Big Questions for the Great Depression

What was the Great Depression and what caused it? To what extent were the government’s responses to

the Great Depression effective? What was the legacy of the Great Depression?

Unemployment Levels during the Depression:

1930 – 13% 1935 – 19 %1931 – 17% 1936 – 16 %1932 – 26% 1937 – 13%1933 – 27% 1938 – 15 %1934 – 21 % 1939 – 14 %

“Hooverville” in Seattle, Washington

Drought on the PrairiesLittle demand for wheat, farmers struggling already

Severe droughts (1929, 1931, 1933-1937)Accompanied by high windsCaused dust storms

Region nicknamed the Dust BowlGrasshopper invasion tooStalled trains and carsWiped out what little crops were left

To what extent were the government’s responses to the Great Depression effective?

Government Responses to the Great Depression

1. Increased tariffs (protectionism) – ineffective

2. Cut Government Spending so it’s in line with government revenue – ineffective

“A nation like an individual, to find itself must lose itself…to those of this government, I would not give them a five-cent piece.” 1930

KING LOST THE

ELECTION: Bennett’s

Tories won a

MAJORITY

Prime Minister R. B. Bennett (1930 – 35)

3. Unemployment Relief Camps – Set up in 1930 for single unemployed men by PM R.B. Bennett. They got 20c/day and room and board.

Relief Road Camp 1930’s

4. Relief (“Pogey”): - Similar idea to welfare today- Vouchers for food and other essentials- Difficult and humiliating to get(Long lines, publicly declare their financial failure)

***Payments kept low to encourage people to keep looking for work

The Disadvantaged Women:- Some believed women who worked helped

cause the Depression

First Nations: - Family: $5/month- Expected to “live off the land”

Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities:- Less government relief than the rest- Chinese in Vancouver got no relief at first and

then were expected to be fed on ½ of what I white person would get.

- 1931: no new immigrants to Canada- By 1935 28,000 immigrants deported

Depression Humour…1) Bennett barnyard

2) Bennett blanket

3) Bennett buggy

4) Bennett coffee

5) eggs Bennett

abandoned prairie farm

newspaper

engineless carroasted wheat

broiled chestnuts

Bennett’s New Deal – During the 1935 election Bennett

(conservative) promised a New Deal if he was elected which would include:

◦ Progressive taxation (the more you make the higher percentage of taxes you pay)

◦ Introduction of a minimum wage◦ Unemployment insurance◦ Health insurance◦ Revised old age pension◦ Regulated wheat prices

Riding the Rails-“Hoboes” travelling from city to city looking for work hopped on freight trains = “riding the rods/rails”-Stayed briefly in shanty towns, then moved on-Often had to leave families behind

How people responded…

On-to-Ottawa Trek- In 1935, unemployed relief camp workers men from boarded trainsfrom Vancouver to Ottawa demanding work with wages.-When they reached Regina, the police stopped them and the Regina Riot broke out. -1 dead cop & 120 injured

What was the legacy of the Great Depression?

Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)

This Socialist political party was formed in 1932 by JS Woodsworth in Saskatchewan. It was a response to the hardships of the Great Depression.

New Political Parties

JS Woodsworth Tommy Douglas!

• Governments started embracing Keynesian economics (deficit spending)

= “Bigger Government” and more government control of the economy

•The beginnings of the “Welfare State”

The depression made the governments realize that they had to take a more active role in helping those in need during tough times = unemployment

insurance, welfare, sick benefits, child benefits, pensions, etc.

The Changing Role of Government