The election of Republican presidential candidate Herbert Hoover in 1928 made Americans more hopeful than ever about their future.
The clearest evidence* of the public's faith in the economy is the stock market. And the New York Stock Exchange reacted to the new president with a wild increase in prices. During the months after Hoover's election, prices generally rose like a rocket. Stocks valued at one hundred dollars climbed to two hundred, then three hundred, four hundred. Men and women made huge amounts of money overnight.
Publications and economic experts advised Americans to buy stocks before prices went even higher. Time and again, people heard how rich they could become if they found and bought stocks for companies growing into industrial giants.
Some experts pointed to danger signs in the economy during the summer of 1929. The number of houses being built was dropping. Industries were reducing the amount of products that they held in their factories. The rate of growth in spending by average Americans was falling sharply. And industrial production, employment, and prices were down.
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.
The last words in this section are
“The average price of all stocks almost doubled in just one year.”
It seemed everybody was buying stocks, even people with little money or economic training.
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.
The last words in this section are
“There were thousands of such stories”.
Life was like a dream. But like any dream, it could not last forever.
In September, 1929, stock prices stopped rising.
During the next month and a half, stock prices fell, but only slowly. Then suddenly, at the end of October, the market crashed. Prices dropped wildly. Leading stocks fell five, ten, twenty dollars in a single day. Everyone tried to sell their stocks. But no one was buying. Fear washed across the stock market. People were losing money even faster than they had made it.
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.
The last words in this section are
“... the day the dreams ended.”
The stock market crash ruined thousands of Americans. In a few short weeks, traders lost thirty thousand million dollars, an amount almost as great as all the money the United States had spent in World War One.
Some businessmen could not accept what had happened. They jumped from the tops of buildings and killed themselves*. In fact, one popular joke of the time said that hotel owners had to ask people if they wanted rooms for sleeping or jumping.
But the stock market crash was nothing to laugh about. It destroyed* much of the money that Americans had saved. Even worse, it caused millions of people to worry and lose faith in the economy. They were not sure what to expect tomorrow. Business owners would not spend money for new factories or business operations. Instead, they decided to wait and see what would happen.
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.
The last words in this section are
“So it went. In short, economic disaster**.”
Why did the stock market crash? One reason, people had been paying too much for stocks. Everyone believed that prices would go higher and higher forever. People paid more for stocks than the stocks were worth. They hoped to sell the stocks at even higher prices.
But there were other important reasons. Industrial profits were too high and wages too low. Five percent of the population owned one- third of all personal income. The average worker simply did not have enough money to buy enough of all the new goods that factories were producing. Another problem was that companies were not investing enough money in new factories and supplies.
There were also problems with the rules of the stock market itself. People were allowed to buy stocks when they did not have the money to do so.
The stock market crash marked the beginning of the Great Depression—a long, slow, painful fall to the worst economic crisis
in American history. The
Depression would bring suffering to millions of people. It would cause major political changes. And it would be a major force in creating the conditions that led to World War Two.
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.
The last words in this section are
“It was a severe economic crisis—a depression”.
The economic crisis began with the stock market crash in October, 1929. For the first year, the economy fell very slowly. But it dropped sharply in 1931 and 1932. And by the end of 1932, the economy collapsed almost completely.
The gross national product is the total of all goods and services produced. During the three years following the stock market crash, the American gross national product dropped by almost half. The wealth of the average American dropped to a level lower than it had been twenty-five years earlier.
All the gains of the 1920s were washed away.
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.
The last words in this section are
“ ... workers was looking for a job in 1932”.
Those employment numbers did not include farmers. The men and women who grew the nation's food suffered terribly during the Great Depression.
This was especially true in the south-western states of Oklahoma and Texas. Farmers there were losing money because of falling prices for their crops. Then natural disaster struck. Year after year, little or no rain fell. The ground dried up. And then the wind blew away the earth in huge clouds of dust.
Falling production. Rising unemployment. Men begging in the streets. But there was more to the Great Depression. At that time, the federal government did not guarantee the money that people put in banks. When people could not repay loans, banks began to close.
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes. The last words in this section are
“They had no money left”.
The depression caused serious public health problems. Hospitals across the country were filled with sick people whose main illness was a lack of food.
The health department in New York City found that one of every five of the city's children did not get enough food. Ninety-nine percent of the children attending a school in a coal-mining area reportedly were underweight. In some places, people died of hunger.
The quality of housing also fell. Families were forced to crowd into small houses or apartments to share costs. Many people had no homes at all. They slept on public streets, buses, or trains. One official in Chicago reported in 1931 that several hundred women without homes were sleeping in city parks. In a number of cities, people without homes built their houses from whatever materials they could find. They used empty boxes or pieces of metal to build shelters* in open areas.
People called these areas of little temporary houses "Hoovervilles." They blamed President Hoover for their situation. So, too, did the men forced to sleep in public parks at night. They covered themselves with pieces of paper. And they called the paper "Hoover blankets." People without money in their pants called their empty pockets "Hoover flags."
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes. The last words in this section are
“... shared their earnings with friends in need.”
Other Americans reacted to the crisis by leading protests against the economic policies of the Hoover administration. In 1932, a large group of former soldiers* gathered in Washington to demand help. More than eight-thousand of them built the nation's largest Hooverville near the White House. Federal troops finally removed them by force and burned their little shelters.
End of audio file.
But please look at the next two pages, too.
After 1932 the government gave jobs to the best photographers of that time and sent them to take pictures of the Great Depression. This and the next page show some of their photographs.
The election of Republican presidential candidate Herbert Hoover in 1928 made Americans more hopeful than ever about their future.The clearest evidence* of the public's faith in the economy is the stock market. And the New York Stock Exchange reacted to the new president with a wild increase in prices. During the months after Hoover's election, prices generally rose like a rocket. Stocks valued at one hundred dollars climbed to two hundred, then three hundred, four hundred. Men and women made huge amounts of money overnight.Publications and economic experts advised Americans to buy stocks before prices went even higher. Time and again, people heard how rich they could become if they found and bought stocks for companies growing into industrial giants.Some experts pointed to danger signs in the economy during the summer of 1929. The number of houses being built was dropping. Industries were reducing the amount of products that they held in their factories. The rate of growth in spending by average Americans was falling sharply. And industrial production, employment, and prices were down.Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.The last words in this section are“The average price of all stocks almost doubled in just one year.”It seemed everybody was buying stocks, even people with little money or economic training.Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.The last words in this section are“There were thousands of such stories”.Life was like a dream. But like any dream, it could not last forever.In September, 1929, stock prices stopped rising.During the next month and a half, stock prices fell, but only slowly. Then suddenly, at the end of October, the market crashed. Prices dropped wildly. Leading stocks fell five, ten, twenty dollars in a single day. Everyone tried to sell their stocks. But no one was buying. Fear washed across the stock market. People were losing money even faster than they had made it.Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.The last words in this section are“... the day the dreams ended.”The stock market crash ruined thousands of Americans. In a few short weeks, traders lost thirty thousand million dollars, an amount almost as great as all the money the United States had spent in World War One.Some businessmen could not accept what had happened. They jumped from the tops of buildings and killed themselves*. In fact, one popular joke of the time said that hotel owners had to ask people if they wanted rooms for sleeping or jumping.But the stock market crash was nothing to laugh about. It destroyed* much of the money that Americans had saved. Even worse, it caused millions of people to worry and lose faith in the economy. They were not sure what to expect tomorrow. Business owners would not spend money for new factories or business operations. Instead, they decided to wait and see what would happen.Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.The last words in this section are“So it went. In short, economic disaster**.”Why did the stock market crash? One reason, people had been paying too much for stocks. Everyone believed that prices would go higher and higher forever. People paid more for stocks than the stocks were worth. They hoped to sell the stocks at even higher prices.But there were other important reasons. Industrial profits were too high and wages too low. Five percent of the population owned one- third of all personal income. The average worker simply did not have enough money to buy enough of all the new goods that factories were producing. Another problem was that companies were not investing enough money in new factories and supplies.There were also problems with the rules of the stock market itself. People were allowed to buy stocks when they did not have the money to do so.The stock market crash marked the beginning of the Great Depression—a long, slow, painful fall to the worst economic crisisin American history. TheDepression would bring suffering to millions of people. It would cause major political changes. And it would be a major force in creating the conditions that led to World War Two.Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.The last words in this section are“It was a severe economic crisis—a depression”.The economic crisis began with the stock market crash in October, 1929. For the first year, the economy fell very slowly. But it dropped sharply in 1931 and 1932. And by the end of 1932, the economy collapsed almost completely.The gross national product is the total of all goods and services produced. During the three years following the stock market crash, the American gross national product dropped by almost half. The wealth of the average American dropped to a level lower than it had been twenty-five years earlier.All the gains of the 1920s were washed away.Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes.The last words in this section are“ ... workers was looking for a job in 1932”.Those employment numbers did not include farmers. The men and women who grew the nation's food suffered terribly during the Great Depression.This was especially true in the south-western states of Oklahoma and Texas. Farmers there were losing money because of falling prices for their crops. Then natural disaster struck. Year after year, little or no rain fell. The ground dried up. And then the wind blew away the earth in huge clouds of dust.Falling production. Rising unemployment. Men begging in the streets. But there was more to the Great Depression. At that time, the federal government did not guarantee the money that people put in banks. When people could not repay loans, banks began to close.Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes. The last words in this section are
“They had no money left”.
The depression caused serious public health problems. Hospitals across the country were filled with sick people whose main illness was a lack of food.
The health department in New York City found that one of every five of the city's children did not get enough food. Ninety-nine percent of the children attending a school in a coal-mining area reportedly were underweight. In some places, people died of hunger.
The quality of housing also fell. Families were forced to crowd into small houses or apartments to share costs. Many people had no homes at all. They slept on public streets, buses, or trains. One official in Chicago reported in 1931 that several hundred women without homes were sleeping in city parks. In a number of cities, people without homes built their houses from whatever materials they could find. They used empty boxes or pieces of metal to build shelters* in open areas.
People called these areas of little temporary houses "Hoovervilles." They blamed President Hoover for their situation. So, too, did the men forced to sleep in public parks at night. They covered themselves with pieces of paper. And they called the paper "Hoover blankets." People without money in their pants called their empty pockets "Hoover flags."
Not transcribed ... listen and make your Notes. The last words in this section are
“... shared their earnings with friends in need.”
Other Americans reacted to the crisis by leading protests against the economic policies of the Hoover administration. In 1932, a large group of former soldiers* gathered in Washington to demand help. More than eight-thousand of them built the nation's largest Hooverville near the White House. Federal troops finally removed them by force and burned their little shelters.
End of audio file.
But please look at the next two pages, too.
After 1932 the government gave jobs to the best photographers of that time and sent them to take pictures of the Great Depression. This and the next page show some of their photographs.
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