T h e A r t i o s H o m e C o m p a n i o n S e r i e s T e a c h e r O v e r v i e w Men stood on street corners, begging or selling fruit. Women took in laundry and other work and did all they could to cut household expenses. Hobos hopped onto railroad cars in hopes of finding work in other places. Most of these individuals had only recently been hardworking people. They had now fallen into poverty as a result of the Great Depression. The Great Depression Reading and Assignments Based on your student s age and ability, the reading in this unit may be read aloud to the student and journaling and notebook pages may be completed orally. Likewise, other assignments can be done with an appropriate combination of independent and guided study. In this unit, students will: Complete one lessons in which they will learn about The Great Depression. Define vocabulary words. Visit www.artioshcs.com for additional resources. Page 212
Leading Ideas Happiness and success is not found in the gathering of wealth. To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:26 Vocabulary Lesson 1: fraudulent Key People, Places, and Events Black Thursday Stock Market Crash Black Tuesday hobos / hoboes Hoovervilles President Herbert Hoover The New Deal Emergency Banking Act Franklin Delano Roosevelt Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) bread lines Works Progress Administration (WPA) The Dust Bowl Public Works Administration (PWA) Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Food line at the Yonge Street Mission in Toronto in the 1930s (during the Great Depression) Page 213
L e s s o n O n e H i s t o r y O v e r v i e w a n d A s s i g n m e n t s The Great Depression The prosperity of the Roaring Twenties seemed like it would go on forever. However, in the middle of October 1929, investors became concerned when stock values dropped. As people rushed to their banks to withdraw their savings, the banks ran out of cash and were forced to close. Prices of goods rose, along with unemployment. Masses of hardworking people suddenly fell into poverty. The Great Depression had begun. Crowd at New York s American Union Bank during a bank run early in the Great Depression Reading and Assignments Read the article: The Great Depression. Define the vocabulary word in the context of the reading and put the word and its definition in the vocabulary section of your notebook. After reading the article, summarize the story you read by either: Retelling it out loud to your teacher or parent. OR Completing an appropriate notebook page. Either way, be sure to include the answers to the discussion questions and an overview of key people, dates, and events in your summary. Be sure to visit www.artioshcs.com for additional resources. Vocabulary fraudulent Page 214
Key People, Places, and Events Black Thursday Stock Market Crash President Herbert Hoover Black Tuesday hobos / hoboes Franklin Delano Roosevelt Hoovervilles Bread Lines Emergency Banking Act The New Deal The Dust Bowl Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Public Works Administration (PWA) Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Discussion Questions 1. How did people use their money during the Roaring Twenties? Describe this in as much detail as possible. 2. How did people respond when they heard the news of the Stock Market Crash? 3. What do banks do with the money that people deposit into them? 4. In what ways did people try to find work to make ends meet? 5. How did President Hoover believe the American economy would recover? Was he right? 6. How did Hoover finally try to spark economic growth? 7. Who won the 1932 presidential election? 8. What did he promise the American people? 9. What was his campaign song? 10. Why did FDR create all of these various agencies? 11. Describe the Dust Bowl. The Great Depression by Mary E. Hall, MPA The prosperity of the Roaring Twenties seemed like it would go on forever. People bought up modern conveniences, fashionable clothing, and luxury items, persuaded by glamorous advertisements to spend more than they had. They did this using bank credit made available when the government expanded its credit policies after World War I ended. Once people were heavily in debt, they looked for ways to pay back what they owed. Some who lacked integrity turned to the black market to buy and sell illegal goods. Businesses also went into debt, and some of these tried to increase income through fraudulent practices, using empty promises to lure clients and customers into poor purchases. Actress Louise Brooks in 1927, wearing fashionably bobbed hair under a cloche hat Page 215
were lost and homes destroyed. The devastation turned new buyers away, and a good bit of money was lost by those who had risked it on a poor investment. French fashion, 1920s Once people were heavily in debt, they looked for ways to pay back what they owed. Some who lacked integrity turned to the black market to buy and sell illegal goods. Businesses also went into debt, and some of these tried to increase income through fraudulent practices, using empty promises to lure clients and customers into poor purchases. Investors bought up cheap land in sunny places like Florida. Advertising the dream of a tropical paradise filled with resorts and recreation, they sold parcels to homebuyers and resort builders at higher prices, in what became known as the Florida land boom. Dazzled by colorful drawings of stunning beaches and grand golf courses, many buyers purchased lots at even higher prices without even seeing what they d bought, and much of it turned out to be low-quality marshland. When a powerful hurricane struck the Miami area in 1926, many lives Sale notice advertising land in Florida Still others, who had learned a bit about investing with war bonds during World War I, invested now in the stock market, which allows people to buy stock shares (portions) of corporations, in order to share in their profits. When the market flooded with these new buyers, stock prices rose and investors profited. When the government made some changes that made credit purchases even easier, middlemen called brokers started allowing investors to buy stock on credit. When some of these were unable to pay, stock prices started to go down. In the middle of October 1929, investors became alarmed when stock values dropped, and when buyers stop purchasing, prices fell even more. On one particular day which became known as Black Thursday, millions of stock shares went up for sale. No one bought them. Major investors joined Page 216
together and bought up stock, trying to halt the price drops. They succeeded for a single day, but then the prices dropped again. On the following Tuesday, October 29, the stock market crashed. This means that too many stock shares went up for sale, more than the market could handle, and their value became too low to trade. That day became known as Black Tuesday. People rushed to their banks to withdraw their savings. The banks, which invest the money people deposit and don t keep it all on hand, ran out of cash and were forced to close. Prices of goods rose, along with unemployment, as businesses struggled to recover their losses. Masses of hardworking people suddenly fell into poverty. Crowd gathering at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street after the 1929 crash Life During the Great Depression Men stood on street corners, begging or selling fruit. Women took in laundry and other work and did all they could to cut household expenses. Hobos 1 (traveling homeless men) hopped onto railroad cars in hopes of finding work in other places. Migrant families flocked to farms, hoping to find work and food. Two hobos walking along railroad tracks, after being put off a train. One is carrying a bindle. Many people blamed the president, Herbert Hoover, because he believed the economy needed to recover on its own and would not be improved by government interference. When homeless villages made up of wooden shacks sprang up, people called them Hoovervilles. The president recognized that some interference was necessary and took steps to help the economy. He cut taxes for a time and started federal works projects to create jobs. But after a few years, he raised taxes again. He also expanded credit. This sparked a bit of economic growth, but it wasn t based on true recovery. He also signed a tariff bill to help protect American industry, but this backfired by shutting down trade with other countries. The rest of the world was also suffering during this time. This happened partly because Germany couldn t pay its tremendous war debts, which kept other Page 217
European countries from repaying theirs, and partly because of other economic issues that affected international trade. The nation of Chile was hit especially hard because the market dried up for its primary export, copper. Other South American industries were affected as well, when they lost their biggest buyers in the U.S. A Hooverville near Portland, Oregon distant cousin of the former president Theodore Roosevelt. Unlike Hoover, FDR believed the economy needed strong government interference. His campaign promised a new deal for the American people, and its song was Happy Days are Here Again. Soon after his inauguration, Roosevelt took on the economic crisis by launching a huge number of government programs intended to provide relief, recovery, and reform. He called for Congress to meet in special session, where they passed an Emergency Banking Act and established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect bank accounts. His promised New Deal included a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to pay men to build roads and parks, a Public Works Administration (PWA) to build public buildings, and a Works Progress Administration (WPA) to provide other kinds of work. Franklin Delano Roosevelt In the meantime, the problems in the U.S. were growing worse. Americans responded by replacing Hoover in the 1932 election with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Dorothea Lange s Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, age 32, a mother of seven children, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. Page 218
While these programs and reforms provided some short-term relief, they didn t solve the underlying problems. Crime increased along with homelessness, and bread lines formed outside of soup kitchens in cities everywhere. In the early 1930s, things became even worse when overfarmed land in the southern plains dried up during a severe drought, stirring up huge dust storms and creating what became known as the Dust Bowl. Farmers couldn t raise crops, and many were forced to move west in search of better land. supplies, along with money-saving ideas and physical help. Stories abounded of teachers buying meals for students out of their meager income, while churches of different types worked together to open soup kitchens and share resources. People also opened orphanages and shelters for the homeless. An anonymous man in Canton, Ohio sent $5 checks to 150 poverty-stricken fellow townspeople a tremendous amount of money during those years. A dust storm approaching Spearman, Texas, April 14, 1935 Hard times give people an opportunity to share and help one another, though, and Americans did a great deal of this during the Great Depression sharing food and other An impoverished American family living in a shanty, 1936. Photo by Dorothea Lange. While the government and industry strove to find answers for the nation s woes, the economy limped along in poor shape until the beginning of World War II. 1. According to Wiktionary.com: a homeless, usually penniless person, in some way associated with a life along the rails / plural hobo or hoboes Page 219