1929-1939

Stock market crash Didnt realize the effect it would have No money to replenish what was borrowed

Many found being broke humiliating.

The Roaring 20s

The new concept of credit People were buying:
Automobiles Appliances Clothes

Fun times reigned

Dancing Flappers Drinking

Why was this bad?

Credit system
People didnt really have the money they were spending

WWI
The U.S. was a major credit loaner to other nations in need Many of these nations could not pay us back

The Stock Market

People bought stocks on margins
If a stock is $100 you can pay $10 now and the rest later when the stock rose

Stocks fall
Now the person has less than $100 and no money to pay back

And then.

With people panicking about their money investors tried to sell their stocks
This leads to a huge decline in stocks Stocks were worthless now People who bought on margins now could not pay Investors were average people that were now broke

 Herbert Hoover was president at the start Philosophy: Well make it! What He Did: Nothing The poor were looking for help and no ideas on how to correct or help were coming

 Farmers were already feeling the effects

Prices of crops went down Many farms foreclosed

People could not afford luxuries

Factories shut down Businesses went out

Banks could not pay out money People could not pay their taxes
Schools shut down due to lack of funds

Many families became homeless and had to live in shanties

Many waited in unemployment lines hoping for a job.

People in cities would wait in line for bread to bring to their family.

Some families were forced to relocate because they had no money.

Hooverville
Some families were forced to live in shanty towns
A grouping of shacks and tents in vacant lots

They were referred to as Hooverville because of President Hoovers lack of help during the depression.

A drought in the South lead to dust storms that destroyed crops.

The Dust Bowl

The South Was Buried

Crops turned to dust=No food to be sent out Homes buried Fields blown away South in state of emergency Dust Bowl the #1 weather crisis of the 20th century

Two Families During the Depression

A Farm Foreclosure

Some families tried to make money by selling useful crafts like baskets.

*FDR*

When he was inaugurated unemployment had increased by 7 million. Poor sections (like Harlem) had 50% of the pop. unemployed Instated the New Deal Yea! Frankie!

 People everywhere were effected by the depression It wasnt till President Roosevelt took over and tried to put the economy back together that people even saw a glimmer of hope

Major Historical Happenings...

Jim Crow Laws Scottsboro Trials Recovering from the Great Depression Racial Injustice Poor South

Jim Crow Laws

After the American Civil War most states in the South passed anti-African American legislation. These became known as Jim Crow laws. These laws included segregation in
Schools Theaters Restaurants Hotels Public transportation Some states forbid inter-racial marriages -- Hospitals -- Water fountains

 These laws were instituted in 1896 and were not abolished till the late 1950s (even then still not completely).

 9 young AfricanAmerican men (1320) accused of raping 2 white girls in 1931 Immediately sentenced to death Trials went on for nearly 15 years before all the men were dismissed

 Started on a train bound for Memphis Several white men boarded and picked a fight with the black men Whites were forced off train by the 12 black men. The white men reported the the black men had raped two white girls on the train to authorities They were immediately arrested and tried in front of an all-white jury.

The trials caused a huge uproar amongst the black community.

 Wrote To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 Based the story on her life growing up in Monroeville, Alabama TKAM was the only novel she ever wrote

 The character of Dill, Scout and Jems playmate in the novel was based upon Lees actual neighbor, Truman Capote Capote is famous for amongst other things, In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffanys. It has been said that he gave Lee Mockingbird as a gift.

 In 1962 the novel was turned into a film starring Gregory Peck. It received a humanitarian award and several Academy Award nominations