American Culture 1930-39

1. American Culture 1930-39

2. I. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 • The 1929 Stock Market Crash is well known as the most devastating crash in United States history. • Which marked the beginning of the Great Depression. • It didn’t happen on a single day • The stock market continued to plummet over the course of a few days • Setting in motion one of the most devastating periods in the history of the United States

3. II. Black Thursday • The most significant events started on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929 • On that day, nearly 13 million shares of stock were traded. • It was a record number of stock trades for the U.S. • Marked the end of an upward trend on stock prices • On Black Thursday, the stock prices dropped so quickly, the stock ticker could not keep up • As the day progressed, the stock ticker lagged behind, failing to show the most up to date stock prices.

4. III. Top American Bankers Try to Save the Banking System • On the next day, Friday, October 25, several of the nation’s largest bankers met to decide what they could do about the situation • Among the attendees were the heads of Morgan Bank, Chase National Bank, and National City Bank • The bankers ultimately decided to purchase a number of U.S. Steel shares above market price • The bankers who tried to thwart the 1929 stock market crash were unsuccessful

5. In those days, the stock market traded six days a week • The bankers’ move led to a slight increase in stock price on Saturday, October 26 • Over the weekend many investors lost faith in the stocks and decided to sell their shares • When the markets reopened on Monday, October 28, 1929, another record number of stocks were traded • The stock market declined more than 22% • The situation worsened yet again on the infamous Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929 • When more than 16 million stocks were traded • The stock market ultimately lost $14 billion that day.

6. IV. Causes of The Stock Market Crash • Rising stock markets • Throughout the 1920's, the New York Stock Exchange had risen dramatically faster than any time in the nation's history. • This sudden appearance of overnight multi-millionaires convinced many that the stock market was the easy way to future riches. • Indeed, during much of the 1920's, fortunes were made overnight by many investors who bought stock • frequently without little of their own money • sold it as it rose in value

7. Margin Loans • Refers to the practice of using borrowed money to pay for stocks in order to pay for much more stock than one could normally afford • An investor went to a bank and received a loan for the purpose of buying stock • The investor offered the stock to be purchased as collateral • Thanks to so many poor loans that were made for the purpose of buying stock, many banks were unable to cover their losses and were short of cash

8. Overproduction • Businesses boomed overnight in the 1920's • In order to assure buyers that they would not be left without items to buy, manufacturers produced at top capacity • What manufacturers did not realize was that while their output rose by 40% • The wages of average workers rose only 25%

9. Agricultural Depression • All through the 1920's, while those in the East Coast and Wall Street prospered, the American farm family suffered • During WWI while crop priced were high, many farmers went further into debt to buy more land and better farm equipment • When the war ended, crop prices plummeted • They had more bills to pay than they did before the war

10. European Depression • In the 1920's, Europe, source of several of our most important trading partners, was in a depression of its own • Paying for the unimaginable costs of WWI • The cost of WWI actually exceeded the amount of money in circulation in the entire world • European nations were forced to divert most of their national earnings into debt repayment • This had the effect of leaving little left over to trade with the United States

11. Great Depression Activity • Choose a partner. • One person plays the role of the interviewer and the other person plays the role of the interviewee. • Using your computers research the answers to the interviewers questions • Questions: • Where were you living in the 1930s? • How old were you in the 1930s? • What do you remember most about the 1930s? • How did the Great Depression affect your family? • How was your life affected by the Great Depression? • What activities did you participate in during the 1930s? • Are there any particular stories or experiences from these years that you can tell me? • What was a typical day like for you? • How was your life in the 1930s different than life today? • Is there anything else you would like to tell me about your life in the 1930s?

12. Great Depression Activity • Create a PowerPoint presentation for the interview • Each presentation must contain the following: • A title slide • Each slide must contain: • The question • The answer • A picture to aid in interpreting the interviewee’s answer

13. V. Historic Events • Dust Bowl • Tons of topsoil were blown off barren fields and carried in storm clouds for hundreds of miles • Its primary area of impact was on the southern Plains

14. Causes • Poor agricultural practices and years of sustained drought caused the Dust Bowl. • Plains grasslands had been deeply plowed and planted to wheat. • The droughts of the early 1930s deepened, the farmers kept plowing and planting and nothing would grow • The ground cover that held the soil in place was gone. • The Plains winds whipped across the fields raising billowing clouds of dust to the sky's • In some places the dust would drift like snow, covering farmsteads.