THE GREAT

DEPRESSION

C A U S E AN D E

F F E C T

DAY 1

I NT R O D U C T I O

N

GREAT DEPRESSION: THE BASICS • What: The Great Depression was an economic crisis in the

United States. It was a time of high unemployment and low business activity.

• Where: The Great Depression occurred in the United States, but also strongly affected other economies around the world.

• When: The Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted until the beginning of World War II in the early 1940s.

• Why: Pinpointing an exact cause of the Depression is impossible, but here are a few reason…• High taxes that discouraged international trade • Over-valuing of stocks• People bought things on credit (borrowed money) they

could not repay• Over-production of consumer goods with a decline in

demand• Bad bank loans

THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAOS: BLACK TUESDAY• What: The day the Stock Market crashed and the

official starting day of the Great Depression. • Stock: units of ownership in a company• People who had invested in stock panicked and began selling all their shares.•With all sellers and no buyers, companies’ stock became worthless and people lost all their money

• When: October 29, 1929• 7 months after Herbert Hoover became President

BLACK TUESDAY PICTURES

GREAT DEPRESSION: CAUSE AND EFFECT C A U S E : B L A C K

T U E S D AY E F F E C T S ?• Stocks became

worthless, so companies were forced to shut down

• Unemployment: not having a job; 25% in 1933

• Panic: people rushed to the banks to withdrawal all their money

FRIEND OR FOE: PRESIDENT HERBERT HOOVER• Who: President Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the U.S.• Self-made millionaire

• When: • Elected in 1928, took office in March 1929• Term ended in 1933

• What and Why:• Shortly after the Stock Market crash, American grew to

distrust Hoover• Hoover believed the Great Depression was limited to

economics and did call for any type of government intervention• Rugged Individualism: the idea that each individual

should be able to help themselves out without aid• Hoovervilles: popular name of shanty towns built by the

poor and homeless during the Great Depression

GREAT DEPRESSION: CAUSE AND EFFECT C A U S E : H E R B E R T

H O O V E R ’ S B E L I E F S

E F F E C T S ?• Hoover didn’t take

government action to end the Depression or aid the suffering American people

• American citizens grew increasingly frustrated and mistrusting of government

• Unemployment continues to rise

TOMORROW: G

ET READY

TO FA

ST-FO

RWARD TO

1932…

Some b

ig changes

are co

ming!

DAY 2

E F F E C T S ON G

O V E R N M E N T

SOME BACKGROUND: U.S. GOVERNMENT PRE-DEPRESSION DAYS• Who: President Herbert Hoover• What: Hoover believed that American

economy would improve on it’s own and government had no reason to be involved

• Why: The U.S. government had never before provided extensive aid to ordinary citizens or heavily intervened in private businesses

“WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS”: THE ELECTION OF 1932C A U S E : H E R B E R T

H O O V E R ’ S I N A C T I O N

E F F E C T S ?

• Election: Hoover vs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (aka FDR)

• People were so frustrated with government they were ready for a change

• FDR won 42/48 states and won the election

THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK:FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT • Who: 32nd President of the U.S.• Where: From Hyde Park, New York• When: • Born January 30, 1882• Died April 12, 1945

• What: • Before he became president, FDR was the governor of New York• FDR suffered from polio, a disease that made him partially paralyzed.

He either walked with canes or used a wheelchair• His wife, Eleanor, was actively involved in public life and loved by the

American people• FDR was from a political family. His fifth cousin was Theodore Roosevelt,

the 26th president of the United States

EVERY MINUTE MATTERS: THE “100 DAYS”• Who: FDR• Where: Washington D.C.• When: March 1933 through June 1933• What: • The 100 Days refers to FDR’s first 100 days as President• FDR and Congress passed several groundbreaking reforms in the

first 100 days of his term• Why:• FDR thought the United States’ government should react quickly to

the suffering caused by the Great Depression• 3R’s: Relief, Recovery, Reform• Ex.: Bank Holiday

ALPHABET SOUP?:THE NEW DEAL• Who: FDR and Congress• What: • The New Deal: a series of programs enacted in the United

States during the Great Depression focused on the 3 R’s• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): New Deal program that

built 50 dams along rivers in the South to prevent flooding and provide electrical power• Works Progress Administration (WPA): New Deal program

that employed more than eight million people to build roads, schools, bridges, parks, and airports.• Social Security: provides monthly payments to the elderly,

disabled, and unemployed. Citizens pay a small amount of tax to cover the cost of Social Security

GREAT DEPRESSION: CAUSE AND EFFECT C A U S E : F D R

E L E C T E D I N 1 9 3 2E F F E C T S ?

• “100 Days”: first time the government had ever intervened so heavily in private businesses

• New Deal: first time government created relief programs for regular citizens

• New Deal programs even exist today!

• Both extended the president’s power

TOMORROW: O

LD

MCDONALD HAD A FA

RM

Except n

ot durin

g the D

epressio

n…

DAY 3

E F F E C T S ON A

G R I CU LT U R E

SOME BACKGROUND: FARMING BEFORE THE GREAT DEPRESSION• Who: American farmers were typically just families “working

the land”• When: early 1900 through the 1920s• Where: Much of American farming was centered in the

Midwest • What • Unlike the prosperity elsewhere in the country, American

farming families struggled financially in during the “Roaring Twenties”• Because of the Stock Market crash, urban Americans had less

money for food.• As a result, farmers lost money and many were forced to give

up their land. Riots became common in the Midwest

THE U.S. FARMING SYSTEM: ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE

WE AREN’T IN KANSAS ANYMORE:FDR STEPS IN• Who: FDR and Congress• Why: • FDR quickly realized that the government needed to take

immediate action to stabilize the farming industry• One of the big problems: over-production

• What: • Supply and demand: Supply is how much of something is

available. Demand is how much of something people want. Together, they determine how much a product costs. • Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA): passed in 1933. This law

set limits on what type of crops and how much farmers could produce. In return, the government would pay farmers a small amount for agreeing to the law.• Most farmers were supportive of the AAA and were slowly

able to pay back debts thanks to the government checks

AND YOU TH

OUGHT IT

COULDN’T G

ET WORSE

The Dust B

owl

THE PERFECT STORM: DUST BOWL BASICS• What• Dust Bowl: refers to a region and an event. The Dust Bowl was a period

of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the agriculture of the U.S. and Canadian prairies in the 1930s.

• Where: • The Midwest region: Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota

• When: The Great Depression, 1930s• Why:• Poor agriculture practices: farmers didn’t rotate or rest fields and over-

plowed the land. As a result, the topsoil was loose and poor quality• Weather events: • severe drought: long period without rain• Series of strong wind storms

MAP OF DUST BOWL REGION

GREAT DEPRESSION: CAUSE AND EFFECT C A U S E : D U S T

B O W LE F F E C T S ?

• Migrant workers: a person who moves from place to place to find work

• 60% of residents in the Dust Bowl region had to evacuate

• AAA: providing aid in times of need

GREAT DEPRESSION: CAUSE AND EFFECT C A U S E :

A G R I C U LT U R E I N D U S T RY FA I L U R E S

E F F E C T S ?• The AAA provided

greater protection for farming prices was the first time the government regulated crops.

• Agricultural farms slowly became companies, rather than family owned

TOMORROW: EVERYD

AY

LIFEHow

the D

epressio

n Changed American

Culture

DAY 4

E F F E C T S ON A

M E R I CA N C

U LT U R E

STOP A

ND

THINK…

How w

ould yo

ur life

chan

ge if

the eco

nomy w

ere to

cras

h

today

?

CHANGES IN ALL TYPES OF ARTS

RHYTHM AND BLUES: THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE• What:• The Harlem Renaissance: a burst of African-American culture in

areas of writing, music, and painting. • Where: • Movement was centered in Harlem (NYC), but the art coming from

the movement was influential around the country• When: late 1920s and throughout the Great Depression• Who:• Langston Hughes: poet who wrote about the difficult conditions

under which the African-Americans lived • Louis Armstrong: famous jazz musician who was popular with white

and black audiences

L O U I S A R M S T R O N G

L A N G S T O N H U G H E S

SAY CHEESE: CHANGES IN PHOTOGRAPHY• Who:• Dorothea Lange: hired by the U.S. government to take pictures of

citizens suffering during the Great Depression• Where: All over the United States• When: The Great Depression years• Why:• Technology made cameras more portable and pictures clearer• Photos were published in newspapers to share the widespread

suffering of migrant workers and the unemployed

THE POWER OF THE PEN: CHANGES IN LITERATURE• Who: Author John Steinbeck• What: The Grapes of Wrath• Novel tells the story of migrant workers leaving Oklahoma to

find work in California • Themes include: hardship, determination

• When: published April 14, 1939• Why:• Migrant workers were often treated badly when they reached

their destinations• John Steinbeck wanted to show migrant worker families in a positive way

“AND THE OSCAR GOES TO…” : CHANGES IN MEDIA • What:• During the Great Depression era, the movie industry

expanded• 60 to 80 million Americans went to movies weekly during

the Depression• Superhero comics also became extremely popular during

the Great Depression era• Why:• Many Americans felt movies provided a welcome escape

from the harsh realities of their everyday lives• Popular movies and comics included themes that reassured

Americans that success was possible• Who:• Shirley Temple• Snow White and the Seven Drawfs• Judy Garland and The Wizard of Oz

BUY ME SOME PEANUTS AND CRACKER JACKS: CHANGES IN SPORTS• What:• The “Golden Age of Baseball”• The Baseball Hall of Fame and the All-Star Game began during the

Great Depression• Why:• Like movies, people continued attending baseball games as a way to

escape the troubles of their daily lives• Children and adults alike also enjoyed playing their own baseball

games as a free form of entertainment • Who:• Joe DiMaggio• Babe Ruth• Lou Gehrig

Babe RuthJoe DiMaggio

Lou Gehrig

GREAT DEPRESSION: CAUSE AND EFFECT C A U S E : C U LT U R E C H A N G E S F R O M

D E P R E SS I O NE F F E C T S ?

• Jazz music• Photojournalism• Realistic Fiction• Popular color and

black-white movies

• Superhero comics• American’s love

of professional sporting events

THE G

REAT DEPR

ESSION:

IS IT REALLY

OVER?

How doe

s the D

epres

sion aff

ect y

our life

every

day?