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2 AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY MONETARY POLICY STOCK MARKET CRASH AND FINANCIAL PANIC Historians disagree as to the causes of the Great Depression. Most scholars would include:

3 The 1920s was known as a prosperous time, but not for everyone Installment buying, using credit and paying back in small amounts, was introduced which allowed people to buy cars, radios and other new products of the 1920s. Farmers, however, were in a depression throughout the whole decade.

4 RURAL POVERTY IN THE 1920’S

5 Although the nation's wealth grew by billions throughout the 1920s, it was not distributed evenly. The top 1% received a 75% increase in their disposable income while the other 99% saw an average 9% increase in their disposable income. 80% of Americans had no savings at all. UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH Disposable income is money remaining after the necessities of life have been paid for. Happy Feet song

6 The chart shows that 99% of the population received a 9% increase in their income, while the top 1% saw their income rise by 75%. 1,230,000 Americans 121,770,000 Americans

7 The economy grew by billions throughout the 1920s. Total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929

8 Chart showing wages of unskilled workers. Notice how little the wages changed during the supposed prosperity of the 1920’s.

9 HIGH TARIFFS AND WAR DEBTS At the end of World War I, European nations owed over $10 billion ($115 billion in 2002 dollars) to their former ally, the United States. Their economies had been devastated by war and they had no way of paying the money back. The U.S. insisted their former allies pay the money. This forced the allies to demand Germany pay the reparations imposed on her as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. All of this later led to a financial crisis when Europe could not purchase goods from the U.S. This debt contributed to the Great Depression. In 1922, the U.S. passed the Fordney-Mc Cumber Act, which instituted high tariffs on industrial products. A tariff is a tax on imports. Other nations soon retaliated and world trade declined helping bring on the great depression.

10 Factories were producing products, however wages for workers were not rising enough for them to buy them. Too few workers could afford to buy the factory output. The surplus products could not be sold overseas due to high tariffs and lack of money in Europe. OVERPRODUCTION IN INDUSTRY

11 FARM OVERPRODUCTION Due to surpluses and overproduction, farm incomes dropped throughout the 1920’s. The price of farm land fell from $69 per acre in 1920 t0 $31 in Agriculture was in a depression which began in 1920, lasting until the outbreak of World War II in In 1929 the average annual income for an American family was $750, but for farm families it was only $273. The problems in the agricultural sector had a large impact since 30% of Americans still lived on farms. Surplus ears of corn

12 Agricultural product Corn (per bushel) Wheat (per bushel) Oats (per bushel) Butter (per lb) Butterfat (per lb) Wool (per lb) Hogs (per cwt) Milk (per cwt) Table shows the sharp decline in the prices of various products from American farms

13 In the 1928 presidential contest, Democratic New York Governor Al Smith ran against Republican Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. Many were suspicious of Smith who was Catholic, while Hoover was popular for feeding starving Europeans after WWI. Al Smith

14 Hoover’s winning platform was based on continued prosperity “We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us.” 1928 Hoover accepting the Republican nomination for president

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16 "I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering.... The lesson should be constantly enforced that though the people support the Government the Government should not support the people." (1930) President Hoover’s belief in self-reliance would later affect his ideas about how to best solve the upcoming depression President and Mrs. Hoover

17 ONE OF HOOVER’S FIRST ACTS WAS DEALING WITH THE FARM CRISIS Candidate Hoover: "The most urgent economic problem... is agriculture. It must be solved.

18 Farmers, who had been suffering during the 1920s, suffered further declines during the Great Depression. Wholesale food prices collapsed, which led to a lack of money to purchase new equipment and many could not pay for their mortgages and lost their farms.

19 Pictured below is one of thousands of farm foreclosure sales. A foreclosure happens when an owner cannot pay for their mortgage and the bank repossesses the property to sell it.

20 "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931) They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob, When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job. They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead, Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread? Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time. Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime; Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum! Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time. Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime? Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum! Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time. Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?