THE GREAT DEPRESSION Flashcards
(57 cards)
The Wall Street crash affect on banks
Banks go bankrupt
Not only shareholders lost money
Many Americans had borrowed money from banks to buy shares hoping to pay back their loans when shares rose in price
When share prices fell investors couldn’t sell shares for enough to pay banks back
Becuase of this in 1919 659 banks went bankrupt
Some people lost all their banks savings
What was Black Thursday
On 24th October 1929, 13 million shares were sold on the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, five times as many as on a normal day
Share prices in nearly all companies continued to drop
What happened beyond Black Thursday
People continued to sell their shares
On Tuesday 29th there was another mad panic to sell shares at any price
16 million shares were sold that day and the average price dropped by 40 cents
Shareholders lost a total of $8 billion
Why did people start to panic during the Wall Street crash
- More people began to sell their shares as word spread about the falling profits of US companies
- Shareholders realised that their shares were only worth something if someone was willing to buy them
- as they tried to sell their shares for money they dropped their price to attract a buyer
Why did a lack of confidence start the Wall Street crash
- some shareholders began to doubt whether the companies in which they had invested would keep making large profits
- In September 1929, a few cautious people began to sell their shares, worried they wouldn’t get their portion of the company profits at the end of the year
What problems abroad affected America
- companies struggled to sell their goods abroad because foreign governments had put taxes on US Goods
- these countries wanted to encourage their citizens to buy goods made in their own country
Why was their an inequality of wealth in production
Not all Americans could afford the goods that the factory produced
There was a limit to the number of cars radios telephones and fridges people needed and would buy
American factories were over producing and profits were beginning to fall
What impact did the depression have on farmers lives
- Many struggled before the crash
- Farmers with bank loans for equipment had to pay back the money. Some couldn’t afford to pay their debts so faced losing farms.
- In 1932 1 in 29 farmers had been evicted
- A combination of draught and poor gaming methods turned the land into a dust bowl. These dust storms blew away acres of topsoil making it imposible to farm
What was the impact of the depression on businessmen
- factories had been overproducing
- after the crash people had less money to spend so fewer a goods were sold
- factories owner cuts production wages and jobs
- closure affected local business to: for example fewer workers eating at restaurants near factories meant some restaurants closed to
What was the impact of the depression on the very rich
Some of the rich lost part of their wealth becuase they had invested in shares or owned factories that closed
However many owned lots of property and land were not affected greatly
What impact does the depression have on shareholders
Ordinary shareholders tried to pay back bank loans by selling valuables
Millions of investors lost a fortune
Some struggled to pay rent and faced homelessness
What was the impact of the depression on bank managers
When banks went bust bank managers and staff lost their jobs
What were the effects of the Great Depression in unemployment 3
Around 13 millions had lost their jobs by 1932, nearly 25% of the labour force
By 1932, 1200 people a day lost their jobs and 20,000 companies had closed
Between 1929 and 1932, factory production dropped by 45% and house building fell by 80%
What were Hoovervilles and why did they happen.
Around 250,000 Americans stopped paying their mortgages in 1932 alone- most were evicted
Homeless queued in breadlines for food from soup kitchens
Many took to living in the streets. Some moved to urban waste ground and built shacks. These settlements were called Hoovervilles
What was rugged individualism
People could overcome problems with hard work, not government help
What were president hoovers beliefs about overcoming the depression
Believed America would recover soon
Rugged individualism
How did hoover try to improve things and effect 4
Reconstruction Finance Corporation lent money to businesses in trouble and loans to small farmers
Huge road and dam building scheme created jobs
He made $300 million available so states could help their unemployed - but only $30 million was accepted
Hawley-Smoot tariff 1930 taxes foreign goods in hope Americans would buy cheaper food. Other nations taxes incoming US good so US exports fell sharply and even more businesses failed
What protests and violence were there against hoovers response 2
Farmers in Iowa used guns and pict forks to chase away government officials who tried to evict farm owners
In the summer of 1932 25,000 unemployed ex soldiers marched to Washington DC and asked for their war pension to be paid early. Hoover set the army on them who drove bonus army away with guns tanks tear gas
how did the new deal end
FDR cut the amount spent on the new deal, unemployment jumped by 3 million becuase the government no longer created jobs
In 1938 unemployment rose to 10.5 million shares and car and steel production started falling
By January 1938 FDR himself acknowledged that the New Deal had come to an end
What was literature like in popular culture 1930s
Authors such as Erskine Caldwell and John Steinbeck and James T Farrell wrote about the Great Depression and the poverty racism and social problems they witnessed
Popular culture 1930s - comics
First appeared in the early 1930s but their popularity soared after the publication of action Comics with the debut of Spider-Man in 1938
Comics were bright cheap and easy to read
Popular culture in the 1930s - music
Jazz remained popular as did jazz singers like Louise Armstrong , Duke Ellington and Bing Crosby
Performers like Glenn Miller also found fame
Most music was listening to through the radio but gramophone sales increased as vinyl records became more widely available
Popular Culture in the 1930s - arts
The WPA provided work for unemployed artists of all kinds
Actors were hired to put in free shows
Artists painted pictures for displays
Writers produced a guidebook on every US state
The WPA was criticised for wasting tax payers money
Popular Culture in the 1930s - Cinema
Over 100 million people went to the cinema each week
Musicals such as 42nd street and comedies starring Charlie Chaplin and laurel and hardy were incredible popular
