Today in class we presented our projects to the rest of the class.
The four questions you will be researching are as follows:
1. What were the causes of the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression?
The lack of government regulation, buying stacks on margin, pooling, and over priced stocks. People who bought stocks lost all their money because of the shares being sold that day. People couldn't make things because they didn't have money and when they had things for sell no one could buy it because no one had money. People that had money in their accounts had no money because it was all lost. A lot of the farmers had drought conditions so they had to move south and people weren't buying their things so it was hard for them to pay their taxes.
2. What impact did the stock market crash and Great Depression have on the lives of people in the United States?
People couldn't buy things because they had no money and people couldn't sell things if they didn't have people buying them. Not being able to get money out of the bank and not being able to have money to spend. People were panicking because the stock prices. People were going to the banks and they would take out all their money. Unemployment forced families to live in crowded places and the women had to try and go get work and the men were the ones that had to have a job. The homeless would live in Hoovervilles because they thought it was all the presidents fault. A lot of young people would ride around on trains and they would try to find someone to get a job and a place to live. It was unhealthy because of the low sanitation and the way that people were around sick people. A lot of people went sick because they didn't have any food to eat. A lot of young people were starving. With farming, animals had to be killed because the animals cost to much to maintain. The dust bowl was also a struggle that people had to go through because of all the things that it destroyed. There were a lot of people killing themselves and people were committing crimes.
3. What did the United States government do to help alleviate the problems the Great Depression brought to our country?
President Hoover
He served as the head of the U.S. food administration, he was blamed for the great depression because he didn't like to use our money to help people out and he didn't really know how bad things were when people were struggling. Hoovers Philosophy; laissez fairre, trickle down theory, rugged individualism. He had the RFC (Reconstruction Finance Corporation) Giving loans to banks, state and local governments and business' to create projects and jobs for people, gave states loans for emergency relief needs, started under Hoover, but not very successful has he thought.
Roosevelt-New Deal(Goals/1st and 2nd)
They both only lasted a year, Economic; stabilize banks, clean up financial mess from 1929 crash, and to help farmers. The New Deal was FDR's way of getting the country back on track. Job Creation; create agencies to make jobs, recognize rights of workers to form unions. Civic Uplift; helped every state, town, and community, and inspired a civic, cultural, and economic renaissance. Investment in public workings; built roads, highways, bridges, and schools, theaters, libraries, city halls, hospitals, homes, parks, post offices, and airports. The three R's; relief-temporary relief for citizens, recovery-help economy, and reform-fix causes of great depression. Second new deal; still apart of the original new deal, it just starts the second half of the new deal. Goals of the second new deal; improved use of national resources, security against old age, unemployment and illness, and slum clearance.
How did the New Deal impact the following:
unemployed
The New Deal helped decrease unemployment, they also helped build things for the public and they made money doing that. With the work that they were doing they were making a lot of money and they were having many more deals for job seekers. Sending young men to do things so that they would get up on a higher level as they get older. Men worked on landscaped and made new attractions; WPA, PWA.
young people
Teenagers had to take care of the younger ones, the teenagers had to leave school and go to jobs, schools shut down because they didn't have any money, they had an act that would pay to keep the schools up so that the children would get educated. Most teens ran away and would start a new life. The CCC was about men who didn't have families and they would live in a place that helped them and fed them and gave them shelter. When the teens would run away, they would steal things just to get away and while they were chasing the trains; some of them would die or lose a limn.
factory workers
Factory workers were not getting paid very much and they had an act called The National Relations Act and they guaranteed basic rights of private sector employees to organize into trade unions and engaged in collective bargaining. Employees could strike if they wanted to. The Fair Labor Standards Act, also known as the wages and hours bill, introduced maximum 44 hour seven day workweek, established minimum wage, time and a half overtime for certain job, abbreviated as FLSA, and prohibited most child labor. Children under 18 couldn't do certain jobs and children under 16 couldn't work during school hours. National Industrial Recovery Act; law that authorized the president to regulate industry in attempt to raise prices. PWA; large scale public works construction agency, built dams, bridges, hospitals, and schools, purpose was to provide employment and revive the economy.
labor unions
An organization association of workers, often in a trade, formed to protect rights and interests. There were only 3 million labor union members in 1933. The Wagner Act was the most important and a large business.
farmers
Cotton, corn, wheat, and dairy was paid to produce less, price had doubled in 3 years, crops were sloughed back. People were hungry and they weren't getting enough food. 2.5 million men left, income doubled for farmers, left many employed, some lost farms.
elderly
Fiscal year = tax year, Age 65 or January 1st 1942, Old age assistance=payments to aged individuals, poorhouses. Per cementum = percents; 1/2 to $3,000+, 1/12 to $3,000-$45,000+. old age reserve account June 30, 1937. Retired almost retired savings are almost gone, dependence on family (child, elderly, then parents), children orphanages, elderly charity. Arizona and Hawaii were supportive, citizens and residents had to be there for 15 years. Hard work doesn't guarantee financial security, and most expected government to assist.
poor
Food; breadlines, soup kitchens, need from employment, operated- churches, charities, government. Placement housing; stove and bed. Hoover; leather, blankets, flags, wagons. HOLC; homeowners refinancing act. FCA; farm credit administration.
homeowners
Home ownership rates fell sharply and housing prices plummeted, interest rates fall as the Federal Reserve quickly trims the discount rate in hope of cushioning the business cycle. Enacted June 28, 1934. Also called the Cape hart Act, designed to stop bank foreclosures on family home, created the federal housing administration and the federal saving and loan insurance corporation. The federal housing administration, made housing and home mortgages more affordable. Federal Savings and loan insurance corporation, insured deposits in savings and loans. United states housing authority, designed to lend money to the states or communities for low cost construction. Homeowners loan corporation, its purpose was to refinance home mortgages currently in default to prevent foreclosure.
artists/musicians
It was a time of exploration, sought for popularity, The New Deal was hiring them to create different things for them, art was deemed worthy, expressed themselves, hired by the government under the New Deal to create jobs. It was the 'visual arts arm' of the great depression era, came from the New Deal Works Progress Administration Project called Federal One, Went from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943, Goals of the FAP was to get them back on top where they were before. American Gothic was famous. Federal Music Project, Employed musicians conductors and composers, concerts and festivals, music lessons, ethnomusicology. Get people happy and interested and musical education and equality to learn the differences about music, getting children involved, and distractions from the depression.
women/African-American
My topic
Native Americans
A social worker named John Collier became head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Collier used the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 to help Native American Indians to preserve their culture, he had worked on Indian issues for ten years prior to his appointment. The Indians who sold their land often did not get much value for it either a poor price or squandering the cash windfall they received. Federal legislation that secured certain rights to Native Americans, these include actions that contributed to the reversal of the Dawes Acts privation of communal holdings of American Indian tribes and a return to local self government on a tribal basis, the act also restored to Indians the management and included proboscis intend to creates a sound economic foundation for the inhabitants.
bank holiday
withdrawals restrictions, closings and failures, and three day period for banks to just relax. FDIC/FRS; limits, lost funds, Federal Deposit, Insurance, Corporation.
stock market
Buying on Margin, not enough money to buy stocks, use some of own money borrow rest from broker, if the price of stock fell lower than the loan amount there could be a "margin call", lead to overpriced stocks. After the crash when the market bottomed out in 1932, it had a 90% decrease since 1929, it took 22 years for the stock to be above levels in 1929. A security; a certificate attesting credit, the ownership of stocks or bonds, or the right to ownership connect with trad able. Require that investors receive financing; and other significant information concerning securities being offered for public sale, Prohibit decent, misrepresentations and other fraud in the sale of securities. Enables investors to make judgments about buying securities, investors who have losses can try to prove there was inaccurate information. Little support for federal regulation of securities market before the crash of 1929, created form the securities act of 1933 and the securities exchange act of 1934. Responsibilities; interpret and enforce laws, new rules and fix old rules, oversee inspections of securities firms, brokers, investment advisers, and rating agencies, oversee private organizations, coordinate securities.
energy
Problems with farmers and cities. REA; Rural Electric Administration, started in 1935, farmers in the Tennessee Valley received electricity. TVA; Tennessee Valley Authority, May 18, 1933, 7 states and 80,000 square miles, immediate impact, built many dams, developed fertilizers. EHFA; Electric Home and Farm Authority, appliances, standard living after EHFA.
4. What long lasting impact did the Great Depression have on Shelby County, Iowa, the US and world?
U.S.
Many businesses perished during this time period but many flourished with Mass Migration, Upstate New York and Rural New England lost many people seeking new opportunities, Many of people were adolescents seeking new life because they have younger mouths to feed. The Great Depression brought a rapid change in crime rate such as suicide, prostitution, alcoholism, and health care, Education was hard for many universities to get s they eventually gave up many of them. Marriages were delayed so the males could provide for the families, rates of divorce dropped steadily to the 1930'2 as many males choose the 'Poor Mans Divorce" because they just ran from their marriages.
World
Impact on France; other threw the government, people couldn't travel, popular fount
Impact on Germany; reparations, Hitler came to power
Impact on China; no natural resources making them depend on foreign trade, invaded China, Germany and Italy were their alliances for WWII
Impact on the Soviet Union; not affected, Joseph Stalin got control of Russia and he put Soviets in concentration camps
Impact on Great Britain; Depended on exports from other countries and high unemployment
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