The Great Depression Slide 1. The Nations Sick Economy Congress tried to help the farmers with price supports, but Coolidge vetoed them. More than 70%

The Great Depression

Slide 1

The Nations Sick Economy

• Congress tried to help the farmers with price supports, but Coolidge vetoed them.

• More than 70% earned less than needed for a decent standard of living.

Towards the end of the 1920’s serious problems threatened economic prosperity.1. Farmers faced hard times because the price of crops declined after WWI2. Easy credit put many people in debt3. Overproduction of consumer goods

The Stock Market Collapses

• Speculation: Buying Stocks on the chance of a quick profit without considering risks.

• Buying on the Margin: pay part of selling price in cash, borrow the rest from the bank

• Early September stock prices peaked, then fell.

• Investors begin selling their stock

• Prices edge downward creating a panic

• Investors try to unload their stock Slide 2

The Stock Market Collapses (Con’t)

• Black Tuesday: October 29, 1929- orders to sell stock at any price begin to swamp the stock exchange.

• Fortunes made during the boom were lost in hours

• Stock Market Crash signaled the end of prosperity in the 1920’s.

Slide 3

Bank Failures

• Thousands of bank failures also contributed

to the Great Depression.• Rumors often led bank

customers to panic and withdraw all their funds. This is called a “run on the bank.”

• When the bank ran out of funds, the other depositors lost all their money and the bank went bankrupt.

Business Failures

• 90,000 businesses went bankrupt between 1929 and 1933.

• One reason for this was that many industries had failed to adjust their high production rates to the declining demand in the late 1920s.

• This was especially true with what are called “durable goods,” things that last a long time, like refrigerators, washing machines, and automobiles.

• These surplus goods were already being stockpiled in company warehouses before the depression hit. Without buyers, companies could not afford to make more of these items. Factories had to close down.

World Wide Depression

• Throughout the 1920s, while the American economy was booming, European countries had been suffering economic hard times. They were still trying to recover from the impact of WWI.

Also, the U.S. passed the Hawley-Smoot tariff on imported goods to give an advantage to American industries.The High Tariff rate led to a dramatic drop in world trade.

Unemployment Hurts Everyone

• Hit industrial cities of North the hardest– People struggle with feelings

of boredom and humiliation– Suicides went up– Many were forced to beg to

feed their families– Shantytowns or “Hoovervilles”

sprang up– Charitable organizations

opened up soup kitchens to feed the hungry.

Slide 4

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS PICTURE?????

The Dust Bowl

1. Early 1930’s- lower than average rainfall

2. Farmers had removed the thick protective layers of prairie grassland

3. Farmers exhausted the land through over production

Dust Bowl Cont…

More than a million people traveled alongRoute 66 to California- heard they needed

people to help pick the crops.They were known as “Okies”- paid low-migrant farm worker wagesJohn Steinbeck wrote “The Grapes of Wrath” about Oklahomans fleeing the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression

 Many teenagers looked for a way out of the suffering. Hundreds of thousands of teenage boys and some girls joined thousands of out of work men and hopped aboard America's freight trains to zigzag the country in search of work, adventure, and an escape from    

Hoboes

poverty. They were the sons of poor farmers, and out-of-work miners, and wealthy parents who had lost everything. “hoboes," as they were called, were eager to tour America for free.

President Hoover Loses His Battle With the Economy

• Hoover tried to restore confidence in the American economy.

• Tried to convince businesses not to lay off employees.

• Hoover felt that the federal government should not give direct relief (giving payment or food to the poor.)

• Hoover’s popularity declines• Many hold Hoover responsible for

the Depression

Slide 9

  One project that Hoover approved did make a difference, the construction of a dam on the Colorado River. In the fall of 1929, nearly one year into his presidency, Hoover authorized construction of Boulder Dam (later called Hoover Dam). At 726 ft. high and 1,244 ft. long it would be the world's tallest dam and the second largest. This project put a lot of men to work, but it was not nearly enough.

BOULDER  DAM 

Bonus Army Marches into Washington D.C.

• WWI Veterans demand early pay of bonus promised to them for their service in the war

• Hoover refuses• 20,000 Veterans march • General MacArthur ordered

by Hoover to remove veterans– Armed with tanks, military rifles,

tear gas torches- attacked unarmed veterans

– Dozens injured – Vivid photos appeared in the

paper Slide 10

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Emerges as a Political Leader

• Roosevelt had a plan for recovery from the Great Depression called The New Deal

• The New Deal programs would stimulate the economy.

• Roosevelt beat Hoover by a landslide in the 1932 election

Slide 11

President Roosevelt

• The first thing Roosevelt did was declare a “bank holiday,” closing U.S. banks temporarily to restore public confidence and prevent further bankruptcies.

• Congress cooperated with the president to pass many reform measures aimed at relieving the symptoms of the Great Depression.

 On March 12, the day before the first banks were to reopen, President Roosevelt gave the first of his many fireside chats—radio talks about issues of public concern, explaining in clear, simple language his New Deal measures. These informal talks made Americans feel as if the president were talking directly to them.    

FIRESIDE CHAT

    In 1935, the Court struck down the NIRA (National Industrial Recovery Act) as unconstitutional. The next year, the Supreme Court struck down the Agricultural Adjustment Act   

THE SUPREME COURT REACTS

Fearing that further Court decisions might dismantle the New Deal, President Roosevelt proposed that Congress enact a court-reform bill to allow him to appoint six new Supreme Court justices. This “Court-packing bill” aroused a storm of protest in Congress and the press. Many people believed that the president was violating principles of judicial independence and the separation of powers..

EMPLOYMENT PROJECTS

(27) 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Provided jobs for single males on conservation projects.

1933 Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Helped states to provide aid for the (26) unemployed.

1933 Public Works Administration (PWA) Created jobs on government projects.

1933 Civil Works Administration (CWA) Provided work in federal jobs.

(25)1935 Works Progress Administration (WPA) Quickly created as many jobs as possible—from construction jobs to positions in symphony orchestras.

1935 National Youth Administration (NYA) Provided job training for unemployed young people and part-time jobs for needy students.

BUSINESS ASSISTANCE AND REFORM

1933 Emergency Banking Relief Act (EBRA) Banks were inspected by Treasury Department and those stable could reopen.

1933 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Protected bank deposits up to $5,000. (Today, accounts are protected up to $100,000.)

1933 National Recovery Administration (NRA) Established codes of fair competition.

1934 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Supervised the stock market and eliminated dishonest practices.

1935 Banking Act of 1935 Created seven-member board to regulate the nation's money supply and the interest rates on loans.

1936 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDC) Required manufacturers to list ingredients in foods, drugs, and cosmetic products.

FARM RELIEF AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

1933 Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) Aided farmers and regulated crop production. ( to raise the prices of farm products)

1933 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Developed the resources of the Tennessee Valley.

1935 Rural Electrification Administration (REA) Provided affordable electricity for isolated rural areas.

HOUSING

1933 Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) Loaned money at low interest to homeowners who could not meet mortgage payments.

1934 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Insured loans for building and repairing homes.

1937 United States Housing Authority (USHA) Provided federal loans for low-cost public housing.

LABOR RELATIONS

1935 National Labor Relations Board (Wagner Act) Defined unfair labor practices and established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to settle disputes between employers and employees.

1938 Fair Labor Standards Act Established a minimum hourly wage and a maximum number of hours in the workweek for the entire country. Set rules for the employment of workers under 16 and banned hazardous factory work for those under 18.

RETIREMENT

1935 Social Security Administration Provided a pension for retired workers and their spouses and aided people with disabilities.

When analyzing cartoons ask yourself. . .

1. What is the scene depicting?

2. Are there labels or a title?

3. What symbolism do you see?– What do the objects represent?– Who are the characters and how

are they drawn?

4. What is the cartoonist’s point-of-view on this issue?

1. What is the scene depicting?2. Are there labels or a title?3. What symbolism do you see?4. What do the objects represent? 5. Who are the characters and how are they drawn?6. What is the cartoonist’s point-of-view on this issue?

POLITICAL CARTOON ANALYSIS

1.What is the scene depicting?2.Are there labels or a title?3.What symbolism do you see?4.What do the objects represent?5.Who are the characters and how are they drawn?6.What is the cartoonists point-of-view on this issue?

POLITICAL CARTOON ANALYSIS

Lasting Impact of the New Deal

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)- insures banking accounts up to 100,000 dollars preventing bank failures

• Security and Exchange Commission (SEC)- regulates and stabilizes the stock market

• The Social Security Administration pensions for the elderly

aid to families with children unemployment compensation assistance for the handicapped