1. The Great Depression (1929-1934)
Chapter 19

2. The Nation’s Troubled Economy
Chapter 19 Section 1

3. Words to Know
Stock-Market: A place where stocks, or shares in business, are bought and sold.
Depression: A time when the economy of a nation falls sharply.
Default: To fail to pay a loan when it is due.
Foreclose: To take the property of someone who has failed to pay back a loan.
Bonus: Money given in addition to what is owed.

4. The Stock Market Crash 1920’s: Fewer than 5% of Americans were wealthy
Lived on yearly income of $3,000 or less
Worked longs hours/low pay
Bought expensive items on installment plans

5. The Stock Market Crash cont.
Some people started to invest in the stock market:
Help solve money issues
When people buy stocks they own piece of the business
Hoped to become rich as business grew:
Late 1920’s-business was doing good
Many people made money in the stock market and they wanted to make even more:
Some started to borrow money to buy more stocks

6. Black Tuesday Autumn 1929: October 29, 1929:
Stock prices begin to fall
People did not want to lose their money so they begin to sell their stocks:
Prices drop even more
October 29, 1929:
Stock prices plunge
Many stocks become worthless
People who borrowed money to buy stocks lost all their money
Crash

7. The Great Depression
Soon after stock market crash, The US entered a depression
1920’s end:
Millions of people out of work
Farmers losing their farms
Banks begin to go out of business:
Used their customers’ savings to buy stocks

8. The Great Depression cont.
Other things that helped bring the Great Depression:
During WWI:
Many farmers sold food crops to armed forces
Earned a lot of money
After war fewer crops needed
Prices fell
Many farmers who borrowed money for equipment began to default on payments
Clothing and coal mining industries grew smaller as big businesses grew larger
Thousands of factory workers lost their jobs

9. Hard Times Beginning of 1932: US economy almost completely in ruins
Thousands of businesses closed
Factory owners could not afford to pay their employees
Most people lost their jobs

10. Hard Times cont.
Most Americans could not afford to buy all the goods that were being made
Unsold goods started to pile up
Factories begin to make fewer goods=fewer employees needed:
More people lose jobs
Workers who had jobs being paid little
At times families had less than $1.50 per day to buy food

11. Hard Times cont.
Farm families were deeply hurt by the Great Depression:
When farmers began to default on loan payments:
banks were forced to foreclose on their property
1 day in 1932:
banks foreclose on 1/4th of all farms in Mississippi
Many Americans lost homes as well as their jobs
In every large city:
People stood in line for hours for free loaves of bread
People sold apples to earn a few cents
Hungry kids picked through garbage pails for scraps of food

12. Jobless and Hopeless Govt. and business leaders had no answers
Americans ask Pres. Hoover for help:
Hoover felt that help from the govt. charity was not the answer
Hoover felt Americans had to help themselves

13. Jobless and Hopeless cont.
Americans angry with govt. and big business for not helping:
How some expressed their anger:
1. Some workers without jobs joined Communist party
2. Some farmers destroyed their crops rather than sell them at unfair prices
3. Some farmers joined together to stop banks from taking their property
Many WWI veterans marched on DC in 1932

14. WWI Veterans Especially angry with govt. After WWI:
Congress voted to give veterans a bonus
When GD hit Congress refused to pay bonus
Summer 1932:
15,000 veterans formed the Bonus Army:
Camped out at nations capital
Promised to remain there until Bonuses were paid
Hoover feared there may be violence:
Ordered US troops to drive out the Bonus Army
Armed soldiers attacked the veterans’ camps
Bonus Army

15. Classwork
Chapter 19 Section 1 Crossword