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Groups and sectors that did not prosper

Farmers

Farmers were producing too many crops and couldn't sell them. So prices fell and farmers had to borrow money from the banks to be able to survive. More and more of them got into debt until they eventually had to sell their farms and leave. Many left to go wandering around America looking for any kind of work – at the time, these wanderers were known as 'hobos'.

By 1928 half of all USA farmers were living in poverty. Since prices were so low, 600,000 farmers lost their farms in 1924 alone.

Black people

Black people suffered economically, especially in the southern states, where the majority worked on small farms owned by white landlords. The black people were labourers or sharecroppers and they lived in immense poverty.

Segregation, due to Jim Crow laws, and the presence of the KKK in the southern states, made life even harder and many black people migrated to northern cities like New York, Detroit and Chicago to find work in the new industries. Conditions remained hard for the majority of those who migrated north as they lived in ghettos and were often "the last hired and first to be fired". However, some black people were successful and a few black musicians and actors rose to fame in this period.

Immigrants

The unemployment rate amongst new immigrants remained high throughout the 1920s. Many immigrants had not been educated and were willing to work in any kind of job for very low wages. Because of this, they endured more and more prejudice.

Old traditional industries

The traditional industries failed to respond to the new mass production methods of the 1920s, unlike the Ford company that was making a good profit and could pay impressive wages. Also, following a reduction in the powers of Labor Unions, the workers were not in a position to be able to claim better wages and working conditions in the old industries.

• Coal - Coal prices fell and thousands had to be made redundant because the industry was producing too much coal and not enough people and countries wanted to buy it.
• Ship building - Another major industry that had to make thousands redundant due to a reduction in the demand for new ships.
• Cotton - New synthetic fibres were being developed, such as rayon. This became a very popular substitute to cotton. It was possible to produce rayon in factories where fewer workers were needed. Many textile mills were forced to close down.