intro to the great depression
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Intro TO The Great Depression
Intro TO The Great Depression
Causes of the Great Depression
• Overproduction
• Dependence of Staples
• Canada’s Ties with America
• Tariffs and Trades
• Buying on Credit
• The Stock Market
Over Production
• Twenties were a time of new technologies> devices such as card and radios became popular so they started to over produce them
• This created a problem> too many goods and not enough buyers
• People didn’t need nor could they afford multiple luxuries so companies stopped creating them
• Problematic> companies cut down production so they down size staff which means less jobs = less money for people to buy
• Poor Fordism never had a chance~~
Dependence of Staples
• Wheat, fish, minerals, pulp and paper were important exports for Canadians
• Competition> Canada is the main supplier of wheat.
• Around this time, Australia and Argentina become suppliers.
• Because of the surplus (aka more product than demand) prices dropped
• Canadian farmers suddenly face a drought. Rich wheat feilds become known as the dust bowl.
• No crops mean no money.
Canada’s Ties with America
• 1920’s Canada bought 65% of imports from America.
• Sells 40% of exports to the United States
• This means Canada NEEDS the American economy to do well.
• America’s economy falls and ours does too.
Tariffs and Trades
• European countries were used to bying Canadian and American goods
• Canada attempts to implement “protective tariffs”> they can help foster the local economy but they can also make the item too expensive.
• Canadian businesses could not afford to buy goods from other countries because they were too expensive with tariff charges.
Buying on Credit
• People loved the idea of “buying now and paying later”
• The interest on their purchases came back to bite them. Interest was far greater than expected.
• People start getting laid off and can’t afford monthly payments> products are taken away.
• Many people lost everything they owned.
Stock market
• People were interested in the stock market.
• Stock Brokers would entice people to buy stock by lending them large amounts of money.
• A buyer could borrow up to 90% of their stock money and repay when the stock profited.
• Stocks didn’t always go up> October 29th 1929, value of most stocks on the Toronto and Montreal markets drop over 50%
Class Task
• Create a mind map of the six causes of the great depression.
• Work on your speak easy assignments.
• Homework: Find a photo from the Great Depression (doesn’t have to be Canadian). Give the people in the photo a story, don’t do any extra research, just think of what some of the obstacles might be during this time.
• Story should be at least 2 paragraphs
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