1. 15.3: Surviving the Great Depressionpp

2. 15.3: Surviving the Great Depression
Key Qs
1. How did Americans overcome the difficulties related to the Depression?
2. What signs of change did Americans begin to notice in the early 1930s?
Key Terms
Penny Auction
21st Amendment

3. Americans Pull Together
Not all memories of the ‘30s are negative
Country pulled together in order to help one another
When farmers couldn’t pay mortgages, banks would foreclose & then sell it at an auction
In some communities farmers promised to keep bids low; “penny auctions”
Penny auctions combined w/ the threat of violence led some states to pass laws that stopped foreclosures on farms

4. Monopoly Created by Charles B. Darrow, an unemployed man from PA
Allowed people to live fantasy of acquiring land, houses, & hotels
First sold in 1935
500 million people have played the game since

5. Young People Ride the Rails
In mid-1930s roughly 250K teens lived on the road
Many were riding freight trains
Lonely & dangerous
Some were forced to leave by family

6. Seeking Political Solutions
Most Americans continued to trust democratic process
“10 million unemployed continue law-abiding. No riots, no trouble, no multi- millionaires cooked and served with cranberry sauce, alas.”—William Saroyan, 1936
However, both a communist and a socialist candidate ran for president in 1932
Socialist, Norman Thomas, won 881, 951 votes (2.2%)

7. Depression Humor Will Rogers, most notable humorist of the time
“We’re the first nation in the history of the world to go to the poorhouse in an automobile.”
“If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?”
“The only difference between death & taxes is that death doesn’t get worse ever time Congress meets.”
“When Wall Street took that tail spin, you had to stand in line to get a window to jump out of.”
Jokes helped people survive the hard times
“Hoovervilles”—started as joke
“Hoover blankets”— newspapers
“Hoover flags”—empty pockets
Babe Ruth was criticized for making $80K, which was more than Hoover
His response, “I had a better year than he did.”

8. Signs of Change
1933—21st Amendment repealed 18th Amendment, Prohibition was over
“The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.”
Mostly welcomed; Prohibition seen as failed experiment
Control of alcohol returned to the states; 8 continued the ban

9. Signs of Change Construction on Empire State Building began in 1930
Cost $41 million
102 stories, 1’250 feet
Employed thousands of construction workers
Opened on May 1, 1931

10. The End of An Era 1931—Capone gets locked up
1932—Lindbergh baby was kidnapped & murdered
1932—FDR, a Democrat, wins presidential election
1933—Coolidge died
1935—Babe Ruth retired

11. 15.3: Surviving the Great Depression
Key Qs
1. How did Americans overcome the difficulties related to the Depression?
2. What signs of change did Americans begin to notice in the early 1930s?
Key Terms
Penny Auction
21st Amendment