Unit III – A Modern Unit III – A Modern NationNation

Chapter 11 – The Great Chapter 11 – The Great Depression BeginsDepression Begins

Section Section 2 – Americans Face – Americans Face Hard TimesHard Times

The Roaring Twenties Come to an End [02:53The Roaring Twenties Come to an End [02:53]

The Great Depression Hits the United States [03:24]The Great Depression Hits the United States [03:24]

Homeless People on the Road

Eating in a Breadline

Life in the DepressionLife in the Depression

Life in the DepressionLife in the Depression

The Great Depression in America [04:30]The Great Depression in America [04:30]

The Main IdeaThe Great Depression and the natural

disaster known as the Dust Bowl produced economic suffering on a scale the nation had never seen before.

Reading Focus

How did the Great Depression develop?

What was the human impact of the Great Depression?

Why was the Dust Bowl so devastating?

Americans Face Hard Times

Causes of the Great DepressionCauses of the Great Depression1) The Stock Market Crash of 1929- a trigger.1) The Stock Market Crash of 1929- a trigger.

2) Unequal distribution of Wealth. False 2) Unequal distribution of Wealth. False prosperity (A maldistribution of prosperity (A maldistribution of purchasing power).purchasing power).

3) Overproduction and over dependence on 3) Overproduction and over dependence on mass production.mass production.

4) Unemployment4) Unemployment

5) Speculation in Stock Market- buying on 5) Speculation in Stock Market- buying on margin and cheap moneymargin and cheap money

6) Banking crisis.6) Banking crisis.

7) Trade collapse7) Trade collapse

8) Republican Party8) Republican Party

9) Federal Reserve and Money system9) Federal Reserve and Money system

10) Lack of diversification.10) Lack of diversification.

11) Post war deflationary procedures.11) Post war deflationary procedures.

12) The Credit structure.12) The Credit structure.

Great Depression by the Numbers After the stock market crash, economic flaws

helped the nation sink into the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in history.

The stock market collapse strained the resources of banks and many failed, thus creating greater anxiety.

In 1929 banks had little cash on hand and were vulnerable to “runs,” or a string of nervous depositors withdrawing money. Not all Americans Not all Americans invested but most all had money in savings.invested but most all had money in savings.

A run could quickly drain a bank of all its cash and force its closure.

In the months after October 1929, bank runs struck nationwide and hundreds of banks failed, including the enormous Bank of the United States.

Bank closures wiped out billions in savings by 1933.

Today, insurance from the federal government protects most people’s deposits, and laws today require banks to keep a large percentage of their assets in cash to be paid to depositors upon request.

Farm Failures The hard times farmers faced got worse during the Great

Depression, when widespread joblessness and poverty cut down on the demand for food as many Americans simply went hungry.

By 1933, with farmers unable to sell food they produced, farm prices had sunk to 50 percent of their already low 1929 levels.

Farmers overproduced, surpluses went up and prices Farmers overproduced, surpluses went up and prices went down.went down.

Lower prices meant lower income for farmers, and many borrowed money from banks to pay for land and equipment.

As incomes dropped, farmers couldn’t pay back their loans, and in the first five years of the 1930s, hundreds of thousands of

farms went bankrupt or suffered foreclosure. 1933- over 1933- over 364,000 364,000 foreclosuresforeclosures

Foreclosure occurs when a lender takes over ownership of a property from an owner who has failed to make loan payments.

Unemployment

• The year following the crash of October 1929 saw a sharp drop in economic activity and a steep rise in unemployment.

• Such negative trends are not uncommon in times of economic downturn, but the extent and duration of these trends made the Great Depression different.

• By 1933 the gross national product dropped over 40 percent from its pre-crash levels.

• Unemployment reached a staggering 25 percent, and among some groups the numbers were even higher:

– In the African American neighborhood of Harlem, for example, unemployment reached 50 percent in 1932.

Development of the Great DepressionDevelopment of the Great Depression

UnemploymentUnemployment1929-1930 steep rise in unemployment 1929-1930 steep rise in unemployment

which would last a long time.which would last a long time.1933- GNP dropped more than 40%1933- GNP dropped more than 40%1933- unemployment was at 25%.1933- unemployment was at 25%.Black areas were higher- Harlem up to Black areas were higher- Harlem up to

50%50%

The Development of the Great Depression

How did the Great Depression develop?

Explain- How did people with money in banks end up losing their savings?

Design – What could banks have done to prevent failure as a result of runs?

The Human Impact of the Great Depression

Hoboes

• Hoboes were mostly men, but included teens and women.

• Boarding trains was hard and illegal, and railroads hired guards to chase hoboes away.

• Finding food was a constant challenge, because people had little to spare and rarely shared with hoboes.

• Hoboes developed a system of sign language to warn of possible dangers or opportunities.

The true measure of the Great Depression’s disaster lies in how it affected the American people.

Hoovervilles

• Thousand applied for a handful of jobs, and job loss resulted in poverty for most Americans.

• To survive, people begged door to door, relied on soup kitchens and bread lines. Some went hungry.

• Some who lost their homes lived in shantytowns, or Hoovervilles, named after President Hoover who many blamed for the Great Depression.

Welcome to Hooverville (06:22)

The Human Impact of the Great DepressionThe Human Impact of the Great Depression

Thousands applying for every job.Thousands applying for every job. People begged from door to door.People begged from door to door. Soup kitchens and Bread lines.Soup kitchens and Bread lines. 1930’s- no federal programs to provide food or money 1930’s- no federal programs to provide food or money

to the poor.to the poor. Local Charities, municipal and state gov’t provided Local Charities, municipal and state gov’t provided

relief.relief. 1932 on 1 in 4 families needing unemployment relief 1932 on 1 in 4 families needing unemployment relief

got any.got any. People lost their homes- eviction and foreclosure.People lost their homes- eviction and foreclosure. Hoovervilles- Shantytowns for the homeless.- Hoovervilles- Shantytowns for the homeless.-

Ramshackle, leaky and draftyRamshackle, leaky and drafty No running water or electricityNo running water or electricity Unemployed males were idle and desperate. Unemployed males were idle and desperate. Emotional Toll- personal failure, pride, angerEmotional Toll- personal failure, pride, anger

The Human Impact of the Great DepressionThe Human Impact of the Great Depression HoboesHoboes

Mostly men- unskilled migratory Mostly men- unskilled migratory laborer, an itinerant and seasonal laborer, an itinerant and seasonal worker.worker.

Mostly white, American born, and Mostly white, American born, and able bodied. able bodied.

Hopped trains to travel from town to Hopped trains to travel from town to town- Illegal, dangerous and hired town- Illegal, dangerous and hired “Bulls”.“Bulls”.

Beg or stole food.Beg or stole food. System of sign language.System of sign language. Families sometimes broke under the Families sometimes broke under the

strain of poverty and homelessness. strain of poverty and homelessness. Many left their families behind.Many left their families behind.

The Emotional Impact of the Depression

The Great Depression’s worst blow might have been to the minds and spirits of the American people.

Though many shared the same fate, the unemployed often felt that they failed as people.

Accepting handouts deeply troubled many proud Americans. Their shame and despair was reflected in the high suicide rates of the time.

Anger was another common emotion, because many felt the nation had failed the hardworking citizens who had helped build it.

The Human Impact of the Great Depression

What was the human impact of the Great Depression?

Identify- Who provided relief to the poor during the Great Depression?

Describe – How did the Great Depression affect the minds and spirits of Americans?

Make Judgments- Considering the dangers, why do you think some young men became hoboes rather than try to find a place to settle?

Devastation in the Dust Bowl

• Nature delivered another cruel blow. In 1931 rain stopped falling across much of the

Great Plains region.

• This drought, or period of below average rainfall, lasted for several years, and

millions of people had fled the area by the time it lifted.

• Agricultural practices in the 1930s left the area vulnerable to droughts.

• Land once covered with protective grasses was now bare, with no vegetation to hold

the soil in place.

• When wind storms came, they stripped the rich topsoil and blew it hundreds of miles.

The dust sometimes flew as far as the Atlantic Coast.

• Dust mounds choked crops and buried farm equipment, and dust blew into windows

and under doors.

• The storms came year after year, and the hardest hit areas of Oklahoma, Kansas,

Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas eventually became known as the Dust Bowl.

Devastation of the Dust BowlDevastation of the Dust Bowl Great Plains Drought- Great Plains Drought-

19311931 Dust storms Dust storms

brought on by years of brought on by years of careless agriculture careless agriculture practices.practices.

Wind storms stripped away Wind storms stripped away topsoil and blew it for topsoil and blew it for hundreds of miles.hundreds of miles.

Drifts choked crops, buried Drifts choked crops, buried farms and blew into homes.farms and blew into homes.

Dust BowlDust Bowl

America in the 1930s: The Dust Bowl [01:02]America in the 1930s: The Dust Bowl [01:02]

Fleeing the Plains

American Imagination

• The plight of the migrants captured the imagination of some of America’s greatest writers and artists.

• Author John Steinbeck and singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie described the Dust Bowl and the disaster’s effect on the people it touched.

• Guthrie’s lyrics spoke of the hardships all Americans felt during the Great Depression.

The droughts and dust storms left many in the Dust Bowl with no way to make a living, and some simply picked up and moved:

Migrants

• By the end of the 1930s, 2.5 million people had left the Great Plains states.

• Many headed along Route 66 to California, then settled in camps and sought work on farms.

• The migrants were called Okies, after the state of Oklahoma, but migrants came from many states.

• Many migrants met hardship and discrimination.

For much of the decade, the Depression defied most government efforts to defeat it, and Americans had to fend for themselves.

Devastation of the Dust BowlDevastation of the Dust Bowl MigrationMigration

Fleeing the Plains- Fleeing the Plains- “Okies”“Okies” People quit, packed up and People quit, packed up and

moved.moved. End of 1930’s- 2.5 million End of 1930’s- 2.5 million

left.left. Headed west on Route 66 to Headed west on Route 66 to

California and migrant California and migrant farm camps.farm camps.

Met by resistance and Met by resistance and discrimination.discrimination.

Grapes of WrathGrapes of Wrath- book- book

Migration the Dust BowlMigration the Dust Bowl 4:17 min.

Devastation in the Dust Bowl

Why was the Dust Bowl so devastating? Define- What was the Dust Bowl? Recall – What caused the Dust Bowl? Evaluate – Why do you think people in

California were hostile to migrants from the Great Plains?

Recall – Who were John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie?

Dust Bowl Farmers Migrate to CaliforniaDust Bowl Farmers Migrate to California 2:50 min.