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Though, Georgia, a predominantly rural state, was already suffering from a depression
due to the boll weevil and drought, the economic boom experienced by the rest of the United
States ended with the Stock Market Crash of 1929. In this downturn, stock-holders lost over 40
billion dollars, and businesses were never able to recover from these losses throughout the
1930’s. However, a series of other factors led to the continuation of a world-wide depression for
almost a decade.

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Overproduction of Agriculture Products: Before the major droughts that hit the
Midwest causing the Dust Bowl, many farmers over-produced. In the 1920’s Midwestern
farmers produced record numbers of agricultural products. However, this over-production led to
a tremendous drop in the price of agricultural products and dramatically limited the profit
margins of farmers. During a period of time where millions were starving, farmers destroyed
much needed food or stopped growing crops all together in order attempt to raise the price of
agricultural products. A major drought hit the Midwest in the 1930’s driving thousands of
farmers from their homes and added to the millions of Americans already out of work.

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Reduction in Purchasing: In what became a vicious cycle, after the stock market
crash, and due to other economic fears, the average consumer stopped purchasing goods. When
people stopped buying products, companies in turn lowered their production rates. With lower
production rates, many

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Bank Failures: During the 1920’s and 1930’s, there was no insurance protecting deposits. If enough of the banks customers tried to withdraw their money, the bank would eventually run out. This was called a bank failure. After the stock market crash, this actually
happened and many banks failed in the early 1930’s. In turn many people lost their life savings. Those banks that managed to stay in business were hesitant about making loans, thus slowing down the purchasing power of big business and the individual buyer. Consumers lost their jobs and had no money to spend. With an unemployment rate of 25%, this further lessened the purchasing power of the average consumer.

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Drought of 1924 - one of the worst droughts in Georgia’s history; led to a depression in the
state that predated the Great Depression.

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Boll Weevil - insect whose larvae feed on cotton crops; decimated cotton production in the
southeastern United States.

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The boll weevil is an insect whose larva feeds
on the cotton plant. While the pest is thought to
have originated in Central America, by the
1890's it had made its way into Mexico and then
into Texas. By 1915 it had migrated to Georgia
and drastically reduced the state’s cotton crop.
According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia,
due to the destruction caused by the boll weevil,
Georgia cotton farmers went from producing
“5.2 million acres of cotton in 1914 to 2.6
million acres in 1923.”

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The invasion of the boll weevil and serious droughts caused farmers to be launched
into serious loss of income and the need to examine agricultural practices.