THE GREAT DEPRESSION
By:Lauren Petrozza, Jessica Veilleux, Neve Manion, and Paul
Ciarcia
Economic Issues Stock Market Crash U.S. market lost two-thirds of its value by 1993 Collapse of the American banking system Bank failures Stock of money shrank Farm Depression Farm product prices fell Economic Breakdowns World trade collapsed because of Smoot-Hawley Tariff
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Income During the Great Depression
27.5 million families in the U.S. at the time
21.5 million families (78 percent) made under $3,000
6 million families made under $1,000 per year (22 percent)
The median household income today is $51,404, about $4283.7 per month (171.3% increase)
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Race Factor Southern City People Slogan Racial slogans like ‘No jobs for Niggers until every
white man has a job” Roosevelt Did Little to Help Opposed Civil Rights African Americans Made Their Own New Deal Helped each other out and grew their own food “Slave Market” Unemployment Rate Blacks higher than Whites
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Making Ends Meet New Deal- people got jobs PWA and
WPA Farmers relocated People relied on government checks
or charity organizations for food Enlisted in the military People got jobs as cartographers
(mapmakers)www.etsy.com
Impact on Businesses/People
Collapse of American banking system: Depositors wanted to remove their money
from banks Banks ran out of cash so they were forced to
shut down Businesses could no longer operate Farm Depression: Many people lost their farms due to dropping
prices of crop Severe drought left soil unfertile—no plants
grew Many were forced from their homes
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Stock Market Crash Stock value dramatically dropped Thousands of shareholders lost large
sums of money By 1930 consumer spending had fallen
dramatically (no one was spending money)
Decrease in world trade—increase in trade restrictions
Nations changed their leaders and types of government because of the economic crisis
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Smoot-Hawley Tariff Created by Reed Smoot and Willis Hawley Blamed for turning “what would have been a
normal economic depression into a worldwide depression”
Reasons it was so bad: Responsible for highest tariff rates in U.S.
history “Deepened” the Great Depression by reducing
availability of foreign goods Created an “open trade war between countries”
and increased foreign trade retaliation
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