Download CHAPTER 24 THE GREAT DEPRESSION

HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Chapter 15
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Section 1: Prosperity Shattered
Section 2: Hard Times
Section 3: Hoover’s Policies
1
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 1: Prosperity Shattered
Objectives:
 Why did financial experts issue warnings about
business practices during the 1920s?
 Why did the stock market crash in 1929?
 How did the banking crisis and subsequent business
failures signal the beginning of the Great
Depression?
 What were the main causes of the Great Depression?
2
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 1: Prosperity Shattered
Warnings about business practices
 farm crisis
 “sick” industries
 consumers’ reliance on credit
 stock speculation
3
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 1: Prosperity Shattered
Reasons for the stock market crash
of 1929
 Economic factors such as rising interest rates
began to worry investors.
 Investors sold stocks.
 Stock prices dropped sharply, fueling panic.
 Heavy selling continued.
4
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 1: Prosperity Shattered
Events signaling the Great Depression
 Banks failed due to heavy defaults, margin calls,
and heavy withdrawals.
 Bank failures deprived businesses of necessary
resources and customers.
 Businesses closed and workers lost their jobs.
5
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 1: Prosperity Shattered
Causes of the Great Depression
 The global economic crisis decreased exports.
 Unequal distribution of income reduced the total
purchasing power available in the economy.
 Consumer debt undermined individuals and
increased economic chaos.
6
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 2: Hard Times
Objectives:
 How did unemployment during the Great
Depression affect the lives of American workers?
 What hardships did urban and rural residents face
during the depression?
 How did the Great Depression affect family life
and the attitudes of Americans?
 How did popular culture offer an escape from the
Great Depression?
7
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 2: Hard Times
Unemployment during the Great
Depression
 rose sharply
 created severe financial problems
 created severe emotional problems
8
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 2: Hard Times
Hardships during the depression
 poverty
 diminished expectations
 low prices or lack of market for farm products
 farm foreclosures
 hunger
 homelessness
 deportation for aliens
9
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 2: Hard Times
Great Depression’s effects on family life
and attitudes of Americans
 fractured some families, forced others to band
together for survival
 divorce rates up
 birth rates down
 many psychological problems
10
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 2: Hard Times
Popular culture during the depression
 movies
 radio
 comic books and popular novels
11
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 3: Hoover’s Policies
Objectives:
 Why did President Hoover oppose government-sponsored
direct relief for individuals during the Great Depression?
 How did the Hoover administration attempt to solve the
depression’s economic problems, and how successful were
these efforts?
 How did radicals and veterans respond to Hoover’s policies?
 Why was Franklin D. Roosevelt such a popular candidate in
the 1932 election?
12
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 3: Hoover’s Policies
Hoover’s opposition to government relief
during the Great Depression
President Hoover believed that individuals and
businesses should be self-reliant and that
government help would create a bureaucracy.
13
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 3: Hoover’s Policies
Hoover’s attempts to solve economic
problems
 Public-works programs such as building Boulder Dam failed
to relieve entrenched depression.
 The Federal Farm Board, which made loans, established
cooperatives, and bought surplus goods, avoided some
foreclosures, but failed to end the farm crisis.
 The Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which loaned
taxpayer money to stabilize industries, helped some companies
avoid bankruptcy, but used money for businesses, not people.
14
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 3: Hoover’s Policies
Radical response to Hoover’s policies
 staged protests
 became involved legally
Veterans’ response
 gathered in Washington D.C. to demand payment
of their pension bonuses
15
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON
HOLT
The American Nation
IN THE MODERN ERA
Section 3: Hoover’s Policies
Reasons for Roosevelt’s popularity
 Roosevelt’s optimism and enthusiasm contrasted
with Hoover’s gloom.
 As governor of New York, Roosevelt had designed
new relief programs.
16
HOLT, RINEHART
AND
WINSTON