Unit 13
Georgia in the Depression and War
The Great Depression (Intro)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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“Black Tuesday” outside Wall Street
The Stock Market Crash
 “Black Tuesday”
 1929
Variety of economic factors
 Agriculture and industry declined
 Banks foreclosed (Loans going unpaid)
 Unemployment rose
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) created a plan called “The New Deal” which
began our climb out of the Depression.
 This along with our eventual involvement in World War II got our industry and agriculture back
on its’ feet.
Georgia in the Twenties
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Radios in Homes
 WSB “The voice of the South”
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Automobiles
 Gasoline stations and garages
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Motels
 Motor hotels for the traveler
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Education
 Money being brought into the
schools for equip…
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Medicine
 Diseases (typhoid, measles, …)
being wiped out due to
discovery of cures and vaccines
Click above for their Homepage
Georgia in the Twenties II
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Click for
Website
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Homes had electricity and
appliances
People spent freely on goods
and services
Flappers: young women who
boldly displayed their
independent spirit
 The Charleston (Dance)
 Jazz music
Flappers
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Organized crime rose due to
Prohibition
 I.e.…“Scarface” Al Capone, Jack
“Legs” Diamond, and Frank
“The Enforcer” Nitti…
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Al Capone
Speakeasy: a nightclub that
served alcohol in tea cups
Human Accomplishments
Babe Ruth
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Charles Lindbergh by the “Spirit of St. Louis
Gertrude Ederle: swam the English Channel
Babe Ruth: baseball hero for the NY Yankees
Charles Lindbergh: flew across the Atlantic Ocean from
New York to Paris, France.
 Plane was called “The Spirit of St. Louis”
Georgia Agricultural Hardships
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Boll Weevil: small,
grayish, long-snouted
beetle many Georgia
farmers cotton crops.
 Came from Mexico
 Beetles hatch in the cotton
flower (boll)…where the
flower develops into fibers.
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Boll Weevil
1925: Drought
 An extended period of
extreme dryness due to a
lack of rain.
Damage to cotton plant by the Boll Weevil
Georgians during the Great Depression
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Drop in farmers’ income
Unemployment
Trouble meeting everyday needs
Children without shoes, proper clothing, and education
Starvation
Health Care and public services suffered
Click Picture to
See photo essay
The Great Depression
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March of 1929, banks were closing and
factories were laying off workers…
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Farmers were unable to pay off debts
Factories were producing more than they were selling
Workers were being laid off…unable to pay debts
Banks were failing and closing as people wanted their
money…banks were not getting paid for their loans
therefore they could not give people their money.
fierce circle that was spinning out of control.
The Stock Market Crash
The floor of the NYSE
Stock Market (Exchange): a place where shares in corporations are bought and sold
through an organized system.
► People had invested in the market with borrowed money …when the crash occurs they
could not pay back their debts to the banks.
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October 24, 1929-Stock Market Crashes (Black Tuesday)
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Thousands of stock holders lost money
 I.e.. Montgomery Ward: Pre-crash price was $138/share, after $4/share
 I.e.. General Motors: $78/share, $8/share
President Herbert Hoover
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First President to use the power of
the government to help the
economy recover.
 Attempted to buy cotton to
stimulate agriculture
 Loaned federal money to needy
businesses
 Public works projects
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i.e.. Post offices, parks, courthouses
 Provided wheat, cotton, and
flour to needy
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Hoovervilles: where homeless and
unemployed found themselves
living during “Great Depression”.
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Relief: money and goods given to
people in special need
 i.e.. Red Cross, Salvation Army,
Federal Gov’t
President Herbert Hoover
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a
new deal for the American people.”
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4 term President beginning in 1932.
 Defeated Herbert Hoover
 Struck with polio in 1921 (Wore leg
braces and used a wheel chair)
 Spent many summers during his
presidency at “The Little White
House” in Warm Springs, GA
Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt
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His first action was to gather
together a group of advisors from
all over the country who helped him
plan a way to deal with the
Depression:
THE NEW DEAL!
The Little White House, Warm Springs, GA
THE NEW DEAL
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series of laws and programs that were designed
to help get the United States out of The Great
Depression.
► First
he ordered all banks closed until government
inspectors could examine them
 Government loaned money to the weaker banks
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increase farm prices, the government asked
farmers to cut back on production
New Deal Programs
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Agricultural Adjustment Act
(AAA): provided price supports
(Higher guaranteed prices) to
farmers who agreed to cut back
crops
 Ruled unconstitutional by Supreme
Court in U.S. v. Butler (1936)
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National Industrial Recovery
Act (NIRA): allowed
manufacturers to regulate
themselves by cutting production.
 Reduce hours of operation
 Promised 40-hour work week
 Minimum wage: least amount an
employer can pay an employee
 Permitted workers to unionize
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Stretch Out: workers had to tend
to more machines or do more work
in less amount of time.
Assembly Line –Stretching Out
New Deal Programs II
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August 1934: textile mill workers began a strike (walked off the
job) to protest working conditions, hours, and money.
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Wagner Act of 1935: guaranteed workers the right of collective
bargaining
 Discussions between a union and the employer to determine such things
as working conditions and employee’s wages, hours, and benefits.
 Outlawed unfair labor practices…firing of union organizers.
The New Deal and Georgia
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Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA-1933):
 Social improvement project
 Tennessee River Valley stretched
through 7 states
 Built dams on the river to provide
cheap electricity, improve
navigation, attract industry, control
flooding, improve farming, and
create recreation.
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Conservation: management of a
natural resource to prevent it’s
destruction.
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Rural Electrification Authority
(REA):
 Helped farmers extend power lines
and buy power wholesale
 One of the most important and far
reaching of the New Deal programs
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Farmers could now have
electric water pumps, lights,
milking machines, and
appliances
Blacks and The New Deal
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The black community did not make major gains under The New Deal
reforms…as many of the projects unintentionally left out lower
income tenant workers.
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Commission on Inter-racial Cooperation (CIC):
 Worked to ensure the equal administration of federal relief efforts
 1944: the Commission became known as the Southern Regional
Council (SRC) which goes on to play a major role in the Civil Rights
Movement of the 60’s
New Deal Programs III
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Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA): gave money to
the states to provide jobs, food, and clothes to the
unemployed.
Public Works Administration (PWA): built public
projects to help the economy recover
 i.e. built ports, schools, and aircraft carriers
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Works Progress Administration (WPA): provided jobs
for workers as quickly as possible
 i.e.. airports, libraries, post offices, parks…artists, musicians, and
actors helped beautify towns and cities
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Civilian Conservation Corps. (CCC):
 Army operated
 Established camps for the unemployed young men just out of high
school
 Paid a monthly wage ($30) to work on environmental projects
New Deal Programs IV
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National Youth
Administration (NYA): paid
college students to grade papers
and do office related work
Social Security Act (1935):
set up a system of pensions for
elderly, unemployed, and people
with disabilities.
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC): insured
savings accounts in banks
approved by the federal gov’t.
Security Exchange Act of
1934: bill created to eliminate
stock market abuses.
 i.e.. insider trading and buying
stock with borrowed money.
Richard Russell, Jr.
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Governor of Georgia (1931)
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Reduced number of state boards
from 102 to 18
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Created the University System
of Georgia Board of Regents
 Hughes Spalding 1st chairman
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Became U.S. Senator in 1932
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Favored a National military
preparedness
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Infrastructure: water, sewer,
gas, electric, roads, sidewalks,…
Eugene Talmadge
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Governor of GA-1933
Conservative white separatist
Did not like federal gov’t
intervention
 i.e....relief efforts, public
welfare, federal assistance
programs
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Reduced taxes and used federal
relief money to build highways
instead of helping needy
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Refused to follow New Deal
programs
 Federal gov’t steps in (1934)
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Called in National Guard to
arrest strikers of the textile
industry.
Eurith Rivers
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Governor of Georgia (1937-1941)
Supported FDR’s New Deal Program
 Health services, old age pensions, teacher pay raises, 7-month school
year, and expansion of highway system
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Expanded electrical services to rural areas
Public housing programs
Much of his staff was charged with corruption and illegal practices
Ellis Arnall
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Georgia Governor in 1943
1st GA governor to serve a 4year term
Removed the universities and
prisons from the political
influences of the governor’s
office
Abolished (done away with) the
poll tax
New state constitution adopted
in 1945
Granted 18 year olds the
right to vote (1st state to do
so)
 “Old enough to fight, old
enough to vote”
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2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Crash_of_1929
2: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/fr32.html
3: http://wsbradio.com/
4: http://www.geocities.com/flapper_culture/
4: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/capone.html
5: http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/ruth_babe.htm
5: http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/lindbergh01.html
6: http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4TH/KKHP/1insects/bollweevil.html
7: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/photoessay.htm
9: http://www.stock-market-crash.net/1929.htm
9: http://www.photovault.com/Link/People/WhiteCollarStock/PWSVolume01.html
10: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/hh31.html
11: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/fr32.html
11: http://www.gastateparks.org/net/content/go.aspx?s=49.0.1.5
13: http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/themed_collections/subtopic3a.html
13: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1639.html
14: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/24/teamsters-wont-cross-uaw-picket-line-to-deliver-parts-and-cars/
15: http://newdeal.feri.org/tva/index.htm
16: http://www.afscme.org/about/1029.cfm
18: http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/nya.cfm
19: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Russell,_Jr.
20: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1393
21: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7961363
22: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-597