The Great Depression

Black Tuesday

Welcome to Hooverville

The Dust Bowl

The New Deal

The Stock MarketPrivate companies can raise lots of money by selling pieces of the

company to investors. The pieces are called shares of stock.If you buy stock at $10 per share and sell at $30 per share, you’ve just

tripled your money. The buyer and seller agree on a price, so if someone agrees to a deal for the stock at $30 per share, the official price becomes $30.

Sometimes the price of a stock goes up not because the company is making more money, but because people are guessing, or “speculating”, that it’s going to go up. They pay more for it, thinking it will continue to go up.

You don’t actually make (or lose) money until you sell the stock. If your stock goes up to $100 per share, you’re only rich on paper. If you get home from school one day and find you’re stock is down to $5 per share, you’re out of luck.

In the late 1920s, stocks were doing so well that people thought it would go on forever. They over-speculated, even borrowed money to buy stocks, thinking they’d have plenty to pay it back when they sold.

Black Tuesday VideoAt the end of this 5-minute video, you will have three questions to answer in one complete sentence each –

1.What happened on Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929?

2.Many people didn’t invest in the stock market. Why did millions of them lose all their money anyway?

3.The 1920s didn’t end until December 31, 1929. Why is Oct. 29, 1929, often considered the end of the 1920s?

Please answer each question in your composition book in exactly one sentence.

1.What happened on Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929?

2.Many people didn’t invest in the stock market. Why did millions of them lose all their money anyway?

3.The 1920s didn’t end until December 31, 1929. Why is Oct. 29, 1929, often considered the end of the 1920s?

Black Tuesday• In late October of 1929, stock prices began to fall. Panic set in

as people desperately tried to sell their stock.• On Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, the stock market

crashed. Stock prices began to fall again, and people began to panic. Fortunes were lost. In just two months (September and October), the market lost 40% of its value.

• Black Tuesday is often considered the day that marks - the end of the Roaring 20s and the beginning of the Great Depression.

• The stock market continued to fall until July of 1932. At the bottom, the value of all the stocks on the market had fallen by 90%.

A Downward Spiral

• The stock market crash helped trigger the Great Depression. Many people lost a lot of money.

• With less money to spend, people bought fewer goods.

• When people bought fewer goods, factories that made the goods slowed production or shut down.

• When factories shut down, people lost their jobs, so there was even less money to spend.

• With less money to spend, people bought fewer goods…. An endless circle…

“Welcome to Hooverville”

At the end of this 5-minute video, you will have three questions to answer in one complete sentence each –

1.What was a Hooverville?

2.Why was a Hooverville called a Hooverville?

3.Hoover lost the election of 1932. Who became president?

Answer each question in one complete sentence each –

1.What was a Hooverville?

2.Why was a Hooverville called a Hooverville?

3.Hoover lost the election of 1932. Who became president?

The Dust Bowl• In the middle of the Great Depression, things

got even worse for farmers on the Great Plains.• Years of drought dried up the soil. • Crops died, and there was no more prairie grass

to hold down the dirt.• Huge winds swept through the plains, blowing

the topsoil away.• The Dust Storms that hit the Great Plains in the

1930s were known as “Black Blizzards.” Here’s why.

“The Dust Bowl

At the end of this 5-minute video, you will have three questions to answer in one complete sentence each –

1.What was the Dust Bowl?

2.Where was the Dust Bowl?

3.What caused the Dust Bowl?

“The Dust Bowl

At the end of this 5-minute video, you will have three questions to answer in one complete sentence each –

1.What was the Dust Bowl?

2.Where was the Dust Bowl?

3.What caused the Dust Bowl?

This was the vegetable garden.

The Migrant Workers

• Many farmers lost their land.• Many traveled to California, where they

believed they would find plenty of work.• These migrant workers were known as “Okies”

because many came from Oklahoma.• Unfortunately, there were many thousands like

them, and the huge companies that owned the farms often took advantage of them.

This guy is cutting up a turtle he caught for dinner.

This family had nine kids. They all lived in this truck as they travelled to California and looked for work.

This is a famous photo by Dorothea Lange called Migrant Mother. She looks about 60, but she’s only about 30. The hard life really took its toll.

John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath” told the story of the Dust Bowl migrants, farm workers who had been thrown off their land and moved to California hoping to find work.

The book was made into a movie the following year, and won the Oscar for Best Picture.

In this scene, Tom Joad returns to his home after four years to find his family has been pushed off the farm where they have lived for generations. (Due to technical issues, this scene may not work properly on all computers. Sorry)

Alternate Decent Dust Bowl Video

• If Grapes of Wrath didn’t work for you, try this Dust Bowl video instead. It’s not an Oscar winner, but it’s not bad.

The New DealThe New Deal was FDR’s plan to end the Great Depression.

During this video, watch for the answers to these questions. The answers are on the slides that follow.

1. According to FDR, what’s the only thing we have to fear?2. What was the first thing FDR tried to fix?3. What did FDR do in his Fireside Chats?4. What is Social Security?5. What kind of work did people do in federal work programs like the WPA

and the CPA?6. How did World War II lift the country out of the Great Depression?

The New Deal1. According to FDR, what’s the only thing we have to

fear? Fear itself.

The New DealWhat was the first thing FDR tried to fix?The banks.

The New DealWhat did FDR do in his Fireside Chats?

He explained to the people (using the radio) what he was doing (so they would understand and not be afraid).

The New DealWhat is Social Security? “Old Age Insurance” (so old people and the disabled

aren’t just left with nothing when they can’t work any more)

The New DealWhat kind of work did people do under federal work

programs like the WPA and the CPA?

They built roads, bridges, dams, schools etc. Artists and actors got jobs painting, performing, etc.

The New DealHow did World War II lift the country out of the Great

Depression? It gave people jobs making guns, tanks, planes and

ships for the war.

Bonus Videos• Here’s a collection of clips you may or may not

have seen in class (depending which class you’re in) we watched from Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, a movie about life during the Great Depression.

• Here’s the factory scene that goes first, if you missed it when we did the 1920s or just want to see it again.

• Due to technical issues, these scenes may not work on all computers. Sorry.