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Hoover's Struggle: Great Depression's Response

Learn how Hoover's optimistic public facade clashed with private worries amid the Great Depression. Explore his efforts to revive the economy, his reluctance towards direct aid for citizens, and the fallout from the Bonus Army protests.

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Hoover's Struggle: Great Depression's Response

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  1. Hoover Responds http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/videos/the-hoover-dam?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false

  2. http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/videos/the-hoover-dam?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=falsehttp://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/videos/the-hoover-dam?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false

  3. Promoting Recovery

  4. Hoover was publicly optimistic after the Crash. He told the press that the worst effects will have passed in 60 days. He believed that American “rugged individualism” would keep the economy moving and the government should not step in to help individuals. Privately, however, Hoover was very worried. Optimistic 60 rugged individualism not help

  5. He held conferences with business leaders and got pledges from them to keep factories open and stop slashing wages. These were broken by 1931.

  6. Hoover’s next step was to increase public works (government financed building projects), but it only replaced a few jobs. The only way to create enough new jobs was through massive spending, which Hoover refused to do. He was unwilling to raise taxes or run a deficit budget. Republicans lose seats in Congress in the election of 1930.

  7. Trying to Rescue the Banks

  8. Hoover believed the U.S. needed more money in the economy so banks could make loans to companies so they could expand production and rehire workers. First, he asked the Federal Reserve Board to put more currency in circulation, but they refused.

  9. Next, he set up National Credit Corporation (NCC) in Oct. 1931. It created a pool of money to help banks lend money in their communities, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

  10. In 1932, Congress set up Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). They lent $238million to banks, railroads, and agricultural institutions. But the RFC was overly cautious and failed to increase its lending sufficiently so the economy continued to decline. First time the federal gov’t created a federal agency to stimulate the economy during peacetime

  11. Direct help for Citizens

  12. Hoover strongly opposed giving federal money directly to people (relief). He believed state and local governments should give relief, but they were running out of money. Congress passed the Emergency Relief and Construction Act in 1932 and Hoover reluctantly passed it. The federal government gave $1.5 billion for public works and $300 million in loans to the states for direct relief. First time in history the federal government was supplying direct relief funds.

  13. In an Angry Mood By 1931, people are getting increasingly discontent and want something to be done. Most felt Hoover was to blame for their situations Hoover Flags Hoover blankets

  14. Hunger Marches and Protests by Farmers

  15. In 1931, unemployed citizens looted grocery stores. In Washington D.C. and other cities the American Communist Party organized “hunger marches” to protest conditions.

  16. After the war, prices sank so low that farmers began to lose money. Between 1930 and 1934, creditors foreclosed on almost one million farms and took ownership of the land and evicted families. Some farmers tried destroying crops in an attempt to raise prices (less supply=higher prices).

  17. The Bonus Marchers

  18. In 1924, Congress had passed a law that said all WWI veterans would receive a $1000 bonus in 1945. Legislation was introduced to give the bonus to the vets early, and several hundred veterans marched on DC to lobby to get the bill passed. The press called them the “Bonus Army”. Eventually around 15,000 vets camped in DC in Hoovervilles.

  19. After the Senate voted down the bill, many marchers stayed in D.C. and squatted in vacant buildings. Hoover ordered the police to clear them out of the empty buildings. When the DC police killed two veterans, Hoover sent in the Army. General Douglas MacArthur ignored Hoover’s orders to clear only the buildings and leave the camps alone.

  20. He brought in cavalry, infantry, and tanks to clear the camps. Unarmed veterans were running away pursued by soldiers who used teargas on stragglers and burning shacks. National press coverage of troops assaulting veterans harmed Hoover’s reputation. Hoover failed to resolve the economic crisis, but did more to expand the federal government’s role in the economy than any prior president.

  21. Bonus Army https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhT7VxFOBxY

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