Great Depression

Standard 5-4: The student will demonstrate an
understanding of the economic boom-and-bust in
America in the 1920s and 1930s, its resultant political
instability, and the subsequent worldwide response.

Indicator 5.4.2: Summarize the stock market crash
of 1929 and the Great Depression, including
economic weakness, unemployment, failed banks
and businesses, and migration from rural areas. (P,
G, E, H)
Remember life in
?
1920’s Culture
The flapper
 Short hair for women
 Hats for men and women
 Dancing
 Silent movies

“The Jazz Age was wicked
and monstrous and silly.
Unfortunately, I had a good time.”
Heywood Broun
The stock market crash of
1929 marked the end of the
economic boom of the 1920s
and the start of the Great
Depression of the 1930s.
BUT- it wasn’t the only cause
of the Great Depression
Our real problem was with the economy.
• Not everyone had enough $$$ to buy products
• Factories had made more than they could sale
• So they began to lay off workers
• Credit was out of control
• People who had invested in the stock market,
realized this. They started selling their stocks.
This sale was made worse because some
investors had borrowed in order to buy stocks
and could not pay off their loans as the value
of stocks declined. The stock market crash
resulted.
What was life like
in the 1930’s?
Spiral effect
Bank
failures
No $$ to
buy
People
couldn’t
pay off
loans
Businesses
fail
People laid
off
The Results

Bank Failure
So- why was it called the Great
Depression?
The worst economic crisis of the century
 Over 13 million people unemployed
 Many lost their homes
 Homeless people began to make shifthouses out of scrap lumber and empty
boxes in parks

These shantytowns came to be
called Hoovervilles, named after
President Herbert Hoover.
Loss of homes
 “Hoovervilles”

Here were all these people living in old
rusted-out car bodies. ... One family ... [was]
living in a piano box. This wasn't just a little
section, this was maybe 10 miles wide and 10
miles long. People living in whatever they
could junk together. ..."

Unemployment
The Dust Bowl conditions of the
Midwest led others, such as the
Okies, to migrate to California
where they sought jobs as
migrant workers.

Dustbowls
A traveler noticed a nice new hat by the side of the road, and he stopped to pick it up.
Under the hat was a man, buried up to his neck in the dust! As he dug the poor fellow out,
the traveler asked if he wanted a ride into town. "No, I'll get there myself,"
the man replied, "I'm on a horse."
(Excerpt from THE DUST BOWL by Tricia Andryszewski, p. 33.)
Hoboes- unemployed young men
and young women who took to
the highways or rode the rails
from town to town seeking work
or a handout
*Extension: Use Test your Hobo
skills PP
Other photos of
the
Depression

“The only thing we have to fear
is fear itself”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Our greatest primary task is to put people to work”
President’s Plan
FDR’s New Deal
Relief for the needy
 Recovery- Jobs provided
 Reform- Business and government
reformed

Your group is racing the other
groups to find out about the
following:
1-Civilian Conservation Corps
2- Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, The FDIC
3- Securities and Exchange
Commission
4- Social Security
What do they do? AND Are any of
these in effect still today????
CCC
- unemployed men who went to
work for our country:
- planting trees
- fighting fires
- insect and disease control
(tree army)
Temporary
FDICThe Federal government will
insure the money deposited into
the bank.
Securities and Exchange
Commission
-set up to protect investors in the
stock market
Social Security
-It provides monthly payments to
the elderly, the disabled, and
unemployed.
- Payments are paid for by taxes
on employers and employees.