America in the 1930s

1. America in the 1930s Part one The Great Depression

2. Background • 1920s boom – built on credit – eventually going to go bust • Speculation – people buying shares with other peoples money • Overproduction and lack of demand • 24th October 1929 – Wall Street Crash • People lost their money and life savings • Banks went bust – USA went into depression

3. Unemployment • Industrial north hardest hit • Chicago – 50% unemployed • People moved to other parts of the USA to find work • Hobos – got harder to get the work the longer you were unemployed • Lost hope • 1929 – 1.6m unemployed • 1933 – 14m unemployeed

4. Homelessness • 1932 alone – 250 000 people lost their homes • Could not repay their mortgages – banks repossessed them • People in rented homes kicked out because they could not pay the rent • Lives in shanty towns on the edge of cities • Hoovervilles

5. Help from charities • USA did not have a welfare system – no once to help out • Charities • Wealthy people helped out – even Al Capone • Some local government organisations • Most set up soup kitchens • Help never enough due to the numbers

6. Farmers • Had not had a good time of it in the 1920s • The depression made a bad situation worse • Food prices fell sharply - many farmers went bankrupt • 1932 – 1 in 10 farmers evicted because they could not pay their mortgages • Many farmers had changed from cattle to crop farming – over farmed and sucked out the nutrients out of the soil • Soil turned to dust – “Dust bowl”

7. The government reaction • Herbert Hoover – President – Republican • Rugged individualism • Thought it would sort itself out without govt help • When it did try to help it did so half heartedly • 1930 – cut taxes to encourage spending

8. Republicans and the depression • Provided $4000m on public works – Hoover High Dam • 1932 Emergency Relief Act – provided $300m for poor relief in the states • 1932 – set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation – lent businesses $1500m • People blamed Hoover for the depression