THE DIRTY THIRTIES

1. THE DIRTY THIRTIES

2. The Great Depression 1929 - 1939

3. The Boom – Economic Prosperity • Based on the Stock Market Wild speculation – buying risky stocks – prices rose • Bought stocks on margin – money they didn’t have • Stock prices higher than companies they represented – not based on real values • Holding companies – owned nothing except stocks – people bought them

4. Manipulating the Market • Swindlers – rumors to manipulate market – insider trading • Prices still rising –based on confidence, not real worth • Government looked the other way

5. Crash of 1929 • October 24th 1929 – Black Tuesday – huge drop of market • Followed by free fall • 30 Billion lost by November and still falling till worth nothing in 1932. • Hurt everybody – rich and poor Sold Out

6. Causes of the Bust • Speculation of stock market • Personal debt • Mortgages • Credit buying • Weak banks – risky lending policies. • Farmers – producing products in excess – more supply than demand.

7. Income Gap Widened • Uneven distribution of income – 5% received 1/3 of income – rich stopped spending – industries collapsed. • People lost everything – homes, possessions

8. Effects of the Depression • Companies bankrupt • 25% of working population unemployed • Couldn’t make payments or buy anything – had to live off savings • Soup kitchens in cities and breadlines • Tent cities • Shanty houses – cardboard, scrap metal • Homelessness

10. Hoover Government Callous • “Due to lack of confidence in business” • “Work harder, live a more moral life” – Andrew Mellon • Hoover continued “laissez faire” policy. • People called on government to help homeless and hungry but Hoover thought private agencies should provide the help. Andrew Mellon Herbert Hoover

11. Hoover Blamed • Hoover – symbol of everything wrong • Shanty cities called “Hoovervilles” • Empty pockets – “Hoover flags” – • Old newspapers – “Hoover blankets” • Anger – fear of revolution – Definitely time for a change

12. Dust Bowl – Where was it? • Dust Bowl - a large area in the southern part of the Great Plains region of the United States, • Suffered extensively from wind erosion during the 1930s. • The area included parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado

13. The Boom Years • High prices for wheat when Europe was at war • Farmers over extended themselves • Bought equipment on credit • Over farmed • Prices dropped after WW1

14. The Dust Bowl- What caused it? • Hardy grasses had held the fine soil in place • Over production of wheat and cattle during WW1 and the 1920’s caused soil erosion • Severe drought and windstorms in the 1930’s destroyed the soil which grass no longer held together

15. The Dust Bowl - Solutions • 1935 – State and Federal programs for soil conservation • Seeding large areas of grass • 3-year crop rotation for wheat and sorghum • Contour sloughing, terracing, fallow land use • Planting trees to shelter wind

16. Franklin Delano Roosevelt • Elected 1932 by wide margin – • Democrat – disabled because of earlier bout of polio • Promised “new deal” for “forgotten man” • Called for protection of consumers and investors, unemployment relief, help for farmers. • Won by landslide.

17. Roosevelt's Changes • Outstanding cabinet – first woman – Francis Perkins, secretary of labor • Popular and good communication – regular radio talks – fireside chats • Realized fear was the enemy • “Nothing to fear but fear itself” Fireside chat

18. The New Deal • Changed many things about our government • These changes still affect us today • “I pledge you, I pledge myself , to a new deal for the American people”

19. Implements Change • Government control of business – (some people (largely Repulicans) disapproved • Changes in: labor relations business ethics • Forgotten people loved him.

20. Social Security and CCC 1935 – Social Security Act • Insurance plan for workers • Workers and employers contributed monthly • Collected at retirement. • Also security for unemployed, disabled. CCC Civilian Conservation Corps Work for unemployed Young men sent money home Planted forests Built dams National parks Civilian Conservation Corps

21. More New Deal Programs • Federal Emergency Relief Act – Money to create jobs – (not dole) • Agricultural Adjustment act – controlled amount of food produced • Tennessee River Authority Act – dams for electric power • Truth in Securities Act – strict rules about new stocks and banking • These were just some of the programs

22. Works Progress Administration WPA • The largest New Deal Agency • Employed millions to carry out public works • Construction of roads, public buildings • Operated large arts, drama media and literacy projects (American Memory) • Fed children and redistributed food, clothing and housing. • Constructed parks, bridges, dams and schools • From 1936 to 1939 totaled nearly $7 billion.

23. FDR Re-elected in 1936 • Negative reaction from business sector who disapproved – tried to railroad New Deal • In the end passed • FDR re-elected in 1936 by huge majority

24. Communism and Fascism • Other countries tried to solve their problems with Communism or Fascism • Communism–favored people’s control of all resources and means of production – Soviet Union was the model • Joseph Stalin

25. Fascism – Germany’s solution • Fascism – wanted very strong government control over government and industry and less individual freedom. (Looked to Germany and Hitler as their model)

26. America Relied on Democracy • In the end, democratic solutions to the problem worked – democracy prevailed. • Interesting to speculate what would have happened had Roosevelt not won