II: Causes
A: Overspeculation: Too many people were buying stocks and not enough were selling; which paralyzed the stock market.
B: Government Policy: Allowed people to use loans to invest in the stock market and make payments back to the bank.
C: Unstable Economy:
1: Uneven Prosperity: There was too few middle class households and the gap between the rich and poor was abnormally large.
2: Overproduction: Factories and farms produced products faster than they were consumed, making the businesses lose money.
3: Worker Issues / Farm Issues: Farms replaced workers with machines and overplanted, slowly depleting the topsoil.
III: Effects
A: Poverty: 25% unemployment rate and people were unable to buy enough to keep businesses intact.
B: Society: Poor people became too poor to support their families, while rich people were unable to keep their businesses open.
C: World: Rising tarriffs froze international trade, weakening the economies of other countries.
IV: Solutions
A: Hoover: Made miniscule steps toward repairing the economy.
1: Volunteerism: Hoover’s way to raise money without using federal money for direct aid to citizens.
2: Public Works: Government paid work in construction of necessary buildings.
3: Hawley Smoot: Raised tariffs on imported goods to raise revenue for the government and help American businesses recover.
4: RFC: The Reconstructive Finance Corporation in charge of distributing aid during the depression.
B: Roosevelt: President of the United States during the Great Depression (and beyond).
1: New Deal: A series of programs passed by congress during the great depression.
a: Was criticized by both conservatives and liberals.
2: 2nd New Deal: Roosevelt’s second series of programs.
V:
Criticism: People criticized Roosevelt’s plans, claiming that they were
either too constrictive or not effective enough to make a difference.
A: Conservatives: Claimed the new programs would restrict business too much.
B: Liberals: Claimed the new programs did not do enough to help society recover from the depression.
VI: Effectiveness
A: Changes in the US: Economy slowly repaired itself, people started getting jobs, farms didn't overproduce as much.
B: Unions: With less competition for jobs, unions regained some power.
C: Culture: Music was written about the depression and recovering from it.
