hoovervilles

• The period between the end of 1929 and the summer of 1933 was one of continuous bad news for the American people. Millions suffered more than ever before in US history.
• Right across the country, many thousands of families were forced out of their homes because they could not pay their rent or mortgage and had to live on wasteland or in public parks in what became known as 'Hoovervilles.
• what were hoovervilles made of

  These were shanty towns where homes were shacks made out of any waste material people could find, such as tar-paper or cardboard.
• There was no running water, sanitation, heating or electricity. These places were given the Hooverville nickname by Hoover's Democratic opponents (FDR), who also continually referred to the 'Hoover Depression', wanting to place the blame firmly on him. While most Hoovervilles disappeared when Roosevelt's New Deal was in force after 1933, some were still being lived in as late as 1941.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:

  From a total population of around 126 million, it was estimated that 50 to 60 million were living in poverty. About 20 million Americans were at risk of starvation.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:

  In the cotton-growing regions of the South, cotton prices dropped from 35 cents in 1918, to 18 cents per pound in 1929, & finally to 5 cents per pound in 1933, there were known to be over 1 million people at the point of starvation.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:

  There were about 33 million people unemployed or seriously underemployed in 1933. Between 1928 and 1932, nearly 100,000 jobs were lost every week, with women and African Americans the first to be fired. In areas of the South, where agriculture was the main industry, the unemployment rate for African American men was over 50% by 1932. In certain cities, such as Nashville and Memphis, the unemployment rate for black men was over 70% by 1934.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:

  
  

  Average family income dropped by 40% from 1929 to 1933.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:

  250,000 families were evicted from their homes in 1932 alone for failing to pay their mortgage or rent. Many were forced to live in Hoovervilles, or live with relatives, which often led to serious overcrowding in cities.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:


  Over 5,000 banks collapsed in this period, leaving those who had their savings invested in them without any cash.

  A further 6,500 banks closed their doors in February - March 1933, including all banks in New York.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:

  Over 2 million men were known to be wandering the country in search of work.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:


  Many towns and cities went bankrupt as there was too little tax coming in, so they were forced to cut the wages of their employees, such as teachers and police, or simply sack them.

  In the winter of 1932-33, over 1,000 cities, towns and counties went bankrupt and were unable to provide any local government.
• statistics about deprivation, which reached their very worst in the hard winter of 1932-33:


  In some areas, law and order broke down completely and food stores were looted by hungry people, while citizens grouped together to stop families being evicted from their homes and farms.
• The Great Depression devastated huge areas of the United States and directly affected the vast majority of its people. It was not just the factory workers or farmers who suffered, but also millions of middle-class citizens such as bankers, lawyers, factory managers and teachers.
• A working-class family evicted for not paying rent was perhaps not an unusual sight in some city districts, but large numbers of middle-class families being thrown out of their homes for failing to pay their mortgages, was.
• There was also the possibility that if an investor had savings in a bank, and the bank went into bankruptcy, the saver lost everything. Bank and insurance company failures hit middle-class families particularly hard.
• Many middle-class families had been saving for their retirement (the state did not provide pensions for the elderly) and company failures meant their income was lost.