The Great Depression Begins

CHAPTER 22

The Election of 1928

Prohibition plays a major

role

Herbert Hoover Republican

Favored a ban on liquor sales Landslide victory because Republicans took credit for the prosperity of the 20s

Alfred E. Smith Democrat

Opposed ban on liquor 1st Roman Catholic nominated for president Caused him to be smeared

The Long Bull Market

Stock market was

established

System of buying as selling shares The 1920s Bull market

Period of rising stock prices Stock prices generally reflected the stocks true value Americans invested heavily

The Great Crash

1929, stock prices 1st begin to

fall

Lack of new investors

Caused the Bull Market to end Caused a further plummet

Investors began to sell their stock

Black Tuesday October 29, 1929 Stock prices fell Weakened the nations banks Banks had invested their deposits in the stock market When banks collapsed, depositors lost their savings

The Roots of the Great Depression

Overproduction

Economist agree it was the key cause of the Depression Americans could not afford to buy all the goods produced

Sales decrease, workers laid off

Uneven distribution of

wealth

2/3 of the nations families earned less than $2,500 a year

The top 5% of American households earned 30% of the countrys income

The Roots of the Great Depression

The Loss of Export Sales

Hawley Smoot Tariff

Raised taxes on imports, so foreign countries did the same

Mistakes by the Federal

Reserve

Federal Reserve Board lowered rates

Should have raised them instead

Market contracting

The Depression Worsens

Thousands of banks close 1,352 banks closed

High Unemployment Bread lines Soup kitchens

Hoovervilles Home lost
Shanty towns Hobos Homeless Americans who wandered around hitching rides on railroad cars

The Depression Worsens

Dust Bowl

In 1932 Farmers on the Great Plains loose their crops

The soil dried up Drought stretched from the Dakotas to Texas Wind storms covered everything in dust

Escaping the Depression

Walt Disney Snow White 1st feature-length animated film Films show vision of better

life

Mr. Smith goes to Washington Wizard of Oz Gone With the Wind

Radio Lone Ranger Soap Operas

The Depression in Art

Arts emphasize traditional

American Values

Thomas Hart Benton Grant Wood

Novelist John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath Oklahoma family fleeing the Dust for California

William Faulkner

Exposed hidden attitudes of Southern Whites and African Americans

Grant Wood American Gothic (1930) Art Institute of Chicago

Grant Wood Van Antwerp place

Thomas Hart Benton People of Chilmark

Thomas Hart Benton Cut the Line 1944, depicting the launch of a U.S. Navy Tank Landing Ship

Thomas Hart Benton Parks, the Circus, the Klan, the Press

Promoting Recovery
Hoovers conferences

Held series of conferences

Pledges and resolutions failed Provide Jobs lost in the private sector

Introduced public works

Republicans blamed for

Depression

Lost majority in the house of reps.

Pumping Money Into the Economy

Hoover sets up National

Credit Corporation (NCC)

Tried to rescue troubled banks using money from New York bankers Was not enough to help

Congress sets up

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

Make loans to banks, railroads, and agricultural institutions

Pumping Money Into the Economy

Direct Help for Citizens

Hoover opposed the federal governments participation in relief

Believed only state and city governments should dole out relief

Emergency Relief and Construction Act

Provided loans to the states for direct relief Hoover reluctantly signs the bill

In an Angry Mood
Bad economy leads to

violence

Looting, rallies, hunger marches Farmers destroyed crops to reduce supply, so price would go up Thousands of WWI veterans came to Washington in 1932

Creditors foreclosed on a

million farms

Bonus Army

to lobby Congress to pass legislation giving veterans their promised bonus early Left peacefully after the Senate voted the new bonus bill down

Roosevelt and the New Deal

CHAPTER 23

Roosevelts Rise to Power

The Election of 1932

Herbert Hoover

republican Democrat, New York Governor Won popularity by helping people economically Polio Married to Eleanor

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Roosevelt is Inaugurated

Roosevelt is Inaugurated
March 1933

Roosevelt inaugurated
Unemployment continues to rise People began converting their money into gold They fear the gold standard will be abandoned Bank runs increase Governors declared bank holidays to prevent this

The Hundred Days Begins

March 9 June 16, 1933

The beginning of the New Deal

Congress passed 15 major acts

Favored government intervention in the economy Three main groups New Nationalism
Wanted government to work with business

New Deal Advisers

Distrust big business

Wanted government planners to run key parts of the economy

New Freedom
Wanted government to break up big companies

Fixing the Banks and the Stock Market

Fight the Depression Roosevelt believed the First thing to do was to restore confidence in the banks

Emergency Banking Relief Act Solved the banking crisis

Issued licenses to banks that federal examiners found to be financially sound

Fireside chats
Roosevelt assured Americans that the banks were now secure

Fixing the Banks and the Stock Market

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulate the stock market and prevent fraud Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Provided government insurance for bank deposits up to a certain amount

Managing Farms and Industry

Agricultural Adjustment

Administration (AAA)

Tried to help farmers by paying them not to grow crops

National Industrial

Recovery Act (NIRA)

Set up codes for fair competition National Recovery Administration (NRA)

Organization that ran the NIRA

Providing Debt Relief

Home Owners Loan

Corporation (HOLC)

Lengthened the mortgage repayment term Lowered rates for the employed

The Farm Credit

Administration (FCA)

Established to help farmers refinance their mortgages

Spending Relief Programs

Civilian Conservation

Corps (CCC)

Gave unemployed men (18-25) work with the national forestry service Employed 3 million men

Public Works

Administration
Began a series of construction projects, creating additional jobs

Civil Works

Administration (CWA)

Challenges to the New Deal

Support fades in 1935 Deficit spending paid for the new deal There was no budget American Liberty League Party organized to oppose the New Deal Huey Long Left wing Democrat Wanted government to share the wealth of the rich Take property from the rich and divide amongst the poor

Challenges to the New Deal

The Townsend Plan

Idea of Dr. Francis Townsend

Left-wing, former public health official

Its goal was to free up jobs for the unemployed

Encourage people to retire Proposed the government to pay retirees $200 dollars a month

Launching the Second New Deal

New plan Speed up recovery Provide economic security Works Progress

Administration (WPA)
Spent $11 billion creating jobs The Federal Number One program

Employed people in the arts

The Supreme Courts Role Schechter v. U.S. Struck down the NIRA Deemed it constitutional

The Rise of Industrial Unions

National Labor Relations

Boaard (NLRB)

Organized factory elections by secret ballot to determine if workers wanted to form a union

Committee for Industrial

Oragnization (CIO

Set out to organize all skilled and unskilled workers in the automobile industry

The United Auto Workers (UAW) Became one of the most powerful unions in the U.S.

The Social Security Act

Became law in 1935

Framers of the SSA saw it primarily as an insurance bill

Workers earned the right to receive benefits because they paid premiums

Provide security for the elderly, unemployed, and the needy

Left out many farmers and domestic workers

Roosevelts Second Term

The Election of 1936 Roosevelt won in one of the biggest landslides in American history Historic Realignment From Rep. to a Demo. Majority
Largely due to Afr. Americans

The Roosevelt Recession Decrease in government spending Triggered a new economic downturn in 1937 Rise in unemployment Social Security decreased pay checks

Roosevelts Second Term

Court-Packing Plan

A ploy by Roosevelt to replace Supreme Court judges

He feared they would deem New Deal programs as unconstitutional It appeared to interfere with Constitutions separation of powers

Serious mistake

The Last New Deal Reforms

The National Housing Act

Established the U.S. Housing Authority

$500 million to subsidize loans for builders willing to buy slums and build low cost housing

Farm Security

Administration

Gave loans to purchase farms Child labor abolished Protected workers

Fair Labor Standards

The Legacy of the New Deal

The Broker State

Mediating role Working out conflicts among different interests

Governments New Role

Safety net

Protection against economic disaster

Allegory of The Wizard of OZ

http://students.ou.edu/G/Marion.

W.Garrett-1/film.html

In May of 1933, under Roosevelt's New Deal, the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was passed in hopes of maintaining a balance between production and consumption of commodities. Farmers demanded (1) higher prices for their crops, (2) the opportunity to refinance loans over a longer period of time and (3) cash relief to pay off their debts. The ultimate intention of this act was to help the farmers get back on their feet. By the late 1930's, however, the farmers were still suffering. Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz (released in the United States in 1939), therefore, addresses both the social as well as the political atmosphere in America. The film was a response to the insufficiency of government action (demonstrating sympathy for the farmers) and was also a positive light directed at technological progress.

The film has two settings. The first, the Gayle farm in Kansas, is filmed using sepia tone. The second, the Land of Oz, is filmed using the breakthrough technology of Technicolor. The two colors serve not only to distinguish between Dorothy's reality and her imagination, but also to vividly contrast the world of policy makers and the world of typical Americans. The drab sephia tone reinforces the bleak life that American farmers sustained during the Depression, while the vibrant colors reflect the wealth and prosperity of Washington, D.C. The magical metropolis is emblematic of the glitter that Washington received in its successes, while the brown and dusty farm house is symbolic of the drab life of typical Americans in the west. Therefore, Fleming, like Baum, expresses negative feelings towards government. The "Wizard" is a bumbling, old man, trembling and hiding behind a curtain and whatever gains are made in Washington, D.C. are certainly not "coloring" the dustridden farmers.

The fact that the book was made into a movie (a very innovative concept in 1939) is a very positive perspective on technology. In fact, the film itself is very supportive of technological breakthrough. First of all, Glenda, The Witch of the North, is the kind and loving witch, who is ultimately Dorothy's savior. Secondly, changing the slippers from silver to ruby transform the story from one based on Populism to one focused on prosperity and progress. Thirdly, in the scene just before visiting the Wizard, Dorothy and her new friends pay a visit to the "Wash and Brush Up, Co.", where the Scarecrow is re-stuffed, the Tin Man is buffed and Dorothy, Toto and the Lion are permed. This scene is absolutely an optimistic illumination of technological progress. Finally, and most simply, the use of Technicolor to depict the land of Oz was called a "Technicolor Triumph". Therefore, the promise of both film and world technology is celebrated.