The Great Depression Widens

From Great Depression 22-2 Reading

1. How did the Great Depression affect minorities?    

It affected minorities because they had it harder than white Americans. They wouldn't get any jobs because they were a lower class than white people so white people would fight for the jobs and get them rather than the minorities. They were lower paid anyway and their unemployment rates were higher. Latinos were targeted because white people wanted them deported even if they were born here. Some just left on their own but others were deported by the Federal Government. Also, twenty-four African Americans were lynched in 1933 over the fight for jobs.

2. Why did so many men leave their homes during the Depression?   

Men didn't have jobs so they would wander the streets each day in search for them. After about a year or so and they could not find a job they would get discouraged. They would hate seeing their family suffer for so long so they just left. They became "hoboes" as they were called. They would wander the country in search of money and they were dirt poor and would end up in homeless shelters in big cities. They would hitch hike and catch rides on boxcars and sleep under bridges.

3. How did the Great Depression affect women and children?   

 The Great Depression affected women and children in many ways. Women often canned food and sewed clothes just to make a little money to try and support they're families. Women who had jobs were resented and envied because there were men who didn't have jobs and they thought it was the mans job to support families. In reality though, women were starving to death but they were too ashamed to admit it. Married women were denied jobs as schoolteachers, also. Children also suffered, though. Since everyone was poor, they had no money to buy food so they starved and most had malnutrition and diet diseases such as rickets. Other children searched for jobs and worked in sweat shops. There were kids that traveled all across the country in search of jobs but also for adventure. A lot were killed or injured by criminals or patrol men. They were called "Wild Boys" or "Hoover Tourists". 

From Great Depression 22-3 Reading

4. What were some of Hoover’s key convictions about government?    

One of Hoover's key convictions about government was that he believed that the governments chief function was to "foster cooperation between competing groups and interests in society". He said that Government should encourage cooperation, not control it. Hoover, also, opposed any federal welfare or help to the needy because he believed that they should not depend on the government to help them in their time of need. He said it would weaken their self respect and moral fiber.

5. Why do you think people blamed Hoover for the nation’s difficulties?   

I think that they blamed Hoover for the nation's difficulties because he just happened to be the president at the time that the Great Depression happened. Also, I think that they blame him because he didn't really help the nation that much once the Depression happened. He wouldn't help the needy or poor because he believe in "self respect" but they really needed the help and he didn't give it to them. The only good thing he did was build the Boulder Dam which kind of helped.

6. What were some of the projects proposed by Hoover, and how effective were they?   

One project proposed by Hoover was Boulder Dam and that seemed to be effective because it helped energy costs and it produced a regular water supply. Another project that Hoover passed was the Federal Home Loan Bank Act which lowered mortgage rates for homeowners and allowed farmers to refinance their farms and avoid foreclosure. Another project of his was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which authorized up to $2 billion for emergency financing banks, life insurance companies, and railroads. Neither of these acts were effective.

7. What did the Bonus Army want?  

The Bonus Army came to Washington D.C. to support a bill called the Patman Bill. They Army was made up of War Veterans and their families who wanted the money they should have gotten after World War I. That is what the bill was about because the person, who created the bill, wanted them to get their money right away instead of in 1945. Hoover disagreed though and did not pass the bill so they did not get their money.

The Crash Occurs and the Great Depression Begins

1. What industrial weakness signaled a declining economy in the 1920s?       



Industrial weaknesses that signaled the declining economy were that industries such as railroads, textiles, and steel were barely making a profit. No one wanted mining or lumbering anymore and coal mining was hit hard because no one needed that either because of all the new energy sources such as hydroelectric energy. Even the booming industries like automobiles were weakening. The thing that was hit the hardest, though, was housing starts. Once that started falling, so did jobs that were related to it. Although, Agriculture suffered the most.

   

2. What did the experience of farmers and consumers at this time suggest about the health of the economy?      

Farmers over estimated everything and bought more land and more tools and made more crops but there wasn't enough buyers for them to sell it all. Consumers were spending less which made the farmers have more crops to sell but they couldn't sell them because the consumers weren't buying. Everyone was buying things on credit, though, before they stopped spending so much; both consumers and farmers. It then led to the Great Depression because no one had the money to pay off their debts.

3. How did speculation and margin buying cause stock prices to rise?     

Speculation and margin buying caused stock prices to rise because easy money was available to investors and the unrestrained buying and selling made the stock prices skyrocket. The investors got the easy money from margin buying because people would make a down payment on a bond and then borrow the rest. Speculation was when people bought bonds and stocks to try and make an easy profit but ignored the risks and by buying bonds and stocks, that gave money to investors.

4. What happened to ordinary workers during the Great Depression?     

Many ordinary workers lost their jobs. Banks closed and lots of people lost all their savings and the people that tried to withdraw all their savings, couldn't because the bank had no money because they invested it all. Unemployment rates skyrocketed from 3 percent to 25 percent. The people that were able to keep their jobs faced budget cuts and less hours. One out of every four workers was out of a job.

5. How did the Great Depression affect the world economy? 

The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act was passed and it was supposed to help farmers and manufactures from foreign competition but it did the opposite. The tariff made unemployment worse in industries. Many countries then raised their own tariffs because of ours which would cause world trade to fall more than 40 percent. During the 1920's, no country was really doing that well.        

Prohibition

1. How did small-town life and city life differ?  

The small town life was safe, with close ties, hard work, and strict morals while the big city world had anonymous crowds, moneymakers, and pleasure seekers. Small towns had lower numbers of population while cities had larger numbers and booming numbers. The city also had a lot more jobs than small towns and was more lively and out going. Cities also had a lot more people immigrating from all over.

2. Why do you think the Eighteenth Amendment failed to eliminate alcohol consumption?  

I think that the Eighteenth Amendment failed to eliminate alcohol consumption because it was not very well funded. It was also not enforced very well so it was easy for people to sneak in alcohol and do things behind the governments back. Plus, it just made people want to do it more now that it was outlawed because that's how peoples minds work; they want to do things that they aren't supposed to do so they broke the law. Others just loved drinking so they broke it anyway.

3. How did criminals take advantage of Prohibition?  

They took advantage of it by smuggling alcohol all the time and in creative way such as bootleggers who were women that had containers of alcohol strapped to their legs. Their were also speakeasies which were places that you could consume alcohol secretly and it was mostly middle and upper-middle class men and women. Prohibition also created organized crime such as Al Capone is Chicago. He killed off all the other illegal sellers of alcohol so he would be number one.

4. What was the conflict between fundamentalists and those who accepted evolution?  

The conflict between fundamentalists and those who accepted evolution was that the fundamentalists did not accept evolution and wanted to outlaw it from being taught. They wanted everyone to believe in what the bible said. Eventually it was outlawed and stayed outlawed for a while and that clashed with a lot of Science teachers ideas because they believed in evolution and they wanted to teach it.

5. How might the overall atmosphere of the 1920s have contributed to the failure of Prohibition? 

The overall atmosphere of the 1920's was that the U.S. was growing so the cities were booming so a lot of people wanted to have a lot of fun and by taking alcohol away, it prohibited a lot of people from having fun. Also, the 1920's was all about how the war had ended and everyone was free and happy and then they set another law in place which was immediately from the start, set up for failure.

Presidential Debate News Story Analysis

News Analysis on the First Presidential Debate

Source Information      

Date:  October 4th, 2012

What news organization (or individual) produced this?:  FoxNews.com

What is the type of news source?: online article

 

Content
 

What is the main headline?:  Obama, Romney battle over economic policies in first presidential debate

What facts (statistics, important events, etc.) are included?:  Obama says that Romney wants a $5 trillion tax cut, Romney wants a 20% all-across-the-board rate cut, Romney wants to replace "ObamaCare".

Is anyone quoted? If so, who? What did they say?:  Yes, Romney was quoted and said:    “Under the president’s policies, middle-income Americans have been buried.”

 

What information or ideas might have been left out?: Foreign Policy and International Policy   

 

Message

Who is the intended audience?: People that can vote  

Does the author seem to have an opinion? If so, what is it?: No not really. The author discussed both candidates fairly equally.   

What is the tone of the source?: The tone is very informational and serious in a way because politics can be a serious matter.  

What words or phrases create the tone?: All the quotes from Obama and Romney create the tone.

   

Is any one person or group discussed positively? Negatively?: No but the author does say that Obama was off his game.