the great depression in the united states may 4, 2015 - american history
TRANSCRIPT
THE
GREAT
DEPRES
SION
IN T
HE UNIT
ED
STATE
S
MA
Y 4
, 2
01
5 -
AM
ER
I CA
N H
I ST
OR
Y
DEPRESSION IN CITIES• Lost jobs = evicted • Shantytowns
•Hunger spread through cities• Soup Kitchens
• Bread Lines
Shantytown
Shantytown
Shantytown
Soup Kitchen
Soup Kitchen
Bread Lines
DEPRESSION IN RURAL AREAS•Some farmers could grow their own food•Many farms foreclosed
•Many people had no where to turn• Hoboes
• No direct relief
• Children left home
DUST BOWL•Caused from drought in 1930s •Windstorm in 1934 • Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado•Okies = migrants
EFFECTS OF THE DEPRESSION•Altered people’s daily lives• Forced to give up necessities
•Suicide/Mental Illness• Suicide rate rose more than 30%
•Mental Institutions
HOOVER & THE DEPRESSION•“Any lack of confidence in the economic future…is foolish”•Government’s role was to encourage and facilitate cooperation, not to control it. •Took slow, cautious steps
HOOVER & THE DEPRESSION• “Built Boulder Dam• Renamed “Hoover Dam”
•Democrats win 1930 Congressional Elections• Shantytowns renamed “Hoovervilles”
•Direct Intervention• Federal Home Loan Bank Act• Reconstruction Finance Corporation
THE BONUS ARMY•Made up of WWI Veterans• Up to 20,000 marched on Washington
•Patman Bill Denied• Authorized government to pay bonus to WWI vets
•Hoover disbands the Bonus Army•Military force
• Hurt Hoover’s image further
“The 12th infantry was in full battle dress. Each had a gas mask and his belt full of tear gas bombs… At orders, they brought their bayonets at thrust and moved in. The bayonets were used to jab people, to make them move. Soon, almost everybody disappeared from view, because tear gas bombs exploded. The entire block was covered by tear gas. Flames were coming up, where the soldiers had set fire to the buildings to drive these people out…Through the whole afternoon, they took one camp after another. “