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TRANSCRIPT
Unit 4 – 1920s and the Great Depression
Section 3 – Causes & Hardships of the GD
4.3 - CAUSES & HARDSHIPS
OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
The Students Will Be Able To (TSWBAT):
Identify the major short term and long term effects of the Great Depression
Analyze primary source documents to evaluate and understand the effects of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression on American citizens
LEARNING TARGETS & KEY WORDS
Key Words:
Republican
Credit
Buying on Margin
Speculation
Stock Market Crash
Bank Run
Dust Bowl
Overproduction
EQ: What were the major
causes and effects of the
Great Depression? How
did it negatively affect the
American people?
I. CAUSES OF THE GD
Elected in 1928 (after
Coolidge)
Party: Republican
Term: 1929-1933
31st Pres.
Country elects another
Republican because of a
booming economy
Aims for the end of poverty
“Two cars in every garage”
HERBERT HOOVER
1928 ELECTION
(1) Government Policies – Republicans
Government/business cooperation
Congress cut taxes on corporations
and wealthy individuals (Coolidge)
(2) Industries in trouble
Textiles, steel, and railroads struggle
to make profits after boom time of
WWI
Overproduction – Lower consumer
demand leads to surplus of goods
LONG-TERM CAUSES OF THE
GREAT DEPRESSION
(3) Agricultural Issues
During WWI, int’l demand for
crops caused prices to rise
Farmers planted more crops to
meet demand & took out more
loans to buy land and expensive
equipment
After WWI, demand for farm
products decreased Crop prices fell
Overproduction/surplus
LONG-TERM CAUSE, CONT.
(4) Consumer Issues
Overbuying on credit (spurred by advertising)
Radios, automobiles, etc.
Rising prices, wages remain the same
Uneven distribution of wealth
LONG-TERM CAUSE,
CONT.
WAGES ARE
STAGNANT
(5) International
Problems
After WWI, European
demand for American
goods declines
European industry
regaining its footing
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
Highest protective
tariff in US history
LONG-TERM CAUSE, CONT.
(6) Stock Market
Throughout 1920s, stock prices steadily increased
More and more people bought stocks and bonds
This leads to more speculation
Investors buying stocks and bonds on the chance they might make a quick profit, ignoring any risks
Buying on margin = Buying stocks on credit
Paying a small % of the stocks’ price as a down payment and borrowing the rest from stockbrokers
If your stock price declined, you had no way of paying it back
LONG-TERM CAUSE, CONT.
October 1929 In Sept, stock prices began to decline Confidence in market began to waver
Many investors pulled their money out and sold their stocks
In October, market took a huge plunge and panicked investors tried to unload their stocks Black Tuesday – October 29, 1929
People & businesses frantically trying to sell stocks before prices fell further
16 million shares dumbed
By mid November, investors lost $30 billion
People lost their life savings in 1 day
THE SHORT TERM SPARK
Bank Run: People rushing to the
bank to withdraw their savings, but
the money was gone
CRASH OF 1929
II. LIFE DURING THE GD
Dust Bowl
Period of extreme drought in
Middle America
Over tilling/farming of the soil
Massive dust storms
An already difficult life for farmers
gets harder
Cities
Shantytowns/Hoovervilles – Groups
of shacks created by people
evicted from their homes
Soup kitchens
Bread lines
HARD TIMES HIT
HOME
HOOVERVILLES
Family Life
By 1933 12 million workers were out of work
That was ¼ of the US workforce!
Men on the move constantly looking for work
Women take on brunt of family work
Malnutrition
Social Effects
More suicides, mental illnesses
Loss of the American dream
HARD TIMES, CONT.
During the Depression, loss of self -esteem was perhaps the most devastating to the unemployed man who traditionally had been the breadwinner for the family. What connections does self -esteem have with unemployment, then and now?
Is it more difficult for a man to face unemployment than a woman? Is it more difficult today than it was during the Depression?
What is the unemployment rate today?
5.5% as of February
In 1933, it was up to 25%
In 2010, the highest was 9.8% (highest during recent crisis)
DISCUSSION/PHOTO ANALYSIS
“Migrant
Mother”
Photographer:
Dorothea Lange
Photograph
Comparison
Activity:
http://docsteach.org/act
ivities/1506
“I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions . I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty -two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean-to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it.”
- Lange, “The Assignment I'll Never Forget: Migrant Mother,” Popular Photography, February 1960
DOROTHEA LANGE, ON THE “MIGRANT MOTHER”
EQ: What difficulties did Americans face during the Dust Bowl in the Great Depression?
Groups of 3-4
Directions:
(1) Read Background
(2) Questions - Using your Document Set (1 or 2) and the audio clips on my website (douglassamerican2.weebly.com), answer questions
Complete sentences and CITE YOUR SOURCES!
(3) Diary Entry
On big chart paper, write a diary entry as a group that will be displayed in the classroom on a gallery walk
THE DUST BOWL: WHAT HAPPENED HERE?