GREAT DEPRESSION
AND
THE NEW DEAL
CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
OVERPRODUCTION
More products made than people could buy
SPECULATION
Led to crash in 1929. People invested in rising stock prices.
Speculation in real estate holdings; prices fell in a crash in October
1929.
UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME
SHAKY BANKING PRACTICES
Bankers invested depositors’ money poorly
RESTRICTED INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Americans put up high protective tariffs, restricting international trade
HUMAN IMPACT OF THE DEPRESSION
NO SAFETY NET
High unemployment, bank failures
and foreclosures
RECORDING THE MISERY:
DORTHEA LANGE:
Recorded the misery of the people in her
photographs
JOHN STEINBECK
Wrote about the suffering of migrant families during the
Depression in a series of articles. Grapes of Wrath
DUST BOWL (1930s)
Heavy winds carried top soil away, buried
homes, and destroyed harvests. Over a
million farmers were driven off their land.
FDR—FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
BRAIN TRUST
Group of talented advisers to the President
FIRESIDE CHATS
Roosevelt used the radio to speak directly to the American people
NEW DEAL
FDR’s program for helping the nation out of the Depression
-He called Congress into special session when he took office in order
to pass this legislation
-Much of his program was passed in 100 days
-Consisted of programs focused on “Relief, Recovery, and Reform”
THE NEW DEAL
RELIEF
Short term actions designed to help people until the economy recovered
-BANK HOLIDAY closed all banks for restructuring
-Created government jobs to get people back to work
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC)
PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION (PWA)
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION (WPA)
RECOVERY
Restores incentives to produce (make/supply goods)
-NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATIO (NRA)
-AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT (AAA)
NEW DEAL CONTINUED
REFORM
Measures to remedy problems of the economy and prevent depressions
-FDIC insured bank deposits to restore confidence in banks
-SEC agency to watch over stock markets and prevent
collapse
-SOCIAL SECURITY ACT provided a safety net for workers
with unemployment insurance, old age pensions, and
insurance for families of those who died early; paid for
by contributions of employees and employers.
IMPORTANT PEOPLE
HERBERT HOOVER
President when Great Depression began. Believed in “rugged
individualism” and failed to take enough measures against the Great
Depression.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (FDR)
Elected President in 1932; introduced a New Deal program to get the
economy moving again.
JOHN STEINBECK
Writer during the Great Depression. Wrote The Grapes of Wrath
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
A political activist who served as the eyes and ears to her husband,
President Franklin Roosevelt
AND DON’T FORGET…
MEXICAN REPATRIATION
Under the Immigration Acts of the 1920s there were no restrictions on
immigration from Mexico (except a medical and literacy test in Spanish).
Hoover authorized a special Mexican Repatriation Act to immigrants
back to Mexico and more than half a million were forcibly sent back to
Mexico. Many may have been lawful American citizens who became
separated from their families.
REACTIONS TO THE NEW DEAL
Critics of the New Deal included:
Dr. Francis Townsend
Huey Long
Father Coughlin
COURT PACKING PLAN
FDR’s plan to add additional justices to the Supreme Court after they
declared some of his programs illegal.