The 1930’s
Due by Thursday, Jan 16th
Assignment #1
At the beginning of the 1930s, more than 15 million Americans--fully one-quarter of all
wage-earning workers--were unemployed. Contrary to common perception, President
Herbert Hoover did try to do some things to alleviate the crisis; but he also believed
patience and self-reliance were needed to get Americans through this “passing incident
in our national lives.” But in 1932, Americans elected a new president, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, who pledged to use the power of the federal government to make
Americans’ lives better. Over the next nine years, Roosevelt’s New Deal created a new
role for government in American life. Though the New Deal did not end the Depression,
it did provide an unprecedented safety net to millions of suffering Americans.
1) What percentage of workers were unemployed by the ‘30’s?
The Great Depression
The stock market crash of October 29, 1929 provided a dramatic end to an era of
unprecedented prosperity. This disaster had been brewing for years. Different historians
and economists offer different explanations for the crisis--some blame the increasingly
uneven distribution of wealth and purchasing power in the 1920s, while others blame
the decade’s agricultural slump or the international instability caused by World War I. In
any case, the nation was woefully unprepared for the crash. For the most part, banks
were unregulated and uninsured. The government offered no insurance or
compensation for the unemployed, so when people stopped earning, they stopped
spending. The consumer economy ground to a halt. An ordinary recession became the
Great Depression, the defining event of the 1930s.
President Herbert Hoover was slow to respond to these events. Though he believed
that the “crazy and dangerous” behavior of Wall Street speculators had contributed in a
significant way to the crisis, he also believed that solving such problems was not really
the federal government’s job. He asked state governments to undertake public-works
projects; he asked big companies to keep workers’ pay steady; and he asked labor
unions to stop demanding raises. Still, the crisis worsened. Between 1930 and 1933,
more than 9,000 banks closed in the U.S., taking with them more than $2.5 billion in
deposits. Meanwhile, unemployed people did whatever they could, like standing in
charity breadlines and selling apples on street corners, to feed their families.
2) Identify 3 contributing factors to the Great Depression.
3) What was the “consumer economy” of the 1920’s? (Think back to what you
learned). How did it contribute to the Depression?
4) Did President Hoover try to help the crisis at all? If so, how?
5) Why do you think 9,000 banks closed by 1933?
"A New Deal for the American People"
By 1932, many Americans were fed up with Hoover and what Franklin Roosevelt later
called his “hear nothing, see nothing, do nothing government.” The Democratic
presidential candidate, New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, promised a
change: “I pledge myself,” he said, “to a New Deal for the American people.” This New
Deal would use the power of the federal government to try and stop the economy’s
downward spiral. Roosevelt won that year’s election handily.
The First Hundred Days
The new president acted swiftly to, he said, “wage a war against the emergency” just as
though “we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.” First, he shored up the nation’s
banks. Then he began to propose more comprehensive reforms. By June, Roosevelt
and Congress had passed 15 major laws--including the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the
Glass-Steagall Banking Bill, the Home Owners’ Loan Act, the Tennessee Valley
Authority Act and the National Industrial Recovery Act--that fundamentally reshaped
many aspects of the American economy. This decisive action also did much to restore
Americans’ confidence that, as Roosevelt had declared in his inaugural address, “the
only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
6) Identify the following New Deal reforms: AAA, Glass-Steagall Act, TVA, NIRA
(look up)
7) What is the most famous line from FDR’s inaugural address?
The Dust Bowl
The 1930s saw natural disasters as well as manmade ones: For most of the decade,
people in the Plains states suffered through the worst drought in American history, as
well as hundreds of severe dust storms, or "black blizzards," that carried away the soil
and made it all but impossible to plant crops. By 1940, 2.5 million people had
abandoned their farms in this "Dust Bowl" and headed West to California
8) What effect do you think the Dust Bowl had on the overall Depression?
Explain.
American Culture During the 1930s
During the Depression, most people did not have much money to spare. However, most
people did have radios--and listening to the radio was free. The most popular
broadcasts were those that distracted listeners from their everyday struggles: comedy
programs like Amos ‘n’ Andy, soap operas and sporting events. Swing music
encouraged people to cast aside their troubles and dance. Bandleaders like Benny
Goodman and Fletcher Henderson drew crowds of young people to ballrooms and
dance halls around the country. And even though money was tight, people kept on
going to the movies. Musicals, “screwball” comedies and hard-boiled gangster pictures
likewise offered audiences an escape from the grim realities of life in the 1930s.
The Second New Deal
President Roosevelt’s early efforts had begun to restore Americans’ confidence, but
they had not ended the Depression. In the spring of 1935, he launched a second, more
aggressive set of federal programs, sometimes called the Second New Deal. The
Works Progress Administration provided jobs for unemployed people and built new
public works like bridges, post offices, schools, highways and parks. The National
Labor Relations Act (1935), also known as the Wagner Act, gave workers the right to
form unions and bargain collectively for higher wages and fairer treatment. The Social
Security Act (also 1935) guaranteed pensions to some older Americans, set up a
system of unemployment insurance and stipulated that the federal government would
help care for dependent children and the disabled.
In 1936, while campaigning for a second term, President Roosevelt told a roaring crowd
at Madison Square Garden that “The forces of ‘organized money’ are unanimous in their
hate for me--and I welcome their hatred.” He went on: “I should like to have it said of my
first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their
match, [and] I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these
forces have met their master.” He won the election by a landslide.
Still, the Depression dragged on. Workers grew more militant: In December 1936, for
example, the United Auto Workers started a sit-down strike at a GM plant in Flint,
Michigan that lasted for 44 days and spread to some 150,000 autoworkers in 35 cities.
By 1937, to the dismay of most corporate leaders, some 8 million workers had joined
unions and were loudly demanding their rights.
9) Identify the following 2nd New Deal reforms: WPA, NLRA, Social Security
10) Why do you think the Depression led to more militant labor strikes?
The End of the Depression
By the end of the 1930s, the New Deal had come to an end. Growing Congressional
opposition made it difficult for President Roosevelt to introduce new programs. At the
same time, as the threat of war loomed on the horizon, the president turned his
attention away from domestic politics. In December 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl
Harbor and the U.S. entered World War II. The war effort stimulated American industry
and the Great Depression was over.
11) What actually brings about an end to the Great Depression?
That being said, do you think the reforms FDR made to the federal government,
which impact us today, are positive or negative? Explain.
Assignment #2: Song Analysis
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1. What time periods or eras are described?
2. What occupations are identified?
3. What is the character in the song experiencing during this time?
4. How and why is music often a reflection of current events?
Assignment #3: Photograph Analysis
The Migrant Mother & photos from Dorothy Lange
(1) Give detailed explanations of your impression of the experiences of these people.
What do you think they have gone through?
Specifically-In your opinion,
a. What are the people in the photograph looking at?
b. What are the expressions on their faces?
c. What are they thinking?
d. What do you think they are doing?
e. What message do you think the photographer was trying to convey?
f. What is the situation of the people depicted? Point out some visual elements in the
photograph that tell you about their situation.
(2) Analyze the importance of these photographs.
a. Why did Lange take these photographs?
b. Why were artists given jobs by the government as part of the New Deal?
c. These images, and many like them, were published in the 1930s in newspapers and
magazines. What kind of effect do you think they had on the public?