Causes of the Great Depression Outline

To what extent was the Wall Street Crash a cause of the Great Depression of 1929? Support your argument with specific examples.

Introduction- The Wall Street Crash was definitely the most major cause of the Great Depression of 1929, while other major causes, while not as major as the Wall Street Crash, include tariffs and war debt policies that cut down the foreign market for American goods, and Stock Market Speculation.

Reason 1- Wall Street Crash
Notes:
-In the 1920's, people believed the stock market was an easy and quick way to get rich, and many people decided to join
-From 1920 to 1929 the amount of investors changed from about 4 million to 120 million :o
-People thought that the stocks would just continue increasing forever and ever and ever
-Then, in 1929, the Wall Street Crash happened, causing millions of people involved in the stock market to DIE.....inside because they lost so much money

Reason 2-Stock Market Speculation
Notes:
-Around 600,000 investors were speculators
-Speculators would borrow money to buy shares and didn't even have to pay the full value of shares (they only had to put down 10%) because they expected the shares to increase and then they would use profits to pay the rest of the 90%, and apparantly would strill have profits for themselves
-This was a rather large cause of the great depression because this caused not only the investors to lose lots of money, but also the people they borrowed money from lost out because they never would get payed back and the share owners would lose money because they wouldn't get the whole 100%

Reason- Tariffs and war debt policies that cut down the foreign market for American goods
Notes:
-Made American goods less valuable and less desireable
-Sellers of these items would be stuck with stuff without income
-Products became hard to sell and people would not be buying much at this time

Conclusion- In conclusion, the Stock Market Crash was the most important and major cause of the Great Depression of 1929, while Stock Market Speculation and Tariffs and war debt policies that cut down the foreign market for American Goods were other very major causes.

Causes & Early Effects of the Great Depression

1. What happened on "Black Tuesday"?

On Black Tuesday, the bottom fell out of the market and the nation's confidence. Shareholders tried to sell stocks quickly before prices dropped even more, but couldn't find buyers. 16.4 million shares were dumped that day.

2. How did the economic trends of the 1920s in industry, agriculture, and with consumers help cause the Great Depression? (Make sure you include significant details about each area in your answer. It should be at least a paragraph)

The AGRICULTURE in the 1920's went way down from the times of the war. During the war wheat and other grain were in high demands, so farmers took out loans in order to expand their farms to meet the demand. When the war was over the demand went down, and farmers lost because they were in debt from taking out the laons, and they couldnt pay the loans back because they werent making enough money to. Because of this the farmers raised the prices of their gooods, which made the people have to pay more. Because of the credit that was now avaible people would creat debt for themselves. The INDUSTRY helped caused the great depression because the basic textiles (railroads,textiles, and steel.) Coal was hit hard after the war because there were new forms of electricty so people were no longer buying it. When housing fell so didnt the jobs that went with it such as construction, and industries that built things such as furniture, rugs etc.

3. According to your reading, what are the major causes of the Great Depression?

Some of the major causes of the Great Depression were the lack of demand for crops, livestock and coal mining, as well as the change of spending habits of Americans.

4. What was Hoover’s philosophy of government?

He believed that one of government's chief functions was to foster cooperation between competing groups and interests in society. He thought that this cooperation must be voluntary, and that the government should encourage and facilitate cooperation, not to control it.

5. What was Hoover’s initial reaction to the stock market crash of 1929?

Hoover initially issued a statement which aimed to assure people that everything was fine and to calm them. He hoped that it would prevent panic.

6. What was the nation’s economic situation in 1930?

Economic difficulties increased in 1930 and Americans grew more and more frustrated by the Depression.

7. How did voters in 1930 respond to this situation?

Democrats took advantage of anti-Hoover sentiments to win more seats in Congress, and because of this, Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives and saw their majority in the Senate dwindle to one vote.

8. What did Hoover do about the economic situation?

Hoover's plan was to encourage employers not to cut wages or lay off workers, and labor leaders not to demand higher wages or go on strike. He also created an organization to help private charities generate contributions for the poor.

9. How did the economy respond to his efforts?

The economy was unchanged by all of the efforts of Hoover except for the construction of Hoover Dam. It provided electricity and flood control, as well as providing a regular water supply, which enabled the growth of California's massive agricultural economy.

The Twenties Woman

1. In the 1920's, womens' fashions changed as they began to wear shorter dresses, got shorter haircuts, and dyed their hair jet black.

2. Their social behavior changed as well, as they would talk openly about sex in public and would smoke and drink in public.

3. Jealousy and motivation.

4. Work opportunities improve for women at this time as they found work opportunities to be more abundant.

5. Women were treated as more important in relationships at this time and birth control became more available.

6. Women didn't make as much money as men even if they were to work as much, or even more, children would cause their mothers both stress and emotional pain by resisting parental control, and women were given more responsibilities.

Prohibition and the Scopes Trial

changes in urban life
-migration from towns to cities rapidly accelerated between 1922 and 1929
-city dwellers began reading and arguing about current scientific and social ideas
-they judges each other by accomplishment rather than by background
-they also tolerated drinking, gambling, and casual dating
-streets were full of strangers
-life was fast-paced
-Americans found themselves caught between rural and urban cultures

Rural- safe world of close ties, hard work, and strict morals
Urban- big world of anonymous crowds, moneymakers, and pleasure seekers

effects of prohibition
-consumption of alcohol decreased
-disrespect for the law developed
-criminals found a new source of income
-drinkers went underground to "speakeasies"
-people learned to distill alcohol and built their own stills
-organized crime grew
-it caused worse effects than the initial problem

the scopes trial
-Tennessee passed a law which made it a crime to teach evolution in
-John T. Scopes defied the law and read about evolution in his biology class
-Scopes was arrested and his trial was set for July
-the scopes trial was a fight over evolution and the role of science and religion in public schools in American society
-Scopes was found guilty and fined $100 (the verdict was later changed due to a technicality)
-the law remained in effect



Did the passage of the Volstead Act and the ruling in the Scopes trial represent genuine (quality) triumphs for traditional values?

In my opinion, I think that the passage of the Volstead Act to some extent represented quality triumphs for traditional values, but for the most part, was unnecessary and unjustified in its reasons for enforcement. The only things I can think of that were good about the Volstead Act were that some people with certain beliefs would be satisfied and that the consumption of alcohol decreased. On the other hand, the Volstead Act/Prohibition was too opinionated with its reasons for enforcement as the main causes were based on the beliefs of people, which caused some people to be satisfied, and some to be outraged, causing disrespect of the law, which led to an increase in crime and rebellion.
On another matter, the ruling in the Scopes trial, in my opinion, represented absolutely NO genuine triumphs for traditional values. Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution, which seems very ridiculous because I find no harm in the knowledge of evolution. I think that evolution is a very legitimate theory, which makes me believe that the ruling in this trial is barbaric and lacking triumphs for traditional values.

Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues

1. The Justice Department under Palmer reacted to fear that Communists would take over the country by hunting down suspected Communists, socialists, and anarchists. Him and his agents trampled people's civil rights by invading private homes and offices and jailing suspects without allowing them legal counsel, yet failed to discover any important evidence.



2. Many thought Palmer was just looking for a campaign issue to gain support for his presidential aspirations and the public soon decided that he didn't know what he was talking about.



3. The KKK reacted by destroying saloons, opposing unions, and driving Roman Catholics, Jews, and foreign-born people out of the country.



4. By the end of the 1920's, the KKK's criminal activity had led to a decrease in power, popularity, and membership.



5. Sacco and Vanzetti became victims of the red scare as they were put to death by electric chair because they were immigrants and were thought to have robbed and murdered.



6. The Boston Police Strike was unpopular with the public because the police were said to be striking against the public safety, and the public were unhappy with this, and soon after this the strike had ended.



7. Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge became popular because he was said to have saved Boston from communism and anarchy by ending being the cause of the Boston Police strike.



8. The strike at U.S. Steel was unpopular because the workers wanted things that were unnecessary such as bargaining rights and union recognition. The public was also probably not too fond of their propaganda campaign.



9. Wilson had responded to the steel strike with the want of a compromise which would prevent the abuse of the strikers.