summary world trade declines, banks fail, high unemployment develops, urban and rural poverty...
TRANSCRIPT
Summary
• World trade declines, banks fail, high unemployment develops, urban and rural poverty ensues, leading to the construction of the New deal program, which expands role of federal government.
1929-1939• Stock market
crash
• Didn’t realize the effect it would have
• No money to replenish what was borrowed
Many found being broke humiliating.
The Roaring 20’s• The new concept of
“credit” • People were buying:
– Automobiles
– Appliances
– Clothes
• Fun times reigned– Dancing
– Flappers
– Drinking
Why was this bad?• Credit system
– People didn’t really have the money they were spending
• WWI– The U.S. was a major
credit loaner to other nations in need
– Many of these nations could not pay us back
The Stock Market• People bought stocks
on margins– If a stock is $100 you
can pay $10 now and the rest later when the stock rose
• Stocks fall– Now the person has
less than $100 and no money to pay back
And then….
• With people panicking about their money investors tried to sell their stocks– This leads to a huge decline
in stocks– Stocks were worthless now
• People who bought on “margins” now could not pay
• Investors were average people that were now broke
In other words…
• There is relationship between banks and speculators.
• And when speculators could not pay the banks back, they began to run low on funds.
• Since the people did not have the money to provide for themselves, they went to withdraw their money from the banks, creating a “run” on the bank.
• Herbert Hoover was president at the start
• Philosophy: We’ll make it!
• What He Did: Nothing
• The poor were looking for help and no ideas on how to correct or help were coming
• Farmers were already feeling the effects– Prices of crops went down– Many farms foreclosed
• People could not afford luxuries– Factories shut down– Businesses went out
• Banks could not pay out money• People could not pay their taxes
– Schools shut down due to lack of funds
• Many families became homeless and had to live in shanties
Video
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu2uJWSZkc– What is this?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfylLnHjcu0 First 2 minutes– A ________ in banks being able to pay
___________ the amount of poverty
Reasons for the Stock Market crash
• Overproduction- Companies made more goods than could be sold
• Uneven Distribution of Wealth- Not everyone who wanted consumer goods could afford them.
• High Tariffs-Tariffs restricted foreign demand for American products
Reasons continued
• Falling Demand- With too many goods unsold, production was cut back and employees were laid off
• Stock Market Speculation- Low interest rates encouraged borrowing money to speculate, endangering bank solvency.
Activity• Describe three of the five points that
caused the economy to collapse during the Great Depression.
• I do not simply want the title of the cause, I want to know WHY this affected the economy and the American people.
• Connect this with our current economic situation.
• 2 paragraphs-due for HW if not complete.
Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm5ZbjkGV3Y
Warm Up
• Define: relief, recovery, and reform.
• How do these terms relate to the role of the government in economic crisis?
• 5 minutes
“Hooverville”• Some families were
forced to live in shanty towns– A grouping of shacks
and tents in vacant lots
• They were referred to as “Hooverville” because of President Hoover’s lack of help during the depression.
The South Was Buried
• Crops turned to dust=No food to be sent out
• Homes buried
• Fields blown away
• South in state of emergency
• Dust Bowl the #1 weather crisis of the 20th century
*FDR*• When he was
inaugurated unemployment had increased by 7 million.
• Poor sections (like Harlem) had 50% of the pop. unemployed
• Instated the “New Deal”
• Yea! Frankie!
• People everywhere were effected by the depression
• It wasn’t till President Roosevelt took over and tried to put the economy back together that people even saw a glimmer of hope
Activity-The New Deal
• Class will divide into six groups and complete a worksheet with their corresponding document.
• Then complete a primary source analysis of the political cartoon.
• Prepare to present.
Major Historical Happenings...
• Jim Crow Laws
• Scottsboro Trials
• Recovering from the Great Depression
• Racial Injustice
• Poor South
Jim Crow Laws• After the American Civil War most
states in the South passed anti-African American legislation. These became known as Jim Crow laws.
• These laws included segregation in…– Schools -- Hospitals
– Theaters -- Water fountains
– Restaurants
– Hotels
– Public transportation
– Some states forbid inter-racial marriages
• These laws were instituted in 1896 and were not abolished till the late 1950’s (even then still not completely).
• 9 young African-American men (13-20) accused of raping 2 white girls in 1931
• Immediately sentenced to death
• Trials went on for nearly 15 years before all the men were dismissed
• Started on a train bound for Memphis
• Several white men boarded and picked a fight with the black men
• Whites were forced off train by the 12 black men. The white men reported the the black men had raped two white girls on the train to authorities
• They were immediately arrested and tried in front of an all-white jury.
• Wrote To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960
• Based the story on her life growing up in Monroeville, Alabama
• TKAM was the only novel she ever wrote
Video
• https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC2383F4CE69173C2
Activity-Scottsboro Literature
• Background: Poet Langston Hughes wrote about the lives and experiences of his fellow African Americans. He produced a volume of works based on the Scottsboro case.
• Directions: Read the following poem and answer the following questions.