Canadian History Readings Understanding Direct and Indirect Causes
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- The Statute of Westminster
- STOCK MARKET CRASH – OCTOBER 29, 1929 Buying on margin
- TOO MUCH BUYING ON CREDIT
- LOW DEMAND = LOW PRICES = UNEMPLOYMENT OVER-PRODUCTION AND OVER-EXPANSION
- LOW DEMAND = LOW PRICES = DRECREASED PRODUCTION = LAID OFF WORKERS = UNEMPLOYMENT EXPORT MARKETS IN EUROPE CLOSED
- HIGH TARIFFS = LOW DEMAND = LOWER PRICES = LOW WAGES FOR WORKERS = LESS JOBS = UNEMPLOYMENT COLLAPSE OF THE WHEAT MARKET IN CANADA
- TARIFFS + DROUGHTS + COMPETITION = LOW WHEAT PRODUCTION = FARM MACHINERY COMPANIES GO BANKRUPT = LOW WAGES = UNEMPLOYMENT
This was a huge shift in how the Empire was to be run. The Dominion governments were no longer responsible to the Parliament and Prime Minister of Great Britain in London, England, but to themselves and their shared monarch, represented by a Governor General. The Empire was becoming the “Commonwealth”. In 1931, The Statute of Westminster formally took the ideas of Balfour Declaration and officially recognised the legal equality of the Dominions within the Empire as a “Commonwealth of Nations”.
Forging Gold in Hamilton T  here was much excitement throughout the Empire about this growing respect amongst the Dominions as equal members of a friendly Commonwealth. Canada took great pride as a senior Dominion within this association and, in 1930, Hamilton, Canada became the first city to host the newly established British Empire Games (now known as the Commonwealth Games). The Commonwealth Games are the only multi-sport event in the world with its roots in Canada and Canada has hosted the Games 4 times in total.
The city of Hamilton proved a gracious first host of the Commonwealth Games movement and is as important to it as Athens is to the Olympics. The inaugural Games was utilitarian and very down to earth, proving that more doesn't necessarily mean better. The athletes' village was the Prince of Wales School next to the Civic Stadium (later renamed “Ivor Wynn Stadium”), where the competitors slept two dozen to a classroom. Despite missing some basic comforts, the participants were unanimous in their praise for the Games and Hamilton's hospitality. Eleven countries sent a total of about 400 athletes to the Hamilton Games. Women were also allowed to compete, but only in swimming and diving events. The participant nations were Australia, Bermuda, British Guiana, Canada, England, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. The Hamilton Games featured six sports: track and field, boxing, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving, and wrestling and ran at a cost of $97,973.00. Canada placed second to England in the total medal count, winning 20 Gold, 15 Silver, and 19 Bronze medals (54 medals in all). Some medals even went to Hamiltonians! Thousands of local spectators flocked to the waters of Hamilton Harbour to witness the oarsmen of Hamilton’s Leander Boat Club go head to head with England, only to miss out on Gold by half a foot. The Hamilton rowers had to content themselves with Silver, but were still cheered like champions by the home crowd! (Sources: http://www.guernseycga.org.gg/1930can.html and the Leander Boat Club Archives) From Boom to Bust: Causes of the Great Depression STOCK MARKET CRASH – OCTOBER 29, 1929 Buying on margin – people bought stock on credit. The idea was that when the stock prices went up, buyers would sell their stock, pay off the creditors and pocket the profits. But, in October 1929, the value of the stocks dropped, people panicked and began to sell. Prices fell lower as stock was dumped. In a few hours, the value of most stock fell by more than 50%, big and small investors lost millions. TOO MUCH BUYING ON CREDIT By 1929, buying on credit was a well-established custom. Buying on credit meant that people could buy things that they could not afford by borrowing money from a bank and simply promising to pay the full amount plus a fee (interest) at a later date. Because of the stock market crash, high levels of unemployment, and low demand for Canadian products, many people could not earn enough to pay back what they had borrowed. A lot of people lost everything LOW DEMAND = LOW PRICES = UNEMPLOYMENT OVER-PRODUCTION AND OVER-EXPANSION The growth in the 1920s lead to businesses expanding – which was done mostly on credit. The Canadian market could only absorb so many goods and large stock piles of goods began to pile up since there weren’t enough people to buy them. Factories slowed down and workers were laid off, which meant that even more families could not afford goods. LOW DEMAND = LOW PRICES = DRECREASED PRODUCTION = LAID OFF WORKERS = UNEMPLOYMENT EXPORT MARKETS IN EUROPE CLOSED The depression forced other countries to raise tariffs (taxes) on products coming from other countries like Canada. Canada did this as well and was forced to sell its resources and products to other countries below cost. There was a lot of competition in wheat, lumber, and minerals, meaning that since demand was less, Canada’s resources were not being purchased as much. HIGH TARIFFS = LOW DEMAND = LOWER PRICES = LOW WAGES FOR WORKERS = LESS JOBS = UNEMPLOYMENT COLLAPSE OF THE WHEAT MARKET IN CANADA Lots of competition and high tariffs made trade nearly impossible for Canadian wheat farmers. On top of these troubles, drought and grasshoppers plagued the land and made growing wheat and other crops almost impossible. Farm machinery could not be sold to farmers, who did not have money to purchase them, nor good land on which to use them. TARIFFS + DROUGHTS + COMPETITION = LOW WHEAT PRODUCTION = FARM MACHINERY COMPANIES GO BANKRUPT = LOW WAGES = UNEMPLOYMENT The Cycle of Depression: T 
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