned less than needed for a decent standard of living.

The Stock Market Collapses• Speculation: Buying Stocks on the chance of a

quick profit without considering risks. • Buying on the Margin: pay part of selling price

in cash, borrow the rest from the bank• Early September stock prices peaked, then fell.• Investors begin selling their stock• Prices edge downward creating a panic• Investors try to unload their stock

Slide 2

The Stock Market Collapses (Con’t)

• Black Tuesday: October 29, 1929- orders to sell stock at any price begin to swamp the stock exchange.

• Fortunes made during the boom were lost in hours

• Stock Market Crash signaled the end of prosperity in the 1920’s.

• Thousands of banks close in early 1930’s

• Economy reaches rock bottom by 1932

Slide 3

Unemployment Hurts Everyone

• Hit industrial cities of North the hardest– People struggle with feelings of boredom and

humiliation– Relief systems ran out– Many were forced to beg to feed their

families– Shantytowns or “Hoovervilles sprang up– Charitable organizations opened up soup

kitchens to feed the hungry.

Slide 4

The Dust Bowl• Early 1930’s- lower than average rainfall

• Farmers had removed the thick protective layers of prairie grassland

• Farmers exhausted the land through over production

Slide 5

Dust Bowl Cont…

More than a million people traveled along Route 66 to California- heard they needed people to help pick the crops

They were known as “Okies”- paid low-migrant farm worker wages

John Steinbeck wrote “The Grapes of Wrath about this.

President Hoover Loses His Battle With the Economy

• Hoover tried to restore confidence in the American economy.

• Tried to convince businesses not to lay off employees

• Hoover felt aid should come from charities and local government not the federal government

• Hoover’s popularity declines

• Many hold Hoover responsible for the Depression

Slide 9

Bonus Army Marches into Washington D.C.

• WWI Veterans demand early pay of bonus promised to them

• Hoover refuses

• 20,000 Veterans march

• General MacArthur ordered by Hoover to remove veterans– Armed with tanks, military rifles, tear gas

torches- attacked unarmed veterans• Dozens injured • Vivid photos appeared in the paper Slide 10

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Emerges as a Political Leader

• Promised a “New Deal” for the American people

• Roosevelt beat Hoover by a landslide• By the time Roosevelt took • office- country was in the worse • economic crisis ever.

Slide 11

The New Deal

– Roosevelt started many government programs to help the country climb out of the depression

– Expanded the role of government, much to the dismay of many Republicans

– Created a large government deficit.– Many of the programs are still

around today (Social Security,

F.D.I.C, Securities and

Exchange Commission to

name a few.