Great DepressionChapter 9-1

January 29, 2015

1Guided Reading Activity Lesson 1A

• In the presidential election of 1928, the Republican candidate was Herbert Hoover and the Democratic candidate was Alfred E. Smith

• The Democratic candidate practiced the Roman Catholic religion, which became a campaign issue.

2Guided Reading Lesson 1A

• Rising stock prices, also called a bull market, convinced many people to invest.

3Guided Reading Activity Lesson 2B

• By mid-November of 1929, the market price of stocks had dropped about 30 Billions

• Banks were weakened in two ways: banks had loaned billions to stock speculators, and they had invested depositors’ money in the stock market.

4Guided Reading Activity Lesson 2B

• With less credit available, the economy went into a recession.

5Guided Reading Activity Lesson 3C

• Many Americans in the 1920s bought high-cost items on the installment plan

• Because they had to pay off their debts, many Americans stopped buying new products. Manufacturers then cut production, causing employees to lose their jobs

6Guided Reading Activity Lesson 3C

• The Hawley-Smoot Tariff, meant to protect

American businesses, caused fewer American goods to be sold overseas.

• Low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve encouraged banks to make risky loans and led business leaders to believe the economy was expanding.

7Summary and Reflection GRA Lesson 1

• Many Americans were in debt because of risky investments. Many lost jobs as workers were laid off. Stock values dropped so far that people’s fortunes were wiped out. When some banks closed people lost their savings.

8Lesson 9-1 Notes

• Buying on margin was a method of buying stocks with mostly borrowed money

• Stockbrokers who made loans that allowed investors to buy stocks could issue a margin call to protect their loans.

• The stock market took its steepest dive on October 29, 1929, the day now known as Black Tuesday

9Lesson 9-1 Notes

• As a result of the stock market crash, some banks suffered more losses than they could absorb and were forced to close

• At the time of the stock market crash, the government did not insure bank deposits, so customers lost their savings if a bank collapsed

• If they remain too low, banks make risky loans and companies expand too much interest rates

10Lesson 9-1 Notes

• Companies make more goods than people can buy, causing a decrease in sales overproduction

• When many depositors decide to withdraw their money at one time bank run

• Making investments in hope that prices will go up, yielding a quick windfall speculation

• A long period of rising stock prices bull market

11Guided Reading Activity Lesson 9-2

• Jobless people often stood in Bread lines or lined up outside Soup Kitchens for free food.

• Homeless people put up shacks forming communities called Shantytowns (Hoovervilles)

• Some homeless, unemployed Americans wandered around the country. They were called Hoboes

12Guided Reading Activity Lesson 9-2

• A terrible Drought on the Great Plains caused U.S. wheat fields to become a huge Dust Bowl

• Many of Great Plains farmers headed west to California in search of a better life.

• During the 1930s, 60 million Americans went to the Movies each week.

• During this decade Walt Disney produced the first full-length animated feature called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

13Guided Reading Activity Lesson 9-2

• The first African American to win an Academy Award was Hattie McDaniel who appeared in the movie Gone With the Wind.

• Radio programs gave listeners Information and Entertainment. The first daytime dramas called Soap Operas presented families confronting everyday problems.

• New writing techniques such as Stream of Consciousness were used to show what literary characters were thinking.

14Guided Reading Activity Lesson 9-2

• Margaret Bourke-White and other Photojournalists captured in pictures how the Great Depression affected many Americans.

• How did Americans cope with hunger and homelessness during the Great Depression? Many Americans used bread lines and soup kitchens to get free food. Some of the homeless stayed in their homes until they were evicted. Then they made shacks in shantytowns. Some wandered across the country looking for work. Farmers in the Great Plains left for California hoping for a better life. Those lucky enough to work used the movies and radio to bring happiness to their lives.

159-2 Notes

• The Depression WORSENED steadily during President Hoover’s administration.

• Blaming the president for their plight, newly homeless people established shantytowns they called Hoovervilles.

• The Dust Bowl occurred primarily because plowed land was left uncultivated and there was a terrible drought.

169-2 Notes

• During the early 1930s, dust storms blackened the skies of the Great Plains for hundreds of miles

• “Okies” were usually farmers who LOST their land and TRAVELED to California TO LOOK FOR WORK.

• During the Depression, charities set up soup kitchens to give poor people meals.

179-2 Notes

• In search of work or a better life, many unemployed people rode the rails.

• During the Depression, most people were able to enjoy which two popular forms of entertainment? movies and radio

• The first feature-length animated film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

189-2 Notes

• To portray life around them, artists and writers of the 1930s often used the homeless and unemployed as subjects in their work.

19Guided Reading Activity Lesson 9-3

• Why did Hoover believe the government should not step in to help individuals? He believed that American “rugged individualism” would keep the economy moving.

• What did he think contributed to Europe’s slow recovery? Many European countries implemented a form of socialism.

• How did Hoover hope to rescue banks? He set up a credit corporation to allow banks to continue lending money.

• Why did Congress pass the Emergency Relief and Construction Act? It provided direct relief funds to states for the poor.

20Guided Reading Activity Lesson 9-3

• Who organized hunger marches in 1931? the American Communist Party

• Why did farmers burn their crops? to reduce the supply and hopefully raise prices

• What did the Bonus Army want? They wanted Congress to pass a bill authorizing payment of bonuses to military veterans of World War I.

• How was President Hoover’s image tarnished? The clearing out of the Bonus Army marchers’ camps and the lingering economic depression hurt his image.

21Guided Reading Activity Lesson 9-3

• What was the public mood concerning the economy at the beginning of the 1930s? Although the president tried to reduce people’s fears and inspire confidence, people were afraid and had no confidence in the economy.Gradually, fear gave way to anger and to protests that the government take a more aggressive role in fixing the economy.

22Lesson 9-3 NOTES

• After the Federal Reserve Board refused to put more money into circulation, President Hoover set up the National Credit Corporation to create a pool of money for troubled banks

• The Reconstruction Finance Corporation marked the first time that the federal government had established an agency to stimulate the economy during peacetime.

• In July 1932, Congress overrode President Hoover’s veto and passed the Emergency Relief and Construction Act, which called for $1.5 billion for public works and $300 million in loans to the states for direct relief.

23Lesson 9-3 NOTES

• The group of World War I veterans who marched on Washington in 1932 was called the Bonus Army.

• When President Hoover ordered the buildings in Washington, D.C., cleared of veterans, the ultimate result was 700 soldiers chasing unarmed veterans and tear-gassing stragglers.

• President Herbert Hoover did not want the government to create as many new jobs as the millions of unemployed people needed because that would require increased government spending

24Lesson 9-3 NOTES

• In 1932 President Hoover asked Congress to set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in order to allow the government to make loans to businesses

• As creditors foreclosed on nearly one million farms between 1930 and 1934, some farmers destroyed their crops in a desperate attempt to raise prices by reducing supply

• When the Senate voted down a bill that promised an immediate $1,000 bonus to each veteran of World War I, some veterans camped in vacant buildings in Washington, D.C.

• President Hoover’s image was tarnished by the rout of the Bonus Marchers, as well as by the lingering Depression