Chapter 21 The Great Depression and the New Deal

1
Chapter 21 The Great Depression and the New Deal

• What you will learn today
• I CAN TRACE EVENTS THAT LED TO THE BEGINNING OF
  THE GREAT DEPRESSION
• I Can discuss Reasons for the economic tailspin

2
Warm Up

• Read Witness History on page 702 and answer
• Why might Americans have invested their money in
  stocks instead of putting it into savings
  accounts?

3

• Stock Exchange buying and selling shares
• Record levels in Sept. 1929
• Stock bought on margin
• Borrowed from brokers, who borrowed from banks
• If the value fell, no to pay loans

4

• Investors began selling, stock prices fell
• Brokers demanded payment, investors forced to
  sell stock
• October 21-23 millions of shares sold per day
• October 24th, 1929 Black Thursday
• 13 million shares sold

5

• October 29th 16 million shares exchanged
  hands
• Stock prices plummeted
• NYSE closed for a few days
• Great Depression
• Nations economic output
• 1929 104 billion
• 1932 58 Billion

6

• What caused the economic tailspin? 4 reasons
• 1. Unbalanced economy
• farm income, textile, lumber, mining, railroads
  all declined in early 1920s
• Auto workers laid off
• Growing gap between rich and most Americans
• 1929 1 owned 1/3 of
• 75 in poverty level

7

• 2. Credit Crisis
• Small banks suffered from defaults on loans
• 1930-1933 9,000 banks closed
• millions lost money (no FDIC)
• 3. International Depression
• European companies borrowed from American banks
• To repay U.S. WWI debts

8

• 4. Joblessness and poverty
• By 1932, 25 unemployed
• Shantytowns or Hoovervilles
• Horrible conditions for poor
• Churches, charities, and volunteers worked to
  provide relief
• Governments held some of the wages for soup
  kitchens

9

• What did you learn?
• Can you trace the events that led to the Great
  Depression ?
• Can you discuss Reasons for the economic
  tailspin?
• Group Work
• Read page 704-5 and answer 1-2 in notebooks

10

• After watching 102 Minutes that Changed America
• How did it make you feel watching the events
  unfold?
• Did this video help you remember what happened on
  9-11-01?
• What will you not forget about what you saw?

11
Thursday September 10

• Warm Up Read Witness History on page 709 and
  answer.
• What does Charley Bull suggest about life for
  people who left home to become hobos?

12
In Class Assignment

• Read Sections 1-2 and take notes we havent
  covered yet.
• Homework to put in notebooks
• P. 704-5 1-2
• P. 708 4-6
• p. 711 1-2
• (Notice the Hooverville in Seattle on page 713)
• P. 717 4-6

13

• What you will learn (Chapter 21 Sec 3)
• What you will learn. I can describe how the
  American people reacted to Hoovers relief
  programs.
• Warm Up Read Rugged Individualism p 720 and
  answer in notes Why did Gray depict Annie as
  determined and self-reliant?

14

• Hoover Turns to Volunteerism
• Asked businesses to keep employment, wages and
  prices same
• Government to reduce taxes, lower interest
• rates, create public works program
• Too many people, too much help needed, charity
  not enough for current problem
• Turns to More Activist policies

15
Reconstruction Finance Corp.

• 1932 Hoover and Congress established
  Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
• With an initial working capital of 1/2 billion
  dollars, this agency became a government lending
  bank designed to provide indirect relief by
  assisting insurance companies, banks,
  agricultural organizations, and hard pressed
  state and local governments. (Hoover Dam)
• (Trickle Down Economics)
• Socialists and communists surge
• Fascists lose appeal

16
Bonus March

• Veterans from as far west as Oregon journey to
  Washington D.C., to demand immediate payment of
  WWI bonuses.
• Stayed in Washington until 1932.
• General Pelham Glassford had led some of the
  veterans and called them his boys.
• Veterans camped on the Anacostia Flats near
  Potomac River.

17
General Douglas MacArthur

• Hoover refused to meet with veteran leaders he
  ordered army to tear down the camp.
• Tear gas used to clear out the veterans and their
  families.
• General MacArthur used force against veterans
  Hoovers image tarnished.

18

• Book Work read page 723 and 725 and answer two
  critical thinking questions for each
• Do 4-6 on page 724
• What did you learn (Chapter 21 Sec 3)
• Reflective Writing
• Describe how the American people reacted to
  Hoovers relief programs?

19

• What you will learn (Chapter 22 Sec 1)
• I Can describe the programs that were part of the
  first New Deal and their immediate impact.
• I can identify critical responses to the New Deal
• Warm Up Read Overcoming Fear on page 732 and
  answer What was the main goal of Roosevelts
  speech?

20
Election 0f 1932 (Chapter 22 Sec 1)

• Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat) vs. Herbert
  Hoover (Republican).
• Hoover was the incumbent president presiding over
  the worst economic collapse in the nations
  history.
• The campaign took place against the background of
  Great Depression.
• Roosevelt campaigned vigorously to prove that
  despite his disability he could vigorously
  undertake the job of President.
• Hoover tried to depict Roosevelt as an extremist
  who would bring ruin to the country, but with 1/4
  of work force unemployed, Roosevelt won an
  overwhelming victory.

21
Key Quotes FDRs Inauguration Speech
This Nation asks for action, and action now. Our
greatest primary task is to put people to work.
I shall ask congress for broad executive power to
wage wars against the emergency.
22
The Hundred Days

• Roosevelt called for steep cuts in federal
  spending and a balanced budget during his
  campaign, but he later built large deficits in
  building government programs to deal with the
  Depression.
• First Three Months of FDRs Administration, 1933.
  
• Burst of Congressional legislative action to
  address problems of the Depression.
• Focus on RELIEF and RECOVERY.

23
The First New Deal 1933-34

• Emergency Action
• Bank Holiday.
• March 1933.
• Closed Banks for reorganization.
• Restored Confidence in Banking.
• eventually created FDIC (Federal Deposit
  Insurance Corp.)
• focus on cooperation, pragmatism.
• political shift to the left by FDR after 1935.

24
National Recovery Administration

• New Deal Agency established by President Franklin
  D. Roosevelt.
• Part of National Industrial Recovery Act, 1933
  led by Hugh Johnson.
• Established to encourage fair business practices
  in order to help business recovery and workers
  during Great Depression
• 557 basic codes affected about 22 million
  workers.
• Cooperating companies displayed symbolic Blue
  Eagle emblem.
• Helped to improve labor conditions and helped
  unionization movement.
• 1935 Supreme Court found NRA unconstitutional

25
Agricultural Adjustment Act, 1933

• subsidies for limits on production (wheat, corn,
  cotton)
• declared unconstitutional in 1936, but revived in
  1938 with modifications to meet Court challenge.
• 1st successful effort to support farm prices by
  govt
• 1st major policy to intrude on free markets.
• Imposition of taxes on processors to pay for
  program.
• Payment for acreage reduction/Production
  allotments.
• Henry Wallace, Sec. of Ag. promoted program.
• Established as part of the act was the Commodity
  Credit Corporation, a crop loan and storage
  program made price-supporting loans and
  purchases of specific commodities.
• By 1936, the farm payment had reached 1.5 million

26
(No Transcript)
27
Tennessee Valley Authority

• Also known as the TVA designed to develop and
  improve a whole region.
• It affected parts of seven states in the
  Tennessee River Valley.
• In most areas loggers had cut down the trees
  loosening soil causing mass erosion.
• The T.V.A. replaced some of the trees to try and
  stopped erosion.
• Built a series of dams on the Tennessee river to
  control floods.
• Constructed hydroelectric plants to attract more
  industry and provide power to homes.
• Power companies didnt like the government
  production and sale of power, they claimed it was
  unfair.

President Roosevelt signs the TVA Act on May 18,
1933. The president is surrounded by members of
Congress from the TVA region. At his left
shoulder is Senator George Norris of Nebraska,
the man for whom Norris Dam is named. Senator
Norris was a strong supporter of TVA.
28
FDRs Employment Programs

• CCC Civilian Conservation Corps
• CWA Civil Works Administration -schools and
  roads, but
• Paid people to sweep up leaves in the parks.
• Paid unemployed actors to give free shows.
• Hired 100 people to scare pigeons away with
  balloons from public buildings in Washington DC.
• PWA Public Works Administration
• Only for skilled unemployed schools, roads and
  military construction
• FERA, Federal Emergency Relief Administration

29
What about the unskilled unemployed?

• In response to being accused of boondoggling,
  when he gave unemployed librarians jobs
  cataloguing historical documents, Hopkins
  replied

Hell, theyve got to eat just like other people.
In 1934, the CWA was shut down because it was
wasting money
30
Civilian Conservation Corps

• "...Not a Panacea for all the unemployment, but
  an essential step in this emergency..."
• President Franklin Roosevelt.
• March 1933 13,600,000 unemployed.
• FDR employs 500,000 men 18-25.
• Work in parks and forests.

31
Critic- Huey Long

• The Kingfish Huey Long was a populist who
  championed the cause of the working class and the
  poor.
• He also served as Governor for Louisiana and as a
  U.S. Senator.
• He was shot and killed by Dr. Carl Weiss in 1936.
• Critic of FDR nicknamed The Kingfish Promoted
  Share the Wealth Program Tax 100 of all
  income over 1 million.
• Guarantee all citizens a car, a house, a pension,
  and an education.
• Not a practical program, but it made Long popular
  with the poor.

32
Critic- Father Charles Coughlin

• Radio Priest in Detroit Michigan.
• Criticized FDR in weekly radio program.
• 10 million listeners.
• Critical of New Deal especially farm program
  Coughlin charged that an international conspiracy
  of bankers existed.
• Fascist Anti-Semitic overtones.

33
Critic- Dr. Francis E. Townsend

• Retired California Physician
• He wanted the government to help older citizens.
• open jobs for the younger unemployed.
• He proposed that the government pay every person
  over the age of 60 a monthly pension of 200.
• In return the recipient would agree to retire,
  also they agreed to spend the entire 200 in the
  month.
• He ran for the 1936 election. He received a 2
  popular vote.

34

• What did you learn
• Reflective Writing
• Describe the programs that were part of the first
  New Deal and their immediate impact?
• Identify critical responses to the New Deal?
• Book Work
• Comparing Viewpoints page 738 1-2
• Info graphic page 734/5 1-2
• Analyzing Political Cartoons page 737 1-2
• Chapter 22 Section 1 Assess. P 7394-6

35

• What you will learn (Chapter 22 Section 2)
• I Can explain how New Deal legislation affected
  the growth of organized labor
• I can describe the impact of Roosevelts court
  packing plan on the course of the New Deal
• Warm Up Read Trying to Survive on page 740 and
  answer Why did the child write a letter to
  Roosevelt?

36
The Second New Deal 1935-1938Chapter 22 Section
2

• Focus on major REFORMS to the American system.
• less cooperative with business.
• contributes to FDRs reelection landslide in
  1936.

37
Nipomo, Calif. Mar. 1936. Migrant agricultural
worker's family.

• "Seven hungry children. Mother aged 32, the
  father is a native Californian. Destitute in a
  pea pickers camp, because of the failure of the
  early pea crop. These people had just sold their
  tent in order to buy food. Most of the 2,500
  people in this camp were destitute."

38
Harry Hopkins

• Hopkins rose to prominence during the Great
  Depression as one of President Roosevelt's
  closest advisors

39
Social Security Act, 1935

• "We can never insure one hundred percent of the
  population against one hundred percent of the
  hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have
  tried to frame a law which will give some measure
  of protection to the average citizen and to his
  family against the loss of a job and against
  poverty-ridden old age."-- President Roosevelt
  upon signing Social Security Act
• In addition to several provisions for general
  welfare, the new Act created a social insurance
  program designed to pay retired workers age 65 or
  older a continuing income after retirement.

40
Wagner Act - National Labor Relations Board.

• Known as Wagner Act (Sen. Robert F. Wagner
  (NY-D).
• Restored labor guarantees taken away by the
  Schechter Court Decision.
• Board supervised secret elections in plants to
  designate unions.
• The NLRB could investigate employers, they could
  issue cease and desist orders if unfair practices
  were brought to light.
• Created in 1935 as part of New Deal legislation.
• Right of employees to engage in collective
  bargaining (to negotiate as a group with
  employers about wages, hours and working
  conditions).

41
Auto Worker Sit-down Strikes, 1937
42
Election of 1936

• Kansas Governor Alfred Landon - Moderate
  Republican
• Alf Landon, who was a former follower of Teddy
  Roosevelt, believed in govt regulation of
  business.
• poor speaker vs. the charm and political savy of
  FDR.
• Roosevelt's personality program captivated the
  country, he was considered one of the most
  powerful presidents in history.
• Roosevelt won all states except Maine and
  Vermont.
• This shows the growing support of the people for
  Roosevelts program for the Great Depression.

43
FDR and the Court Packing

• 1937 FDR attempted to increase size of Supreme
  Court from 9 to 15.
• FDR faced opposition in Congress
• Recession of 1937-38 hurt economy.
• 1938 Congressional elections bring conservative
  resurgence.
• Court begins to change from the Conservative tone
  to more liberal with timely retirements.

44
FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT

• An act to maintain fair standards in the work
  place.
• Also known as Wages and Hours Law.
• Enacted by Congress in 1938.
• Set a minimum wage of 25 cents, eventually raised
  to 1.00 in 1956.
• Set maximum number of hours one person could work
  in a week 40 hours.
• Eliminates products of, oppressive child labor

45
The Dust Bowl

• During the Great Depression sections of the
  Midwest, from Texas to the Dakotas, got scorched
  by the sun ruining wide expanses of grass and
  crops.
• the skies darkened as clouds of dust arose from
  the sun-dried land.
• as times the clouds were so thick, train
  engineers could not read signals
• as far as Cleveland and Memphis people wore masks
  for protections against the black blizzards
  sailors in the Atlantic found traces of Nebraska
  soil.
• families had to load their possessions into
  trucks and cars and head west because land
  companies took over what was left of their land.
• over one million people headed west looking for
  work in orchards, orange groves, and lettuce
  fields of Washington, Oregon, and California.

46

• What did you learn?
• Reflective Writing
• 1)Explain how New Deal legislation affected the
  growth of organized labor?
• 2)Describe the impact of Roosevelts court
  packing plan on the course of the New Deal?
• Book Work Read Events That Changed America p
  742-3 and answer Thinking Critically
• Political Cartoon page 746 1-2
• Page 747 4-6

47

• What You Will Learn (Chapter 22 Section 3)
• I Can describe how the New Deal affected
  different groups in American society
• I can analyze how the New Deal changed the shape
  of American party politics
• Warm up Read The Caring First Lady on page 748
  and answer How did Eleanor Roosevelt help
  support FDRs administration?
• How did her work affect FDRs popularity and
  programs?

48
Great Depression and African Americans (Chapter
22 Section 3)

• Negative Effect of AAA on black tenants. (50
  unemployment)
• Great Migration continues North.
• Black Cabinet unofficial advisors of FDR.
• Eleanor Roosevelts My Day writings used to
  promote equality.

49
How successful was the New deal at putting USA
back to work?
50
Did it work?

• New Deal programs were financed by tripling
  federal taxes from 1.6 billion in 1933 to 5.3
  billion in 1940.
• Excise taxes, personal income taxes, inheritance
  taxes, corporate income taxes, holding company
  taxes and so-called "excess profits" taxes all
  went up.

51
Did it work?

• The most important source of New Deal revenue
  were excise taxes levied on alcoholic beverages,
  cigarettes, matches, candy, chewing gum,
  margarine, fruit juice, soft drinks, cars, tires
  (including tires on wheelchairs), telephone
  calls, movie tickets, playing cards, electricity,
  radios -- these and many other everyday things
  were subject to New Deal excise taxes, which
  meant that the New Deal was substantially
  financed by the middle class and poor people.
• A Treasury Department report acknowledged that
  excise taxes "often fell disproportionately on
  the less affluent."

52
Did it work?

• New Deal taxes were major job destroyers during
  the 1930s, prolonging unemployment that averaged
  17. Higher business taxes meant that employers
  had less money for growth and jobs. Social
  Security excise taxes on payrolls made it more
  expensive for employers to hire people, which
  discouraged hiring.
• The National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) cut
  back production and forced wages above market
  levels, making it more expensive for employers to
  hire people - blacks alone were estimated to have
  lost some 500,000 jobs because of the National
  Industrial Recovery Act.

53
Did it work?

• The Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933) cut back
  farm production and devastated black tenant
  farmers.
• The National Labor Relations Act (1935) gave
  unions monopoly bargaining power in workplaces
  and led to violent strikes and compulsory
  unionization of mass production industries.
• Unions secured above-market wages, triggering big
  layoffs and helping to usher in the depression of
  1938.

54
More cynicism

• For defenders of the New Deal, perhaps the most
  embarrassing revelation about New Deal spending
  programs is they channeled money AWAY from the
  South, the poorest region in the United States.
• The largest share of New Deal spending and loan
  programs went to political "swing" states in the
  West and East - where incomes were at least 60
  higher than in the South.
• As an incumbent, FDR didn't see any point giving
  much money to the South where voters were already
  overwhelmingly on his side.

55
More cynicism

• Americans needed bargains, but FDR hammered
  consumers -- and millions had little money. His
  National Industrial Recovery Act forced consumers
  to pay above-market prices for goods and
  services, and the Agricultural Adjustment Act
  forced Americans to pay more for food.
• FDR banned discounting with the Anti-Chain Store
  Act (1936) and the Retail Price Maintenance Act
  (1937).

56
More cynicism

• Poor people suffered from other high-minded New
  Deal policies like the Tennessee Valley Authority
  monopoly.
• Its dams flooded an estimated 750,000 acres, an
  area about the size of Rhode Island
• TVA agents dispossessed thousands of people.
• Poor black sharecroppers, who didn't own
  property, got no compensation.
• FDR might not have intended to harm millions of
  poor people, but that's what happened. We should
  evaluate government policies according to their
  actual consequences, not their good intentions.

57

• Take notes on your own from Section 3
• Book Work page 753 Government Role in the
  Economy and answer 1-2 (3 is extra credit)
• Info graphic page 754/5 and answer Thinking
  Critically

58

• What will you learn (Chapter 22 Section 4)
• I Can trace the growth of radio and the movies in
  the 1930s and the changes in popular culture
• I can describe the major themes of literature of
  the New Deal era.
• Warm Up Read Over The Rainbow page 758 and
  answer Why did the song appeal to people during
  the depression?

59
Chapter 22 Section 4Escapism and activism in
the movies
60

• Radio
• Bob Hope and Jack Benny
• Will Rogers
• The Lone Ranger
• The Shadow
• Fireside Chats by FDR
• War of the Worlds (some thought it was real)
• Swing music
• Duke Ellington, Bing Crosby

61

• New Deal and the Arts
• Federal Art, Federal Writers and Federal Theater
  projects
• Federally funded shows free to public
• Literature
• Working class heroes
• Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck
• Native Son by Richard Wright
• Plays showed struggle of working class
• Comic Strips
• Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, and Superman

62

• What did you learn?
• Can you trace the growth of radio and the movies
  in the 1930s and the changes in popular culture?
• Can you describe the major themes of literature
  of the New Deal era?

63

• Group Work Answer the following questions..
• 1)What was the main reason for the popularity for
  bands, movies, and radio programs during the
  1930s?
• 2)Why did the New Deal programs pay unemployed
  artists like it paid unemployed carpenters and
  truck drivers?
• 3)Why did many depression era novels include
  working class heroes?
• Read The Golden Age of Hollywood page 763 and
  answer the two questions.