1.29.15

Unit 8: The Great Depression

• Map the causes and effects of the stock market crash visually• Create a graph, chart or visual aid

explaining the causes of the crash and its effects

Next step

Hoover Presidency FDR’s Presidency 1929-1933 1933-1945

Hoover’s Response• Hoover believed charity & government

programs would just make people dependent• He believed that government shouldn’t

intervene to help businesses either• Instead, he predicted that things would get

better if everyone worked hard and pitched in

When FDR came into office…• ¼ of the nation’s workforce

was unemployed• ¼ million families had

defaulted on their mortgages

• 1.2 million Americans were homeless

• FDR elected in 1932–Promised to help people

FDR Enacted The New Deal• FDR demanded "broad executive power to

wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe."

FDR’s Fireside Chats• FDR began weekly radio addresses called

“fireside chats”• In these addresses he tried to reassure and

unite the nation• He explained parts of the New Deal and his

policies to the Americanpe0ple

The First 100 Days• In FDR’s first 100 days in office, he pushed 15

major bills through Congress• Reshaped every aspect of the economy – from

banking and industry to agriculture and social welfare

• He called his approach “The New Deal”

The New DealGoals:1. Relief – Stop the pain2. Recovery – Fix the problems3. Reform – Make sure it never happens

again

Relief for the people• Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)– Sent funds to local relief agencies–$500 million for those organizations–Created public works programs

Public Works• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)– Helped farmers– Created jobs in underdeveloped rural areas– Provided electricity and flood control– Often seen as the key precursor to the Civil Rights

Movement

Jobs Programs• Public Works Administration (PWA)– In 6 years, spent $6 billion–Built dams, ports, Chicago’s sewer system

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)–Men between 18-25 were hired to restore

the nation’s parks and forests• Civil Works Administration (CWA)–Put 2.6 million men to work

in its first month

Helping Homeowners & Farmers

• Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)–Refinanced mortgages

• Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)–Gave farm subsidies

Recovery: Fixing Banks• Declared a bank holiday• Glass-Stegall Banking Act of 1933–Created the FDIC to insure banks–Guaranteed all bank deposits under $5,000

Recovery: Regulating the Market

• Federal Securities Act–Required companies to provide info

about their finances if they sold their stock

• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)–Regulated the stock market

Reform: Social Security• Aimed to help America’s poor – the

elderly, dependent children, thehandicapped

• Provided monthly stipends• Legacy: – Still America’s largest and most important safety

net–Most Americans depend on

Social Security to retire

Reform: Rural Electrification• Rural Electrification Administration (REA)– By the 1930s, 90% of people in urban areas had

electricity, while only 10%in rural areas did

– REA provided electricity:eventually 98% of U.S. farmshad it

Reform: Helping Labor• Wagner Act: Legalized union practices–Collective bargaining–Closed shops – some workplaces only

open to union members

Ultimately…• What finally ended the Great Depression was

WWII, which provided millions of jobs and boosted the economy

1940-America selling arms 1941-

America enters WWII

Next Up:• You will examine whether the New Deal

was a success or failure

• This is something historians still debate today