Chapter 23: The Great Depression Black Tuesday: October 29, 1929 was when the marked failed

d after a week of steadily rising instability o Wiped out all the gains of previous year o Many stocks became worthless o Beginning of the great depression Causes of the Great Depression o Lack of diversification in the American Economy in the 1920s o Uneven distribution of wealth o Credit structure of the economy Consumers defaulted on loans Banks failed o International trade Decreases in foreign demand for American goods due to debt that emerged from World War I. o International Debt structure European nations that allied with United States could not pay American banks back because Germany and Austria were no longer able to pay the reparations. American banks loaned European governments money to pay back debts that led to even more debt. 9,000 banks went bankrupt or closed between 1930 and 1933 o Money supply shrank by a third or more Deflation (Decrease in purchasing power) Dust Bowl o Steady decline in rainfall and an accompanying increase in heat o Turned fertile lands into deserts o Many traveled to California where they found conditions little better than those they had left Many blacks became displaced as whites took over their low positions, trying to make any amount of money they could. o By 1932 over half the blacks in the South were unemployed Scottsboro boys: o Nine black teenagers taken off a freight train for vagrancy and disorder o Two white woman accused them of rape Medical evidence showed they had not been o Alabama convicted them all and sentenced 8 of them to death. o Never acquitted but they eventually gained their freedom Last defendant did no leave prison until 1950 Chicanos Mexican Americans With employment so scarce, the work that was available should go to the men o No woman whose husband was employed should accept a job Marriage rate and birth rate both declined for the first time since the early nineteenth century Hollywoods Self-Censorship

o Will Hays made sure that most movies carried no sensational or controversial messages. Abraham Lincoln Brigade o Group of young Americans traveled to Spain to join in what they considered a fight against the fascists Hoover o Proposed Agricultural Marketing Act Established the first major government program to help farmers maintain prices. o Reconstruction Finance Corporation Government agency to provide federal loans to troubled banks, railroads, and other businesses. Farmers Holiday Association o Endorsed the withholding of farm products from the market Farmers strike Bonus Army o Veterans who sought to gain the money they had been promised Hoover didnt want to give them because he wanted to keep budget balanced o When they didnt leave and started causing trouble, Hoover had the army assist the police in removing them. The Interregnum o Roosevelt refused to help Hoover while he was still in office.