The Great Depression

The Great Depression & Hoover

SWBAT • Explain the causes of the Great

Depression

Do Now:

• How did the growth of the automobile industry stimulate the growth of other industries?

• How did it influence the lifestyle in the United States?

The Stock Market Crash

• The Stock Market Crash- PBS

Why did the Great Depression Happen?

• Trigger = Stock Market Crash

- October 29, 1929

- “Black Tuesday”

- 16.4 million shares sold

- bank runs

- losses of 30 billion dollars

Causes of the Great Depression

Causes: 1. Weakness in Economy - farming depressed overproduction - unemployment economy showed signs of

underconsumption

Causes of the Great Depression 2. Unequal distribution of wealth - 87% of pop. owned 10% of wealth - 1% owned 59% - economy was dependent on the

spending of a few - people had trouble buying goods

because salaries did not increase overexpansion of credit (buying

on margin) underconsumption

Causes of the Great Depression

3. Weak banking structure

- 20,000 banks failed because people couldn’t pay their loans

Causes of the Great Depression

4. Weak international economy

- Americans did not invest abroad

- Financially weak foreign nations bought less from our country

defaulted on loans (tariffs) “diligent young

man seeks work”

Causes of the Great Depression

5. Government Policies

- stock market not regulated (buying on credit)

- tax policies favored the wealthy unequal distribution of wealth

- The Fed raised interest rates to discourage spending

Hard Times for Americans •Unemployment

- Unemployment rate increased from 3% in 1929 25% in 1933

Hard Times for Americans • Family Life –Many fathers left families

to find work –Children couldn’t go to

school b/c school boards didn’t have money to keep schools open

–Marriage rate decreased –Fewer children per family

b/c parents couldn’t afford to feed large families

“Migrant Mother” – mother of seven children struggling through the Great Depression in California

Hard Times for Americans • Deterioration of Health

–Many Americans suffered from malnutrition falling more easily to disease

Americans on line at soup kitchen

Men line up for free bread from the Grocers’ Association.

An unemployed man tries to sell apples on the street to earn money

A man trying to sell his car after losing his money in the Stock Market

Explain why this locality’s chamber of commerce posted this bill

Explain the irony in this photograph

Men in Chicago advertising themselves for a job. How do they market themselves?

Unemployment march in New Jersey

Children picketing a construction company

Hoover to the Rescue?

• Pres. Herbert Hoover (1928-1932) - Tried to restore confidence “prosperity is just around the corner”

Hoover to the Rescue? - “Trickle Down” Theory- gave $ to

businesses thinking it would eventually help the workers & consumers (no DIRECT aid to the people AKA rugged individualism)

- organized Reconstruction Finance

Corporation- lend $ to railroads, banks, & insurance companies

Hoover to the Rescue? - halted payments of war debts by

European nations- hoping European nations would help in our economic relief

Hoovervilles & the Dust Bowl

• Hoovervilles- unheated, shacks, built with cardboard, tin, & crates; those living in a Hooverville, used “Hoover blankets”, aka newspapers

Hooverville in Seattle

Hoovervilles & the Dust Bowl

• The Dust Bowl- a prolonged drought in the Midwest during the 20’s worsened farmers’ already desperate situation

Hoovervilles & the Dust Bowl

Wrap Up

• How did the weaknesses of the US economy lead to the Stock Market Crash & subsequently the Great Depression?

Homework

• Choose one of the following three photos. Place yourself in that photograph write a diary entry from the perspective of a person in the photo

– ½ page

– neatly written

FDR & the New Deal

SWBAT

• Explain the stages of FDR’s New Deal

Do Now:

• With a partner, come up with a campaign slogan to help you win against Hoover in the 1932 Election

Hoover Exits • Hoover leaves office very unpopular

due to the Great Depression, and the Bonus Army Incident (1932)

- WWI veterans demanded payment of their bonus

- When they didn’t get it, they refused to leave their camps in DC

- Hoover used army tanks & tear gas to disperse the veterans

Assessment of Hoover’s Policy

• He took some steps to improve the nation, but efforts were too little, too late

• He believed the economy would “right itself” eventually & believed in self-help, not direct relief

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.”

• FDR (1933-1945)

FDR - master politician (intelligent, self- confident, charming)

- master communicator (press conferences & “fireside chats”)

FDR - controversial (some believe he had too much power) - active 1st Lady: Eleanor Roosevelt - used the “brain trust”- a group of intellectuals who served as close advisors

The New Deal • The New Deal- a plan to combat the

Great Depression

- 3 R’s: Relief, Recovery, Reform

• Stages:

1. 1933-1935- Relief & Recovery, “First 100 Days” = lots of legislation passed

The New Deal 2. 1936- Second New Deal, focused on labor & social reform (high point of the New Deal)

3. 1937-1938- Recession/setbacks due to cutbacks in spending

4. 1938- New Deal ends due to opposition in Congress & preoccupation with WWII

The New Deal • Unemployment did not significantly

improve until WWII

Strategies of the New Deal 1. Use elastic clause to take

government action gov got involved in economy more than ever before

2. Stimulated economy by taxes & gov spending “Pump-Priming” theory

Strategies of the New Deal

3. Gov assumed responsibility for general welfare of people

4. Increased the regulatory role of the Federal Gov. over banks, businesses, & stocks exchange

3 R’s Review Relief- $ for those who were suffering

Recovery- jobs for the economy, so it can grow again

Reform- measures to avoid future depressions

New Deal

Programs • Discuss FDR’s “Alphabet Soup” &

organize the programs into the 3 R’s

• What does the cartoon imply about Roosevelt, & Congress’ role in the depression?

Relief Programs

• FERA, PWA, CCC, WPA

FERA Camps for

Unemployed Women in

Penn.

Recovery Programs

• NRA, AAA, TVA

Reform Programs

• FDIC, SEC, SSA, NLRA, FLSA

National Labor Relations Act aka Wagner Act

• Guaranteed right to form unions & practice collective bargaining

• Ensured that elections to unions were conducted fairly

• Power to stop blacklisting (now illegal)

Fair Labor Standards Act

• Set minimum wage (25 cents!) & maximum work week hours (44 hours)

• What are these now?

• Banned child labor

• Assisted in regulating interstate commerce

Your Task

• Read the “Ballad of Roosevelt”, 1934 by Langston Hughes & answer questions with a partner

Wrap Up

•What’s the difference between Hoover’s “Trickle Down” theory & FDR’s “Pump-Priming” theory?

The New Deal & Minorities

SWBAT

• Explain how minorities were effected by FDR’s New Deal legislation

Do Now:

• What advances did women make in society during WWI and the 1920s?

New Deal: Effects on Minorities

• After reading the text, fill in the chart with a partner

• Read the letters to the President & Mrs. Roosevelt answer questions completely

Discussion Questions

• Why did African-American voters increasingly change political allegiance from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party after 1934?

• How did the Depression & New Deal programs affect women?

SWBAT

• Explain criticisms of the New Deal

Do Now: Criticism cartoon analysis and questions

Cartoon Questions • How did McCutcheon make the man a

sympathetic character? • Why did he have a squirrel ask the

question? • What is he saying about the American

belief in personal responsibility?

• What New Deal program was created to guard against bank failure and help lift public confidence in the banking system?

Critics of the New Deal 1. Republicans/Big Business/Wealthy - gov taking too much responsibility &

becoming too powerful; FDR = dictator

- New Deal programs bordered socialism & communism (ex. unemployment insurance)

- high taxes on wealthy & corporations are unfair

Critics of the New Deal

2. Socialists/Progressives/Liberal Democrats

- FDR not doing enough to solve problems of the unemployed & poor, ethnic minorities, women, & elderly

- More should be done to distribute nation’s wealth among all Americans

Critics of the New Deal 3. Demagogues (leaders who manipulate

people with lies & scare tactics)

- Father Coughlin, Huey Long (US Senator), Frances Townsend

all critics of FDR; proposed redistribution of wealth ($2500 income, car, college education), & guarantee pensions for elderly

Wrap Up

“Roosevelt is the only President we ever had that thought the Constitution belonged to the [poor] man too…”

– George Dobbin, mill worker 1939

• What evidence from New Deal programs supports this quote?

New Deal Supreme Court Cases

SWBAT:

Explain the significance of 2 landmark Supreme Court Cases and

FDR’s Court Packing Plan

Your Task

• Read the Schechter Poultry v. US Supreme Court Case & answer questions with a partner

Schechter Poultry v. US

Background:

- Schechter Poultry Co. went against the codes/prices set by the NIRA (FDR) & was underselling chicken

- 4 brothers convicted by the gov. & appealed to the Supreme Court

Schechter Poultry v. US Issue: Is the NIRA

constitutional? Opinion: Supreme Court

ruled the NIRA unconstitutional only Congress has the power to make laws regulating interstate commerce/trade, NOT the President

Schechter Poultry v. US

Significance: Congress may not delegate power to the President without clear guidelines to legislate this case weakens some New Deal policies

US v. Butler • Background: Does the federal gov.

have the right to regulate/control agriculture, or is it a state power?

(10th Amendment- Federalism)

US v. Butler Opinion: Court struck

down the AAA as unconstitutional Federal gov. does NOT have right to control agriculture (this is a power of the states)

US v. Butler

Significance: This case further weakens New Deal policies, upsets FDR leads to Court Packing Incident

Court Packing Plan • After the

Supreme Court ruled some of the New Deal programs unconstitutional, FDR came up with a new plan…

Court Packing Plan

• Court Packing Plan- 1937

- Increase the number of judges from 9 to 15 if judges refuse to retire at age 70

Cartoon Questions

• Explain what FDR is really asking for.

• What does FDR mean, by “they’re through”?

• How does the cartoonist exhibit checks and balances?

Court Packing Plan

- Result: very unpopular idea with the people b/c it would not be an independent judiciary

never became law b/c it was a threat to the separation of checks & balances

** Roosevelt ends up appointing 7 Supreme Court Justices

How effective was the New Deal?

• WWII was largely responsible for ending the Great Depression. The New Deal did not solve unemployment, underconsumption, or farm problems

How effective was the New Deal?

The New Deal Accomplishments: 1.Helped people cope & get through the

Great Depression gave them HOPE 2.Preserved the free-enterprise/

capitalistic system 3.Brought more power to the President expanded Fed. Gov. responsibility in people’s lives

Programs Remaining • Programs that still remain a part of our

government today: - FDIC - SEC - Social Security - Unemployment Insurance/Welfare - Infrastructure, hospitals, schools built

during this era

Review Time!

• Using your review sheet, review terms for the unit with a partner

• Ask me questions now if you have any!