American Society during the Depression

Question 1

When did the Wall Street Crash happen?

Answer 1

24th October 1929

Question 2

What factor kickstarted a Cycle of Depression?

Answer 2

The decrease in demand for consumer goods like vacuums, cars, radios

Question 3

What was ‘Speculating’?

Answer 3

Speculating was a type of gambling; people bought shares of a company in hopes that it will be successful, and then sell those shares to earn the money they have made.

Question 4

What did ‘buying shares ‘on the margin’’ mean?

Answer 4

People borrowed about 90% of the money needed to purchase the share and hoped that they will be able to pay back the loan with the profit they make on selling the share.

Question 5

In 1929, how much money was borrowed by American speculators?

Answer 5

$9 billion

Question 6

How many banks went bankrupt from 1929 to 1931?

Answer 6

Around about 4’275 banks.

Question 7

How did banks ‘collapse’?

Answer 7

When people went bankrupt, they could not pay back the money that they borrowed from the banks, meaning the banks themselves went bankrupt and collapsed.

Question 8

By 1933, what percentage of people were unemployed?

Answer 8

25%

Question 9

What percentage did the average wage fall by?

Answer 9

60%

Question 10

What percentage did unemployment in African Americans reach?

Answer 10

• 70% in Charlestown

- 75% in Memphis

Question 11

How many people lost their houses in 1932?

Answer 11

250’000 people

Question 12

After losing their homes, what did people do?

Answer 12

• Some people slept rough on the streets
• Other people deliberately got into trouble with the law so that they could stay the night at a prison rather than outside on the streets

Question 13

What was the most common solution for homelessness?

Answer 13

The homeless moved to waste ground and built shelters out of whatever materials they could find; these became known as “Hooverville’s” which was an insult to the Republican president Herbert Hoover.

Question 14

In 1932, war veterans were hit hard by the Depression. What did they do?

Answer 14

They demanded that the government pay them the Bonus in advance.

Question 15

How did the war veterans protest?

Answer 15

20’000 war veterans went to Washington DC and set up a Hooverville in front of the White House.

Question 16

What did Congress do about this situation?

Answer 16

Congress voted against paying the Bonus and Hoover offered $100’000 to transport the army home, however, the veterans refused to go home.

Question 17

What did Herbert Hoover end up doing?

Answer 17

He sent in troops to the Hooverville who used tear gas and tanks to clear the Hooverville and set fire to the tents.

Question 18

What did this cause?

Answer 18

Two veterans were killed and thousands were injured.
This caused Herber Hoover to lose a lot of public sympathies and ended up being a significant reason why he lost the 1932 Presidential election.

Question 19

When philanthropic organisations could not cope, what did Hoover do?

Answer 19

He refused to use federal funding as direct relief to these organisations

Question 20

Why did Hoover refuse?

Answer 20

He believed that unemployment should be fought by voluntarism - communities should promote self-help and individual achievement.

Question 21

What did many businessmen suggest to Hoover?

Answer 21

To leave business alone and focus on the economy and not look for guidance from businesses

Question 22

What did Henry Ford say?

Answer 22

“stick to the strict function of governing” and “leave business alone”

Question 23

What did the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930 do?

Answer 23

Raised tariffs on over 20’000 imported goods to record levels.

Question 24

What happened in 1931?

Answer 24

• The Federal Reserve raised interest rates
• President Hoover gave $4 billion to state governments to set up schemes to provide work, like the construction of the Hoover Dam

Question 25

What happened in 1932?

Answer 25

• The government raised taxes
• Hoover passed The Emergency Relief Act: $300 million was provided for unemployment pay
• Hoover passed The Reconstruction Finance Corporation: provided $1.5 billion of loans to help businessmen

Question 26

What did The Federal Farm Board do?

Answer 26

They bought large amounts of wheat and cotton in an attempt to help farmers, but it did not buy enough and farm prices continued to fall.
It also agreed to establish a system of federal loans to farmers when crop prices fell below target levels.

Question 27

What happened to farmers during the depression?

Answer 27

• Produce prices fell by such a large amount that it became unprofitable to harvest crops to sell
• Crops were left to rot in fields
• Farmers went bankrupt
• Farmers lost land and migrated to states like California looking for work

Question 28

What were farmers known as?

Answer 28

“Orkies” because they were mostly from Oklahoma

Question 29

What was the ‘Dust Bowl’

Answer 29

• Farmland in states like Kansas and Oklahoma grew crops on land that was over-farmed, which caused the soil to be damaged.
• Droughts of the 1930s also caused the top layer of soil to turn into dust, so crops couldn’t grow.

Question 30

When was the next Presidential Election?

Answer 30

Tuesday 8th November 1932

Question 31

What did Herbert Hoover promise?

Answer 31

“A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage”

Question 32

What did Franklin Delano Roosevelt offer?

Answer 32

“A New Deal for America”

Question 33

What did Franklin Roosevelt promise through the New Deal?

Answer 33

Roosevelt promised to provide jobs and relief for the poor, help the farmers industry, and put a stop on the banking crisis.

Question 34

How many states did Roosevelt win in the election?

Answer 34

42 out of the 48

Question 35

By how many more votes did Roosevelt win the election?

Answer 35

7 million

Question 36

How did Roosevelt impress the public?

Answer 36

He went on a ‘whistle-stop tour’ to every state and covered 20,800km by train to make an important speech in which he promised a ‘New Deal’.