The US Between Wars
The Great Depression
Reasons for the Stock Market Crash
 Economic factors
 Imbalance between productivity and purchasing power
 Recurring problem of overproduction and
underconsumption
 Severity of collapse
 International component
 Governmental policies
 High tariff reduced foreign demand for U.S. goods
 Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930
 Gold standard
Hoover’s Recovery Efforts
 Advocate of laissez-faire
 Focus on government-stimulated voluntarism
 Hoover’s exhortations
 Exhorted businesses to
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stay open
maintain wages
let first blow fall on profits
 Union leaders agreed to refrain from strikes and demands for
increased wages
 Public works and credit
 Understood that construction spending could help
 Placed emphasis on private and state efforts
 States typically outspent feds 10/1
A Run on the American Union Bank
Evicting the “Bonus Army”
“The state is the representative of an organized
society of human beings – created by them for their
mutual protection and well being. The government is
but the machinery through which such mutual aid
and protection is achieved . . . . The duty of the state
towards the citizens is the duty of the servant to its
master.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, August 1931
Contrasting Candidates
Herbert Hoover
(Republican)
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Time worn
Principled
Stressed volunteerism
Believed in:
 limited government
 sound money
 balanced budget.
 Blamed depression primarily on international events
Contrasting Candidates
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(Democrat)
 Optimistic and energetic
 Embraced activist government
 Guiding principle: Government had a duty to help people
 Pragmatic
 “Trial and error” approach
 Blamed depression primarily on domestic factors
The Presidential Election of 1932
Roosevelt’s Three-Pronged Strategy
 Address financial crises & emergency relief
 Promote industrial recovery
 Raise commodity prices
Financial Crisis
Rescuing the Monetary System
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Bank holiday
Emergency Banking Act
Economy Act
Refinancing farm and home mortgages
Reform of banking and stock markets
 Creation of FDIC
 Regulation of stocks and bonds (SEC)
 Abandonment of gold standard
FDR and the “Fireside Chat”
Financial Crisis
Emergency Relief Measures:
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Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Civil Works Administration
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Federal Art and Writers’ Projects
National Youth Administration
Civilian Conservation Corps
CCC Workers
WPA: Building Roads in Utah
Recovery Through Regulation
 Aid for agriculture
 Aid for industry
 Regional planning
The Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl
National Recovery Act
NRA
“We Do Out Part”
Ending the Depression
What ended the Great Depression?
World War II