Mini-Investigation Paper (Final Draft)

A Plan of the investigation

1. Topic: Whether the unemployment rate increased the number of protests against the government.

2. Question: Did the amount of unemployed people during the economic depression increase the number of protests against the government?

3. Reason: During the economic depression, the unemployment rate increased rapidly. Many Americans were out of jobs and didn’t have enough money to buy anything they needed. The number of people that would go against the government might have increased and caused more protests to happen during the Great Depression.

4. Method of Investigation: Bureau of Labor Statistics, online articles from The Library of Congress on the Great Depression, Encyclopedia of Chicago

B Summary of evidence

1. VanGiezen, R., & Schwenk, A. E. (2003, January 30). Compensation from before
World War I through the Great Depression. In Bureau of labor statistics.
Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar03p1.htm#dol-banner

‐ From 1923-1929 the average unemployment rate is 3.3%

‐ Stock market declined 90% from 1929-1932

‐ Highest unemployment rate in 1932 with unemployment of about 25%

‐ Economic recovery was slow, hesitant, far from complete

‐ In 1940, unemployment rate still at 15%

2. Great Depression. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved November 8, 2009,
from http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/542.html

‐ Great Depression had some strikes and protests that broke out with the most violence in Chicago’s history

‐ “The Great Depression saw some of the most volatile strikes and protest movements in the city’s history.”

‐ Active social protest movements occurred

‐ “Active social protest movements extended outside of the workplace.”

‐ Housewives also protested about businesses that refused to lower prices

‐ “Across the city, angry housewives protested retailers’ misleading advertising and refusal to lower prices.”

3. Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945. (n.d.). The learning page.
Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://rs6.loc.gov:8081/learn/features/
timeline/depwwii/race/race.html
timeline/depwwii/race/race.html>

‐ Half of the African Americans were out of jobs

‐ Racial violence became more and more common in the South

‐ “Radical violence again became more common, especially in the South.”

‐ Lynching occurred more often during the depression

‐ “Lynchings, which had declined to eight in 1932, surged to 28 in 1933.”

C Evaluation of sources

The website by Robert VanGiezen and Albert E. Schwenk contains statistics of the unemployment rate during the economic depression. This website was posted by the government and has a limitation because the government may leave out information that they don’t want the people to know about. The information that was left out could have been useful information that could change the reader’s perspective of the whole event or situation which can make the source not as valuable. The purpose of the document, which is to inform the reader of what happened and how it was like during World War I and the Great Depression, can give limitations. The author may want to inform the reader about what happened but would still leave out information that would give bad impressions on to the government. Its purpose could also change the value of the document. Important information could have been left out by the government because they didn’t want to look bad to the American citizens. This reason for leaving out information can decrease the value of the document.

D Analysis

Facts in the first source have given enough information on the unemployment rate during the Great Depression. The source contains accurate statistics of the percentages of unemployment and the condition the United States was in during the depression. It was written that from 1923 to 1929, the unemployment rate was 3.3 percent. This information could be used to compare to the unemployment rate during the Great Depression which had the highest percentage in 1932 of about 25 percent. The source also gives extra information on how the stock market was going on and how well the economy was recovering from the economic downturn.

Factual material in the second source has given some information on how the people in the United States have felt during the depression. The facts that were given in the source weren’t enough to give a complete answer to the question. The whole document only contained facts on the city Chicago. It would be better if I could get more information on the topic in this document of other places than just Chicago.

The third source gave facts that told how the people were like during the Great Depression. Half of the whole population of African Americans didn’t have any jobs. Many people including housewives protested. Racial violence increased during the Great Depression as well has lynching, but all of the information from the source didn’t give the exact information I need to answer my question fully. Some of the facts in the document were not related to the question I was trying to answer.