Standard 17

The student will analyze the causes and consequences of the Great Depression.

A

These factors - uneven wealth, rising debt, stock speculation, overproduction, and the hardships of farmers and workers - clearly signaled trouble in the economy

Uneven Prosperity It was mainly the rich

who got richer with the stock market.

Only a small population held most of the nation’s wealth

Buying on Credit Another sign of danger

was an increase in personal debt.

The installment plan made expensive items irresistible

Playing the Stock Market Because of the rapid rise of the

stock market, speculation and buying on margin became very popular.

Speculation — making high-risk investments in hopes of getting a high gain.

Buying on Margin — purchasing a stock for only a fraction of its price and borrowing the rest.

You were charged interest on the rest of the amount.

The money you owe could be called in at any time.

Overspeculation During the 1920s,

speculators bought stocks with borrowed money, then pledged those stocks as collateral to buy more stocks.

The stock market boom was based on borrowed money and optimism instead of real value.

Too Many Goods, Too Little Demand

By the late 1920s, the country’s warehouses held piles of unbought consumers goods

Trouble for Farmers Falling farm prices

made farmers unable to repay their debts for land and machinery.

About 6000 banks went out of business because of the farmers could not repay the loans.

Trouble for Workers

Industrial workers were still making very little money for the long number of hours that they were working.

Ex.: Women worked 56-hour weeks, earning 16 to 18 cents an hour.

The Stock Market Crashes: Black Tuesday

Overproduction during the 1920s ultimately resulted inA. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

B. Rapid inflation that destroyed the stock market.

C. Falling prices that led to economic depression.

D. The end of the New Deal.

Which of the following contributed to booming economic tines in the 1920s?A. Large amounts of money being pumped into the

stock market as people bought stocks on speculation and on the margin.

B. Roosevelt’s New Deal

C. The Dust Bowl

D. The overproduction of farm products

Which of the following statements MOST accurately describes the plight of US farmers during the 1920s?A. They enjoyed prosperity like much of the nation.

B. They maintained the same level of economic stability they had enjoyed since the war years.

C. They suffered because of falling prices caused by overproduction.

D. They suffered because of Congress’ refusal to pass government programs proposed by President Coolidge that would have provided direct relief.

The Great Depression occurred, in part, because farmers and other producers were filling the market place with more products than consumers could buy. This caused a drastic fall in prices that eventually drove many out of business and hurt the stock market. Such a phenomenon is called

A. Underconsumption.

B. Overproduction.

C. A stock market crash.

D. Consumerism.

B

The Dust Bowl It was a region in the

Great Plains where drought and dust storms took place for much of the 1930s.

It devastated the farms and economies of the Midwest.

The Dust Bowl

What caused the Dust Bowl?A. Farm foreclosures

B. Over farming and drought

C. Urban unemployment

D. Lack of government intervention

“It was like hell had come on us. I thought it were judgment day for sure. The sun was gone; blackness come. I’ll never forget it. I couldn’t see two feet in front of me. By the time the storm moved on, land, equipment, even what livestock we had was left buried.”

The above quote is most likely from

A. A US senator opposed to the New Deal.

B. A businessman after Black Tuesday.

C. A farmer experiencing the Dust Bowl.

D. Farmers profiting from overproduction.

A Midwestern farmer in 1931 would have been MOST fearful ofA. Hitler’s rise to power in Germany.

B. The chance of a nuclear war.

C. Rising farm prices.

D. The Dust Bowl.

C

The Crash Affects Millions The Crash triggered the

Great Depression. It lasted from 1929 until

the US entered WWII in 1941.

Millions of Americans lost their jobs, farms, and homes.

The Depression caused trouble throughout the world.

The Impact on Farmers and Workers As income and profits

fell, American factories began to close.

By 1932, 12 million people were unemployed.

About 25% of the workforce.

Hoovervilles Hoovervilles were

shanty towns, with shacks of tar paper, cardboard, or scrap metal.

The name mocked President Hoover, whom many people blamed for the depression.

The Election of 1932 Franklin Delano

Roosevelt (FDR) was the Democrat.

Herbert Hoover was the Republican.

FDR won the presidency by a huge margin of 7 million popular votes.

The greatest economic crisis in US history is known as

A. Overproduction

B. The Dust Bowl

C. The Great Depression

D. Black Tuesday

Hoovervilles can be BEST described asA. Shantytowns where displaced people lived

during the Great Depression.

B. Small cities named in honor of President Hoover.

C. Parts of a larger reform bill to improve housing in America.

D. Bank notes issued during the Depression in place of stock.

Unit 4 Book Questions Pg. 654: 1-9 Pg. 698: 1-10 Pg. 728: 1-8 Pg. 766: 1-9 Pg. 798: 1-8 Pg. 842: 2-4, 8, 9, and 11 Pg. 878: 1-9 Pg. 1014: 1-9