During the Great Depression, Americans helped each other survive hard times. When farmers could not pay mortgages, communities banded together through "penny auctions" to buy back farms cheaply. Unemployed people found ways to cope with humor and games like Monopoly. By the early 1930s, there were some signs of change - Prohibition was repealed by the 21st Amendment, and large projects like the Empire State Building employed many workers. Overall, Americans pulled together and relied on each other during the difficulties of the Depression.

1. +
15.3:
Surviving the Great Depression
pp. 520-523

2. +
15.3:
Surviving the Great Depression
 Key Qs
 1. How did Americans overcome the difficulties related to the
Depression?
 2. What signs of change did Americans begin to notice in the
early 1930s?
 Key Terms
 Penny Auction
 21st Amendment

3. +
Americans Pull Together
 Not all memories of the ‘30s are negative
 Country pulled together in order to help
one another
 When farmers couldn’t pay mortgages,
banks would foreclose & then sell it at
an auction
 In some communities farmers promised
to keep bids low; “penny auctions”
 Penny auctions combined w/ the threat
of violence led some states to pass laws
that stopped foreclosures on farms

4. +
Monopoly
 Created by Charles B. Darrow,
an unemployed man from PA
 Allowed people to live fantasy
of acquiring land, houses, &
hotels
 First sold in 1935
 500 million people have
played the game since

5. +
Young People Ride the Rails
 In mid-1930s roughly 250K
teens lived on the road
 Many were riding freight
trains
 Lonely & dangerous
 Some were forced to leave by
family

6. +
Seeking Political Solutions
 Most Americans continued to
trust democratic process
 “10 million unemployed
continue law-abiding. No riots,
no trouble, no multi-millionaires
cooked and
served with cranberry sauce,
alas.”—William Saroyan, 1936
 However, both a communist
and a socialist candidate ran
for president in 1932
 Socialist, Norman Thomas, won
881, 951 votes (2.2%)

7. + Depression
Humor
 Jokes helped people survive the
hard times
 “Hoovervilles”—started as joke
 “Hoover blankets”—
newspapers
 “Hoover flags”—empty pockets
 Babe Ruth was criticized for
making $80K, which was more
than Hoover
 His response, “I had a better
year than he did.”
 Will Rogers, most notable
humorist of the time
 “We’re the first nation in the
history of the world to go to
the poorhouse in an
automobile.”
 “If stupidity got us into this
mess, then why can’t it get us
out?”
 “The only difference between
death & taxes is that death
doesn’t get worse ever time
Congress meets.”
 “When Wall Street took that
tail spin, you had to stand in
line to get a window to jump
out of.”

8. +
Signs of Change
 1933—21st Amendment
repealed 18th Amendment,
Prohibition was over
 “The eighteenth article of
amendment to the Constitution
of the United States is hereby
repealed.”
 Mostly welcomed; Prohibition
seen as failed experiment
 Control of alcohol returned to
the states; 8 continued the ban

9. +
Signs of Change
 Construction on Empire State
Building began in 1930
 Cost $41 million
 102 stories, 1’250 feet
 Employed thousands of
construction workers
 Opened on May 1, 1931

10. +
The End of An Era
 1931—Capone gets locked up
 1932—Lindbergh baby was
kidnapped & murdered
 1932—FDR, a Democrat, wins
presidential election
 1933—Coolidge died
 1935—Babe Ruth retired

11. +
15.3:
Surviving the Great Depression
 Key Qs
 1. How did Americans overcome the difficulties related to the
Depression?
 2. What signs of change did Americans begin to notice in the
early 1930s?
 Key Terms
 Penny Auction
 21st Amendment