Effects of Depression on different groups

Question 1

what were the groups affected

Answer 1

workers, farmers, women, AAs,

Question 2

Unemployment peaked in 1933 at how much

Answer 2

23 million.

Question 3

which jobs most affected

Answer 3

Manufacturing and industry jobs were the most affected

Question 4

how much did Ford (leading car manufacturer) lay off workers

Answer 4

fired 75% of its workforce

Question 5

how mcuh did avg weekly earnings fall by

Answer 5

Av. weekly earnings fell from $25 - $17 (1929-1933)

Question 6

National income fell from ?

Answer 6

$80B (1929) to $40B (1932)

Question 7

how many were still unemployed by 1938

Answer 7

approx. 8 million unemployed

Question 8

how were immigrants impacted

Answer 8

Mexican migrants were made to move back to Mexico due to widespread belief they were ‘stealing’ white Americans jobs
The U.S. Department of Labor deported 82,000 Mexicans between 1929 and 1935

Question 9

what was impact on lifestyle

Answer 9

Unemployment = poverty = Lost homes, savings + hope
Men turned to scavenging + ‘hobo’ lifestyle = Moved to edges of towns/cities (Hoovervilles)
Increased crime rates. Across the country jail occupancy increased by 40% (for many jail was the only place especially in winter that had sufficient accommodation and food)
Psychological effects were “devastating” (Clements)

Question 10

what was Long-lasting impact of Republican 1920s attitude of “self-sufficiency”

Answer 10

Unemployed would not apply for gov relief as they felt that it would bring shame on their whole family; “unAmerican” to accept aid.
Psychological effects = stigma of unemployment (massive humiliation).

Question 11

impact on homelife (SHD)

Answer 11

Marriages declined from 1.23 million in 1929 → 982,000 in 1932
Birth rate declined from 21.1 per thousand in 1929 → 19.5 in 1932
Suicides increased from 14 per 10,000 to 17.4 in 1932

Question 12

what was society’s opinion of Hoover & gov

Answer 12

This deterioration of the economy and workers resulted in a sharp distrust and hostility towards Hoover + the Republican Gov. This was illustrated throughout society: “Hoovervilles” was slang for shanty towns, The ‘Hoover Blanket’ was a newspaper used as a blanket by homeless people

Question 13

what did the Federation of Labor blame women for

Answer 13

unemployed men’s status led the Federation of Labor to blame women for taking mens’ jobs (1931)

Question 14

in 1930, how many american school authorities refused to employ married women & how many fired

Answer 14

1930 ⇒ over 75% of American school authorities refused to employ married women
63% of schools fired females already working as teachers but who then chose to marry.

Question 15

impact on marriage & birth rate

Answer 15

Marriage and birth rate decreased by 10%

birth rate dropped below replacement level for the first time ever

Question 16

how were the Civillian Conservation Corps unbeneficial to women

Answer 16

did not include benefits to the employment of women
Only 8000 employed by the 2.75m
Women lucky enough to enroll in the camps received an allowance instead of a wage & were placed into domestic works

Question 17

how much of its budget did the WPA spend on women

Answer 17

The WPA spent 12% of its budget on women

Question 18

what was the benefit for women during the depression

Answer 18

FDR believed in using women to promote his New Deal programs

Question 19

what was the Federal Farm Board

Answer 19

Attempt made by the Hoover administration to deal with the problem of overproduction and low agriculture prices

Set up corporations to buy surpluses of various products to maintain prices, however once the depression took hold, this was not maintained as prices dropped too much.

Question 20

what does Webb saying about the farming sector during GD

Answer 20

“ the farming sector was arguably the worst affected part of the American economy during the Great Depression.”

Question 21

impact of drought on farmers

Answer 21

1931: drought compounded Farmers problems as reduced prices and falling output meant there was no hope of breaking even financially
Drove thousands of families off their land as they became destitute → many went to California

Question 22

there was Massive fall in food prices. how much did production fall by for farmers

Answer 22

production halved from 1929 to 1932

Question 23

what happened to the Grain Stabilization Corporation

Answer 23

Despite gov efforts to create a Grain Stabilization Corporation to stabilise grain prices, this was destroyed by the world collapse in grain prices

Question 24

The sustained drought and storms damaged the land so badly that overall farm revenue fell by what % in the “Dust Bowl” region

Answer 24

50%

Question 25

how many deaths bc of Dust Bowl

Answer 25

up to 7,000 deaths occurred

Question 26

why did social disparity grow between agricultural & city communities

Answer 26

Due to the rejection of farmers in suburban areas and cities, social disparities grew and heightened.

Question 27

what was the Dust Bowl & when did it start

Answer 27

1930: a confluence of bad weather and poor agricultural practices compounded the Depression’s effects on farmers in areas in the South and Midwest Great Plains

Question 28

The “Dust Bowl” exodus was the largest migration in American history within a short period of time. how many ppl migrated & where

Answer 28

By 1940, 2.5 million people had moved out of the plains states, including 200,000 who moved to California.

Question 29

AAs suffered from “ “

Answer 29

“last hired, first fired”

Question 30

how much were AAs unemployed compared to whites

Answer 30

Average of 52% African-Americans unemployed across the US compared to 31.7% of white Americans (highest unemployment rate out of any group in the country).

Question 31

what were the Black Shirts

Answer 31

recruited approximately 40,000 people to its racist agenda, which primarily stated that no African American would be given a job before a white person.

Question 32

where were the peaks of unemployment for AAs

Answer 32

black unemployment reached 50% in Chicago (North) and 70% in Atlanta (South).

Question 33

what did the National Recovery Admin attempt to do for AAs

Answer 33

attempted to establish fair rates of pay & better conditions, BUT didn’t encourage similar requirements in the industrial North

Question 34

how did the strengthening of unions by the Wagner Act impact AAs

Answer 34

ensured that big employers used unionised labour → acted against the interests of Afro-Americans (who were often casual workers & not members of large unions)

Question 35

how did AAs feel about repub gov after depression

Answer 35

they received little from Republican administration in the 1920s so many switched to the Democratic side
It is estimated that in the 1936 election, up to 70% of black voters opted for FDR

Question 36

what did African American Robert Weaver (head of the Public Works Admin) do for AAs

Answer 36

gave grants of $45million to build schools, hospitals & homes for African Americans

Question 37

what was an AA gain from the Federal Emergency Relief Admin 1933-35

Answer 37

Benefited from poor relief & job creation projects. Over ¼ of a million African Americans were given literacy help via federal aid projects and Employment training provided by the National Youth Admin

Question 38

how were children affected

Answer 38

parents who lost their jobs = less quality of life
suffered marriage loses
Many young people were forced to leave school. In Arkansas in 1932-33, over 300 schools were operating for only 60 days a year.

Question 39

which group was the hardest hit

Answer 39

Workers were the hardest hit as they were the group which had the biggest polarisation between life before and after the GD.

Question 40

who were less affected

Answer 40

altho African Americans were hugely affected, many lives pre-GD were similar to that after the Crash, due to pre-existing societal racism

Question 41

conflating the impact on all groups, what does Clements say about the GD impact

Answer 41

“plunge the US into the biggest domestic crisis since the Civil War” (Clements)