1. THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930’S
“Brother can you
spare a dime?”

2. Causes of Great Depression
Overproduction-the 1920’s manufactured and sold many products but consumers lacked the money to buy these items and this caused overproducing

3. Causes of the Great Depression
Speculation-people buying stocks for low prices in hopes that they would sell for a high price later. No guarantee

4. Causes of the Great Depression
Buying on the Margin-buying 10% of a loan and promised to pay it off later. Similar to an installment plan

5. Farms Decline
After WWI Europe no longer needed food from American farmers. Farmers had overproduction of crops they could not sell. In addition overproduction ruined the soil causing the Dust Bowl

6. Causes of the Great Depression
High tariffs- American protective tariffs helped American business but farmers could not sell abroad and Europe also began implementing their own tariffs
What is the benefit of a Protective tariff?

7. STOCK MARKET CRASH OF 1929 “Black Tuesday”, October 29, 1929
“Black Thursday”,
October 24, 1929
Stockbrokers pulled out sold all stocks
“Black Tuesday”,
October 29, 1929
Members lost everything! No one wanted to buy stocks and millions lost

8. STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN SOCIETY DISINTEGRATES
People lost all their money. Loans were unpaid so people lost their homes/cars
Banks became failures due to unpaid loans
Demand for goods decreased/people lost their jobs/factories closed
No safety nets like unemployment or insurance

9. Human Impact The Great Depression was a national nightmare.
People felt worthless and
Pretended to go to work
Businesses failed, farmers
lost farms, banks failed, millions of people out of work
Private charities were overwhelmed. People were homeless and hungry
Millions depended on soup kitchens for food

10. 1932 – AMERICAN DREAMS ARE SHATTERED
Writers like John Steinbeck and Dorothea Lange recorded the misery of the depression

11. DUST BOWL (DUST STORMS) OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS 1934-1935

12. How many states were partially in the region most affected by the Dust Bowl?

13. Route 66

14. Black Sunday April 14, 1935 24 hours of a blinding dust storm
Dreaded black-blizzard covers entire disaster area
18 storms hit in one year

15. The Dust Bowl In the 1930’s farmers faced a natural disaster
A series of droughts dried up the land from over production of wheat crops in the Midwest
Lasting for a year the heavy winds carried topsoil across hundreds of miles, burying homes, cars and destroying harvests

17. The Dust Bowl
Unable to pay bills farmers abandoned their farms and headed onto route 66 to California
Oakies-farmers from Oklahoma who moved to migrant worker camps in California to pick fruit

18. THE VICTIMS OF THE DUST BOWL
Colorado
Kansas
Oklahoma
New Mexico
Texas
Devastation of their cropland
Respiratory health issues
Unsanitary living
Rampant crime
Debt-ridden families

20. Mexican Repatriation
Immigration acts of 1920’s did not impose quotas on immigrants from Mexico as a result many Mexicans flourished the U.S.
Many settled in barrios in California, Texas and the SW
Mexicans were barred from attending white schools

21. Mexican Repatriation Act
As the Great Depression carried on, many whites were looking for jobs carried out by Mexicans
Hostilities grew
The Mexican Repatriation Act sent Mexicans back to Mexico
More than half a million were separated from their families

23. Herbert Hoover- 31st President
Hoover’s philosophy….”This too shall pass”.
Laissez Faire/No safety net/Social Darwinism
Rugged Individualism
Hoover felt that private charities should provide emergency relief

24. Soup Kitchens

25. Emergency Relief

26. Hoover Responds
Hoover cut taxes and established the Reconstruction Finance Corp. to give loans to banks and businesses believing that the money would “trickle down”
Hoover’s policies were seen too little too late

27. Lack of Trust Many felt frustrated with Hoover’s lack of leadership
By million people were unemployed
Hoover roast
Hoover flag
Hoovervilles/Hoover blankets

28. Hoovervilles

29. Hoover Blankets

30. Hoover Roasts and Hoover Flags