Economic downturn and recovery (1929-1945) Flashcards
(44 cards)
when was the wall street crash?
October 1929
what did the wall street crash cause?
economic depression
GREAT DEPRESSION
Was there a Welfare state during the great depression?
no, usa didn’t have a welfare system
what is a ‘breadline’
line in which people in extreme poverty who could not buy food would queue up for food handouts
what is a ‘hooverville’?
name for shanty towns built during the great depression
(Named after President Hoover)
what is a ‘hobo’?
workers who travelled around the US looking for work
how many Hobos travelled around the US looking for work?
estimated 2 milliion
travelled by foot, cars or on the railroad
When was the Bonus March?
March 1932
What was the Bonus March?
group of unemployed war veterans marched to Washingotn demanding that their Bonuses be paid early
How many people marched in the Bonus March
between 20,000 to 40,000
(war veterans and their families)
How many veterans chose to stay in a hooverville by the Capitol Building during the Bonus March?
roughly 15,000
How was the Bonus March resolved?
Congress refused to pay the Bonus BUT offered to pay for marchers to regain their homes
What happend to the hooverville built by the Capitol building during the Bonus March?
President Hoover sent in troops with tear gas and tanks to remove the marchers and their Hooverville.
How did the Bonus March affect Hoover’s popularity?
made him even more unpopular
- seemed as if he didn’t care about people’s suffering caused by Great Depression
How many shares were sold on ‘Black Thursday’?
13 million
How many unemployed by the end of 1929?
2.5 million
How many unemployed by 1932?
13 million
what percent were unemployed in 1933?
black people- 50%
white people- 20%
how did the republican GOVT handle depression?
laissez faire approach
(no interference)
rugged individualism
(personal liberty and free competition)
1929 Agricultural Marketing Act
set up Federal Farm Board.
intended to help keep prices for farm produce high by buying up anything farmers could not sell at market
was the 1929 Agricultural Marketing Act effective?
no, as it encouraged farmers to continue to overproduce
as a result price of farm produce continued to fall.
Who were ‘Okies?
farmers from the state of Oklahoma who had lost their farms
What did ‘Okies and Arkies’ do?
migrated across USA to California looking for work (growing fruit)
What is the ‘Dust Bowl’?
name given to large area of land where over farming led to soil being impossible to farm
