II. Causes (The causes of the great depression were Uneven Prosperity, Overproduction, Worker issues)
A. over speculation (Define, how important)-
Instead of investing in the future of a company
people would invest their money betting that the stock market would keep rising.
Caused people to invest heavily in stocks during the 1920s.
B. Govt Policy- The government started to give,
or invest, money to the banks to try and save them from closing.
C. Unstable Econ- The economy started to become
unstable and thousands pf people lost their jobs and became unemployed.
1. Uneven prosperity-"Rich got richer, poor
go poorer" The factory workers did not money to even buy the products that
they made, so the factories lost money.
2. overproduction- Factories produced too many
goods that no one needed causing them to lose money and lay off workers.
3. Worker issues / farm issue- Thousands of
workers were laid off causing mass unemployment. Farmers in the great planes
were hit by the Dust Bowl killing all their crops and also lost almost all
business in Europe.
III. Effects
A. Poverty- Many people lost their jobs and were
forced to live in Shantytowns, large communities of people that live in tents
or makeshift houses on the outskirts of cities.
B. Society- Most of society started to break down
as hobos, people who would sneak unto railroad cars for a ride somewhere else,
and other people who lost their jobs could not find work or a place to live. People were forced to eat at soup kitchens and get free handouts of bread.
C. World- the US at the time after the war was
the world’s largest creditor to the European nations affected by WWI. When the
stock market crashed in the States it immediately hit Europe with the same
effects and sent the world into a Depression.
IV. Solutions
A. Hoover- US president Hoover came into office in
1929-1933 with hopes to turn the depression around, but he failed in all ways
as he could not stop the depression.
1. Volunteerism- Hoover set up soup kitchens and
other things that people could volunteer for to help people in need.
2. Public Works- Government financed building projects. Gave out some jobs.
3. Hawley-Smoot- A tariff that raised the price on imported goods.
4. RFC- Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Created
to try and make loans from banks to try and pull them out of the depression.
B. Roosevelt- US president from 1933-1945 famous
for his New Deal and pulling the economy out of the depression.
1. New deal- Roosevelt's policies for ending the depression (his 15 points).
a. alphabet soup- The term used to refer to the
agencies and programs that Roosevelt created in his New Deal.
example: CCC- Civilian Conservation Corps was
used to find men between the ages 18 and 25 recruit them for paid labor.
example: TVA- Tennessee Valley Authority built
dams and power plants across the South to improve industry.
example: NRA- National Recovery Agency
controlled industry, production, and regulated fair competition.
example: CWA- Civil Works Administration
provided jobs on construction sites.
b. Criticism- Roosevelt got a lot of criticism
from Left(Democrats) and the Right(Republicans) on his new deal. The Left
believed that he was doing too little for the government being liberal. The
Right believed he was making too many regulations on business and state being
conservative.
2. 2nd new deal- Roosevelt was reelected and used his time to make more reforms.
a.- WPA or Works Progress Administration held
huge construction projects to give people jobs.
b.- CIO or Committee for Industrial Organization
set out to help industrial unions.
c.- NLRB or The National Labor Relations Board
held elections to try and create new unions.
V. Criticism A. Political Criticism (ex. Came from both the Right and Left)
B. Conservative, Right, Republican- Did not like regulations on big business.
C. Liberals, Left, Democrat- Wanted more for business and government.
ex: More freedom for individual states and business.
ex: More Restriction on business and more involved government.
VI. Effectiveness
A. Changes in US- Government became more involved
and increased the amount of employed Americans.
B. Unions- Increased the amount of union members
by 10 million from 2 million and increased workers.
C. Culture-The American people started to make
more art like paintings and literature and also construction began to take on a
more American look.
VII. Conclusion- the US in 1929 slipped into a huge recession which caused a nation wide depression known as the Great Depression. Two presidents, Hoover and Roosevelt, tried to save the economy, but it lasted until 1939 when WWII started. The stock market crash caused the US to make new reforms to help the economy and the US work force.
