American society in the Great Depression (does not deal with the politics of the period)

1. Americans in the Great
Depression

2. The Great Crash
● Feb. 1928 - speculative rush begins. Stocks values start to balloon.
Brokerage firms start to offer easy credit loans.
● Autumn 1929: Bull market (aggressive market) starts to fall apart. October
21st and 23rd both have notable drops in prices, but recover.
○ JP Morgan orchestrates one of these recoveries to try to restore public confidence
● October 29, 1929: Black Tuesday
○ Stocks in many companies become basically useless
○ One of the more visible signs of the unhealthy conditions in the American economy, but is not
the cause of the Great Depression

4. Causes of the Great Depression
● Lots of disagreement among
historians about the causes, but
some agreement on several
factors:
○ Lack of diversification in the
American market in the 1920s
○ Maldistribution of Wealth
○ Credit Structure of the Economy
○ Declining Exports
○ International Debt Structure

6. Progress of the Depression
● The Stock Market Crash of 1929 did not cause a crisis, as it did help trigger a
chain of events that exposed longstanding weaknesses in the economy.
● Banking system starts to collapse.
○ Nation’s money supply decreases
○ Deflation starts
○ Federal Reserve system acts in its own interest, raises interest rates (makes the problem
worse)
● Gross national product plummets
○ 25% decline in 3 years
○ Farm incomes drop by more than half
● Unemployment soars
○ By 1932, approx. 25% of the workforce is unemployed

7. Unemployment and Relief
● Cities are virtually paralyzed
● Many Americans taught to believe that they were responsible for their own
fortune or failure
○ Men take this especially hard - challenges notions of masculinity
● Increasing number of families turn to state and local public relief services
○ Charities are unaccustomed to huge demand, start to buckle under pressure
● Tax revenues decline, state has less to spend on aid
● Breadlines start to form, people sift through garbage for food
○ Red Cross and Salvation Army
● Nearly 2 million men take to living on the roads, often “riding the rails”

8. Dust Bowl
● Conditions are actually worse in many rural areas
● Farm income declines by 60% between 1929 and 1932 and a third of all
Americans lost their land
● Beginning in 1930, an already-struggling region was hit with a natural
disaster: The Dust Bowl
○ North Texas to the Dakotas
○ One of the worst droughts in America’s history
○ Lasts for a decade
○ Swarms of grasshoppers add to strain
○ Huge dust storms called “black blizzards”
● Many flee their ruined farms and go on the road looking for work
○ Many head toward California
○ Often referred to as “Okies”

12. African Americans and the Depression
● Most African Americans had not shared in the prosperity of the 20s
● Experienced more unemployment, homelessness, malnutrition, and disease
than they had in the 20s, and considerably more than the white population
● Many flee the same farming conditions that plagued the population as a
whole, but found their luck in the cities was considerably worse.
○ General feeling that white men should have jobs
○ Whites in many Southern cities began to call for Black people to be fired to
make room for white
● Approx. 400,000 leave the South for northern cities in the 1930s
○ NYC umemployment for African American population was 50%

14. Scottsboro Boys
● March 1931 – 9 young black men were pulled from a freight train in
Scottsboro, Alabama and charged with vagrancy and disorder.
○ Two white women who had been on the train accused the boys of rape, although the evidence
overwhelmingly indicated that this had not happened
● An all-white jury in Alabama convicted them of the crime, sentenced 8 to
death, case went on to the Supreme Court
● NAACP, International Labor Defense, and Communist Party come to the
boy’s defense.
● All of the boys survived and ended up free, although the last one was not
released until 1950

16. Mexican Americans in the Great Depression
● Similar patterns of discrimination follow Mexican Americans, most live in the
Southwest
○ 1930s: Approx. 2 million Latinos in the U.S.
● Faced similar employment discriminations, and had been employed in mostly
unskilled labor positions or agriculture
● Mass deportations started
● Explicitly excluded from most forms of aid and government services
○ No access to schools, hospitals kicked them out, relief programs would not serve Latinos
● Migration to the city becomes common

18. Asian Americans in the Depression
● Found the same patterns of
discrimination
● Most found it impossible to move into
mainstream professions (doctors,
lawyers, etc.)
● Some start to fight back against
system
○ Organize politically and socially
○ More of an effort to encourage the youth to
assimilate and become more American

19. Women During the Great Depression
● Strong belief that any available work should go to men
○ Particularly strong belief that women who had an employed husband should not have a job
● However, both single and married women worked during the decade
● Advantaged in that the nonprofessional jobs women traditionally held were
often the last to go
● Women of color not included
○ As many as half of all black women lost their jobs, although their employment numbers were
still higher than white women (due to necessity)
● Economic troubles start to erode support women had gained since
Progressive Era
● Had to worry about men leaving families

20. The Depression and American Culture
● Social values actually changed little. Many Americans
doubled down on beliefs about hard work and familiar goals.
● Self-blame was common and extremely destructive. Tied to
American ideals about individualism and responsibility.
● Initiative was thought to fix these problems.
● “Discovery” of rural poverty startles America
○ Photographers, writers, and journalists were employed by the
government to document conditions in America
○ Dorothea Lange was possibly the most famous
● Writers like Richard Wright tried to discuss the American
condition (often regarding disillusionment with the system) in
the 1930s

22. Radio
● Radios are very common – most families have one (or have close
acquaintances with one)
● Unlike now, listening to the radio was often a public activity
● Escapist programming is most common – acts to distract the population from
their problems
○ Amos ‘n Andy, Superman, Dick Tracey, The Lone Ranger
● Soap Operas are popular (Soap companies targeted the mostly-female
audiences who listened to programs at that time of the day)
● Professional comedians like Jack Benny are popular
● Often preformed live in front of audiences
● First direct access to major public events like sports and news
● Draws the nation together and creates shared identity

24. Movies
● Movie attendance drops in the early 1930s, but increases
later – cheap enough to still go out and enjoy
● Escapist films are popular, like with the radio
● Hollywood does not challenge social norms
● Some films question social values and examine social issues
○ Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
● Studios begin to dominate the field, and actors gain
followings
● Walt Disney begins to create films
○ Starts with short films, but releases Snow White in 1937
● Films based on books are also popular
○ Gone with the Wind, Wizard of Oz

25. Popular Literature and Journalism
● Social strain shows much more strongly in this
area than radio and movies
● Much literature and journalism in this era directly
discussed the problems of the day.
● Some of the most popular works are still escapist
○ Life is one of the most popular publications. Features
fashion, scenery, and the arts
○ Most popular feature of Life was “Life Goes to a Party” –
provides glimpse into lives of the rich and famous
● Some is frankly and openly challenging to the
dominant values of America
○ John Dos Passos writes about American materialism,
Nathaniel West writes about American sadness