1. People were not really depending on politics at this point. They had lost everything and the government was not being of any use. The economy was just getting even worse and they didn't have jobs. The only thing that the government was good at doing was raising prices. Before the Great Crash they had increased interest rates and tariffs. This caused people to not have enough money which is when they started taking out loans from banks putting themselves in even more debt.
1.1. William Z. Foster was a militant union organizer that joined the Industrial Workers of the World. He wanted to achieve socialism through industry- wide labor organization. He fought for the rights of workers and he would join them in strikes because he wanted to make a difference.
1.1.1. Eugene V. Debs was the person that started the Socialist party. He had to serve some time in jail and he was still able to lead the socialist party, to convince workers to improve working conditions and to get higher paying wages. Socialism helped to get the US out of the Great Depression and the economy to increase once again.
2. Political Changes in the 1930's
3. Developments in US society
3.1. Mass migration started when The Dust Bowl occurred. A lot of people started coming from Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The reason that they came to California was because there were terrible dust storms that were filling the air with soil and making it black. The conditions were terrible and it got the governments attention. They coming to California to try and get job and start to earn money once again.They had no idea that California was going through a rough time too. There were barely any jobs available and if there was the wages were very low.
3.2. From 1930 to 1932 the prices fell 30 percent. Deflation helped consumers whose income had fallen, but hurt farmers, businesses, and homeowners. Their mortgage payments did not fall 30 percent. Most of them lost everything and they became migrants. They would search for places where they could find any type of job. They were desperate to earn money, so that they could get back up there.
3.3. Crime rates began to increase because with the economy failing everyone was tense and frustrated over what they had to do to survive. With all the frustration they had, they began to think that committing crimes was the right way to go. They were desperate and just wanted anything that they thought could possibly help them. They need to support themselves and their families.
3.4. The way that families were accustomed to live before the Great Depression had drastically changed. They had to lower their spending and save the little amount of money they had left. They had to work in places they had never imagined that they would need to work in because they did not want to live in bad conditions.
4. Economic Developments in the 1920's
4.1. In the 1920's the economy was increasing and was successful. People became very excited and started to invest and by shares. The price of shares was increasing and so was the interest rate. They did not think about how they would be in debt and so they would just spend money they did not have. They spent money that they did not have by simply taking out loans from the bank. They only had to pay as little as ten percent. When the interest rates went that is when the economy growth rate kind of stopped. After that the stock market continued going until it simply crashed. Due to the crash, people lost their jobs, money, homes, investments, just everything. Banks and companies all went bankrupt and everything was just failing. This caused what is known as the Great Depression. The USA was juts depressed because the economy was terrible and people had lost everything. They had very little money that they could spend and they did not how would be able to earn money to support themselves and their family. Since most of them had lost their jobs due to companies going bankrupt.
4.2. The economy had dropped so much that most people did not have the money to offer people jobs. Unemployment rose up to 25 percent during the Great Depression. The crash caused a lot of companies to fail and so they were not able to financially support their workers. These companies did not have money for their workers so they laid them off. The other cause of unemployment is that people did not have things for in case of an emergency. They had no employment insurance, social security, or financial
5. USA in the 1920's
5.1. Prohibition was something that was being established during this time. Basically, it was an act that prohibited the sale, trade, or consumption of alcohol. Alcohol had become a common thing in the US but it was starting to affect people's lives. Especially men, they would get drunk and then some of them would go home and be violent towards their families.
5.2. There were a lot of cultural changes occurring and mostly with women. The change that happened with women was that their morals seemed to change. Before, women were expected to be quiet, modest, and not show a lot through their clothing. Well, in this era that came to an end. Women known as flappers had bobs, wore very short skirts and heavy makeup. They would drink, smoke, and treat as if it was something casual. They broke both social and sexual norms. Feminists also fought for their rights and congress was then forced to make a law that allowed women to leave their abusive husbands, which made the number of divorces increase by a lot. Although, women had lots of cultural changes so did music. Jazz was a new form of music that people could listen and dance to. This genre was created and brought north by African Americans. African Americans standards of living also improved. They did still suffer from discrimination but it was still better. The best part was Harlem and it was a northern black community that allowed racial pride to blossom. Harlem was known for all of the musicians, artists, writers and poets that they had.
5.3. When thinking about the 1920's, people mostly think about flappers, and jazz. There is so much more to the 1920's than just that. Something important that happened was that there were big changes in immigration policies that would have consequences later on. The policy that was created was 'The Immigration Policy of 1924' and this limited the amount of people that could come into the US by nationality. Only two percent of people from each nationality could immigrate into the US but Asia was excluded from this. Since they excluded Asia that meant that Asians could no longer come into the US. The effect of this was that the foreign- born population began to decrease every few years. 1924 was also the year that Border Patrol was established.
5.3.1. The 1920's were known as the roaring twenties, because the economy took off. The economy increased a lot and it was very successful due to all of the mass production and industrial things. The use of consumer goods increased. Things like vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and refrigerators became everyday household items. About 60% of families had bought radios. Several radio stations started to broadcast music, television, and many more things for entertainment purposes and they were using credit from booming banks. The airline industry and the auto industry also became very successful. Both of these industries transportation and ways that goods could be received and also how people could travel to different places.
5.3.1.1. Women liberation was a major thing in the 1920's.They were more free and they did what they believed in. They started to break social standards and dressed in a less modest style.They were able to leave their husbands and they became more independent and had jobs.
5.3.1.1.1. Equality was an essential to the 1920's. The standards of society were quickly changing and being different was becoming more acceptable. Women were able to wear more revealing clothes and their moral standards changed. Black pride was expanding into more northern communities especially Harlem which was known for musicians, writers, and poets that were African American and lived there. Women were also allowed to leave their abusive husbands and file for divorce and some women also had jobs. Society was becoming more open and it was turning a bit more accepting.
5.3.1.1.2. The stock market crash is seen as one of the worst economic events of US history. It began on October 24, 1929 and it was Black Monday. Investors invested about a millions into a company and the stocks began to decrease. The next day the stock went down even more. It is not known why the stock market crash, but there are many theories. During the 1920's, the economy had expanded by a lot and had peeked in a sense. The banking industry was also very successful and they were giving out loans. This all then suddenly came to an end when the market crashed. Consumers became overconfident and they would take out loans because it was very easy and they would only put down as little as ten percent. Being in debt was not a concern for them so they would just take out the loans. Producers also got too confident which then lead to overproduction and all of the goods wouldn't be sold which would cause them to lose money. Another issues was that the government later on increased interest rates which kind of stopped growth rates. There was also an agricultural recession and farmers were struggling to make their annual profit to keep their business going. Lots of investors and people in general lost all of their money and shares. Banks and companies all become bankrupt because of this crash.