Surviving the Great Depression

“The great majority of Americans may be depressed. . . .But there is one thing they

are not, and that is—beaten.”

~Journalist Gerald W. Johnson, 1932

Americans Pull Together

• _________ flocked together for support – Protests of _____ _______ and

evictions– “_______ Auctions”

– Helping those worse off than yourself

“There were many beggars who would come to your back door, and they would say they were hungry. I wouldn’t give them money because I didn’t have it. But I did take them in and put them in my kitchen and give them something to eat.”

~Kitty McCulloch

Hobo Symbols

Seeking Political Solutions

• No widespread calls for ________ _______ change

• The US trusted their ___________ process to work

• Isolated _________ Movements– The ____________ Party– The __________ Party

• The Election of 1932:– Communist Candidate: around 100,000 votes– Socialist Candidate: 881,951 votes (2.2%)– Herbert Hoover (R): 15,761,841 (39.7%)– Franklin Roosevelt (D): 22,821,857 (57,4%)

Depression Humor

• Jokes and cartoons kept people _______ through their _________

• Jokes: Hooverville, Hoover blankets, Hoover Flags

Monopoly

• Charles B. Darrow invented the game to get people’s minds off their troubles

Signs of Change

• February 1933: Congress passed the _____ Amendment

• The sale of _____ now belonged to the ____, and all but 8 legalized the consumption of alcohol

• Some regretted the ban being ended, but most saw it as “about time” and a way to curb the power of _________

• The _______ _____ Building– John J. Raskob won the race

to build the world’s tallest building

– Building cost ____ million– The first Sunday it was open

• More than _____ people paid a dollar to make the 102 story trip

The End of an Era

• By 1933, the 1920s symbols were fading away

• 1931: __ ______ was arrested• 1932: __________ infant son was kidnapped and

murdered• 1933: Calvin Coolidge died• 1935: _____ _____ retired