the Great Depression and
the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s
“Brother can you
spare a dime?”
STOCK MARKET CRASH
OF 1929
• “Black
Thursday”,
October 24, 1929
• “Black Tuesday”,
October 29, 1929
1929-1939
• Stock market
crash
• Didn’t realize
the effect it
would have
• No money to
replenish what
was borrowed
Many found being broke
humiliating.
The Roaring 20’s
• The new concept of
“credit”
• People were buying:
– Automobiles
– Appliances
– Clothes
• Fun times reigned
– Dancing
– Flappers
– Drinking
Why was this bad?
• Credit system
– People didn’t really have
the money they were
spending
• WWI
– The U.S. was a major
credit loaner to other
nations in need
– Many of these nations
could not pay us back
The Stock Market
• People bought stocks
on margins
– If a stock is $100 you
can pay $10 now and
the rest later when the
stock rose
• Stocks fall
– Now the person has
less than $100 and no
money to pay back
And then….
• With people panicking
about their money
investors tried to sell
their stocks
– This leads to a huge decline
in stocks
– Stocks were worthless now
• People who bought on
“margins” now could not
pay
• Investors were average
people that were now broke
• Herbert Hoover was
president at the start
• Philosophy: We’ll
make it!
• What He Did: Nothing
• The poor were looking
for help and no ideas
on how to correct or
help were coming
• Farmers were already feeling the effects
– Prices of crops went down
– Many farms foreclosed
• People could not afford luxuries
– Factories shut down
– Businesses went out
• Banks could not pay out money
• People could not pay their taxes
– Schools shut down due to lack of funds
• Many families became homeless and had
to live in shanties
Many waited in unemployment
lines hoping for a job.
People in cities would wait in line for
bread to bring to their family.
Some families were forced to relocate
because they had no money.
“Hooverville”
• Some families were
forced to live in
shanty towns
– A grouping of shacks
and tents in vacant
lots
• They were referred to
as “Hooverville”
because of President
Hoover’s lack of help
during the depression.
Hooverville, 1933
A squatter settlement built by Seattle,
Washington’s homeless.
*FDR*
• When he was
inaugurated
unemployment had
increased by 7
million.
• Poor sections (like
Harlem) had 50% of
the pop. unemployed
• Instated the “New
Deal”
DROUGHT BEGINS TO
PLAGUE THE MIDWEST
• 1931- Severe drought hits the
midwestern and southern plains. As the
crops die, the 'black blizzards" begin.
Dust from the over-plowed and overgrazed land begins to blow.
• 1932 The number of dust storms is
increasing. Fourteen are reported this
year; next year there will be 38.
A drought in the South lead to
dust storms that destroyed crops.
“The Dust Bowl”
The South Was Buried
• Crops turned to dust=No food to
be sent out
• Homes buried
• Fields blown away
• South in state of emergency
• Dust Bowl the #1 weather crisis
of the 20th century
1934 – THE DROUGHT
WORSENS
• 1934 May
Great dust storms
spread from the Dust
Bowl area. The drought
is the worst ever in
U.S. history, covering
more than 75 percent of
the country and
affecting 27 states
severely.
DUST BOWL (DUST STORMS) OF THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS 1934-1935
Dust Storm Approaching Startford, Texas, 1930s
Black Sunday
April 14, 1935
• 24 hours of a
blinding dust
storm
• Dreaded
black-blizzard
covers entire
disaster area
• Drought adds
further
devastation
Two Families During
the Depression
A Farm Foreclosure
Some families tried to make money by
selling useful crafts like baskets.
THE VICTIMS OF THE
DUST BOWL
•
•
•
•
•
Colorado
Kansas
Oklahoma
New Mexico
Texas
• Devastation of
their cropland
• Respiratory
health issues
• Unsanitary living
• Rampant crime
• Debt-ridden
families
DUST BOWL ORPHANS
• Mass exodus to
California
• Opportunities
in Russia
• Migrant
workers
become source
of cheap labor
1937-1939 - FDR Shelterbed Project
The project called for large-scale planting of trees across the Great
Plains to protect the land from erosion. Native trees were planted
along fence rows separating properties, and farmers were paid to
plant and cultivate them. The project was estimated to cost 75
million dollars over a period of 12 years. In 1938, the extensive
work re-plowing the land into furrows, and planting trees in
shelterbelts resulted in a 65 percent reduction in the amount of
soil blowing. However, the drought continued.
1939 – The Drought Ends
• 1939 In the fall, the rain
comes, finally bringing an end
to the drought. During the next
few years, with the coming of
World War II, the country is
pulled out of the Depression
and the plains once again
become golden with wheat.