Mr. Palm's Science/Social Studies Site
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  • Science
    • 1st Six Weeks >
      • Unit 1 Physical Properties of Matter
      • Unit 2 Mixtures & Solutions
    • 2nd Six Weeks >
      • Unit 3 Energy
      • Unit 4 Force and Motion
    • 3rd Six Weeks >
      • Unit 5 Natural Resources
    • 4th Six Weeks >
      • Unit 6 The Changing of Earth
      • Unit 7 Weather and the Water Cycle
    • 5th Six Weeks >
      • Unit 8 Patterns of Earth
      • Unit 9 Energy Flow in Living Systems
    • 6th Six Weeks >
      • Traits >
        • Q 1
        • Q 2
        • Q3
        • Q4
        • Q5
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        • Q41
        • Q42
        • Q43
        • Q44
        • Q45
        • Q46
        • Q47
        • Q48
        • Q49
        • Q50
      • Unit 10 Structure and behaviors of Organisms >
        • Adaptations
      • Unit 11 Life Cycles
  • Texas
    • Texas Map Project
    • 1st Semester >
      • Regions
      • HOW PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF TEXAS EARN THEIR LIVING
      • American Indians >
        • ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES USED BY EARLY AMERICAN INDIANS IN TX
        • Caddo
        • Karankawa
        • Tonkawa
        • Lipan Apache
        • Jumano and Concho
        • Comanche
      • TX Indian's Reading Cards >
        • Comanche
        • Lipan Apache
        • Karankawa
        • Caddo
        • Jumano
      • Exploration and Mission Life >
        • MOTIVATIONS FOR EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT
        • WHEN, WHERE, WHY SPANISH ESTABLISHED SETTLEMENTS AND
        • ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND IMPACT OF SIGNIFICANT EXPLORERS >
          • Cabeza de Vaca (Spain)
          • Francisco Coronado (Spain)
          • René Robert Cavelier
          • Jose de Escandon
        • EFFECTS OF EXPLORATION
        • Missions of TX
      • Colonization of TX >
        • TEXAS’ ROLE IN THE MEXICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
        • SIGNIFICANT EMPRESARIOS
        • CHARACTERISTICS OF GOVERNMENTS AND THEIR INFLUENCE
      • Revolution >
        • People of TX Revolution
        • Major Events of the TX Revolution
        • Battles of the Revolution
        • SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS OF INDIVIDUALS
        • Important People of Texas Revolution
      • Republic and Statehood >
        • Economic Struggles
        • Relations With American Indians
        • Events That Led to the Annexation of TX into The U.S.
        • Important Individuals of the TX Republic
      • The Six National Flags of Texas
    • 2nd Semester >
      • Texas Industries
      • Civil War and Reconstruction >
        • Important People of the TX Republic
        • Civil War and Reconstruction PowerPoint
        • IMPACT OF THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ON TEXAS
        • DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM IN TEXAS
        • HOW THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM WORKS AND EXAMPLES
        • EXAMPLES OF THE BENEFITS OF THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM
        • ORIGINS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF STATE CELEBRATIONS
      • Texas Frontier >
        • The Cattle and Railroad Industry
        • GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT, AND IMPACT OF THE CATTLE INDUSTRY
        • IMPACT OF RAILROADS ON LIFE IN TEXAS
        • EFFECTS ON AMERICAN INDIAN LIFE RESULTING FROM CHANGES IN TEXAS
        • FAMOUS INVENTORS AND SCIENTISTS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS
      • Urbanization >
        • IMPACT OF VARIOUS ISSUES AND EVENTS ON LIFE IN TEXAS
        • ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF NOTABLE INDIVIDUALS >
          • John Tower
          • Scott Joplin
          • Cleto Rodriguez
          • Audie Murphy
          • Stanley Marcus
          • Bessie Coleman
          • Raul A. Gonzales
          • Patillo Higgins
          • Spindletop
          • Impact of Oil and Gas Industry
        • DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT OF THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY ON INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION IN TEXAS
        • POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF HUMAN MODIFICATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT
        • The Dust Bowl
        • Dust Bowl Images
      • Texas Today >
        • PRODUCTS OF TEXAS THAT ARE PURCHASED TO MEET NEEDS
        • CUSTOMS, CELEBRATIONS, TRADITIONS OF CULTURAL,
        • CONTRIBUTIONS OF PEOPLE
        • HOW SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND INNOVATIONS HAVE BENEFITED INDIVIDUALS, BUSINESSES, AND SOCIETY IN TEXAS
      • Texas Citizenship >
        • THE MEANING OF PATRIOTIC SYMBOLS AND LANDMARKS OF TEXAS
        • “TEXAS, OUR TEXAS”
        • IMPORTANT INDIVIDUALS
        • HOW INDIVIDUALS CAN PARTICIPATE VOLUNTARILY IN CIVIC AFFAIRS
        • DUTY OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN STATE AND LOCAL ELECTIONS
        • HOW TO CONTACT ELECTED AND APPOINTED LEADERS IN STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
        • Leadership Qualities
        • LEADERS IN GOVERNMENT
      • Texas Environment >
        • Vocabulary
        • WAYS PEOPLE HAVE ADAPTED TO AND MODIFIED THEIR ENVIRONMENT IN TEXAS
        • POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF HUMAN MODIFICATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT
  • TX Maps
  • U.S
    • 1st Semester >
      • European Exploration >
        • Why People Move
        • ECONOMIC PATTERNS OF EARLY EUROPEAN COLONISTS
      • Colonial America >
        • New England Colonies
        • The Mid-Atlantic Colonies
      • Colonial Map Project
      • Road to Revolution >
        • The Southern Colonies
        • EVENTS PRIOR TO AND DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
        • CONTRIBUTIONS OF INDIVIDUALS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD >
          • Founding Fathers
          • John Adams
          • Samuel Adams
          • Benjamin Franklin
          • Colonial Leaders >
            • William Bradford
            • Anne Hutchinson
            • William Penn
            • John Smith
            • John Wise
            • Roger Williams
          • Nathan Hale
          • Thomas Jefferson
          • Sons of Liberty
          • George Washington
          • MOTIVATIONS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
        • EXAMPLES OF ART, MUSIC, AND LITERATURE DURING REVOLUTION
        • Revolution and Its Effects >
          • RESULTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
          • KEY ELEMENTS, PURPOSES, IMPORTANCE OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
          • CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS
      • A Nation Is Born >
        • Articles of Confederation
        • CONTRIBUTIONS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO HELPED CREATE THE U.S. CONSTITUTION >
          • James Madison
          • George Mason
          • Charles Pinckney
          • Roger Sherman
        • PURPOSES OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION IDENTIFIED IN THE PREAMBLE
        • Purpose of the Constitution
        • REASONS AND IMPORTANCE OF THE CREATION OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS
      • American Identity >
        • CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE WAR OF 1812
        • U.S. TERRITORIAL EXPANSION
        • Western Expansion Images
        • PATRIOTIC SYMBOLS AND LANDMARKS
        • MEANING OF THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
    • 2nd Semester >
      • Western Expansion >
        • CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE WAR OF 1812
        • Geographic Factors that Influence Patterns of Settlement
        • REASONS PEOPLE MOVED WEST
        • EVENTS AND CONCEPTS ASSOCIATED WITH U.S. TERRITORIAL
        • HOW INDUSTRY AND MECHANIZATION OF AGRICULTURE CHANGED THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE
      • A Nation Divided >
        • HOW CHANGES RESULTING FROM THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION LED TO CONFLICT AMONG SECTIONS OF THE U.S
        • Causes of Civil War
        • REASONS FOR LOCATION OF CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES
        • EFFECTS OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND
      • Post-Civil War America (Reconstruction) >
        • Effects of Civil War
        • CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF PEOPLE
        • Challenges and Triumphs of Immigrants in America
        • Challenges and Triumphs of American Indians in America
        • Transcontinental Railroad
        • ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE FIELDS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY >
          • Benjamin Franklin >
            • Thomas Edison
          • Eli Whitney
          • John Deere
          • Alexander Graham Bell
          • George Washington Carver
        • Origins and Significance of Memorial Day
      • Progress: A Bumpy Road >
        • Overview of the Times
        • Women and Their Contributions to Society
        • The Free Enterprise System
        • IMPACT OF MASS PRODUCTION, SPECIALIZATION AND DIVISION OF LABOR ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES
        • HOW SUPPLY AND DEMAND AFFECTS CONSUMERS
        • HOW SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS HAVE BENEFITED INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY
        • List of Inventions and Conveniences from the Late 1800s and Early 1900s
        • Transportation and Trade
        • The Vaccine
        • Labor Day
      • Conflict Abroad and at Home >
        • VARIOUS ISSUES AND EVENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
        • World War I
        • The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression
        • World War II
        • ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF NOTABLE INDIVIDUALS >
          • Dwight D. Eisenhower
          • Franklin D. Roosevelt
          • Tuskegee Airmen
          • 442nd Infantry Regiment
          • ORIGINS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF NATIONAL CELEBRATIONS
        • HOW SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS HAVE BENEFITED INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY
      • The United States Today >
        • VARIOUS ISSUES AND EVENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
        • VARIOUS ISSUES AND EVENTS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
        • ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF NOTABLE INDIVIDUALS
        • The Race Begins
        • Advancements Because of NASA Research
        • Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
        • Rosa Parks – An Act of Courage
        • Civil Rights Act of 1964
        • Voting Rights Act
  • U.S Maps
  • Government
    • LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT
    • Constitutional Scavenger Hunt
    • BASIC FUNCTIONS OF THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT
    • SYSTEMS OF CHECKS AND BALANCES
    • THE BILL OF RIGHTS
    • HOW INDIVIDUALS CAN PARTICIPATE IN GOVERNMENT

The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression 

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The War to End All Wars was over, women suffragettes obtained the legal right to vote, America’s factories were churning out record numbers of products for sale at record low prices, with faster transportation and communication becoming available to many households, Americans were excited about the future. It was a decade (10 years) of prosperity and optimism. People were driving cars, visiting the cities and spending their money.  This was The Roaring Twenties. 


These times were called by some, The Jazz Age.  There was a new music beat ringing out in America’s living rooms because of the first ever radio broadcasts in the early 1920s.  Big bands and singers such as Bessie Smith became wildly popular. With the new music beat churning out rhythms, women called "flappers" cut their hair and shortened their skirts for dancing. Another  group of women, the Temperance Union, continued to believe that the consumption of alcohol was ruining American society, so they set out to have the sale and consumption alcohol anywhere in the United States made illegal. By early 1920 the 18th Amendment went into effect.  Referred to as Prohibition, the 18th Amendment banned "the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States…" This created an undercover criminal world for the illegal sale of alcohol. 

In the cycle of Boom and Bust economics, often after a boom time of growth and prosperity there will come a bust, or lack of good economics. Suddenly, almost as suddenly as it came, the good economic times in America were over.  American’s had over spent their money, over-produced goods in manufacturing, over-used their credit, and over-plowed the farm land. There was no safety net, even for the banks. By 1929, almost no one had the money to pay back the loans, or to buy anything else new. Manufactured goods sat on the shelf untouched. Banks closed, and in 1929 the New York Stock Exchange "crashed." Americans, along with the entire world, were shocked to suddenly find they were in what was called The Great Depression. Only a few managed to remain wealthy. All other people found they had no money, no jobs, no credit, and no hope. In the cities there were long lines of people looking for work and standing in bread lines. In the rural areas, people were able, at least to grow their own food, with one big exception. 

In the heartland of America, there was a large section of agricultural land which was suffering from a severe drought. It did not rain in the area for more than 3 years. Because the farmers had heard that Russia was buying wheat at high prices, they plowed up more and more land to plant more and more wheat. The farmers modified the land. Without rain to grow the wheat, the modified land became a blowing, dusty, hopeless place called The Dust Bowl. 
 
There was no way to make crops grow in the high heat with no rain. The dust blew hard, drifting into homes and fields. People had to leave their farms or starve. Their animals suffered, too. 

Many families packed up all they could carry on their Model-T trucks and cars and migrated West across the hot desert to California in search for jobs. Others some hopped the rails, riding box cars from place to place looking for work. For every job there were hundreds who applied. 

Once again the scientific work of Dr. George Washington Carver helped the farmers in the drought stricken areas with his methods for renewing depleted soils. 

In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or FDR as people referred to him, was elected President of the United States by a landslide victory. President Roosevelt believed the government could help the American people. Immediately after he became President, Roosevelt closed the banks until they could become stabilized. He developed a plan that he referred to as the New Deal. These programs helped people find employment. Some examples included the WPA (Works Progress Administration,) the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration,) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) He said, "I pledge to you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people." The New Deal was his attempt to help curb unemployment by hiring and paying people for various projects around America. The initials of WPA or CCC are on sidewalks, schools, and other places across America today.
 

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