Resource Unit: The Great Depression

Resource Unit:The Great Depression PowerPoint by: Zachary Hyden

Introduction • General Theme – The Great Depression • Subject – 10th grade American history • Participants – Approximately 120, 10th grade American history students • When – 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th periods between Thanksgiving and the Christmas breaks. • Location – Fairborn High School – Fairborn, Ohio • Duration – This is a ten day unit that will span the entire 46 minute class period for each of those ten days.

Unit Objectives • Students will know: • The causes of The Depression • How everyday life was affected by The Depression • The New Deal and pulling America out of the Depression • Impact of the New Deal • The beginning of World War II

NCSS Standards • I. Culture • II. Time, Continuity, and Change • III. People, Places, and Environments • IV. Individual Development and Identity • V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions • VI. Power, Authority, and Governance • VII. Production, Distribution, and Consumption • VIII. Science Technology and Society • IX. Global Connections • X. Civic Ideals and Practices

Content – Industrial Causes of The Great Depression • Industries in Trouble • Railroads • Textiles • Steel • Coal • These once ultra-profitable industries were now facing hardships. Many of them barely made profits toward the end of the 1920’s

Content – Industrial Causes of The Great Depression • Farmers may have taken the worst hit of all. • After World War I, demand fell but production didn’t. • Farmers tried to produce more to re-gain their losses, but this only drove the prices farther down. • As farmers defaulted on their loans, local banks failed

Economic Reasons for the Great Depression • People have less money • Buying on Credit • Uneven Distribution of Income • Stock Market Crashes

Economic Reasons for the Great Depression People Have Less Money • Rising Prices v. dormant wages • The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer • Over-reliance on credit

Economic Reasons for the Great Depression Buying on Credit • Buy now pay later mentality • Credit easily available • People went into massive debt • Businesses encouraged credit so they could sell more goods and make more profit. • These were not “real profits” though since no money had actually changed hands • People then stopped spending as much money when they realized that they were in so deep of debt.

Economic Reasons for the Great Depression Distribution of Money • The rich got richer and the poor got poorer • A family needed $2,500 to live comfortably in the 1920’s. • Less than 30% of people made $2,500 • Money became centralized at the top echelon of society

Economic Reasons for the Great Depression Stock Market Crashes • In early September, the market peaked. • Black Thursday – The market dropped dramatically • Black Tuesday – 16.4 million shares were dumped off by investors trying to save what little money they could.

Economic Reasons for the Great Depression Reasons for the Crash • Speculation – High risk, High reward investing • Buying on Margin – Buying a small percentage of a stock and putting the rest on credit • People hoped to hit it big on the market • People had no way to pay back the money for the stocks that they bought on credit.

Economic Reasons for the Great Depression Ramifications of the Crash • General Panic • People lost trust in the banks – pulled all their money. • Not everyone could get their money back • Banks had invested in the market • Banks were not insured by the federal government • The crash did not cause the depression, just sped the process up.

The World Wide Depression • The depression did not just hit the United States, but affected the World as a whole

Causes Reviewed

Vocabulary • Credit • Speculation • Buying on Margin • Black Tuesday • Black Thursday • Great Depression

Life During the Depression • Life in the Cities • Life in the Country • Family Life

Life During the Depression Life in the Cities • Shantytowns • People built shacks for shelter when they lost their homes • Also known as Hoovervilles • Many people placed direct blame on President Hoover for the economic hardships that they were facing. • Soup Kitchens & Bread Lines • Free or low cost foods • Came from charitable organizations

Life During the Depression Life in the Country • Banks foreclosed • If the farmer could not make the payment, banks would take the farmers land and all the equity that the farmer had built.

Life During the Depression Country Continued • Tenant Farming • “an agricultural system in which landowners contribute their land and a measure of operating capital and management while tenants contribute their labour with various amounts of capital and management, the returns being shared in a variety of ways.” • http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9071664/tenant-farming

Life During the Depression Country Continued • Dust Bowl • “The most visible evidence of how dry the 1930s became was the dust storm. Tons of topsoil were blown off barren fields and carried in storm clouds for hundreds of miles. Technically, the driest region of the Plains – southeastern Colorado, southwest Kansas and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas – became knownas the Dust Bowl, and many dust storms started there. But the entire region, and eventually the entire country, was affected.”http://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water_02.html • Dustbowl Video

Life During the Depression Family Life • Men • Were used to going to work and supporting a family • Many left home to find work • Term “hobo” originated during this time, describing men that would roam from town to town looking for work

Life During the Depression Family Life • Women • Women kept the family together • Faced resentment for working outside of the home • Children • Poor diets, lack of medical attention, disease. • Schools closed • Young children left home to find work and to take the burden off of their family

Vocabulary • Shantytown/ Hooverville • Soup Kitchen • Bread Lines • Foreclosed • Tenant Farming • Dust Bowl • Hobo

The New Deal • Franklin Delano Roosevelt • The New Deal • Alphabet Soup • Fireside Chats • Problems with the New Deal • Deficit Spending

The New Deal F.D.R. • Elected President in 1932 • Began working on his “New Deal” before he took office in 1933 100 Days • Refers to the time period between March 9th and June 16th • Congress passed 15 pieces of new legislation

The New Deal Alphabet Soup • This term was given to F.D.R.’s programs due to their acronyms. • FDIC – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation • SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission • AAA – Agricultural Adjustment Act • TVA – Tennessee Valley Authority • CCC – Civilian Conservation Corps • PWA – Public Works Administration • NIRA – National Industrial Recovery Act • CWA – Civil Works Administration • NRA – National Recovery Administration • HOLC –Home Owners Loan Coporartion • FHA – Federal Housing Act

The New Deal Fireside Chats • F.D.R. would give speeches that were broadcasted over the radio and were known as Fireside Chats • These chats were aimed to ease the mind of the American Public and to let them know the progress that has been made and the future plans that would be implemented • Fireside Chat with F.D.R.

The New Deal Problems with the New Deal • Deficit Spending • The national government was spending more money than they were making • Critics • Said that the new deal gave too much authority to the national government • Took away individual rights • Impeded Capitalism

Vocabulary • F.D.R. • 100 Days • New Deal • Alphabet Soup • Deficit Spending

Impact of the New Deal • “The New Deal created jobs that provided the necessary encouragement, hope, value and self-esteem to assist the American people to recapture their economic values. It was the solution to the problems everyone was facing: widespread unemployment, homelessness, and farmers losing their land and livestock.” http://www.nps.gov/fdrm/generation/newdeal.htm

World War II The United States enters the War • December 7th, 1941 • A date which will live in infamy • F.D.R's Pearl Harbor Speech

Vocabulary • New Deal • December 7, 1941 • Pearl Harbor Speech

Lesson 1 and 2 • A pre-activity: “Quiz Run” • Students will be given a pre-test the day before the unit starts over the Great Depression • The grades for these tests will not be recorded because they are a tool for the next days simulation • The next day I will re-distribute the “graded” tests and inform the students that I have lost over half the tests that were taken. • I will tell the students that they can not re-take the test since they already know the answers and those tests which I lost will go in the grade book as a zero. • Hopefully this will get an emotional reaction out of the students. • From there I will describe the concepts of “bank-runs” during the Great Depression • From here, the students should realize the concept that is being described. NCSS Standards – I, V, VI, VII

Activity 3 Web Quest • Students will be taken to the media center and given two days to finish the Web Quest that is provided with this link • Depression Web Quest NCSS Standards – I, II, III, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X

Lesson 4 • Buy Me On Credit • I will make up 30 credit cards and distribute them to the class • I will give the students $300 Monopoly Money • I will give the students a list of goods that they can purchase with their credit cards which they will pay me for at a later date. • I will have the students write down all the goods they want and have them turn them in to me • These goods will range from a $25 toaster to a $400 new Model T-Ford.

Lesson 4 continued • As the class progresses, I will slowly call in small amounts of money to simulate paying off the credit card on a monthly payment. • All at once, I will call in all the debt that the class has accumulated. • This should simulate the beginning of the economic crisis • This will also work in describing how buying on margin facilitated to crash of the stock market. NCSS Standards – I, II, IV, V, VIII

Lesson 5 • The students will analyze this picture through the classroom smart board and write emotions that it evokes. NCSS Standards – I, III, IV, VII

Lesson 6 • My family • The students will break off into “families” of three. • Each student will be designated a role with-in the family (Father, Mother, Child) • They will collaborate as a group and talk about the hardships that they face as individuals • From this collaboration, each member will write a one page paper describing his/her hardships and how the rest of the family is dealing with these hardships as a whole. • A rubric will be provided for this assignment NCSS Standards – I, II, III, IV, V, VII

Lesson 7 • Listen To Me Closely • Students will listen to a fireside chat orated by F.D.R. two times • The first time just to hear his message • The second time to analyze his message • They will take this fireside chat and will write down what they believe he was trying to convey in his speech. • The students will also describe how this would have made them feel if they would have been alive during this time period. • The students will take their written responses and use them as a guided facilitator in a classroom discussion. NCSS Standards – I, II, III, VI, VIII

Lesson 8 • Soups On!!! • Students will be asked to make a poster with as many acronyms as they can find from the New Deal. • The poster should contain between 8 and 10 acronyms from the New Deal • They should write the entire name of the group next to the corresponding letters • Students should find pictures of the organization or something that they accomplished • Students will present their posters and they will be displayed around the classroom NCSS Standards – I, II, IV, V, VII, VIII, X

Lesson 9 • Poetry/Music from the time • Primary literature… Students will choose two of the three poems/songs below to read and analyze. They will be expected to use the S.O.A.P. model to dissect the poems and will turn their diagrams in for a grade. NCSS Standards – I, II, III, IV, VIII

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931) They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob, When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job. They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead, Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread? Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time. Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime; Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum! Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time. Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime? Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum! Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time. Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime? Brother can you Spare a Dime?

"Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries," lyrics by Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson (1931) People are queer, they're always crowing, scrambling and rushing about; Why don't they stop someday, address themselves this way? Why are we here? Where are we going? It's time that we found out. We're not here to stay; we're on a short holiday. Life is just a bowl of cherries. Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious. You work, you save, you worry so, But you can't take your dough when you go, go, go. So keep repeating it's the berries, The strongest oak must fall, The sweet things in life, to you were just loaned So how can you lose what you've never owned? Life is just a bowl of cherries, So live and laugh at it all. Life is just a bowl of cherries. Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious. At eight each morning I have got a date, To take my plunge 'round the Empire State. You'll admit it's not the berries, In a building that's so tall; There's a guy in the show, the girls love to kiss; Get thousands a week just for crooning like this: Life is just a bowl of . . . aw, nuts! So live and laugh at it all! Bowl of Cherries

We're in the Money," lyrics by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren (from the film Gold Diggers of 1933, 1933) We're in the money, we're in the money; We've got a lot of what it takes to get along! We're in the money, that sky is sunny, Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong. We never see a headline about breadlines today. And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye We're in the money, come on, my honey, Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along! Oh, yes we're in the money, you bet we're in the money, We've got a lot of what it takes to get along! Let's go we're in the money, Look up the skies are sunny, Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong. We never see a headline about breadlines today. And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye We're in the money, come on, my honey, Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along! Oh, yes we're in the money, you bet we're in the money, We've got a lot of what it takes to get along! Let's go we're in the money, Look up the skies are sunny, Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong. We never see a headline about breadlines today. And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye We're in the money, come on, my honey, Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along! We’re in the Money

Lesson 10 • Grapes of Wrath • The students will watch the Grapes of Wrath • “Oklahoma in the Thirties is a dustbowl and dispossessed farmers migrate westward to California. After terrible trials en route they become little more than slave labor. Among the throng are the Joads who refuse to knuckle under.” http://imdb.com/title/tt0032551/plotsummary • Written by Ed Stephan {stephan@cc.wwu.edu}

Grapes continued • After watching the movie, students need to draw a picture, with color, depicting a scene in the movie they feel accurately represents this period in time. Supplies will be provided for the students NCSS Standards – I, II, III, V, VI, VII

Lesson 11 • Opponents to Roosevelt • Many people felt that F.D.R. was trying to circumvent the power of the Supreme Court • This political cartoon depicts some of the feeling towards Roosevelt at this time • Students will be instructed to analyze this cartoon, which will be shown on the class room smart board and write bulleted responses about it. • After they have turned in their responses, they will be instructed to create their own political cartoon in opposition to the New Deal/F.D.R. NCSS Standards – I, V, VI

Lesson 11 continued

Lesson 12 • Video Clips • Students will watch a variety of video clips from the internet that will be provided for them through the teachers projector monitor. The students will watch the clips and write a brief summary of what they saw, heard, and felt and how those emotions translate to the Great Depression • Depression 1 • Depression 2 • F.D.R.'s recovery plan NCSS Standards – I, II, III, IV, V

Resource Unit: The Great Depression