Question

uneven distribution of income

• about half of all americans were poor.
• farms and factories were extremely productive, but most consumers lacked purchasing power due to low wages.

easy credit

• people had huge debts because they purchased on the installment plan.
• people borrowed money to speculate on the stock market.

imbalance in foreign trade

• to keep foreign products out of the united states, congress passed the hawley - smoot tariff act in 1930, making tariffs the highest in history.
• other nations, unable to sell their goods in the united states due to high tariffs, could not afford to buy american products.

mechanization of american industry

• new machines helped plants turn out more goods with fewer workers.

the great depression

• the national income—total payments to producers of the nation’s goods and services—dropped by half.
• eighty - five thousand businesses closed.
• 400,000 farmers lost their land through foreclosures.
• six thousand banks failed—one - quarter of the country’s total—because people could not repay their loans.
• 16 million people—one - third of the work force—were out of work and so had no money to buy goods.
• hunger, aimlessness, and mental depression increased dramatically.
• in 1931 three - quarters of the nation’s cities banned married women from holding jobs as teachers.
• children were forced to look for work.
• farm foreclosures and bankruptcies were common. many farm owners became tenants. by 1932 farmers began destroying their own crops.

1. list the four major causes of the great depression.

1. in what two ways did people run up huge debts in the 1920s?

1. what effect did high tariffs have on the purchase of american products by other countries?

Explanation:

For question 9, the text under "Easy Credit" indicates two ways people accumulated debts: purchasing on installment plans and borrowing money to speculate on the stock market.
For question 10, the text under "Imbalance in Foreign Trade" shows that high tariffs made other nations unable to sell their goods in the US (due to high tariffs) and thus couldn't afford to buy American products.

Answer:

1. People ran up huge debts by purchasing on installment plans and borrowing money to speculate on the stock market.
2. High tariffs made other nations unable to sell their goods in the US (due to high tariffs) and thus couldn't afford to buy American products.