The Great Depression 19291939

1
The Great Depression1929-1939

• Jake Rubin
• Intro to Business
• Block 2

2
Causes of the Depression

• Poor distribution of wealth
• Overextended stock and margin buying caused an
  unregulated stock market
• High tariffs drove domestic prices up
• Surplus of agricultural goods lowered prices and
  put farmers in debt
• Consumer debt
• Weak Banks
• Money stopped circulating

3
Effects of the Depression

• Widespread hunger and poverty
• Unemployment rates were at 25
• Worldwide economic crisis
• Drastic lifestyle change
• Farm losses
• Caused Democrat Franklin Roosevelt to be elected
  first in 1932
• Employment of FDRs New Deal

4
New Deal Relief

• Relief tended to the countries immediate needs
• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) paid farmers
  NOT to grow crops or raise livestock to end the
  surplus and raise agricultural prices
• Emergency Bank Relief Act (EBRA) inspected banks
  to make sure they were sound enough to reopen
  following the bank holiday. If they were not
  sound then they were given a loan.
• Works Progress Administration (WPA) gave jobs to
  painters, musicians, poets, etc, who could not
  find work

5
New Deal Recovery

• Recovery plans were to end the Depression
• National Recovery Act (NRA) gave some rights to
  Unions to bargain with businesses by fixing the
  prices of goods, setting minimum wages,
  establishing 40 hour work weeks, and set up Labor
  Board
• Public Works Administration (PWA) created new
  jobs to help rebuild city infrastructure to
  improve living conditions.
• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided jobs
  for young men improving public parks and other
  conservation projects. This created more jobs
  while reducing competition for jobs in the city

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New Deal Reform

• Reform was to prevent another Depression
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
  helped protect banks and investors by insuring
  accounts and increased confidence in the bank
  system
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was
  created to regulate the stock market for future
  investors and insure confidence in the stock
  market again
• Social Security was originally established as a
  relief program for the elderly, but today it has
  been adapted to a pension program

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Famous Novels of the Depression

• During the Dust Bowl period of the Depression,
  when drought hit the Great Plains, the lifestyle
  was captured by John Steinbeck in two novels
• Grapes of Wrath is a story about a family of
  sharecroppers driven to California in search of
  jobs by the Dust Bowl
• Of Mice and Men follows two mismatched ranch
  workers as they find work and money during the
  Depression

8
Political Effects

• Republican Herbert Hoover came into office in
  1928 just before the stock market crash of 29
• This caused Roosevelt to win the 1932 election by
  a landslide
• Roosevelt gained so much favor that he was
  elected for four terms and served 13 years before
  he died

9
The Depression Today

• Pieces of the New Deal such as Social Security,
  the FDIC, and SEC are still helping the United
  States today
• Roosevelt also started the national debt which
  actually boosted our economy
• The debt remains today

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Bibliography

• www.google.com (images and search engine)
• http//www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/depression/cau
  ses.html
• www.wikipedia.com
• http//www.indianchild.com/the_great_depression.ht
  m
• Mr. Chambers and his wonderful review packets