The Depression and New Deal Years

Georgia After World War I

The boll weevil is a small, grayish, long-snouted beetle

It lays its eggs in the yellow flower of the cotton plant

As the larva forms, it eats the boll part of the cotton

The beetles came from Mexico to Texas to Georgia

By 1923, cotton production dropped drastically

What impact did the boll weevil have on Georgia?

In 1924, a major drought ruined the rest of the crops

Farmers who had taken out loans could not repay the banks

This had a big impact upon the banks and was one of the factors that led to the Great Depression

What impact did the drought have on Georgia?

People borrowed more money than they could repay—caused lay-offs

With less people working, people spent less—led to surplus of manufactured goods and agricultural products (food)—more lay-offs and farm failures

What caused the Great Depression?

After WWI, US created high tariffs

This made it difficult for European countries to sell goods in the US to raise revenue to pay off their war-time loans to the US

What caused the Great Depression?

Stock market prices were overinflated

The stock market crashed Banks had purchased large

amounts of stock and lost a lot of money—created runs on the banks by customers

Laissez-faire—attitude of the American people and government that the economy would work itself out—President Herbert Hoover did nothing

What caused the Great Depression?

Became governor of Georgia in 1933

Campaign slogan—”You have 3 friends—Sears Roebuck, God Almighty, and Eugene Herman Talmadge”

Conservative white supremacist

Eugene Talmadge

Disliked federal government intervention and government debts

Did not like the New DealReduced property taxes,

utility rates, and some license fees

Used federal $ to build highways

Arrested strikers during a textile strike

Eugene Talmadge

Served two terms but could not run for a third consecutive term under GA law

Ran for US Senate but lost1940—was elected

governor again but now liked New Deal policies; economy in GA began to improve

Eugene Talmadge

Heard that one of the UGA deans and the president of GA Southern planned to integrate the schools

Talmadge had them fired

Publicity over the incident led SAACs to withdraw accreditation from all white GA colleges

Eugene Talmadge

When Franklin D. Roosevelt became President in 1932, he promised “a new deal for the American people”

He hired a group of advisors who came up with a series of laws called the New Deal

New Deal

New DealPurposeTo bring about economic

recoveryRelieve the suffering of

unemployedReform defects in

economyImprove society

New Deal programGave jobs to young single men

to build forest trails and roads, plant trees, and build parks

In GeorgiaKennesaw Mountain

National Battlefield ParkPark at Pine MountainFlood control and drainage at

Tybee IslandMuch of the work on Grady

Hospital

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Government paid farmers not to plant crops

Created price supports (guaranteed higher prices)

This would raise prices due to limited production

Downfall—money went to landowners, not the sharecroppers who needed it

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt suffered from polio and spent a great deal of time in Warm Springs in Georgia

His home there was called the Little White House

He noticed that his house was the only one with electric lights

When he received his power bill, it was many times higher than the bill he received in his house in New York

Rural Electrification Act (REA)

Roosevelt signed a law that created the REA

It loaned $300 million to farmers cooperatives to help them extend the power lines

Farmers began to use electric water pumps, lights, milking machines, and appliances making life easier

Rural Electrification Act (REA)

Retirement money and unemployment insurance given to those who need it

Money comes from the taxes of workers and employers

Social Security