The nations Sick Economy & Hardship and Suffering during the depression

Chapter 22 Sections 1 & 2 The nations Sick Economy&Hardship and Suffering during the depression

Industry • Key industries barely made a profit • Some lost business to foreign competition and new technologies • Suffered from declining demand for their goods after WWI • The coal industry declined b/c of the development of new sources of energy • New housing starts declined, affecting other businesses that depended on home construction

Agriculture • After WWI demand for farm products fell drastically • Prices dropped • Many farmers could not pay off their debts and lost their farms, which caused some rural banks to fail • Congress passed federal price supports for farm products, but President Coolidge vetoed them.

Consumer Spending • By making credit easily available, businesses encouraged Americans to pile up a large consumer debt. • Faced with rising prices, stagnant wages, and high levels of debt, consumers decreased their buying.

Distribution of Wealth • Nearly half of American families earned less than the minimum amount needed for a decent standard of living, while the rich got richer. • This unequal distribution meant most consumers had too little money to buy the goods produced by American factories.

Stock Market • Many investors engaged in speculation and buying on margin, fueling the market upward and generating great wealth, but only on paper. • When the market crashed, many investors lost their life savings. • Speculation: Engaging in risky investments- hoping to make a quick profit • Buying on margin is borrowing money from a broker to purchase stock.

Depression Statistics -11,000/25,000 banks closed -90,000 businesses went bankrupt -25% of the population was unemployed -30 billion lost in the stock market by Nov. 1929

Causes of the Great Depression • Tariffs and policies that cut down the foreign market for American goods • Crisis in the farm sector • Availability of easy credit (people in debt) • Unequal distribution of income *These factors led to falling demand for consumer goods.

Chapter 22 Section 2 Hardship and Suffering During the Depression

Employment • 25% of the population was unemployed. • Women, and minority men were discriminated against in the workplace and became targets of hostility.

Housing • Many unemployed people lost their homes. • Many homeless lived in the streets in shantytownsor “Hoovervilles” • Many farmers lost their farms. New York City

Farming • Farmland already exhausted through overproduction was hit with drought and winds turning the plains into the Dust Bowl. • Dramatic decreases in farm prices and income • Many farmers lost ownership of their farms and were forced to become tenant farmers or farm laborers.

Race Relations • Intense competition for jobs sparked existing racial resentments into open hostility and violence. • In 1933 24 African Americans were lynched. • Thousands of Mexican Americans left the U.S. voluntarily or were deported.

Family Life • The Depression strengthened family ties, but also increased family tensions. • Some men abandoned their families, discouraged by their inability to provide for them. • Women also faced greater pressures to provide for themselves and their families.

Physical Health • Poor and homeless people scavenged or begged for food or turned to soup kitchens and bread lines. • Poor diet and lack of health care increased rates of serious health problems. • Malnutrition and starvation grew more common.

Emotional Health • Many people became demoralized • Suicides and admissions to mental hospitals increased dramatically. • People were forced to accept compromises that would affect the rest of their lives. • Some people came to want financial security more than anything else in life.

The nations Sick Economy & Hardship and Suffering during the depression