The Great Depression Worsens Name: Class: While many people lost their jobs, the majority of Americans did not. Instead, many found their work hours reduced. The few who kept their jobs and did not have their hours or wages cut actually were better off because prices declined. In just 2 months in 1931 over 800 banks closed wiping out the life savings of thousands of people. In 1932 over 30,000 companies closed. Families could not pay their rent or mortgages (house payments) and were evicted from their homes. Fear Many people suffered from emotional effects and a loss of confidence when they couldn t find jobs. A man who was a young boy during the Great Depression remembered how it affected his father. My father spent two years painting his father s house. He actually painted it twice because it have him something to do. Business leaders were reluctant to build new factories or introduce new products or inventions. Bankers were too scared and unwilling to lend money to people even when the people wouldn t have any trouble paying it back. On the stock market, the prices of securities dropped. For example: o Radio Corporation of America (RCA) dropped from $101 per share to $2.50 per share.
Starvation One of the great ironies of the Great Depression was that starvation existed when there was actually a lot of food. Farmers grew more food than they were able to sell and when there is too much of something the price goes way down. Grain prices dropped so low that farmers heated their homes by shoveling their crops into their furnaces. They desperately wanted the price of their crops to increase so they tried to make them scarce by: o Preventing food shipments to cities o Blockaded highways and dumped the contents of entire milk trucks on the ground. o Slaughtered sheep and pigs because the prices were actually lower than what it cost to ship the animals to market. Meanwhile, in America s cities people picked through garbage looking for scraps of meat. Have you ever seen a child with rickets shaking, as with a palsy? No proteins, no milk. And the companies pouring milk into the gutters People with nothing to eat and they killed the pigs. Virginia Durr Do you agree with the actions of the farmers? Why or why not?
Wage Cuts and Unemployment Although business leaders promised President Hoover that they would not cut wages of remaining workers, as the Depression deepened, their situation changed. Wages o Salaries decreased by 40%. o Hourly wages decreased by 60%. o In 1932 the average family s income fell from $2,300 to $1,600. Unemployment o In 1930 more than 4,000,000 people were unemployed. o By 1933 more than 12,000,000 people were unemployed. Who helped to feed the people? o Local governments (communities) o Private charities In cities throughout the country breadlines and soup kitchens appeared on sidewalks. In some cases the lines stretched for blocks as people waited for their only good meal each day. In many cities, after private charity was exhausted, there was nothing left to feed the unemployed. What are your thoughts on who was responsible for helping those in need? How do you feel about President Hoover s opinion on giving people direct federal aid?
Hoovervilles Throughout the nation, families who could not pay their rent or make their mortgage payments were evicted (kicked out) from their homes. Some people were forced to move in with relatives but many ended up in makeshift shacks on the outskirts of cities. These communities were called Hoovervilles. Here were all these people living in rusted-out car bodies. I mean that was their home. There were people living in shacks made of orange crates. One family with a whole lot of kids was living in a piano box. This wasn t just a little section, this was maybe ten miles wide and ten miles long. People living in whatever they could junk together. What is a Hoover Blanket? Do you think President Hoover is to blame? Why or why not?
In May 1932, 15,000 unemployed army veterans and their families marched on Washington, D.C., to demand early payment of the bonus Congress had promised to pay them in 1945. They set up a Hooverville within sight of the White House and began demonstrating. Gradually their numbers increased to more than 20,000 people. The Bonus Army Hoover respected their right to demonstrate and even provided them with o Army tents o Cots o Field Kitchens Congress rejected their demands and most of the veterans left Washington. About 2,000 refused to leave and clashed with the local police. Hoover called in the army led by General MacArthur and ordered them to clear the veterans from federal buildings The army used o Tanks o Machine guns o Tear gas o and burned down their camp Cavalrymen were riding into the crowd, infantrymen were throwing teargas bombs, women and children were being trampled and choking from the gas. Do you think Congress should have given the veterans their bonuses early? Why or why not?