The Great Depression of the 1930s

By: Brenna Biggs

What Was the Depression?• An immense tragedy that placed

millions of Americans out of work• The effect of the stock market crash

of 1929• Was the beginning of government

involvement in the economy and in society as a whole

The Stock Market Crash In 1929 the United States stock market along with many stock markets across the world crashed without any warning. While it didn’t happen on a single day, but over the course of 3 or 4, this crash led to the most devastating period in the history of America’s economy. One of the most important days during this crash is known as Black Tuesday,aka October 29, 1929.

Wall Street in 1929

Black TuesdayOn Black Tuesday almost 13 million shares were traded, causing stock prices to drop at such a quick rate that the stock ticker could not keep up. This incident marked the beginning of the crash and although multitudes of bankers tried to reverse it, the crash had already begun as well as the largest economic depression in history.

The Smoot-Hawley TariffTo make matters worse, in 1930 the Smoot-Hawley Tariff was passed by senator Reed Smoot and representative Willis C. Hawley. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to very high levels.

President Herbert Hoover: His Effect on the Depression

• Elected November 1929• Many citizens blamed President Herbert Hoover

for allowing the depression to get so bad• Hoover promised a quick fix for the economy,

which was one he couldn’t keep

• Because of the crash, unemployment rates hit record highs

• By the year 1932 the unemployment rate was an astonishing 23.6%, the largest amount in U.S. History.

• Caused many people to be kicked out of their homes and left to fend for themselves on the streets

Living Conditions:

• Many rich/middle class people were forced out of their homes

• The homeless created shacks and tents out of supplies they found around the city

• These communities came to be known as Hoovervilles, named after Herbert Hoover who many people blamed for the Depression

• Pennsylvania: three or four families crowded together in one-room shacks and lived on wild weeds.

• Arkansas: families were found inhabiting caves.

• Oakland, California: whole families lived in sewer pipes

Children in the Great Depression

• Many were forced to find work to support their families

• Some found work on farms in the rural areas of some states

• Most of these jobs only paid a few cents a day, but with no main income source, families had to take what they could get

Children in the Great Depression (cont.)

• If not of working age, children stayed at home with their families

• Children passed time by playing simple games that didn’t involve money

Life on the Railroad• Many people forced off the

farm heard about work hundreds of miles away ... or even half a continent away. Often the only way they could get there was by hopping on freight trains, illegally.

• More than two million men and perhaps 8,000 women who led this lifestyle became known as “hoboes”.

Life on the Railroad (cont.)

• At least 6,500 hoboes were killed in one year either in accidents or by railroad “bulls”, brutal guards hired by the railroads to make sure the trains carried only paying customers.

• Finding food was a constant problem• Hoboes often begged for food from local homes and

farms

In conclusion: The Great Depression and the effects of the Great Depression greatly changed the face of American society and economics

The End