Problems Faced By Hoover Flashcards
Why did Wall Street crash?
People had a few cautions and began the sell their shares
Shares were only worth something if someone was willing to buy them
Prices of shares began to drop so they would sell
However, no one wanted shares anymore, just the cash
What was the Great Depression?
A ‘depression’ is a time in a country’s history when factories close, banks fail and unemployment reaches record levels
What happened to ordinary shareholders as a result of the Great Depression?
Many investors lost their fortune
Tried to pay off their bank loans by selling valuable belongings
Some faced homelessness as they couldn’t afford their rent
What happened to factory workers as a result of the Great Depression?
Lost their jobs
Banks had given away customers’ savings as loans so they lost all the money they’d been saving for years
What happened to factory owners as a result of the Great Depression?
Factories were overproducing goods
People could afford to buy less after the crash
Struggled to sell abroad because foreign countries taxed their products
Forced to cut production, then wages, and then started to sack workers
What happened to bank managers as a result of the Great Depression?
Banks loaned out huge amounts of money so people could buy shares
Banks went bankrupt when people couldn’t pay back the money
Lost their jobs along with their staff
Between 1929 and 1933, 10,000 banks closed down
What happened to the very rich people as a result of the Great Depression?
Lost some of their wealth but had lots of property and land to fall back on
Had to sack chauffeurs and cleaners, and do the work themselves
What happened to farmers as a result of the Great Depression?
Had been losing money for years
Many farmers had equipment loans from banks who were demanding their money back
Some farmers couldn’t afford their debts or mortgages
Faced losing farms and having to sack workers
How many people had lost their jobs by 1932?
What happened as a result?
13 million people had lost their jobs with 12,000 people losing their job a day as 20,000 companies went out of business
They were evicted from their homes as they couldn’t afford the mortgage and lived on the streets
How did Hoover respond?
Set up reconstruction finance corporation which lent money to businesses in trouble
Cut taxes
Road and dam building programme which created construction jobs
What happened in the summer of 1932?
25,000 unemployed ex soldiers marched to Washington DC and asked for their war pension to be paid early
Hoover set his army on them who drove them away
