The Great Depression 20s Keep Roaring Americans make

The Great Depression

20’s Keep Roaring • Americans make more than ever – 1922 National Income= $61 Bill. – 1929 National Income= $87 • Over 23 million cars were owned – (3/4 of worlds supply) • 1929 Stocks at alltime highs!

Trouble on the Horizon • Unemployment on the rise • Farmers were losing land – Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by 40 to 60 percent. • Stock prices begin to drop

1929 - The Great Crash • Investors all over the country rush to get their money out of the stock market • October 29 (Black Tuesday), the stock market collapsed, losing billions $$$ in value in one day • By December 1929, $40 billion in stock value had been lost

The Economy Takes A Dive • Between 1929 and 1933, 100, 000 businesses failed • Corporate profits fell from $10 billion to %1 billion • Between 1929 -1933, over 6, 000 banks failed with over 9 million saving accounts lost ($2. 5 billion) • By 1933, 13 million workers were unemployed (25% of work force) and many were underemployed • Malnutrition increased, as did tuberculosis, typhoid, and dysentery

Hoovervilles • Small towns within a city that were built with scrap materials • Almost 1 out of 4 Americans unemployed Portland (Where I-84 is today) Seattle

Social Health • Decreased living condition – More people into less space • Divorce rate decreased – Could not afford it • Many men felt shame

Increased Discrimination • Many married women are fired – Get more men jobs • Minorities (African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans) pushed out of jobs – 56% of African-Americans were unemployed in 1932 – Increased lynching • Scottsboro Boys – 9 African American youths accused of raping a white women – 8 of 9 convicted to die (no defense) – Communist Party supplies lawyers for an appeal and the convictions were overturned

Dust Bowl • 440, 000 left Oaklahoma • 300, 000 left Kansas • Many moved to California for farm work

Americans Look for Help • In 1932, 95 people died in NYC from starvation • Many American turned to soup kitchens and breadlines • Large numbers of homeless workers roamed the U. S. , particularly the Southwest, seeking work

Hoover’s Response • Believes that direct relief (welfare) would undermine America • Urged Americans to look toward churches and private charity for help • Met with business and labor leaders to reduce layoffs and strikes • Financed federal works projects, such as massive dams in the west (Bolder, Hoover, and Grand Coulee)

Hostility to Hoover • Bonus Army (Bonus March)

Election of 1932 • President Hoover – Slogans: “The Worst is Past” and “Prosperity is Just Around the Corner” – Accused FDR of seeking the destruction of capitalism • Franklin D. Roosevelt – Campaigned for cautious liberalism – Rejecting Hoover’s conservatism and radical approach of socialists and communists – Offered a New Deal for the “forgotten man” and promised a balanced budget along with economic reforms

FDR WINS!