Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Distribution of
Wealth in the
1920s
* An income of
$2,500 per year
was considered
the minimum
amount needed
for a decent
standard of living
Causes of the Great Depression: B
Causes of the Great Depression: C
Year the
depression
began
Causes of the Great Depression: D
Year the
depression
began
Causes of the Great Depression: E
Benefits and risks of Stock sold after
buying a $1,000 stock increase in value
on margin from a broker
Year the
depression
began
Over-production and under-consumption
By the end of the 1920s, factories
produced too many durable goods
(known as over-production)
People did not need as many
appliances and cars by the end of
the decade (under-consumption)
End of WWI
Increasing American debts
Many Americans used credit to live
beyond their means, generate large
debts, and had to cut back on
spending by the end of the decade
How does consumer debt
in the 1920s compare to today?
Uneven distribution of wealth
The decade was not as wealthy
as it appeared; Despite rising wages,
the gap between the rich and poor
grew wider in the 1920s
70% of Americans were considered
poor so most of the spending was
done by 30% of the population
Americans lost
confidence in banks as The lack of spending
25,000 banks failed; and stock market
The lack of banking crash led to failure of
meant there was no 90,000 businesses
money for investment
Rudy Vallee
Brother Can You
Spare a Dime?
Song plays for next 4 slides
Mortgage Foreclosures
Poverty in America
The effects of the Decades of over-farming and
depression were droughts in the Plains led to
made worse by windstorms that swept away soil
the Dust Bowl and made farming impossible
Farmers in the Plains (called Okies and Arkies
left their farms and searched for work or
for better land in West coast states
Group Activity:
In teams, play the role of an economist and
try to bring the Great Depression to an end
Examine each of the Economic Briefing
sheets provided and choose a solution
based upon the choices provided
After examining each briefing sheet,
choose a presenter and discuss as a class
When finished, examine Conservative,
Liberal, and Radical Solutions sheet and
examine the reading on how President
Hoover responded to the Depression
When the Great Depression began,
Republican President Herbert Hoover tried
to solve Americas economic problems
President Hoover Hoover private charities
believed that America to help (volunteerism)
could overcome the
depression through He encouraged business
rugged individualism growth, wanted to keep
(using hard work and taxes low, and avoided
perseverance) direct govt intervention
As the depression worsened, Hoover called for more
direct government action to ease peoples suffering
Under Hoover, the govt Congress created the
issued relief checks to Reconstruction Finance
help the unemployed Corps (RFC) to loan money
to save failing businesses
Congress approved new building projects
to put Americans to work like the Hoover Dam
These efforts did not end the depression and
many citizens lost faith in President Hoover
Americans who lost their homes, lived in
shantytowns nicknamed Hoovervilles
Hoover Hotels Hoover Blankets
Hooverville
By the election of 1932, Americans were
looking for new leadership and a president who
could save them from the Great Depression