Suffering in the Great Depression

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Suffering in the Great Depression
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WorldWide Shock Waves

• The Depression spread around the world.
• European countries trying to recover from the
  ravages of WWI faced high war debts.
• Germany was still paying war reparations.
• With Americans unable to buy their goods now,
  European economies suffered even more.

• The situation became worse when Congress passed
  the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act.
• It was supposed to push Americans to buy goods
  made in the US and help American Industries.
• Instead imports from Europe declined. They had
  less money to spend on US goods and American
  Industry suffered.

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The Depression Devastates People's Lives

• The Depression brought suffering and hardship to
  many Americans. Millions of people lost their
  jobs. Some went hungry or became homeless.
• Shantytowns were created, where they lived in
  little shacks they made out of scrap material.
• Some ate in soup kitchens (offered free food) or
  breadlines (feed the hungry), where charities
  served meals to the needy. Those who could not
  afford to buy food stood in bread lines to
  receive free food.

• Conditions for African Americans and Latinos were
  especially difficult. They had higher
  unemployment, were paid less than whites and
  violence was directed against them.
• Twenty-four African Americans died by lynching in
  1933.
• Whites attacked African Americans and they
  demanded Latino American be sent back to the
  countries they came from.

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Farm Failure

• The biggest problems were in farming. After the
  war, the demand of food dropped and farmers
  suffered. The widespread problem of joblessness
  and poverty cut down the demand for food and many
  Americans simply went hungry.
• By 1933, with farmers unable to sell food they
  produced, farm prices had sunk to 50 percent of
  their already low 1929 levels.
• Lower prices meant lower income for farmers, and
  many borrowed money from banks to pay for land
  and equipment.
• As incomes dropped, farmers couldnt pay back
  their loans, and in the first five years of the
  1930s, hundreds of thousands of farms went
  bankrupt or suffered foreclosure.

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A Farm Foreclosure
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A farm is being sold at a foreclosure sale in
Iowa. Military police were on hand to keep
farmers from disrupting the auction. ca. 1935.
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President Hoover

• Initial Reaction Depression will not last long,
  people can take care of themselves
• Not the government's problem
• Let Charities and orgs take care of the people
• Gov't handouts weaken the moral fiber of people

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Hooverville

• Some families were forced to live in shanty towns
• A grouping of shacks and tents in vacant lots
• They were referred to as Hoovervilles because
  of President Hoovers lack of help during the
  depression.

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Hooverville
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Central Park, New York City
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Many waited in unemployment lines hoping for a
job.
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People in cities would wait in line for bread to
bring to their family.
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Christmas Day Breadlines in New York City, 1931
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Out of the Dust
The Great Plains and the Dust Bowl
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• To make matters worse, a long drought hit the
  Great Plains. There was little rain from Texas to
  N. Dakota. The grass that had once held the soil
  in place was now gone. When powerful winds swept
  across the Great Plains, the soil simply blew
  away. This dry area of blowing soil was called
  the Dust Bowl. (lasted about ten years)

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The Great Plains Were Buried

• Crops turned to dustNo food to be sent out
• Homes buried
• Fields blown away
• Great Plains in state of emergency
• Dust Bowl the 1 weather crisis of the 20th
  century

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A drought on the Plains lead to dust storms that
destroyed crops.
The Dust Bowl
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Dustbowl
A traveler noticed a nice new hat by the side of
the road, and he stopped to pick it up. Under
the hat was a man, buried up to his neck in the
dust! As he dug the poor fellow out, the
traveler asked if he wanted a ride into town.
"No, I'll get there myself," the man replied,
"I'm on a horse."
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Effects on the American Family

• Some families broke apart under the strain of
  poverty unemployment.
• Many men felt ashamed because they had lost their
  jobs. Some men simply left their families and
  wandered the country looking for work.(Hobos )
• Women tried to work, too. But they were paid less
  than men and many people were complaining that
  employers should not hire women.
• Children suffered terribly from poverty and
  malnutrition related diseases. Some children ran
  away from home in search for work.
• If I leave my mother, it will mean one less
  mouth to feed Eugene Williams age 13.

• The federal government did not give direct
  relief-cash, or food directly to the poor people.
• Charities and some city governments struggled to
  help.
• States collected less tax money.
• Programs like child welfare were cut.
• School days were shortened or closed all
  together.
• Children often went to work to help out their
  families they often labored in sweatshops under
  horrendous conditions.
• Rates of suicide and mental illness increased.
• Young people were forced to give up their dreams
  of college.

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Man in hobo jungle killing turtle to make soup,
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sept. 1939.
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Some families were forced to relocate because
they had no money.
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Two Families During the Depression
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Some families tried to make money by selling
useful crafts like baskets.
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1929-1939

• Stock market crash
• Didnt realize the effect it would have
• No money to replenish what was borrowed

Many found being broke humiliating.
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The End