The Great Depression• Started in GA long before the Stock Market Crash of 1929• Price of cotton around $.05. Cotton no longer “king.”• Caused diversification of crops. New crops like peanuts, pecans, and tobacco were grown, and some farmers raised cattle, chickens, and trees instead. • President Hoover’s programs did not help GA’s farmers, but FDR’s AAA did by providing money to those who agreed to grow fewer crops.

The New Deal

1932- Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected president- “promises new deal for the American people”New Deal- series of laws that were designed to:– Promote economic recovery– Relieve the suffering of the unemployed– Reform defects in the economy– Improve society

CCC – Civilian Conservation CorpsCreated in 1932It provided jobs for young, single men building roads, trails, parks, planting trees, and control floodingHelped address joblessness amongst young, single menPopular in GAKennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, FDR State Park, St. Simons Airport, and many other projects throughout GA

Created in 1933Guaranteed higher prices to farmers who agreed to produce less corn, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, tobacco, and milk. Idea was to raise farm prices by limiting production Drawback: tenant farmers who worked others’ land rarely saw $ from the government b/c it went to the landownerIt was needed in GA b/c price of cotton & tobacco fell dramatically in the 1920s to $0.05/lb.It worked, farm income improved in GA. Cotton prices went up to $0.15/lb. by 1936

AAA – Agricultural Adjustment Act

REA - Rural Electrification AuthorityCreated in 1935It provided power to rural areas at a discounted rate. – $300 million loaned to farmers’

cooperatives to help them get power up and going.

One of the most important and far-reaching New Deal programs It was needed b/c rural Americans could not afford electricity– Result of Roosevelt’s experience in

Warm Springs

Helped GA farmers modernize with water pumps, lights, milking machines, and appliances

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675030607_Rural-Electrification-Administration-REA_transformers_cooking-range_refrigerator

SSA - Social Security AdministrationCreated in 1935Provided retirement and unemployment insurance from taxes paid by both workers and employers. It also gave assistance to the blind, the elderly, the disabled, and widows w/ children. Drawback: Farmers not coveredIt was needed because so many Americans were plunged into poverty, unable to find work, & the elderly were without savings & unable to work. In its first year (1939), it helped give aid to nearly 97,000 families in GA.

The infamous GOVERNOR Eugene Talmadge

c. Discuss the impact of the political career of Eugene Talmadge.

GOVERNOR Eugene Talmadge• Conservative GA politician and white

supremacist• Took a stump around with him and

stood on it to deliver fiery speeches• Told Georgians they had 3 friends in

this life and that was it! They were, “Sears Roebucks, God Almighty, and Eugene Talmadge.”

• DID NOT LIKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, GOVERNMENT DEBT, nor HIGH TAXES TO PAY FOR PUBLIC WELFARE PROGRAMS!!!

• Therefore, he HATED the NEW Deal

GOVERNOR Eugene Talmadge

• He tried to get rid of New Deal programs in GA. He used federal funds to build highways and cut taxes.

• Those who disagreed w/ him were often fired and those who protested for better working conditions/pay were arrested by the national guard.