How Did The Great Depression Affect The Economy
Ryan Fiala
Dr. Diaz
Hist 2310
21 April, 2016
Labor Issues During the Great Depression The Great Depression was the deepest and longest economic downturn in the history of the west. The Great Depression began shortly after the stock market crash during 1929, the end of the Roaring Twenties. After the stock market crash prices of everything dropped severely, unemployment was higher than ever before, banks were continuing to fall left and right, and consumer confidence dropped drastically These issues were just the start of things moving in the downward direction, issues with money just kept getting larger and the economy kept going down with it. The Great Depression deeply impacted the social and economic change in Texas, but specifically affected the labor workforce. One of the many issues The Great Depression brought onto Texas labor was the extremely low prices. In the early thirties prices were already low, then the stock market crash happened and prices started to go lower than they had ever been. This was a huge shock to the people. People of Texas did not know what to do in a time like this and also did not want to accept the fact that this was …show more content…
In The White Scourge, Foley says “Low cotton prices, acreage reduction, and government payments all offered specific monetary incentives to landlords to reduce the number of tenants and croppers on their farms and to convert those who remained into wage laborers”. This control program cut acreage in half. As a result, tenants did not have as much land to grow cotton, which then also resulted in the farmers not being able to make enough money. Farmers had difficulty paying for their expenses, mortgage, and taxes since they were not making enough income. This caused farmers to be at an all time low with money. By the early thirties farmers were in extreme debt. The debt caused farm tenancy to slowly die off leaving only a “poor white” population
Dr. Diaz
Hist 2310
21 April, 2016
Labor Issues During the Great Depression The Great Depression was the deepest and longest economic downturn in the history of the west. The Great Depression began shortly after the stock market crash during 1929, the end of the Roaring Twenties. After the stock market crash prices of everything dropped severely, unemployment was higher than ever before, banks were continuing to fall left and right, and consumer confidence dropped drastically These issues were just the start of things moving in the downward direction, issues with money just kept getting larger and the economy kept going down with it. The Great Depression deeply impacted the social and economic change in Texas, but specifically affected the labor workforce. One of the many issues The Great Depression brought onto Texas labor was the extremely low prices. In the early thirties prices were already low, then the stock market crash happened and prices started to go lower than they had ever been. This was a huge shock to the people. People of Texas did not know what to do in a time like this and also did not want to accept the fact that this was …show more content…
In The White Scourge, Foley says “Low cotton prices, acreage reduction, and government payments all offered specific monetary incentives to landlords to reduce the number of tenants and croppers on their farms and to convert those who remained into wage laborers”. This control program cut acreage in half. As a result, tenants did not have as much land to grow cotton, which then also resulted in the farmers not being able to make enough money. Farmers had difficulty paying for their expenses, mortgage, and taxes since they were not making enough income. This caused farmers to be at an all time low with money. By the early thirties farmers were in extreme debt. The debt caused farm tenancy to slowly die off leaving only a “poor white” population