Groups Affected by the Great Depression Flashcards
What group was hit hardest?
People in agriculture
Why did banks try to seize farmers’ homes?
They were unable to pay mortgages
What happened when sheriffs came to take the land of farmers?
They were often met with angry farmers with pitchforks and hangmans’ nooses
What did farmers barricade to protect themselves?
Highways
How many farmers were evicted?
1 in 20
What were farmers who left Oklahoma labelled?
Okies
Where did most farmers go?
California down Route 66
What did over-farmed land in the central states turn into?
Dustbowls
What were dustbowls?
Infertile land that was useless for farming
Why were farmers forced to slaughter livestock?
The price for animals was lower than the cost of transporting them to market
What did total farm income fall to?
From $13 billion to $5 billion
What % did industrial and farm production fall by?
40%
What % did wages fall by?
60%
How many people were being made unemployed each day?
12,000
What did some men do to get temporary employment as firefighters?
Set fire to forests
Where did the homeless go at night?
Parks like Central Park
What were Hoovervilles?
Shantytowns were people were forced to live
What were Hoover blankets?
Newspapers the homeless slept under
Where did people go to try and scrape together a meal from leftovers?
Rubbish tips
How many people were admitted to hospital in 1931 from malnutrition or starvation?
238
How many of the 238 people admitted to hospital for malnutrition or starvation died?
45
Why did the rich lose the most?
They had invested the most
How much did Rockefeller lose?
$160 million
How much did Winston Churchill lose?
$500,000
Why did investors go bankrupt?
They were unable to pay back loans to the banks and insurance companies
Why did banks go bankrupt?
They had bought shares
What did Hoover promise?
“Prosperity is just around the corner”
What did Hoover cut to stimulate buying?
Taxes
Why did businessmen go bankrupt?
They had taken out huge loans to expand their businesses but couldn’t afford to pay back loans after the Wall Street Crash
When did the Bank of USA in New York fail?
December 1930
How many investors did the Bank of USA have when it went bankrupt in December 1930?
400,000
How many banks closed during the depression?
10,000
How much was withdrawn and stored at home?
$1 billion
Why did people withdraw money and store it at home?
Investors no longer trusted banks that had lost their money
What did businesses cut?
Production, employment of workers, wages
How many companies went bankrupt?
100,000
What did US international trade fall from?
$10 billion to $3 billion
How many committed suicide in one year?
23,000
