Chapter 14-15 Objectives – US
 Define bull market, speculation, buying on margin, shantytowns, soup kitchens, breadlines, direct relief,
foreclosure, rugged individualism, “farm holiday”, solvent, domestic allotment, subsidized scarcity,
pension plan, Federal One, New Deal Coalition, regional artists, deficit spending
 Explain what the McNary Haugen bill would have done for farmers
 List two characteristics for Herbert Hoover and Alfred E. Smith
 List the four factors that contributed to the Great Depression
 Identify Black Tuesday, Bonus Army, General Douglas MacArthur, Franklin Roosevelt, Francis
Townsend, Father Charles Coughlin, Senator Huey Long, Eleanor Roosevelt, Emergency Banking Act,
Agricultural Adjustment Act, National Industrial Recovery Act, Federal Emergency Relief Act, Wagner
Act, Social Security Act, Grant Wood, John Steinbeck, Tennessee Valley Authority
 Explain who suffered the most (men, women, children) and why.
 Explain why Hoover was advised to do nothing about the Depression
 Describe how Americans showed President Hoover their lack of support for his actions
 Describe how the incident with the Bonus Army affected Hoover’s chances for reelection
 List the four areas of the economy that FDR attempted to fix in his first 100 days in office
 Describe the lasting effects of the New Deal in regards to labor unions, farmers, conservation, social
security, power sources
 Explain the roles of radio and movies in Americans’ lives during the Depression
Chapter 14: The Great Depression Begins
A Sick Economy
Economic Troubles
Industries: textiles, RR, mining/lumber
RR loses business
TextileMining/lumbering –
Boom industries:
Farmers: demand for wheat and corn during the war is high =>
Difficulty paying off
McNary-Haugen Bill
Federal price supports
Keep certain price levels at or
1. government buys surplus
2. sell to the world market
3. creates a loss, so the government
Congress passed it two times but Coolidge
Farm prices low, farmers struggle
Consumers have less money
Buying less because
Living on credit
Living
Uneven distribution of income
½ of families earn less than
Average man/woman buys
For the rich, incomes
New President, 1928
Candidates
Republican Herbert Hoover
Hoover is elected
Stock Market
Confidence in nation’s economy
Though some economists
Investing in stock market
“bull market” –
Speculation –
Buying and selling –
Buying on margin –
Black Tuesday
Sept. – stocks peak then
Oct. 24 – market plunges
Oct. 29 –Black Tuesday,
Nov. Causes of Great Depression (1929 – 1941)
Stock Market Crash =
Four Factors (most agreed upon)
1. Old and dying industries
2. Crisis in the farming industries
3. Easy Credit
Democrat Alfred E. Smith
4. Unequal Distribution of Income
Factors led to less demand for goods
Financial Collapse
After crash, people
Many banks couldn’t cover
¼ of nation’s bank’s close
Economy plunged=
Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act
Made things worse
Affects the world
Limits imports
Could not export either because
Depression
In the cities
People evicted
Shantytowns –
Urban poor –
Soup kitchens –
Breadlines –
In rural areas
Farmers could
Crop prices fell
Lose land – foreclosure –
Dust Bowl –
Region from
Exhaustion of land –
Very little
Hardest hit:
The American Family
Cut back on outside entertainment
Men:
direct relief –
Women:
Children:
Social and Psychological Effects
Demoralized –
Make sacrifices
Hoover and the Depression
Hoover encouraged people to go
Sec. of Treasury Andrew Mellon
“do- nothing approach”:
Philosophy of Government under Hoover
Government’s main job: get cooperation
“rugged individualism” –
should take care of themselves &
opposed federal welfare
weakens self
Hoover’s answer –
Hoover’s First Steps
1. called leaders of business, banking, & labor
2. asked employers
3. asked labor leaders
4. created an organization
but….. Did not do much good:
Democrats win the Congressional elections
Republicans/Hoover –
Democrats win
Result:
American Reactions to Depression
Farmers burned
Farmers declare a “farm holiday” –
Blocked roads to prevent food from going to market –
Tried to prevent
Urban areas began calling
Hoover Takes Action
Begins to take a more activist approach
Put federal funds into
Public Works Program
Build roads, dams, and
Created the Federal Farm Board
Raise crop prices by
Created the National Credit Corporation
Loaned money to
But… these still failed to turn the economy around
Election year
With an election year coming up Hoover needed to take drastic steps to be reelected. Appeals to Congress to pass
a series of bills
1. Federal Home Loan Bank Act
Lowered mortgage rates
2. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Provides emergency $
Hoover believed that the money
Critics believed that it would benefit
End Result:
Bonus Army damages Hoover’s image
Bonus Expeditionary Force (Bonus Army) –
Hoover at first is very accommodating
But the bill was not passed
He encouraged the soldiers
Hoover, nervous, ordered them disbanded peaceably
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, put in charge, he used force
seals Hoover’s fate
Chapter 15: The New Deal
1932 Election
Republican Herbert Hoover v. Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt
FDR
1932 Depression hits bottom
FDR asks for broad executive “war” powers
Instills confidence
fireside chats –
The New Deal: 1933-935
“The Hundred Days”, 1933: four areas of emphasis
1. Banks
Emergency Banking Act (“Bank Holiday”)
Prevents
Closes all banks
solvent –
2. Farmers
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
Dealt with
“domestic allotment” –
“subsidized scarcity”
upset people because
3. Industry
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)
Begins to control
Wagner Act (Section 7a):
4. Unemployment
Federal Emergency Relief Act
Creates Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Temporary
Public Works and the winter of 1933-34
Worst winter
Build
Challenges
From the left wing
Believe he’s not
From the right wing
Think he’s
1. Francis Townsend
Wants to help
Pension plan –
2. Father Charles Coughlin
“The Radio Priest”
Roosevelt not caring
Favored a
Won support
3. Senator Huey Long
Senator from Louisiana
“Share Our Wealth Society”
believed in
richest one percent owned sixty percent
assassinated
Second New Deal: 1935-41
Move to the Left – More Liberal programs
Encouragement from wife Eleanor
Traveled for her
1. Social Security Act
Old age pension:
Excluded:
Unemployment compensation
Families with
2. Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Work relief for
“Federal One” –
Election of 1936
FDR vs. Alf Landon
FDR wins
“New Deal Coalition”
was able to attract a lot of different groups
became a lasting
Society and Culture Under New Deal
Motion Pictures and Radio
65% of population
90% owned
Movies
Offered a wide variety of shows
New Hollywood Stars
Glamour and sophistication
Films offered escape
Most famous film from the era:
Romantic comediesMusicals –
Technicolor –
Full length animation –
Marx Brothers –
Radio
Direct access to the American people
Variety of shows
Soaps:
Kids –
Dramas –
Variety shows –
Art and Literature
More sober and serious
Regional artists –
Ex, Grant Wood –
Writers –
Ex. John Steinbeck –
Thornton Wilder
Impact of the New Deal
FDR – hints at a third New Deal –
But Congress wants
Industry production
FDR against deficit spending –
Supporters
vs.
Critics
Lasting Effects
1. Labor Unions
Wagner Act, etc.—
2. Rural Areas
3. Social Security
Government assumed responsibility
4. Environment
Conservation –
Farmers –
Alternative power sources –
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)