Great Depression- DBQ
Mr. Pourchot & Aaron Shires - ERHS
Historical context: The Great Depression was steeper and more protracted (extended) in the United States than in other industrialized countries. The unemployment rate rose higher and remained
higher longer than in any other western country. As it deepened, the Depression had far-reaching political consequences. The Depression vastly expanded the scope and scale of the federal
government and created the modern welfare state. It gave rise to a philosophy that the federal government should provide a safety net for the elderly, the jobless, the disabled, and the poor, and
that the federal government was responsible for ensuring the health of the nation's economy and the welfare of its citizens. The stock market crash of October 1929 brought the economic prosperity
of the 1920s to a symbolic end. For the next ten years, the United States was mired in a deep economic depression.
“Talking Dust Bowl Blues” by Woodie Guthrie,
1937
"Back in nineteen twenty-seven
I had a little farm and I called that heaven,
Well, the price was up and the rain came down
And I hauled my crops all in to town. . . .
Rain quit and the wind got high,
And a black old dust storm filled the sky,
And I swapped my farm for a Ford machine
And I poured it full of this gasoline. . . .
We got out to the West Coast broke,
So dad gum hungry I thought I'd croak,
And I bummed up a spud or two,
And my wife fixed up a 'tater stew."
Based on this document, identify two
problems Vera faced during the Great Depression.
How does Guthrie compare the 20s to the 30s?
30s
20s
VS.
Code to hear the
actual song
Vera: First Hand Account
This excerpt is from an article about Vera, a college-educated woman in New York City who was deeply affected by the Great Depression. Vera
Vera has never had a job. Almost every day of her first year in New York was spent in the discouraging routine all too familiar to the
inexperienced college graduate looking for work. Employment agencies and prospective employers were usually indifferent to her
plight when they discovered her lack of experience. And the money she spent on stamps for answering want ads was wasted; her
letters never elicited [brought] replies.
For a time she lived on a small inheritance. But by the summer of 1934 it was gone and she seemed as far as ever from any hope of
getting a job. Despite the intense heat and the growing nausea and weakness of slow starvation she continued to look for work for a
month after her funds gave out. During this period she did not pay any rent for her furnished room and for food she depended almost
entirely on occasional dinner invitations from her friends. There were not many of these invitations because she did not tell any- one
how desperate her situation really was. Sometimes, though, she would borrow a dollar, which usually went for carfare when she got
so tired she couldn’t walk further, or, contrary to her better judgment, for food.
After four weeks of assuring her landlady that she would soon get a job and pay her rent she came home one night to find that all
her clothing and personal belongings had disappeared during her absence. Frantic, she appealed to the landlady who told her that
every- thing would be returned when she paid her rent. The value of her possessions was of course far greater than the amount of
unpaid rent and she asked friends to loan her twelve dollars, the sum of her indebtedness. When she went home that night to
redeem her possessions she found that a new lock had been put on the outside door of the house and that her key no longer fitted
it. She rang the bell and knocked for a long time, but there was no answer…
Source: Ruth L. Porterfield, “Women Available,” The American Mercury, April 1935
Which year from the graph had the lowest percent
of unemployment?
What percent?
Which year from the graph had the highest
percent of unemployment?
What percent?
According to this graph, how many years did it
take to get to the highest unemployment percent
from the lowest unemployment percent?
Firsthand Account of the Great Depression
"My father walked the streets everyday. . . . My mother went to work. I even worked,
playing the piano for dancing class on Saturday mornings for fifty cents an hour. My
mother would find a few pennies and we would go to the greengrocer and wait until
he threw out the stuff that was beginning to rot. We would pick out the best rotted
potato and greens and carrots that were already soft. Then we would go to the butcher
and beg a marrow bone. And then with the few pennies we would buy a box of barley,
and we'd have soup to last us for three or four days. I remember she would say to me
sometimes, 'You go out and do it. I'm ashamed.'"
How did the Great Depression affect Clara and her family?
What did Clara do for work? When did she do this work?
What did Clara’s family eat?
“We’d like to Thank You” From Annie The Musical (1977)
Today we're living in a shanty
Today we're scrounding for a meal
Today I'm stealing coal for fires
Who knew i could steal?
I used to winter in the tropics
I spent my summers at the shore
I used to throw away the paper-We'd like to thank you: Herber Hoover
For really showing us the way
We'd like to thank you: Herbert Hoover
You made us what we are today
Prosperity was 'round the corner
The cozy cottage built for two
In this blue heaven
That you
Gave us
Yes!
How has the Great D. changed the characters’ lives?
What did they do before the Great D.?
Who are they blaming for the Depression?
Who do you think these characters voted for, Smith
(Democrat) or Hoover (Republican)? Why?
We're turning blue!
They offered us Al Smith and Hoover
We paid attention and we chose
Not only did we pay attention
We paid through the nose.
What are these men in line for? Why?
How does the clothing on these men imply that the Depression was wide reaching?