The spread of the Depression (T2) Flashcards
What was unemployment like before the depression?
Unemployment was as low as 3.2% in 1929
What was unemployment like after the depression?
- Some estimates were around 25.2% by 1933 of the labour force - this meant 12,830,000 were out of work
- Others estimated it was closer to 17 million
What was the national wage bill estimated at in 1932 compared to 1929?
Only 40% of the 1929 figure
What was the GDP like before the depression?
In 1920 –> $73 billion
In 1929 –> $104 billion
What was the GDP like in 1933 after the depression?
Around half of what it was in 1929 (around $54 billion)
What was the GNP in 1929?
$203.6 billion
What was the GNP after the depression?
$144.2 billion
In 1929 how much was spent on radios?
$852 million
Before the depression, who’s fault was it seen as for unemployment?
The individual
Before 1932, how many states had any recognised unemployment benefit?
None
Before 1932 how many states had pension schemes?
11
What was the suicide rate in 1929?
14% per 10,000
After the depression what did many familie shave to do to survive?
They had to sell belongings, clothes, furniture and anything that would help them to survive
What was the suicide rate in 1932?
17.4 % per 10,000
How did the rate of marriages change between 1929 and 1932?
1929 –> 1.23 million
1932 –> 982,000
How did the birth rate change between 1929 and 1932?
1929 –> 21.2 per thousand
1932 –> 19.5 per thousand
Was there any form of benefits during the depression?
No - none at all
How many one parent families headed by women were there in 1931?
How many of these received any aid?
3.8 million
19,280 received any aid
Who were the presidents during the depression and the new deal?
- Herbert Hoover (March 1929 - March 1933)
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (March 1933 - April 1945)
Who was President 1933 - 1945?
Franklin D Roosevelt
Was Franklin D Roosevelt a Democrat or Republican?
Democrat
Was Herbert Hoover a Democrat or Republican?
Republican
Who was Secretary of the Treasury 1921-1932?
Andrew Mellon
Who was Secretary of the Treasury 1932-1933?
Ogden Mills
Who was Secretary of the Treasury in 1933?
William Woodin
Who was Secretary of the Treasury 1933-1945?
Henry Morgenthau Jr
In 1929 how many cars were on the road?
27 million
How many cars were sold in 1929?
4,455,178
In 1929 how many electrical goods were sold?
160 million
What happened due to the Federal Highway Act of 1921?
Highways were being built at a rate of 10,000 miles per year by 1929
Give evidence of credit being popular by 1929
- $7 billion worth of good were purchased on credit
- 75% of cars were bought on credit
During the 1920s how many banks had there been?
How many of these of these closed?
30,000
5,000
What was the coal industry like in 1932?
- Production of coal was at its lowest since 1904
How much did the coal workforce fall by in 1932?
300,000
How much did iron and steel production fall by in 1932?
59%
By the end of 1932 what was the US steel workforce like?
They were all part time workers
How much did car sales fall between 1929-1933?
1929 - sales were 4,455,178
1933 - sales were 1,103,557
Give an example of how the car manufacturing workforce fell in the years of the depression.
Car manufacturing company Willis-Overland were employing 3,000 of their previous 25,000 strong workforce
What happened to the people employed in the electrical industry during the depression years?
The workers employed by big companies such as these halved
Which electrical product was the only one not to suffer a significant fall in the depression years?
The lightbulb
How much did the amount of new build residential units fall by between 1929-1932?
82%
What were construction contracts valued at in 1929?
$6.6bn
What were construction contracts valued at in 1932?
$1.3bn
What happened when people failed repayments on their goods after the WSC?
The items were reposessed
From 1929-1933 how many banks closed?
10,000
What happened to schools in Arkansas after the depression?
They were closed for 10 months of the year as the gov could not afford to keep them open
What happened to teachers in Chicago in the winter of 1932-33?
They were unpaid for the whole winter which meant they and their families suffered
What were farmers lives like before the depression?
They were one of the few groups who had not benefited from the boom
What did the boom mean for farmers?
- They could now afford to keep up mortgage repayments on their farms
- Their land could be auctioned so they could sell it on for money
What was one negative effect of the boom on farmers?
Many couldn’t harvest their crops profitably
After the depression, what was unemployment like for black Americans?
The no. black Americans that were unemployed was 4-6 times higher than white Americans
Which job had previously been reserved for black Americans, but was later saved for whites after the depression?
Waitressing
What was the migration of black Americans like during the depression?
It slowed right down
What was the Dust Bowl?
The weather was so dry and the ground had dried up so when tornadoes blew there were dust storms and crops were destroyed
As farms suffered from the depression, how many hispanic Americans were sent back to Mexico?
400,000
How much of the native Americans land was owned by mainly white Americans and what would it be used for?
90 million acres of the 138 million
The land would be exploited for its raw materials
What were the boom years like for ethnic minorities?
They didn’t benefit anywhere near as much as white Americans
Which minority group were the poorest during the boom?
Native Americans
What was the Dawes Severalty Act 1877?
Allotment forced them from their homelands into reduced farm land and segregated them from wider society
What was the boom like for hispanic Americans?
They had been seasonal workers during the 1920s and had been given work in Texas
