The Great Depression

1. The Great Depression Cause and effect

2. Day 1 Introduction

3. Great Depression: The basics • What: The Great Depression was an economic crisis in the United States. It was a time of high unemployment and low business activity. • Where: The Great Depression occurred in the United States, but also strongly affected other economies around the world. • When: The Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted until the beginning of World War II in the early 1940s. • Why: Pinpointing an exact cause of the Depression is impossible, but here are a few reason… • High taxes that discouraged international trade • Over-valuing of stocks • People bought things on credit (borrowed money) they could not repay • Over-production of consumer goods with a decline in demand • Bad bank loans

4. The beginning of the chaos: Black Tuesday • What: The day the Stock Market crashed and the official starting day of the Great Depression. • Stock: units of ownership in a company • People who had invested in stock panicked and began selling all their shares. • With all sellers and no buyers, companies’ stock became worthless and people lost all their money • When: October 29, 1929 • 7 months after Herbert Hoover became President

5. Black Tuesday pictures

6. Great Depression: Cause and Effect Cause: Black Tuesday Effects? Stocks became worthless, so companies were forced to shut down Unemployment: not having a job; 25% in 1933 Panic: people rushed to the banks to withdrawal all their money

7. Friend or foe: President Herbert Hoover • Who: President Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the U.S. • Self-made millionaire • When: • Elected in 1928, took office in March 1929 • Term ended in 1933 • What and Why: • Shortly after the Stock Market crash, American grew to distrust Hoover • Hoover believed the Great Depression was limited to economics and did call for any type of government intervention • Rugged Individualism: the idea that each individual should be able to help themselves out without aid • Hoovervilles: popular name of shanty towns built by the poor and homeless during the Great Depression

8. Great Depression: Cause and Effect Cause: Herbert Hoover’s Beliefs Effects? Hoover didn’t take government action to end the Depression or aid the suffering American people American citizens grew increasingly frustrated and mistrusting of government Unemployment continues to rise

9. Tomorrow: get ready to Fast-Forward to 1932… Some big changes are coming!

10. Day 2 Effects on Government

11. Some background: U.S. Government Pre-Depression Days • Who: President Herbert Hoover • What: Hoover believed that American economy would improve on it’s own and government had no reason to be involved • Why: The U.S. government had never before provided extensive aid to ordinary citizens or heavily intervened in private businesses

12. “We are the Champions”: The Election of 1932 Cause: Herbert Hoover’s Inaction Effects? Election: Hoover vs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (aka FDR) People were so frustrated with government they were ready for a change FDR won 42/48 states and won the election

13. The New Kid on the Block:Franklin Delano Roosevelt • Who: 32nd President of the U.S. • Where: From Hyde Park, New York • When: • Born January 30, 1882 • Died April 12, 1945 • What: • Before he became president, FDR was the governor of New York • FDR suffered from polio, a disease that made him partially paralyzed. He either walked with canes or used a wheelchair • His wife, Eleanor, was actively involved in public life and loved by the American people • FDR was from a political family. His fifth cousin was Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States

14. Every minute matters: The “100 Days” • Who: FDR • Where: Washington D.C. • When: March 1933 through June 1933 • What: • The 100 Days refers to FDR’s first 100 days as President • FDR and Congress passed several groundbreaking reforms in the first 100 days of his term • Why: • FDR thought the United States’ government should react quickly to the suffering caused by the Great Depression • 3R’s: Relief, Recovery, Reform • Ex.: Bank Holiday

15. Alphabet soup?:The New Deal • Who: FDR and Congress • What: • The New Deal: a series of programs enacted in the United States during the Great Depression focused on the 3 R’s • Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): New Deal program that built 50 dams along rivers in the South to prevent flooding and provide electrical power • Works Progress Administration (WPA): New Deal program that employed more than eight million people to build roads, schools, bridges, parks, and airports. • Social Security: provides monthly payments to the elderly, disabled, and unemployed. Citizens pay a small amount of tax to cover the cost of Social Security

16. Great Depression: Cause and Effect Cause: FDR elected in 1932 Effects? “100 Days”: first time the government had ever intervened so heavily in private businesses New Deal: first time government created relief programs for regular citizens New Deal programs even exist today! Both extended the president’s power

17. Tomorrow: old McDonald had a farm Except not during the Depression…

18. Day 3 Effects on Agriculture

19. Some Background: Farming Before the Great Depression • Who: American farmers were typically just families “working the land” • When: early 1900 through the 1920s • Where: Much of American farming was centered in the Midwest • What • Unlike the prosperity elsewhere in the country, American farming families struggled financially in during the “Roaring Twenties” • Because of the Stock Market crash, urban Americans had less money for food. • As a result, farmers lost money and many were forced to give up their land. Riots became common in the Midwest

20. The U.S. Farming System: on the Verge of Collapse

21. We aren’t in Kansas anymore:Fdr steps in • Who: FDR and Congress • Why: • FDR quickly realized that the government needed to take immediate action to stabilize the farming industry • One of the big problems: over-production • What: • Supply and demand: Supply is how much of something is available. Demand is how much of something people want. Together, they determine how much a product costs. • Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA): passed in 1933. This law set limits on what type of crops and how much farmers could produce. In return, the government would pay farmers a small amount for agreeing to the law. • Most farmers were supportive of the AAA and were slowly able to pay back debts thanks to the government checks

22. And you thought it couldn’t get worse The Dust Bowl

23. The Perfect storm: dust bowl basics • What • Dust Bowl: refers to a region and an event. The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the agriculture of the U.S. and Canadian prairies in the 1930s. • Where: • The Midwest region: Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota • When: The Great Depression, 1930s • Why: • Poor agriculture practices: farmers didn’t rotate or rest fields and over-plowed the land. As a result, the topsoil was loose and poor quality • Weather events: • severe drought: long period without rain • Series of strong wind storms

25. Map of dust bowl region

27. Great Depression: Cause and Effect Cause: Dust bowl Effects? Migrant workers: a person who moves from place to place to find work 60% of residents in the Dust Bowl region had to evacuate AAA: providing aid in times of need

28. Great Depression: Cause and Effect Cause: Agriculture Industry failures Effects? The AAA provided greater protection for farming priceswas the first time the government regulated crops. Agricultural farms slowly became companies, rather than family owned

29. Tomorrow: everyday life How the Depression Changed American Culture

30. Day 4 Effects on American culture

31. Stop and think… How would your life change if the economy were to crash today?

32. Changes in all types of arts

33. Rhythm and blues: the Harlem Renaissance • What: • The Harlem Renaissance: a burst of African-American culture in areas of writing, music, and painting. • Where: • Movement was centered in Harlem (NYC), but the art coming from the movement was influential around the country • When: late 1920s and throughout the Great Depression • Who: • Langston Hughes: poet who wrote about the difficult conditions under which the African-Americans lived • Louis Armstrong: famous jazz musician who was popular with white and black audiences

34. Louis Armstrong Langston Hughes

35. Say cheese: changes in photography • Who: • Dorothea Lange: hired by the U.S. government to take pictures of citizens suffering during the Great Depression • Where: All over the United States • When: The Great Depression years • Why: • Technology made cameras more portable and pictures clearer • Photos were published in newspapers to share the widespread suffering of migrant workers and the unemployed

36. The power of the pen: Changes in literature • Who: Author John Steinbeck • What: The Grapes of Wrath • Novel tells the story of migrant workers leaving Oklahoma to find work in California • Themes include: hardship, determination • When: published April 14, 1939 • Why: • Migrant workers were often treated badly when they reached their destinations • John Steinbeck wanted to show migrant worker families in a positive way

37. “And the Oscar goes to…” : changes in Media • What: • During the Great Depression era, the movie industry expanded • 60 to 80 million Americans went to movies weekly during the Depression • Superhero comics also became extremely popular during the Great Depression era • Why: • Many Americans felt movies provided a welcome escape from the harsh realities of their everyday lives • Popular movies and comics included themes that reassured Americans that success was possible • Who: • Shirley Temple • Snow White and the Seven Drawfs • Judy Garland and The Wizard of Oz

40. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks: changes in sports • What: • The “Golden Age of Baseball” • The Baseball Hall of Fame and the All-Star Game began during the Great Depression • Why: • Like movies, people continued attending baseball games as a way to escape the troubles of their daily lives • Children and adults alike also enjoyed playing their own baseball games as a free form of entertainment • Who: • Joe DiMaggio • Babe Ruth • Lou Gehrig

41. Lou Gehrig Joe DiMaggio Babe Ruth

42. Great Depression: Cause and Effect Cause: Culture changes from Depression Effects? Jazz music Photojournalism Realistic Fiction Popular color and black-white movies Superhero comics American’s love of professional sporting events

43. The Great Depression:Is it really over? How does the Depression affect your life everyday?