Great DepressionJeopardy!

Welcome

to:

200

300

400

500

100

200

300

400

500

100

200

300

400

500

100

200

300

400

500

100

200

300

400

500

100

DepressionFacts

King &Bennett

Wall StreetWheat Crop

What aRelief!

WhoAm I?

The region of the world was hardest hit by the

Great Depression.

Canada

Was hit the hardest and took the longest time to recover.

The decade which encompassed the Great

Depression became known as this unflattering term:

‘The Dirty Thirties’

For a variety of reasons.

In 1929, the Department of Labour insisted that a

family needed $1200-1500 a year to maintain this:

‘Minimum Standard of Decency’

In fact, 60% of men and 82% of women earned less that

$1000 a year.

Economist John Maynard Keynes said that the

Depression didn’t occur because people lived

beyond their means. It occurred because:

The economy shut down because too many people had no money to buy what the country could produce.

We didn’t have the means to support our country’s output.

October 29, 1929 was the day the US stock market

crashed. This day became known as:

‘Black Tuesday’

Buying on Margin Fails.

In 1929, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King said he would not

give provinces that opposed his policies any government money – this famous speech cost him the election (lucky for

him).

‘The Five-Cent Speech’

He believed it was a Tory plan to get votes in the provinces. Any economic hardships did not affect King (he was rich).

Aside from economics, King wasn’t worried about the oncoming Depression.

His reasons:

- Spiritualist said things were good.

- He’d just cut the sales tax to 1%.

- One mention of ‘conscription’ would get the people of Quebec ticked off at the Tories again.

Richard Bedford Bennett was born in this Atlantic

Canadian province.

New Brunswick (Fredericton)

Although this area doesn’t celebrate his

accomplishments very often…

WLMK replaced the CRBC with this station. He also

began Canada’s first airline. Name both of

these:

- Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC)

- Trans Canadian Airline (TCA)

Bennet’s ‘New Deal’ certainly was a hot topic for Canadians. Why did many Canadians feel the New Deal violated civil

rights?

- Business owners would be legally required to provide minimum wage, unemployment insurance and follow a maximum number of hours an employee could work, among other things.

This could be a major pain in their…wallets.

In Stock Market Terms:

Investors pay only part of the price of a stock, promising to pay the

remainder when the stock makes money and the investor cashes out.

Buying on Margin

Only works if stocks are actually rising in price. When the stocks decline, investors haven’t made any money to pay back the stockbrokers –

everybody loses.

The US stock market failed in 1929, because:

Prices of stocks began to fall and brokers began

looking for their ‘buying on margin’ money.Investors didn’t have the money since their stocks

weren’t making any money!Suddenly, everyone is trying to sell his stocks and no one

is buying!

The crash in the US stock market had a devastating effect on Canada – and it

had nothing to do with our stocks…

Americans could no longer afford to buy our goods.

Canadian manufacturers had fewer people to buy

their products.

They had to lay off workers and cut the wages

of employees lucky enough to keep their jobs.

While it is romantic to blame the stock market

for Canada’s Great Depression, it is also

wrong. We can blame this:

An enormous 1928 wheat crop.

Aaron Sapiro coerced farmers into forming a Wheat Pool which would control and

regulate prices.

How did the Wheat Pool help bring Canada into the

Depression?

Too much wheat and competition.

A wheat ‘cartel’ only works if there is just the right amount of wheat and

also if there is no serious competition. In 1928, we had too much wheat and

faced competition from Russia, US, Argentina, Australia.

RBB created the CRBC to serve this purpose:

To tell people how well we were doing (propaganda).

It also provided escape from the hopelessness of

the Depression. The media accepted the

solemn duty of trying to make people forget about

the misery of the Depression.

The relief system in Canada was no relief.

Why?

The Misery of Relief• No employment

insurance.

• ‘Riding the Rails’

• Relief camps (former internment camps)

• 8 hour work days in exchange for food, lodging, and 20¢ a day.

This Canadian region was hardest hit by the Great

Depression:

The Prairies• No rain so the

topsoil blew away.

• Grasshoppers.

• Flour bag clothing, gophers for meals, lost farms.

• Saskatchewan was the poorest province – even Newfoundland sent relief in the form of salt cod.

Any criticism of RBB and his policies during the

Great Depression was met with what sort of

response?

He would blame the Communists.

WLMK was happy not to be in power. He had much more fun poking holes in RBB’s

leadership and not having to make the hard decisions that

pleased no one.

In 1935, workers in BC relief camps organized the ‘On to Ottawa Trek’. What city did the trekkers make it to, and what happened once their journey was

halted?

1000 Trekkers?• Made their way to

Regina, Saskatchewan.

• Eventually turned into a riot, killing two men – RBB was roundly criticized .

When people across the country became

dissatisfied with the government, new political

parties began to spring up. Name two of them:

Social Credit PartyCo-operative Commonwealth

Federation

Outside of Western Canada, these parties stood little

chance of success.

During the 1935 election, King chose ‘King or Chaos’ as his slogan. What were

his promises?

Trick Question! He didn’t make any promises – he

didn’t have to.He was lucky that RBB ruled

during the worst of the Depression and – fairly or

unfairly – he got blamed for many of the problems in

Canada at the time.

RBB’s controversial plan to drag Canada out of the

Depression included what sorts of ideas?

‘The End of Laissez-Faire’• Unemployment

insurance.• Minimum wages.• Maximum hours

of work.• Marketing

legislation for farmers.

• Measures against price-fixing.

• Federal trade commission.

• Many Canadian felt RBB’s ‘New Deal’ violated their civil rights.

Little did they know King would implement most of these policies when he became PM.

Who am I?I was the Prime Minister of

Canada (briefly) who groomed RBB for his term

as the leader of this nation. I am also sure that WLMK did not respect me

a great deal, in part because of my handiwork on the Conscription Bill.

Arthur Meighen

In the end, however, I think WLMK liked me a little better than RBB – which places me

just ahead of cholera…

Who am I?I was responsible for

creating the “New Deal”, however I passed away before it ever became a

reality in my country.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

This new deal was also known as the second bill of

rights. It never came to pass in the United States, but

many other countries adopted parts of it in their

constitutions.