the thirties: a decade of despair
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The Thirties: A Decade of Despair. Falling Off the Economic Edge Socials 11. Recap: The End of the Boom. Unemployment in 1929: 4.2% 1922-26 Canadian companies issued new shares to a value of $700 million Profits went up, share values went up - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The Thirties: A Decade of Despair
Falling Off the Economic EdgeSocials 11
Unemployment in 1929: 4.2% 1922-26
◦ Canadian companies issued new shares to a value of $700 million
◦ Profits went up, share values went up◦ Buying “on margin” – buying shares with only
10% down payment◦ Loans readily available◦ Price of stocks inflated beyond real value
Recap: The End of the Boom
Some cautious investors started selling their stocks in order to cash in on high profits
Others rushed to follow their lead Sellers panicked as the value of stocks fell
dramatically
Crash!
October 29, 1929 – New York Stock Market crashed, followed by Toronto and Montreal
Investors went bankrupt since they borrowed heavily
Contributed to but DID NOT CAUSE the Depression!
Crash!
Wheat Overproduction Protectionism Treaty of Versailles
Causes of the Depression
1927 – price of wheat on the world market began to fall◦ Supply and demand – more wheat was being
produced than was being sold◦ Canadian and U.S. wheat farmers depended on
foreign markets (exports), but other countries were producing their own wheat
◦ Sales decreased -> income of farmers dropped -> farmers unable to meet mortgage and loan payments
Wheat
Overproduction – more goods being produced than were being sold
At first, manufacturers continued to stockpile, then they began to cut back production
This led to layoffs -> less income -> less spending on consumer goods◦ Vicious cycle
Overproduction
U.S. imposed high tariffs on foreign goods coming into the country
Meant to protect domestic market by making foreign items more expensive
Other countries then did the same in response -> slowdown in world trade as opportunities for export shrank
Protectionism
Germany unable to make reparations – economy in ruins
France and Britain were relying on repayments in order to pay off their debts to the U.S.
Treaty of Versailles
A period of severe economic and social hardship, massive unemployment, and terrible suffering.
Depression
Canada’s economic weakness: dependency on the export of primary resources◦ Wheat – supplied 40% of world demand◦ Newsprint – supplied 65% of world demand
Canada and the Depression
Demand for product falls People lose jobs People can’t buy goods People who make goods lose jobs Millions of Canadians out of work
Cycle
Factories and businesses closed People evicted from their homes Loss of respect “pogey” – government relief payments
given to those who had no alternative source of income◦ long lines◦ Public declaration of financial failure◦ Swear that they had no home and nothing of
value◦ This would get them food vouchers
Desperate Years
Used clothing and meals Soup kitchens
Private Charities
By 1933, ¼ of the workforce was unemployed
Jobless men “hopped” freight trains - “riding the rods” – rode on the roof or clung to the underside of the train
Shanty towns or “jungles”
Deepening Depression
1928 – drought begins, lasts almost 8 years 1930-31 – wind and dust storms Palliser’s Triangle especially badly hit Plague of grasshoppers 1935 – Prairie Farm Rehabilitation
Administration Act for irrigation systems and reservoirs◦ too late
Drought on the Prairies
Poor got poorer Employment of women blamed for the
depression. Aboriginal families on relief got only
$5/month – expected to “live off the land” Chinese families were starving
◦ Provincial government started food kitchens, but they were not well-funded
◦ Expected Chinese men to cost ½ of what it cost to feed white men
The Disadvantaged
Immigrants targeted◦ Anti-Semitism: hatred and prejudice towards Jews◦ Jobs closed to Jews – signs posted forbidding
applications◦ 10 000 immigrants deported in the first half of the
Depression◦ 1931 – government put a complete stop to
immigration
The Disadvantaged
Chapter 4 Test: November 2
Questions?