PROSPERITY AND
DEPRESSION
CHAPTER 5
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WHAT TWO EVENTS CHANGED CANADIANS' ATTITUDES?
• Prosperity - 1920s
• Poverty - 1930s
• The 1920s were years of economic
growth and prosperity, during which
newly developed technologies
became part of everyday life for
many Canadians.
• The 1920s led to the Great
Depression of the 1930s when
Canadians experienced severe
economic hardship.
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WHAT WERE THE PROBLEMS FOLLOWING WWI? (P. 78)
• Canada’s economy had to switch
from a wartime to a peacetime
economy.
• Typically Canada produced food,
manufactured goods, as well as
weapons and ammunition.
• The European demand for
Canadian goods fell creating a
slump in the economy.
• There was a decreased demand for
wheat and fish, particularly in the
Maritimes.
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WHAT WERE THE PROBLEMS FOLLOWING WWI? (P. 78)
• Goods and services became
more expensive because
companies produced mostly
war goods.
• This drove up the prices for
everyday goods.
• Unemployment went up and
wages did not keep pace with
the increases.
• Often returning soldiers could
not find work.
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WHAT LEAD TO THE PROSPERITY OF THE 1920S? (P. 78-79)
• Buoyant Economy – Central
Canada, BC and the Prairies
• Mining – There was an increase
in demand in iron ore, nickel, zinc
and copper in the BC region.
• Agricultural Production Mainly from the boom in wheat
production in the Prairies.
• Trade with the United States –
This occurred most specifically
from pulp and paper demands.
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WHAT LEAD TO THE PROSPERITY OF THE 1920S? (P. 78-79)
• Buoyant Economy – Central Canada,
BC and the Prairies (Continued)
• Changing Technologies – The
widespread use of electricity
increased machinery production.
• Assembly Lines – These increased
the number of products that could be
made.
• Manufacturing - Companies such as
Ford, General Motors and General
Electric built factories inside of
Canada to help reduce tariffs – A tax
paid from importing items to different
areas.
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WHAT LEAD TO THE PROSPERITY OF THE 1920S? (P. 78-79)
• These areas did not achieve the
same BOOM as others. They were
experiencing low demands in many
items that they use to produce.
Their economy began to grow slowly
in comparison to other areas of
Canada, or even declined.
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• Shipbuilding - One of the most important
economic mainstays in the region began to
dwindle.
• Increased Freight Rates - Government
increased the railway freight rates (main
terms of transporting goods).
Clarenville Ship
Yard Construction
• Stalled Economy – Maritimes
and the Dominion of NL
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WHAT LEAD TO THE PROSPERITY OF THE 1920S? (P. 78-79)
• Stalled Economy
- Maritimes and
the Dominion of NL (Continued)
• Lack of Hydroelectricity – This was
slower to develop than central regions of
Canada due to less money being invested to
develop it. This meant that industries could
not advantage of the new technologies.
• Reliance on Natural Resources - Fishing,
farming, mining and forestry were the main
sources of income. However, these too
faced hard times when the United States
increased tariffs.
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WHY WERE THE 1920S CALLED THE
‘ROARING TWENTIES’?
• Good times and a lot of social
freedoms
• Many new technologies and
inventions
• Mass production of new
products that were readily
available
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WERE THE 1920S A PERIOD OF EQUALITY?
(P. 81-84)
• The Haves
• People believed that the good times
were there to stay and started to buy
using credit.
• Installments – buy now pay later
• Layaways – payments made things
possible
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• Wish Lists
• Cars – $1.00 down and $1.00 weekly
• Telephones – though calling was
expensive 1 in 4 families had a phone
• Electric appliances – aggressive
advertising and monthly payments
made items more attractive
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WERE THE 1920S A PERIOD OF EQUALITY? (P. 81-84)
• The Have Nots
• The poor in rural and urban centers
lived from day-to-day
• Lived by bartering
• Poor living conditions
• Women were expected to be wives and
mothers (left school by grade 8)
• Even educated they were paid less than
men
• Child Labour Laws (1929) improved the
lives of children in the workforce.
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• Aboriginals were ‘assimilated’
• Children were forced to attend schools,
were taken from their families and
forbidden to speak their language engage
in practices of their culture, etc.
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WHAT WERE THE BENEFITS OF MATERIAL POSSESSIONS?
• Cars
• Telephones
• Electrical appliances
• Leisure Activities – (P. 85-86)
• Short working hours/more
money
• Radios
• Silent movies
• Canada’s Golden Age of Sport
• An increase in spectator sports
• Women began to take an active role
in sports
• 1928 women won gold in the
Olympics in Track and Field
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HOW DID ATTITUDES OF THE DAY CHANGE? (P. 86)
• Relaxed atmosphere
• People sought entertainment
• Night clubs became popular
• Flappers – women took full
advantage of the night life
• They would drink, smoke and dance
• Fashions changed
• Hemlines went up
• Hairstyles were ‘boyish’ in nature
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WHAT WAS THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION? (P. 87-88)
• October 29, 1929 is known as
Black Tuesday, This was the
date on which New York’s
Stock Market crashed. It was
this event that began the era
of the Great Depression.
• Stocks – a share in the ownership of a
company
• Dividend – a promised share in a
company’s profit
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WHAT WAS THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION? (P. 87-88)
• Because the 1920s was such a
prosperous period
people
ignored the fact that stocks could
fluctuate and that they were not
‘guaranteed’.
• Most companies sold stocks so
that they could raise money to
mass produce.
• There were fluctuations in the SM
that started on October 24th but
people did not really take it
seriously.
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WHAT WERE THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION? (P. 88)
• Life Styles
• People lived beyond their means.
• Lust for material goods
• Easy credit
• Manufacturing Practices
• Companies continued to produce
and stockpile products thinking
that times would always be good.
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WHAT WERE THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION? (P. 88)
• Surplus of Wheat
• Financial Institutions
• Prairie farmers grew a surplus
of wheat when prices peaked.
Suddenly prices and demand
dropped.
• Canada - U.S. Trade
• Countries began to increase
tariffs on imports.
• Lost markets for fish, lumber,
newsprint and minerals
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• Were not regulated by the
government.
• Companies Downsized
• Companies feeling the pinch
started laying off employees and
cutting expenses.
Julia Webb - Grade 9 Social Studies
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WHAT WERE THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION? (P. 89)
• The government under the
leadership of R.B. Bennett tried a
number of initiatives.
• Public Relief – 20 million in
‘welfare’
• Public Works – building roads, etc.
to get people working
• Tariff Control – tried negotiating
tariff rates with the U.S. and Britain
• Balanced Budget – failed to change
conditions
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WHAT WERE THE SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION? (P. 89-93)
• Unskilled people found it almost
impossible to find work
• Conditions worsened for already
‘disadvantaged’ groups such as
women, the poor, aboriginals and
visible minorities
• Luxuries and the “extras” that
people were use to disappeared
• Homelessness and malnutrition
increased
• Government programs were limited
(insurance, tax credits, etc.)
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WHAT WERE THE SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION? (P. 89-93)
• People tried anything and
everything to get by…
• Panhandling and begging
• Door-to-door sales
• Credit from merchants
• Charity from churches
• Relief camps
• Riding the rails
• ‘The dole’ or ‘Pogey’
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WHAT POLITICAL CHANGES OCCURRED? (P. 94)
• Canadians were very dissatisfied
and considered their political
options:
• Communist Party
• People should have a share of
society’s prosperity.
• Co-operative Commonwealth
Federation
• Believed in public rather than
private ownership of utilities and
transportation, government funded
pensions, etc.
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• Social Credit Party
• Believed that government should
give people money so they could buy
things.
• The Union Nationale Party of
Quebec
• This group proposed reforms to end
unemployment and the hardships of
the Depression.
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