1930s Unit 3 Test Flashcards
What was the great depression called?
The dirty thirties
How was the stock market through the 20s and what did people do because of it and what did this create?
- the stock market had been rising all through the 20s and as it climbed higher, more and more people invested a piece of their savings or all of their money into the market
- Some mortgaged their houses to get money to invest, giving the bank control over their house
- Stories were told that great profits were gonna be made, the easy money that was generated on the markets and lifestyle which became possible as a result of the profits on investment
- This kind of frenzied investment created a bubble that was going to burst
What did politicians say when stocks began selling?
- People began selling stocks on the New York, Toronto, and Montreal stock exchanges but financial experts and politicians assured markets had a good foundation
- Toronto stock exchange lost $200 million in value but experts and politicians reassured the public
- Buyers saw bargains again and people started buying the market recovered but the public was beginning to feel uneasy about the market
- 400,000 shares were traded on the Montreal stock exchange which normally sold 25000 shares daily. Stocks sold at a loss as sellers began to panic
- In New York, 12 million shares were sold
Why were margin calls created?
Brokers started to make margin calls by telling people who bought stocks on margin (10% down payment) that they needed to pay up with the rest of the money → helps the brokers recover from losses in the market
A margin call is a demand made by a broker for an investor to deposit additional funds into their margin account
What did people claim the problem was in the market before the crash?
- Bankers, brokers and politicians claimed that the problem in the market was a glitch and the economy had a good foundation. They steadied the market but investors thought about their positions over the weekend and then began to sell more shares.
- Toronto had 1 million dollars slid a minute
What was the day that the stock market crashed called?
Black Tuesday
Explain what happened went the market crashed to people.
- The markets went into free fall and everyone just watched everything unfold
- Terror was struck as the golden promise of the 20s and the financial stability of the nation was shattered.
- Stocks were sold at any price offered as confusion overtook the trading process
How did the crash affect the economy and society? (5)
- Stocks were sold at any price offered as confusion overtook the trading process
- Over $5 billion had disappeared from Canada’s economy
- Stocks had lost 50% of their original value
- Businesses were closed → causing high unemployment
- Families lost life savings
Causes of the crash (7)
- The crash happened as some parts of Canada were entering a recession where people lost jobs, and low wages like when there was a very poor wheat harvest in western Canada making people lose farming jobs
- Overproduction of goods and over-expansion of production → Canada was making more products than it could sell so with too many products the price began to fall
- Canada depended mainly on primary products → only worked with a few industries like mining and logging so when those industries failed, many jobs were lost
- Canada dependence on USA for import and export → only one country to trade so when US economy was failing, Canada would as well too
- High tariffs cut-off international trade in order to protect its industries, Canada put tariffs on imported goods so that stuff from USA is more expensive than in Canada, making Canadians buy a cheaper product from a Canadian company to keep business operating
- Too much credit buying → with new inventions, people bought new products with credit making them in deep debt
- Too much credit buying of stocks → Canadians invested in the market to make it rich quickly. They borrowed money to buy stocks and bought stocks on margin. So when stock prices fell, Canadians had to sell all their stocks or lose all their money and have no money to repay their loans
Which province had the biggest percent decrease of income?
Saskatchewan
What were the consequences from the crash and what happenend to people? (5)
- Canadians were on government relief as welfare did not exist.
Unemployment was very high and UI did not exist - The Canadian Pacific Railway did not make any money
- Young homeless men were sent to relief camps in BC forests where they were treated like slaves as wages and living conditions were very poor
- The birth rate decreased a lot and death rate rose
How did the crash affect people? (9)
- Without money people exchange for goods and services
- Families couldn’t pay their rent or mortgage so they lost their homes
- There was no employment insurance, family allowances or universal healthcare
- The shame of being out of work was the worst part of living during this time
- People were taught that if they were poor, it was their own fault as only lazy people failed
- Men suffered in humiliation at being forced to apply for assistance
- So people would write their resumes on themselves and walk around hoping someone would walk by and hire them
- Despair grew as people lined up at soup kitchens or accepted vouchers to exchange for goods
- Those with jobs wanted to keep them
How the crash affect women?
- Women: when they sought well paying jobs, people didn’t like it as men needed the jobs more
- So they accepted lower wages and found jobs men couldn’t
- Everyday that wives, sisters and mothers went to work their husbands, brothers and sons lost more self-respect and confidence
What did textile mills take advantage of?
- Textile mills took advantage of cheap labor, and adult workers were replaced by young girls who would do the job for half of what men earned
- They were so desperate for a job that they had to accept the horrible pay and conditions
What is government relief?
To make sure people who deserved receiving help, the government forced people to work for food by cutting wood, pulling dandelions beside the road or digging holes and then filling it up
What were the rules with government relief?
- Getting relief depended on the province, town and person in charge
- Couples refused to be given relief as they thought during hard times they should not expect any sympathy or help
- People who had relief couldn’t drink alcohol, own a phone, radio, jewelry or car
What did people do in hard times when they couldn’t afford different things like clothes? (6)
- They patched old clothes
- When clothes teared they wore flour sacks
- Newspaper were placed in worn out shoes which made them last longer
- Tea leaves, coffee grounds and soup bones were used constantly until no flavor was left
- Canadians set off across the country looking for work
- Cars were powered using horses as fuel couldn’t be produced or bought
Explain the start of riding rails and what would peope do. What would they do in summer/winter?
- With little money, people rode empty freight cars or on top of them hoping that each town they arrived to there will be work there
- Knocking on doors may have gotten them meals and rarely any work
- Unemployed people would gather at factory gates finding No Help Wanted signs
- Summer: people slept beside open fires in hobo jungles
- Winter: they may be allowed to sleep on a jailhouse floor, barns or churches
- This type of life continued for a long time
Who was in power when the depression began?
PM King Liberal Party was in power
What issue was held at the 1930 election?
Unemployment
What did Bennet promise at the 1930 election?
- Bennett → Conservative leader promised to solve the problem so the conservatives won the election with a large majority
- He would be PM for next 5 years (worst of the depression)
What was King’s reaction when the Depression hit and what did he feel was crucial?
- When the Depression hit, King’s reaction was to wait and hang on
- He believed that the economy would recover quickly and little government action was needed
- King felt a “balanced budget” was crucial
- This is where the government would spend only as much money as it took in
- He believed that it would be irresponsible to borrow money and put the country into debt → even if they support industry or help the poor with relief payments
What was the five-cent speech?
- Before the 1930 election, King made a mistake of saying that he would not give a “five-cent piece” of relief money to any conservative provincial government
- When the Opposition demanded that Mackenzie King’s Liberal government should give money to provincial Conservative governments, the prime minister interpreted the demand as a support for a party tactic and declared that he would not give such governments a five cent piece for the unemployed.
Who was Bennett and what did he believe in?
A “self made man” and a millionaire who had worked his way up from humble beginnings and believed that hard work was the answer to most problems
What did he say he would he implement in Canada?
- He said he would use tariffs to protect Canadian markets from foreign goods or force other countries to lower their tariffs to Canadian goods
- Believed that this would increase trade and help industry to create more jobs
What did Bennett believe about relief money?
- Bennett opposed spending federal money on relief programs for unemployed workers and their families
- He said that providing relief was a provincial and municipal responsibility
- Provincial government: thought that it was a federal and municipal responsibility
- Municipal governments: said they didn’t have the resources and that it was a provincial and federal responsibility
What ideas did Bennett have instead of aid?
- Instead of aid: Bennett had other ideas like raising the tariffs on imports to try and protect Canadian manufactures → but the U.S. and other countries would do the same in response
- Because of this, Canadian exporters of resources such as wheat, lumber and fish were unable to sell their products
What did Bennett recieve from people?
- He was a sympathetic person and received thousands of letters from Canadains asking for help and he would send them 5-20 dollars of his own money to help them
- He eventually did send 20 million in aid to the provinces for relief → though it didn’t solve the problem and there was a growing increase of single men without work
- Government feared that these men would band together and revolt against the government
Why were relief camps created?
- Bennett eventually did send 20 million in aid to the provinces for relief → though it didn’t solve the problem and there was a growing increase of single men without work
- Government feared that these men would band together and revolt against the government
- The young, unmarried men rode freight trains across Canada to look for work and in 1932, McNaughton suggested to Bennett that work camps should be set up in remote locations like northern Onatrio and B.C.
- He agreed and made these camps have men clear trees, build roads and other manual labor
- It was an attempt to get them away from the cities where they could cause trouble
What were the conditions in the relief camps?
- The hours were long
- Pay was low
- Living conditions were crowded and in poorly constructed shacks
What was the On to Ottawa Trek?
A defining event of the Great Depression, the On-to-Ottawa Trek has become a poignant symbol of working class protest. In 1935, over a thousand angry unemployed men left federal relief camps in British Columbia and boarded boxcars to take their demand for work and wages directly to Ottawa.
Why did the On to Ottawa Trek occur and did people support them?
- Men in these camps staged a walkout to demand better working conditions and higher wages → left the camps and hitched rides to Vancouver and jump on freight trains to take their case to PM Bennet in Ottawa
- Two months: many men gathered in Vancouver where they held rallies and collected money for food
- Many people supported the men
- When trekkers arrived in Golden, B.C. townspeople would wait with huge pots of stew
- In Calgary, people donated food and supplies and Canadian Pacific Railway officials showed trekkers how to board the trains safely
What was the government’s response to the trekkers moving through Canada?
- Many trekkers reached Regina, Saskatchewan and the federal government was determined to stop them there → Bennett didn’t want any more unemployed workers to join the trekkers as they crossed the country so he agreed to meet the trek leaders in Ottawa if everyone else stayed in Regina
- He agreed to pay for their food while they waited for their leaders to return
What are trekkers?
a traveler who makes a long arduous journey
What happened at the Ottawa Meeting?
- It failed to resolve anything
- Bennett insisted that there was nothing wrong with the relief camps and that trek leaders were nothing but communist agitators
- Bennett was determined that the trek and what he saw as a potential revolution would end in Regina
