US History II€¦ · 1933 - 6000 banks had failed (1/4 of total) ... President Hoover –saw...
Transcript of US History II€¦ · 1933 - 6000 banks had failed (1/4 of total) ... President Hoover –saw...
US History II
Spark of the Depression – Stock Market Crash–stock prices plunged – Black Tuesday – 10/29/29
Weakened industries were not profitable
Agriculture lacked profit; indebted farmers
Consumer spending was down
Poor distribution of wealth◦ Consumers indebted – installment plan
Stock Market crash triggered bank runs
1933 - 6000 banks had failed (1/4 of total)
85,000 bankrupt businesses
25% unemployment by 1933
Hoovervilles (shantytowns)
1930 – highest tariff in US history – backfired◦ Tariff war
◦ Global trade plunged
Global Depression
AB
CD
1. Describe each photo presented here.
2. How do each of these photos differ? What are some common themes that seem to be shared by all four photos?
Woody Guthrie - I Ain't Got No Home
This Land is Your Land
This Land is your land - modern
Early Response: “Gov’t handouts will weaken self-respect and will to work
Hoover felt social welfare could be left to charity
After 1930 elections – Hoover changed positions
No forms of direct government relief for food/jobs
Increased malnutrition, disease
300,000 “hoboes” wandered country
Suicide rate – up 30%
Shantytowns aka “Hoovervilles” throughout cities
Soup kitchens/breadlines
400,000 farm foreclosures – 1929-32
1. Describe the shift in power that took place in Congress after the 1930 elections.
2. In your opinion, for what specific reasons did this shift occur?
3. Predict how this shift in power might affect change? How might this shift in power affect the actions of President Hoover, the Republican incumbent?
Drought, then windstorms
Previous overproduction had damaged soil
“Okies” left plains for California
Hoover’s weak response led to Democratic Party Landslide in 1930 election
Meanwhile -“Hoovervilles” dotted the country
Boulder (later Hoover) dam – 1930
Federal Home Loan Bank Act – 1932 – refinancing for mortgages and indebted farmers
Reconstruction Finance Corporation – 1932- $2 billion of emergency financing to key businesses
Spring 1932 -1000s of WWI vets marched on DC
Demanded early payment of WWI bonus ($500)
Senate passed Patman Bill for bonus – Hoover veto
President Hoover – saw marchers as troublemakers
Bonus Army – gassed – 7/28/1932
Well, this will elect me – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Roosevelt’s campaign – focused on bringing change/restoring economy
Hoover blamed for Depression, country’s problems
Roosevelt not inaugurated til March 4, 1933
20th Amendment – moving presidential inauguration to January – not in effect yet
Roosevelt used “brain trust” to plan as he waited
So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear... is fear itself –Roosevelt’s inaugural address
“New Deal” - broad set of economic reforms -introduced
Congress passed 15 pieces of New Deal legislation
Banking and Finance Reform – Bank Holiday
Explained programs on radio – “Fireside Chats”
Glass-Steagall Act – 1933 – created FDIC – bank deposits insured up to $5000
Federal Securities Act -1933- accountability for corporations that offered stock
Securities Exchange Commission -1934-regulated stock market
The New Deal developed an “alphabet soup” of programs to help speed recovery
**Rapidly expanded the reach of government
Agriculture - Agricultural Adjustment Act –raise crop prices by lowering production
Employment Projects- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Housing – Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) – relief loans to prevent foreclosure
- Conservatives saw FDR/Congress as meddling with economy
Struck down by Supreme Court
1935 -NIRA – National Industrial Recovery Act
1936 – AAA – Agricultural adjustment Act
** 1937 – Roosevelt promoted a “court-packing” bill
1937-41 – Roosevelt got to nominate 7 justices
Huey Long – income caps and minimum incomes
Dr. Francis Townsend – pensions for old
Father Charles Coughlin – guaranteed annual income
1. How popular must Roosevelt and the New Deal have been?
2. How do the popular and electoral vote differ?
Roosevelt sealed resolve with more programs at midpoint of first term
1936 – Another Roosevelt Landslide
8 million jobs created – 1935-1943
Criticized as “make-work” program
$1 billion in loans to tenant farmers and migrant workers to help become landowners
FSA –massive photo-history campaign
1 of most enduring legacies of New Deal◦ Old-Age insurance
◦ Unemployment compensation system
◦ Disability aid
Protected right to unionize – union membership skyrocketed
Established National Labor Relations Board
Maximum work hours – 44 hours weekly
Federal Minimum Wage (25 cents/hour)
Increased child labor laws for those under 16; banned under-18s from “hazardous work”
Frances Perkins – Secretary of Labor – 1933-45◦ Represented a shift toward greater inclusion of women
Mary McLeod Bethune – helped organize a panel of influential African-Americans to advise president
Still, Roosevelt was cautious on civil rights
Diverse Groups dedicated to Democrats◦ Southern whites
◦ Urban groups
◦ Blacks
◦ Unionized industrial workers
1933-41 – Union membership – 3 mil. To 10 mil.
Late 1930s – 65% of public attending movies weekly –source of news
1940 – 90% of homes had a radio
Serious art, literature, and music
Focused on realism and difficulty of the American experience
“I see millions of families trying to live on incomes so meager that the pall of family disaster hangs over them day by day… I see one third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.”
-FDR – inaugural address - 1937
Liberal – New Deal did not go far enough
Conservative – New Deal hurt ambitions, work ethic
FDIC – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation–insures your deposits
SEC – Securities Exchange Commission – regulates banking and investment
Social Security – still provides Americans with benefits
National Labor Relations Board – still regulates problems between labor and workers
Farm subsidies
Continually Existing New Deal Infrastructures
Conservation
Expanded national park system