THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND
NEW DEAL
THE ELECTION OF 1928
THE CANDIDATES
THEN CAMPAIGN OF 1928
THE RESULTS
HERBERT HOOVER



Organized food drives
for the starving people
of Belgium during WWI.
Led the Food
Administration Board
during WWI.
Successful
businessman who
hated socialism or
large-scale federal
govt., intervention in
the economy.
HERBERT HOOVER



As Sec. of Commerce, he
supported some
progressive ideas e.g.,
endorsing labor unions and
supporting federal
regulation of the new radio
broadcasting industry.
Claimed in 1928 that
“Poverty will be banished
from the nation. Everybody
ought to be rich.”
He is an accident of history.
THE GREAT CRASH OF 1929
THE GREAT CRASH OF 1929



The ever-rising stock prices
had become both a symbol
and a source of wealth
during the 1920s.
A “boom” was in full force in
the USA and in the world
economy in the late
Twenties.
On the Wall Street Stock
exchange, stock prices kept
rising for 18 months – 3/289/29.



9/3/29: The Dow Jones
Average of major stocks
had reached an all-time
high of 381.
An avg., investor who
bought $1,000 worth of
stocks at the time of
Hoover’s election would
have doubled his/her
money in less than a year.
Millions invested in the
boom market of 1928.
THE GREAT CRASH OF 1929

Millions lost their
money in October
1929, when the boom
market collapsed.
IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF THE
GREAT CRASH OF 1929

1. The Bull Market

2. Buying stocks on
margin.

3. Overspeculation.
THE GREAT CRASH OF 1929


Although stock prices
had fluctuated greatly
for weeks preceding the
crash, the true panic
did not begin until
Thursday Oct. 24,
1929.
Black Thursday: Saw
an unprecedented
volume of selling stocks
and prices plunged.
THE GREAT CRASH OF 1929



Hoping to starve off
disaster, a group of
bankers bought millions
of dollars of stocks in
an effort to stabilize
prices.
This worked for one
business day – Friday.
The selling frenzy
resumed on Monday
Oct. 28, 1929.
BLACK TUESAY: OCTOBER 29,
1929



Oct. 29, 1929: Black
Tuesday: everybody
wanted to sell their
stocks.
Investors ordered their
stock brokers to sell
when there were no
buyers to be found.
Within hours, the stock
market crashed.
BLACK TUESDAY: OCTOBER 29,
1929



From that day on,
prices on Wall Street
kept going down and
down.
By mid-November, $25
billion in stock value
had disappeared.
Fortunes were wiped
out almost overnight.
THE GREAT CRASH OF 1929



Traditional historical
interpretation puts the
Crash as the immediate
cause of the Great
Depression.
However no direct
connection has ever been
proven.
The US did not sink into a
major depression until Dec.
1930.
LONG-TERM CAUSES OF THE
GREAT DEPRESSION





1. Weak Industries
2. Overproduction of
consumer goods.
3. Uneven distribution
of income.
4. Unstable banking
system.
5. Stock market
speculation.




6. Excessive use of
credit.
7. Weak farm economy.
8. Government policies.
9. Global economic
problems.
EFFECTS OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
EFFECTS OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
EFFECTS OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
EFFECTS OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
EFFECTS OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
EFFECTS OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
EFFECTS OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION



The Great Depression
was the longest and
most devastating in US
history.
USA hit the hardest
among industrialized
nations.
GNP fell from $104
billion in 1929 to $56.1
billion in 1933.
HOOVER’S RESPONSE TO THE
GREAT DEPRESSION

Hoover believed that
outside forces in
Europe were
responsible for the
Great Depression:



International reparations
and war debts structure
collapsed.
Post-war military alliances
and doubling of war
armaments.
Unbalanced budgets and
increasing debt.
FARMING

1929: Agricultural
Marketing Act.

1930: Federal Farm
Board.

Harley-Smoot Tariff of
1930.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY




Hoover believed voluntary
cooperation would enable the
country to overcome the
Depression.
He urged businesses to avoid
lay-offs and wage cuts.
He urged all citizens to
contribute to charities to ease
the suffering.
But private charity was not
enough to meet the country
needs.
PUBLIC WORKS
PUBLIC WORKS
RELIEF FOR THE NEEDY




Hoover refused to support
public relief programs.
He vetoed use of federal
funds for relief for the
needy.
He believed that govt.,
handouts would destroy the
nation’s work-ethic.
He compromised by
authorizing the RFC to lend
$300 million to states for
relief.
THE BONUS ARMY
THE BONUS ARMY
HOOVER: AN ASSESSMENT




Advocated more direct
govt., involvement than any
previous president.
Probably prevented a more
serious collapse than did
occur.
Policies paved the way for
the New Deal.
His conservatism prevented
him from going far enough
to solve the worst slump in
US history.
THE NEW DEAL
1932-1940
THE FIRST NEW DEAL
THE ELECTION OF 1932
THE CANDIDATES
FRANKLIN DELANO
ROOSEVELT


FDR born into privilege
but he would become
to be beloved as the
symbolic representative
of ordinary citizens.
His greatness lay in his
willingness to do new
and bold things to
confront a national
crisis.


In his Democratic
nomination acceptance
speech, he promised a
“new deal” for all
Americans.
But his campaign
offered only vague hints
of what a “new deal”
might entail.
FRANKLIN DELANO
ROOSEVELT


He spoke of the govt.’s,
responsibility to
guarantee “every man
… a right to make a
comfortable living.”
Yet he advocated a
balanced federal
budget and criticized
Hoover for excessive
govt., spending.
THE ELECTION 0F 1932
THE COMING OF THE NEW
DEAL
THE COMING OF THE NEW
DEAL


FDR conceived of the New
Deal as an alternative to
socialism on the left,
Nazism on the right, and the
inaction of upholders of
unregulated capitalism.
He hope to reconcile
democracy, individual
liberty, and economic
planning.



FDR did not enter office
with a blueprint for dealing
with the Great Depression.
The New Deal was an
attempt to preserve
capitalism.
FDR relied heavily for
advice on a group of
intellectuals and social
workers who took up key
positions in his
administration.
THE COMING OF THE NEW
DEAL
THE COMING OF THE NEW
DEAL
THE NEW DEAL PHILOSOPHY


In his First Inaugural
address, FDR declared
“the only thing we have
to fear is fear itself.”
During the campaign he
had promised to help
the “forgotten man at
the bottom of the
economic pyramid.”

During the early years of
his presidency, it became
clear that his New Deal
programs were to serve
three R’s:



Relief for the people out of
work.
Recovery for business and
the economy as a whole.
Reform of American
economic institutions.
THE BANKING CRISIS
THE BANKING CRISIS


FDR confronted a
banking system on the
verge of collapse.
As bank funds invested
in the stock market lost
their value and
panicked depositors
withdrew their money,
bank after bank had
closed its doors.


1933: Over 5,000
banks had failed.
To restore confidence in
those banks still
solvent, FDR declared
a “bank holiday”
temporarily halting all
bank operations, and
called Congress into
special sesssion.
THE BANKING CRISIS

FDR and Congress
responded with the
following:



Emergency Banking Act
Glass-Steagall Act
Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation
THE BANKING CRISIS



FDR took the USA off the
gold standard thus making
possible the issuance of
more money in the hope of
stimulating business activity.
These measures rescued
the financial system and
greatly increased the
govt,s., power over it.
In 1936, not a single bank
failed.
THE NATIONAL RECOVERY
ADMINISTRATION
THE NATIONAL RECOVERY
ADMINISTRATION


The centerpiece of FDR’s
plan for combating the
Great Depression, the
National Industrial
Recovery Act was modeled
on the War Industries Bd.,
of WWI.
FDR called it “the most
important and far-reaching
legislation ever enacted by
the American Congress.
THE NATIONAL RECOVERY
ADMINISTRATION

The Act established the
National Recovery
Administration (NRA)
which would work with
groups of business
leaders to establish
industry codes setting
standards for output,
prices, and working
conditions.
THE NATIONAL RECOVERY
ADMINISTRATION
GOVERNMENT JOBS
GOVERNMENT JOBS

The First Hundred days brought the govt.,
into providing relief to those in need:






The Economy Act
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
(FERA)
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Public Works Administration (PWA)
Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION
CORPS
PUBLIC WORKS
ADMINISTRATION
TENNESSEE VALLEY
AUTHORITY
THE NEW DEAL AND
AGRICULTURE
THE NEW DEAL AND
AGRICULTURE

The New Deal
addressed the plight of
farmers with the:


AGRICULTURAL
ADJUSTMENT ACT:
It authorized the govt to
try to raise farm prices by
setting production quotas
for major crops and
paying farmers not to
plant more.



The AAA succeeded in
significantly raising farm
prices and incomes.
But not all farmers
benefitted.
Benefits flowed to property
owning farmers, ignoring
the large number who
worked on land owned by
others.
THE NEW DEAL AND
AGRICULTURE


The AAA policy of
paying land-owning
farmers not to grow
crops encouraged the
eviction of poor tenants
and sharecroppers.
Many joined the rural
exodus or to the farms
of the West Coast.
THE NEW DEAL AND
AGRICULTURE
THE NEW DEAL AND
AGRICULTURE
THE NEW DEAL AND
AGRICULTURE
THE NEW DEAL AND HOUSING
THE NEW DEAL AND HOUSING

The New Deal
addressed the problem
of housing through the:


Home Owners Loan
Corporation
Federal Housing
Administration (FHA)
THE COURT AND THE NEW
DEAL
THE COURT AND THE NEW
DEAL
VOICES OF PROTEST
UPTON SINCLAIR
HUEY LONG
FATHER CHARLES COUGHLIN
DR. FRANCIS TOWNSEND
THE SECOND NEW DEAL
THE SECOND NEW DEAL

Spurred by the failure of his
initial policies to pull the
country out of the
Depression and the growing
popular clamor for greater
equality, and buoyed by
Democratic gains in the
midterm elections of 1935,
FDR launched the Second
New Deal.


The FND had focused
on economic recovery.
The emphasis of the
SND, was economic
security – a guarantee
that Americans would
be protected against
unemployment and
poverty.
THE WPA AND THE WAGNER
ACT
THE WORKS PROGRESS
ADMINISTRATION (WPA)



The WPA hired some 3
million Americans in
virtually every walk of
life each year until it
ended in 1943.
It changed the physical
face of the USA.
It constructed
thousands of public
buildings and bridges.



It built over 500,000
miles of roads, and 600
airports.
It built stadiums,
swimming pools, and
sewage treatment
plants.
It employed many
white-collar workers
and professionals.
THE FEDERAL ARTS PROGRAM
FEDERAL MUSIC PROJECT
FEDERAL THEATER PROJECT
FEDERAL WRITERS PROJECT
SLAVE NARRATIVES
THE WAGNER ACT
THE WAGNER ACT




Known as “Labor’s Magna
Carta.”
It brought democracy into
the American workplace.
It created the National
Labor Relations Board.
The NLRB’s role was to
supervise elections in which
employees voted on union
representation.

It outlawed “unfair labor
practices,” including the
firing and blacklisting of
union organizers.
THE AMERICAN WELFARE
STATE
SOCIAL SECURITY ACT OF 1935
SOCIAL SECURITY ACT OF 1935
THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT OF
1935
FDR AND THE IDEA OF
FREEDOM
FDR AND THE IDEA OF
FREEDOM
THE ELECTION OF 1936
THE CANDIDATES
THE ELECTION OF 1936
THE COURT FIGHT
THE COURT FIGHT
CHIEF JUSTICE CHARLES EVANS
HUGHES
THE END OF THE SECOND
NEW DEAL



Even as the Court
made its peace with
FDR’s policies, the
momentum of the SND
slowed.
United States
Housing Act (1937)
Fair Labor Standards
Act (1938)
THE NEW DEAL AND
AMERICAN WOMEN
THE NEW DEAL AND
AMERICAN WOMEN
NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE
NEW DEAL
MEXICAN AMERICANS AND
THE NEW DEAL
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE
NEW DEAL
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE
NEW DEAL
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE
NEW DEAL
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE
NEW DEAL
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE
NEW DEAL
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE
NEW DEAL
THE END OF THE NEW DEAL
THE END OF THE NEW DEAL
THE NEW DEAL IN AMERICAN
HISTORY




Given the scope of the
economic calamity it tried to
counter, the ND seems in
many ways quite limited.
Social Security remained
restricted in scope and
modest in cost.
The ND failed to address
the problem of racial
inequality.
In some ways it actually
worsened racial inequality.


Yet it did have
substantial
accomplishments.
It greatly expanded the
federal govt’s., role in
the American economy
and made it an
independent force in
relations between
industry and labor.
THE NEW DEAL IN AMERICAN
HISORY

It transformed the
physical environment
through:




Hydroelectric dams.
Reforestation projects.
Rural electrification.
Construction of
innumerable public
facilities.


It restored faith in
democracy and made
the govt., an institution
directly experienced in
American daily lives
and directly concerned
with their welfare.
It redrew the map of
American politics.
THE NEW DEAL IN AMERIAN
HISTORY

It helped recast the
idea of freedom to
include a public
guarantee of economic
security for ordinary
citizens and that
identified economic
inequality as the
greatest threat to
American freedom.
THE NEW DEAL IN AMERICAN
HISTORY

Only the mobilization of
the nation’s resources
to fight World War II
would finally end the
Great Depression.