Grant and Jefferson
... the Great Depression. During the 1920's many banks failed, low income between farmers and factory workers, all helped set the stage for the depression. Although businesses were growing, farmers were not prospering. Farmers product prices dropped 40%. Farmers lost large sums of money. Because of farmers poor experiences some 550 banks went out of business. Uneven distribution of income between workers also caused the slump. Workers in the coal, railroad, and textile industries did not share the prosperity of the 1920's. Industrial production rose about 50%, but workers wages grew very slowly. As a result workers could not buy goods as they were being produced. People began to stop spending and very little money was circulating. Most people agree the stock market crash of 1929 started the depression. From 1925 to 192, the price of stocks more than doubled. The rising stocks encouraged more people to buy stocks in hopes of making money in the future. On October 24, 1929 stocks dropped rapidly. This day is known as Black Thursday. On October 29 a record 16,410,030 stocks were sold. Thousands of people lost a lot of money. Banks and businesses had to close because of it. During this time human suffering was normal. Many people died of diseases caused from malnutrition. Thousands became homeless. In 1932, at least 25,000 families and more than 200,00 young people wandered the streets looking for food, clothing, shelter, and jobs. The homeless got food from welfare agencies or religious missions. Most of the meals they received were soup, beans, or stew. Travelers begged or stole food. Some travelers found it harder to find clothing. Even sick travelers had trouble getting help at hospitals because they saw local residents first. Many people that lost their homes stayed in the community. Some tried to crowd in the homes of their relatives. Others moved to parts of the town where they built little shacks from flattened tin cans. Severe droughts and dust storms hit parts of the Midwest and Southwest. Thousands of farming families were wiped out. A lot of farmers went to the fertile agricultural areas in California to look for work. Roosevelt thought it was the governments responsibility to fight the depression. He called Congress into a special meeting to pass laws to relieve the depression. He called this program the New Deal. The laws made had three purposes. The first was to provide relief for the needy. Second, help the nationwide recovery by providing jobs and encouragi...