Dust storm in the Great Plains, 1935.
Farm Forclosure Sale, 1933.
“Okies” travel with all their possessions
on Route 66 to California, 1935.
Men waiting in a breadline provided by a
private charity in New York City, 1932.
Civilian Conservation Corps clearing
land for soil conservation (1934).
The 1930s - Part I
The Great Depression
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What is the Business
Cycle?
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The normal ups and
downs in a free market
economy.
Rapid Growth inflation (new
businesses, high
profits, rising prices)
Slow Down - recession
or depression (slow
growth, bankruptcies,
and high
unemployment)
What were the causes behind
the Great Depression?
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Over-Production (Mass Marketing, Easy
Credit, Warehousing Surplus Goods)
Under-Consumption (Uneven
Distribution of Wealth)
“Sick Industries” - Coal Mining,
Textiles…
Declining Farm Prices
Excessive Stock Speculation
Unwise Federal Policies, Such As
Cutting Government Spending and
Increasing the Tariff
What Started the Great Depression?
The Crash of the Stock Market
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Too Much Speculation
Too Much Buying on the Margin
Black Tuesday - A Panic Set off a Chain Reaction
Soon Led To Bank Closures, Lost Savings, Declining
Profits and Massive Unemployment.
Describe everyday life during the Great
Depression.
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Numbers of Banks and Bank Suspensions
Year
Number as of 12-31
1929
24,633
1930
22,773
1931
19,970
1932
18,397
1933
15,015
1934
16,096
Suspensions
659
1350
2293
1453
4000
57
Describe everyday life
during the Great Depression.
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25% of the work force
unemployed
Hundreds of bank closures.
Thousands of bankruptcies
Millions homeless.
Hoovervilles, Hoover
blankets, Hoover flags
The Dust Bowl
Hunger and starvation.
Other Images From the Depression
The 1932 Election
How did Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal differ
from the approach taken by Herbert Hoover?
Herbert Hoover
• Laissez Faire
Philosophy
• Mistakes - Reduced the
budget and passed the
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
• Some public works
projects, but efforts
were too little and too
late…
Franklin Roosevelt
• Did not say much prior to his inauguration
• In March, 1933, immediately took action by declaring a
bank holiday.
• Recruited a “brain trust” to serve as his advisors.
• Took a very pragmatic approach.
• Had the support of a very Democratic Congress.
• Many programs were launched in the first one hundred
days.
• Collectively, FDR’s approach to dealing with the Great
Depression was called the New Deal.
What were some of the most important
accomplishments of the New Deal?
* Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) a Hoover program to
create unskilled jobs for relief; replaced by WPA in 1935.
* United States bank holiday, 1933: closed all banks until they became
certified by federal reviewers
* Abandonment of gold standard, 1933: gold reserves no longer backed
currency; still exists
* Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 1933: employed young men to
perform unskilled work in rural areas; under Army supervision; separate
program for Native Americans
* Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 1933: effort to modernize very poor
region (most of Tennessee), centered on dams that generated electricity
on the Tennessee River; still exists
* Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), 1933: raised farm prices by cutting
total farm output of major crops (and hogs)
* National Recovery Act (NRA), 1933: industries set up codes to reduce
unfair competition, raise wages and prices;
* Public Works Administration (PWA), 1933: built large public works
projects; used private contractors (did not directly hire unemployed)
Continued…
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* Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) / Glass-Steagall Act:
insures deposits in banks in order to restore public confidence in banks;
still exists
* Securities Act of 1933, created the SEC, 1933: codified standards for
sale and purchase of stock, required risk of investments to be accurately
disclosed; still exists
* Civil Works Administration (CWA), 1933-34: provided temporary jobs to
millions of unemployed
* Indian Reorganization Act, 1934 moved away from assimilation
* Social Security Act (SSA), 1935: provided financial assistance to:
elderly, handicapped, paid for by employee and employer payroll
contributions; required years contributions, so first payouts were 1942;
still exists
* Works Progress Administration (WPA), 1935: a national labor program
for 2+ million unemployed; created useful construction work for unskilled
men; also sewing projects for women and arts projects for unemployed
artists, musicians and writers.
* National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) / Wagner Act, 1935: set up
National Labor Relations Board to supervise labor-management relations;
In 1930s it strongly favored labor unions. Modified by Taft-Hartley (1947);
still exists
* Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 1938: established a maximum normal
work week of 40 hours, and a minimum pay of 40 cents/hour; still exists
How should the New Deal be
assessed?
• Critics on left claimed that the New Deal had
not done enough.
• These included Huey Long, Father Charles
Coughlin and Dr. Francis Townsend.
How should the New Deal be
assessed?
• Critics on the right claimed that the New Deal
discouraged free enterprise and was the
beginning of socialism.
• These included the American Liberty League and
some of America’s biggest corporations.
How should the New Deal be
assessed?
• The Supreme Court declared some New Deal
legislation to be unconstitutional.
• This changed after FDR pushed his controversial
court-packing scheme.
How should the New Deal be
assessed?
• America's Gross National
Product 1928 to 1939:
• 1928 $100 billion
• 1933 $55 billion
• 1939 $85 billion
• Number unemployed in
America:
• 1929
2.6 million
• 1933
15 million
• 1935
11 million
• 1937
8.3 million
• 1938
10.5 million
• 1939
9.2 million
• 1940
8 million
How should the New Deal be
assessed?
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Overall, most historians agree
that the New Deal did NOT
end the Great Depression (It
officially ended with the start
of World War II)
However, it did enable the
nation to survive the
Depression while preserving
our constitutional democracy,
our capitalist economic
system and the American way
of life.