The Great Depression

1929-1939• Stock Market crash.

• Didn’t realize the effect it would have.

• No money to replenish what was borrowed.

The Roaring 20s• The new concept of “credit”.

• People were buying:• Automobiles• Appliances• Clothes

• Fun times ruled• Dancing• Flappers• Drinking

• Why was this bad?

Jazz Age• The Jazz Age was the musical innovation of the

decade!• Started in New Orleans with African rhythms and

songs, followed the Mississippi to northern cities.• Both black and white music lovers frequented

nightclubs to hear Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and others.

•

Harlem Renaissance• Black intellectuals created a thriving Afro-

American culture in new York’s Harlem.• Poets, artists, novelists, and musicians

reach back to their African roots to demonstrate the richness of their racial heritage.

• Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, James Weldon Johnson

• These artists inspire and encourage African Americans to remain strong in the face of racial violence.

Credit System• People didn’t really have the money they were

spending.

WWIThe US was a major credit loaner to other nations in need.Many of these nations could not pay us back.

The Stock Market• People bought stocks on margins• If a stock is $100 you can pay $10 now and the rest later

when the stock rose.

• Stocks fall• Now the person has less than $100 and no money to pay

back.

And Then…..• With people panicking about their money

investors tried to sell their stocks.• This leads to huge decline in stocks.• Stocks were worthless now

• People who bought stocks on margins now could not pay

• Investors were average people that were now broke

• Herbert Hoover was president

Herbert Hoover• Philosophy: “We’ll make it!”

• What he did……NOTHING!!

• The poor were looking for help and there were no ideas on how to fix it or how to help them.

Farmers• Farmers were already feeling the effects• Prices of crops went down• Many farms foreclosed

Luxuries• People could not afford luxuries.• Cars Houses Fancy Clothes

• Factories shut down

• Businesses closed

Banks could not pay out money.

People could not pay their taxes.

Schools shut down because of lack of funding.

FamiliesMany families became homeless.

They had to live in shanties.

People waited in long lines for food, jobs, and help.

Some families had to move because they had no money.

Hooverville• Some families were forced to live in shanty towns

– groups of shacks and tents in vacant lots.

• There were called “Hoovervilles” because of President Hoover’s lack of help during the depression.

Dust Bowl• A serious drought in the South led to dust storms

that destroyed crops. Called the Dust Bowl!

• Crops turned to dust – there was no food available

• Homes were buried

• Fields were blown away

Effect on the South• The South was in a state of emergency.

• The Dust Bowl was the #1 weather crisis of the 20th Century.

• Some families tried to make money by making crafts.

FDR• FDR’s plan was called the NEW DEAL!

• People everywhere were effected by the depression.

• It wasn’t until President Roosevelt took over and tried to put the economy back together that people even saw a glimmer of hope.

Major Historical Happenings• Jim Crow Laws• Scottsboro Trials• Recovering from the Great Depression• Racial Injustice• Poor South

Jim Crow Laws• After the American Civil War, most states in the

South passed anti-African American legislation.

• These became known as Jim Crow laws.

Jim Crow Laws• Were started in 1896 and were not abolished until the

late 1950s (even then not completely)

• These included segregation in:schoolshospitalstheaterswater fountainsrestaurantshotelspublic transportationmarriage

Scottsboro Trials• 9 young African-American men (13-20) were

accused of raping 2 white girls in 1931.• Immediately sentenced to death.• Trials went on for nearly 15 years before all were

dismissed

Why?• Started on a train bound for Memphis

• Several white men boarded and picked a fight with the black men.

• Whites were forced off the train by the 12 black men.

• The white men reported the black men had raped two white girls on the train to authorities.

• They were immediately arrested and tried in front of an all white jury.

• The trials caused a huge uproar amongst the black community.

Harper Lee• Wrote the book To Kill A Mockingbird in 1960

• Based on the story of her life growing up in Monroeville, Alabama

• It was the only novel she ever wrote.

To Kill A Mockingbird• The character of Dill (Scout and Jem’s playmate)

in the novel was based on Lee’s actual neighbor, Truman Capote.

• Capote is famous for amongst other things, In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s

• It has been said that he gave Lee Mockingbird as a gift

To Kill A Mockingbird • In 1962, the novel was turned into a film starring

Gregory Peck.

• It received a humanitarian award and several Academy Award nominations.