unit 11 the great depression and the new deal 1929-1941
TRANSCRIPT
Unit 11The Great Depression
and The New Deal
1929-1941
The Great Depression: 1929-1941
Stock Market Crash October 29, 1929
1930: U.S. enters worst
depression in its history Economic hard times
The Great Depression: 1929-1941 4 Main Causes of the Great Depression
1) Overproduction Farms & factories
Wages did not rise as much as prices, so workers could not afford to buy many goods
As orders slowed, factories closed or laid off workers Jobless had no money for food & no land to grow it
Too many goods, too few buyers Vast amounts of goods produced in 1920’s Produced more than people were buying
Farm foreclosure sales
Farm foreclosure sales
Farm foreclosure sales
Farm foreclosure sales
Unemployed
Unemployed workers marching
Unemployed at a job bureau
The Great Depression: 1929-1941 Causes of the Great Depression
2) Weakness in banking system Borrowers who invested in stock market could not
repay loans Banks could not give depositors their money Banks were forced to close
Depositors lost money
Unemployed workers outside a bank
Police guard outside a bank
The Great Depression: 1929-1941 Causes of the Great Depression
3) Economy slid downhill One disaster triggered another
Stock market crash → ruined investors → no money or capital for businesses → businesses could not grow & expand → troubled banks could not make loans → businesses cut back on production → wage cuts & employee layoffs → workers had no money to spend → businesses went bankrupt
Unemployed
Unemployed
Unemployed
The Great Depression: 1929-1941 Causes of the Great Depression
4) Worldwide depression European banks failed when U.S. banks
stopped making loans Worldwide economic collapse
Depression spread from nation to nation
Worldwide depression
Soaring unemployment By early 1930s, 1 in every 4 workers were
unemployed
Workers still employed work shortened hours or took pay cuts
Many of the jobless lost their homes
Bankruptcy: financial failure, caused by inability to pay debts
Families in crisis Marriage & birth rates dropped
Some families split up Fathers & older children left home to hunt for
work
Families in crisis
Families in crisis
Families in crisis
The homeless People drift from town to town looking for
work
Some “rode the rails” living in railroad cars & hitching rides on trains
Homeless built shacks out of wooden crates, scrap metal, cardboard, or lived in tents
Poverty
Poverty
Poverty
Poverty
Poverty
The homeless
The homeless
The homeless
The homeless
The homeless
The homeless
The homeless
The homeless
Great Depression: 1929-1941 Lowered people’s standard of living
People lost faith in themselves
People felt ashamed
Great Depression: 1929-1941 President Hoover
Predicted better times ahead Did not think government should get directly
involved in helping businesses At first, he was opposed to government relief
programs Relief: giving help to the needy
Called on businesses & private charities to help Americans
Great Depression: 1929-1941 Private charities did what they could
Churches and groups such as the YMCA fed the hungry at soup kitchens
The numbers of needy soon overwhelmed private charities
Unemployed in relief line
Breadlines & soup kitchens
Breadlines & soup kitchens
Breadlines & soup kitchens
Breadlines & soup kitchens
Great Depression: 1929-1941 President Hoover created:
Public works program Government hired workers for projects
Constructed schools & courthouses, build dams, and paved highways
If people earned money → spend wages on goods → demand would increase → businesses would expand → lead to economic recovery
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) Loaned money to railroads, banks, and insurance
companies to keep them in business Keep workers on their jobs
Great Depression: 1929-1941 President Hoover did more to reverse the
depression than any previous President His efforts had little effect Depression grew worse Many people blamed Hoover for doing too little
Shacks where homeless lived were called Hoovervilles Homeless covered themselves with newspapers to
keep warm, calling them “Hoover blankets”
Hoovervilles are everywhere
Hoovervilles are everywhere
Hoovervilles are everywhere
Hoovervilles are everywhere
Great Depression: 1929-1941 After WWI, Congress had voted to give
veterans a bonus (sum of money) to be paid in 1945
In 1932, >20,000 jobless veterans marched on Washington to demand the bonus right away Some brought wives & children
They were called the Bonus Army
Bonus Army
Great Depression: 1929-1941 Bonus Army camped along Potomac River for 2
months
Senate rejected a bill to pay the bonus to veterans immediately Thought the cost would destroy any hope for country’s
recovery
Many veterans went home, but thousands remained Local police tried to force veterans to leave 4 veterans died in battles with police
Great Depression: 1929-1941
President Hoover ordered Gen. Douglas MacArthur to clear out the veterans
Great Depression: 1929-1941
MacArthur used cavalry, tanks, machine guns, and tear gas, and burned the Bonus Army camp to the ground
Great Depression: 1929-1941 Americans are shocked at Hoover’s action
President Hoover lost what little support he still had
Americans turned to a new leader
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President 4 terms: 1933 – 1945 Democratic Party
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
New Deal End of Prohibition WWII
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
Married his cousin Eleanor Roosevelt, niece of Theodore Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
FDR, Assistant Secretary of the Navy during WWI
Summer of 1921 struck with polio, left his legs paralyzed Afterward, was able to
walk only with aid of heavy leg braces and crutches
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
Elected Governor of New York in 1928
Nominated as Democratic candidate for President in election of 1932 “I pledge myself to a
new deal for the American people.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
1932 Election Defeated Hoover in
landslide victory
Inaugurated March 1933
FDR’s Vice Presidents
1933-1941 1941-1945 1945 John N. Garner Henry A. Wallace Harry S. Truman
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
“Brain Trust” Nickname for FDR’s advisors
Urged his staff to “take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it and try another. But above all try something.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
First challenge – nation’s banking system 2nd day in office, FDR closed every
bank in the country for 8 days
Emergency Banking Act Passed March 9, 1933 Only banks with enough funds to
meet depositors’ demands could reopen
Banking system grew stronger
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
Fireside chats FDR spoke to Americans in radio
broadcasts Began 1 week after taking
office He spoke from a chair near a
fireplace in the White House Families gathered around
radios to listen
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
Hundred Days FDR sent many bills to
Congress Congress passed 15
major new laws
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal FDR’s programs to
help Americans
3 main goals:
1) Relief for unemployed
2) Plans for economic recovery
3) Reforms to prevent
future depressions
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal FDR’s programs to help Americans
CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Hired unemployed single men ages 18-25 Worked for $1 a day Planted trees, built bridges, worked on flood control
projects, and developed new parks Conserved natural resources & gave jobs to young
people
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal FDR’s programs to help Americans
FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Admin.) Gave federal money to state & local agencies who
distributed the money to unemployed
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal FDR’s programs to help Americans
WPA (Works Progress Admin.) Created in 1935 by the Emergency Relief
Appropriations Act Put jobless to work building hospitals, schools, parks,
playgrounds, and airports Also hired artists, photographers, actors, writers, and
composers
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal FDR’s programs to boost industry & farming Greatly expanded government’s role in economy
NIRA (National Industry Recovery Act) Control production & working conditions, stabilize
prices, keep workers on the job
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal
NRA (National Recovery Admin.) Enforced new industrial codes Government encouraged people to do business only
with companies displaying the NRA eagle
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal FDR’s programs to help Americans
PWA (Public Works Admin.) Hired workers for thousands of projects
Built dams, public schools, aircraft carriers Did little to bring about recovery
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal
AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act) Government paid farmers to:
Not grow certain crops Plow surplus crops under the soil Dispose of surplus cows & pigs
Americans outraged when people in cities were going hungry, yet the plan seemed necessary to help farmers
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal
REA (Rural Electrification Admin.) Extended electric lines to rural areas Number of farms with electricity rose from 1 in 10 to
1 in 4
TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) Built 40 dams in 7 states to control flooding &
provide cheap electric power Set up schools & health centers
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal
FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) Insured savings accounts in banks approved by the
government If a FDIC-insured bank failed, government would
make sure depositors received their money
SSA (Social Security Act) Set up a system of pensions for the elderly,
unemployed, and people with disabilities
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
New Deal
Truth-in-Securities Act Regulated stock market & reformed banking system Designed to end the kind of wild speculation that led
to the stock market crash
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
Supreme Court said some acts of Congress in the New Deal programs were unconstitutional because they gave too much power to the President and federal government
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd President
FDR called for raising the number of Justices on the Supreme Court from 9 to 15 He could then appoint 6 new
Justices who supported his programs
FDR was accused of trying to pack the Court by both supporters & critics They saw this as a threat of
separation of powers
FDR withdrew his proposal
Drought and Dust During much of the 1930s, states from Texas
to the Dakotas suffered a severe drought Topsoil dried out High winds carried the soil away in blinding dust
storms
Much of the area of the Great Plains earned a new name – the Dust Bowl
Drought and Dust Dust storms buried farmhouses and forced
drivers to use headlights in daytime
Dust storms were widespread
Winds blew off and on for 10 years 1932-1939, an average of 50 storms each year
“black blizzards”
Drought and Dust
Drought and Dust
Drought and Dust
Drought and Dust
Drought and Dust
Drought and Dust
New Deal – ReviewCauses Effects
Great Depression deepens Banking system nears
collapse Millions of people are
jobless Many businesses are
bankrupt FDR becomes President
Congress approves programs for relief, recovery, & reform
Supreme Court strikes down some programs
Social Security and savings insurance continue to the present
Role of government in the economy increases
Opinions on the New Deal Conservatives
Thought it made the government too large and powerful It stifled free enterprise and initiative
Liberals President could have done more to socialize the economy
Supporters Thought FDR did a good job of balancing capitalism and
socialism.
Expanding the National Government The New Deal expanded the power of the
government Government had a more active role in the economy
Put millions of dollars in the economy through: Creating jobs Regulating supply and demand Settling labor disputes Creating agencies Regulating banking and investment
Going into Debt New Deal caused the nation to go deeply into
debt. U.S. debt went as high as $3.3 billion in
1934.
New Deal did not end Great Depression. Deficit spending during World War II did.
Deficit Spending Congress encouraged scaling back New Deal
programs This caused a drop in production Increased unemployment
FDR did not like deficit spending Spending more money than the government has
So did the New Deal really work? It did help
It brought hope and gratitude from those receiving services
Also brought anger and criticism
It was really World War II that brought us out of the Great Depression