Great Depression

Unit 8.4 Great Depression

Causes of the Great Depression • Farm Problems • Foreclosures • Over supply • Credit Problems • Installment plans • Buying on Margin • Wealth Distribution • Stock Market “paper wealth” • International Crisis • Dawes Plan • International trade decreasing • Isolationism • Government Policies • Hawley-Smoot Tariff • Less Regulation • Business problems • Overproduction

Black Tuesday • October 29th 1929 • Why would it make a difference if less than 3% actually owned stock?

What is Hoover going to Do? • Overall he believed that government should not be involved, but actually did more than any other President before him. • RFC – Reconstruction Finance Corporation • Loans to banks (not individuals) • Cuts in other gov’t programs to keep balanced budget • Volunteerism – businesses were asked to help out on their own. • (Volunteer Cooperation) • Why would businesses not do this?

Blame it on Hoover • Hoovervilles • Hoover Flags • Bonus (army) March • 1932, veterans of WWI wanted their (1945) pension (bonus) early. • Hoover ordered the current army to their camp • What did FDR say when he heard about it?

Both a climate and environmental calamity. • Dust Bowl and “Okies” shown in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath • Thousands of transient people roaming around looking for work Dust Bowl

1st to lose jobs • Backlash against Mexican Americans • 50% of blacks unemployed • Spread belief women shouldn’t work (but many work p-t to help family) • Scottsboro Case (1931) • Alabama, 8 black men accused of rape (later overturned by Supreme Court, but shows continued race divide) Effects on Women and Minorities

Hit urban areas harder as many in rural areas were already poor • Rural areas – food wasn’t as much of a problem • Urban: Bread Lines & Soup Kitchens Rural – Urban Differences

Entertainment as an Escape • Movies • 1930s were Golden Age of Hollywood. • 1939 – Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, & Gone with the Wind • Walt Disney – Snow White (1937) • Radio • Orson Wells – War of the Worlds (1938) • Soap Operas • Other Radio shows such as The Lone Ranger • NBC – largest broadcaster • FDR would use it with his Fireside Chats

Magazines such as Life portrayed the Depression in pictures. Saturday Evening Post Emergence of Comic books Richard Wright’s Native Son exposed urban ghettos Literature

Construction between 1931 and 1936 • Started with Hoover as President • Large numbers of workers • Las Vegas would boom Hoover (boulder) Dam

Critical Election as Democrats took both houses and the executive branch from Republicans (Party Realignment) • What is a “Critical Election?” • Landslide in Electoral College – FDR 57% of popular vote • Between Election (Nov) and Inauguration (Mar), the economy would get much worse, but FDR would not do anything to help Hoover. (20th Amendment later) 1932 Election – Mr. Roosevelt’s gonna save us all

http://www.kennesaw.edu/pols/3380/pres/1932.html - FDR inaugural address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl_J4J2mQpQ – War of Worlds pt. 1 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug99/vizzuso/wpaproject.html - art in Depression http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/category/films-of-the-great-depression/ - movies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTC_pZj49yI&feature=relmfu – review of causes of GD Links

How much is Hoover truly to blame for the Great Depression? How was the depression different for those in the cities compared to those in the countryside? What happened in the 1930s in regards to the arts and literature? What factors did FDR have in his favor in the 1932 election? Reflection Questions

Great Depression