Causes of the Great Depression

Great Depression Unit Part I

Presidential Election of 1928
Republican domination and prosperity throughout the
20s (Coolidge Administration)
The Candidates
Herbert Hoover Republican candidate
Al Smith Democratic candidate (Irish Catholic, not well
known)
Hoover easily wins the election
444 electoral votes, Smith - 87 electoral
Significance Shows that the American public are
happy with Republican leadership

Herbert Hoover
(Republican) 30
th

President of the United
States of America.

Hoover is remembered as
the President during the
start of the Great
Depression

He calls for Rugged
Individualism In the
style of laissez-faire politics
Causes of the Depression
Industrial failures (# 1)
Railroads, textiles and steel barely made a profit
Due to new forms of transportation, high tariffs, and war
time debt.
Coal mining and lumbering not in such high
demand after the war.
Even the automobile, construction and consumer
goods industries began to weaken by the end of the
decade.
American industry is showing signs of weakening.
Causes (Cont)
Farmer Crisis (# 2)
During the war, crops prices rose and farmers
took out loans.
In the 20s, farmers boost production in hopes
of making more money (prices decrease)
Farm incomes decrease greatly and many
farms have to foreclose and property seized
Price-Supports / Subsidies Govt plan to buy
surplus goods and sell them to the world market
Causes (Cont)
Living on Credit (# 3)
Consumers bought goods on credit spending
money they dont actually have
Overspeculation (Buying on Margin) Invest in
more stock than they can afford
Consumers and investors build up large debts
Causes (Cont)
Uneven distribution of wealth ( # 4)
Despite the rise of a middle class, the rich
get richer and poor get poorer
Most Americans could not participate in the
economic advances of the 1920s.
Middle and Lower classes affected the
greatest during the Depression
Stock Market Crashes
Stock market prices begin to fall and confidence
decreases.
Black Tuesday (Oct. 29, 1929) Bottom fell out of the
market
Shareholders sell their stocks before prices go down even
more.
Many suffer huge debts while others lose most of their
savings.
Investors lost about $ 30 Billion (same as US spent on WWI)
The Big Bull Market was dead. Billions of dollars
worth of profits and paper profits had
disappeared. The grocer, the window cleaner, and
the seamstress had lost their capital [savings]. In
every town there were families which had suddenly
dropped from showy affluence into debt With the
Big Bull Market gone and prosperity going,
Americans were soon to find themselves living in an
altered world which called for new adjustments, new
ideas, new habits of thought, and a new order of
values.
~ Frederick Lewis Allen
The Collapse An Overview
Great Depression Period from 1929-1940 in which
the economy plummeted and unemployment
skyrocketed.
Bank Failure By 1933, 11,000 of 25,000 banks fail
(Govt did not protect bank accounts and people lose
their savings)
Many other businesses fail (90,000 businesses total)
Unemployment rises drastically (25% or 13 million
workers)
Economic Depression becomes a worldwide
problem.
Worldwide Panic
Many European countries affected more than
the U.S. (German example)
Hawley-Smoot Tariff highest protective tariff
in US history
Supposed to help American businesses from
foreign competition.
Prevents other countries from making money, then
they cannot buy American goods.
Tariff has the opposite effect of its intentions.
Sends the world into greater Depression.
Warm Up: After reading the excerpt, answer the following question:
If you were living during the Great Depression, do you think that you
would feel the same way as Senator Huey Long or would you be
more optimistic about the future of America?
This great and grand dream of America, that all men are
created free and equal, endowed with the inalienable right
of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, this great
dream of America, this great light, and this great hope,
have almost gone out of sight in this day and time, and
everybody knows it. There is a mere candle flicker here
and yonder to take place of what the great dream of
America was supposed to be.
~ Senator Huey Long of Louisiana
The Impact of the Great
Depression on Society
Great Depression Unit Part I
With millions
unemployed, men looked
everywhere for jobs to
put food on the tables for
their families.



The Depression impacts
not just those with money
in the Stock Market, but
even the common worker
and family.
Impact in the City
The depression hits families harder than it does
businesses.
Throughout the cities, the unemployed and
homeless increase and have to find a new way to
survive.
Shantytowns Little towns consisting of shacks
spring up everywhere (also called Hoovervilles)
Soup Kitchens become common place
Bread Lines lines of people waiting to receive
food provided by charities
Breadline full of men in New York City
Impact on the Farm
Many farmers lose land through foreclosures
Dust Bowl Because of overproduction and
drought, the farmers in the Midwest leave their
land and head to California
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Dust is blown all over the Midwest and the East
coast
Okies Term that originally meant all
Oklahomans but eventually meant all migrants
Thousands of families arrive in California
looking for work and a place to live
A lone man stands
during the Dust
Storms in
Oklahoma
Dust Bowl in Oklahoma during the Great Depression
Okies on their
way to
California, a
photograph very
much like the
scenes from
Grapes of
Wrath
The American Family
Families stand as a symbol of strength, but
even they begin to break under the
pressures
Families entertain themselves by listening to
radio and playing games
Monopoly 1933
Many suffer the difficulties of unemployment
and families lose their homes
Homeless Family on the road during the Depression
Men of the Depression
Some men abandon their families because
of shame and discouragement
Hoboes Mostly men who wandered the
country, sleeping under bridges and on
railroads (approx. 300,000)
Very little relief to families during the early
years of depression

Women of the Depression
Women still responsible for much of the
household chores and raising children
Work diligently to save money and some even
work
Many people become angered that women are
working since many men were not.
Women suffer just as much as men even though
they are not seen suffering as much
Migrant Mother
(1936) is the most
well-known
photograph from the
Great Depression time
period
By Dorothea Lange
Children of the Depression
Poor diets and health problems (lack of
milk)
Many schools lose funding and have to
close down (children forces to work often
times in sweatshops)
Many young teenagers leave home for
adventure and work (many are killed by
criminals or injured on the trains)
The inside of a school in Alabama
African Americans & Hispanics
Unemployment is 30%-60% than whites
Still have to deal with discrimination and
segregation
African American organizations become split
because of goals (Fighting poverty v. Ending
discrimination)
Many Hispanics were forced to relocate
Psychological Effects
Negatives
Between 1928-32, suicides rise more than 30%
Many more admitted to mental institutes
Health, marriage, and even the future of families are
put off
Positives
There is a sense of brotherhood that is formed.
People helping one another through difficult
situations (strong sense of charity)
Habits formed during the Depression shape an
entire generation