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The Depression and the New Deal

The Depression and the New Deal. 1929-1939. The Great Depression. Essential Question. What were the factors that brought about the Great Depression?. The Boom. A long period of rising stock prices convinced Americans to invest heavily in the stock market

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The Depression and the New Deal

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  1. The Depression and the New Deal 1929-1939

  2. The Great Depression

  3. Essential Question What were the factors that brought about the Great Depression?

  4. The Boom • A long period of rising stock prices convinced Americans to invest heavily in the stock market • Everyone was trying to get rich quickly

  5. The Crash • Fearing that the boom would end, some investors started selling their stock • Prices declined and people panicked • Investors sold millions of stocks a day for three days • “Black Thursday”: panicked traders sold almost 13 million shares

  6. An Unbalanced Economy • Overproduction caused a drop in prices • Factory owners slowed production • Factory owners cut wages and laid off workers • 1920s – Growing gap between the rich and the poor • 75% of American families lived in poverty or were on the edge of it

  7. Depression

  8. Credit Crisis • Borrowed money fueled the economy in the 1920s • Many consumers could not meet loan or credit payments • Small banks collapsed • Large banks invested in the stock market • Large banks collapsed

  9. Joblessness and Poverty • 1932 – 25% of Americans out of work • Those who managed to keep their jobs often worked part time and for reduced wages • Hungry people waited in long lines to get bread, coffee or soup from soup kitchens • Families or individuals who lost their homes built shelters out of old boxes or debris • Shanty towns or Hoovervilles: groups of homeless people who build shelters

  10. Depression

  11. Shanty town

  12. Hooverville

  13. Average Prices (1932-1933) • Sirloin Steak (per pound) • 27 cents • Chicken (per pound) • 22 cents • Bread (20oz loaf) • 5 cents • Potatoes (per pound) • 2 cents • Bananas (per pound) • 7 cents • Milk (per quart) • 10 cents

  14. Peggy Terry, a young girl from Oklahoma City, told how each day after school her mother sent her to the soup kitchen: • If you happened to be one of the first ones in line, you didn’t get anything but water that was on top. So we’d ask the guy that was ladling out soup into the buckets – everybody had to bring their own bucket to get the soup – he’d dip the greasy, watery stuff off the top. So we’d ask him to please dip down to get some meat and potatoes from the bottom of the kettle. But he wouldn’t do it. • From Hard Times by Studs Terkel

  15. Hoover and the Crisis • Hoover believed, “depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement” • Charities, churches and volunteers worked heroically to provide relief • Eventually Hoover recognized the government needed to take steps to combat the Depression • 1931 – Authorized additional federal spending on public works to create jobs

  16. The Bonus Army • WWI veterans who marched on Washington to demand bonuses promised by the government • Camped outside Washington • Police tried to disband the camp and two people were killed • Hoover called in the army and veterans and their families fled in terror • Citizens were horrified that the government attacked its own citizens • Hoover seemed out of touch with ordinary Americans

  17. Bonus Army

  18. Making Connections • What impact did the Great Depression have on employment? • How did Hoover respond to the economic crisis? • Essential Question: What were the factors that brought about the Great Depression?

  19. Roosevelt’s New Deal

  20. Essential Questsion How did Franklin Roosevelt’s Leadership bring about change in the U.S. economy?

  21. Franklin D. Roosevelt • Democratic governor of New York • Defeated Republican President Hoover in the Election of 1932 • Struck by polio in 1921 leaving his legs paralyzed • Promised the American people a “new deal”

  22. Restoring Confidence • Inaugural Address: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” • Promised to put people to work • Ordered all banks closed for 4 days to help them reorganize and reopen (Emergency Banking Relief Act) • Fireside chats helped FDR gain public’s confidence

  23. Fireside Chats Americans huddled around their radios on march 12, 1933 to hear newly elected president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his first fireside chat: “Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system, and it is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem my friends, your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.” In the fireside chats, Roosevelt calmly but confidently explained in simple terms the nation’s problems.

  24. LAWS AND REGULATIONS AFFECTED BY THE NEW DEAL Banking Laws and regulations Agriculture Stock Market Relief for the poor Public Works Conservation of Resources industry

  25. Jobs and Relief • Programs • Civilian Conservations Corps • Acronym • CCC • Characteristics • Employed 3 million young people to plant trees, reforest areas, improve national parks, etc.

  26. Jobs and Relief • Programs • Federal Emergency Relief Administration • Acronym • FERA • Characteristics • Gave money to the states for use in helping the needy

  27. Jobs and Relief • Programs • Agricultural Adjustment Act • Acronym • AAA • Characteristics • Wanted to raise farm prices quickly and control production

  28. Jobs and Relief • Programs • Tennessee Valley Authority • Acronym • TVA • Characteristics • Control flooding, advance conservation and development, bring electricity to rural areas on the Tennessee River

  29. Jobs and Relief • Programs • National Recovery Administration • Acronym • NRA • Characteristics • Encouraged businesses to set minimum wage and abolish child labor

  30. Assessing the New Deal • Did not cure the nation’s ills • Depression dragged on • Darkest days (1932-1933) had passed

  31. Making Connections • Summarizing: What steps did Roosevelt take to restore confidence in banks and in the stock exchange? • Analyzing: How did work relief programs benefit the economy? • Answer the Essential Question: How did Franklin Roosevelt’s Leadership bring about change in the U.S. economy?

  32. Life During the Depression

  33. Essential Question How did the Great Depression affect economic activity and social traditions of Americans, especially minorities?

  34. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt • I am writing to you for some of your old soiled dresses if you have any…I am in the seventh grade in school but I have to stay out of school because I have no books or clothes to ware (wear)…If you have any soiled clothes that you don’t want to ware I would be very glad to get them. Yours Truly • From Dear Mrs. Roosevelt

  35. Women go to Work • Desperation drives them into the workforce despite many men being out of work • Many families survive on a woman’s income • Worked harder at home • Sewed their own clothes • Baked their own bread • Canned their own vegetables • Ran laundry businesses or turned their homes into boarding houses • Opened doors for women in public life • Frances Perkins: first female cabinet member • Eleanor Roosevelt campaigned vigorously for women and families in need

  36. Women

  37. The Dust Bowl • Environmental disaster on the Great Plains • New farm technology ruined grass roots that held the soil in place • Drought in 1931 dried out the soil and it blew away • Sand drifts as high as 6 feet • People left the Plains and became migrant workers

  38. The Plight of Minorities • African Americans • Less than half have jobs in the South • Jobs taken away by white people who lost theirs • Many migrated to cities • NAACP helped them join unions • Roosevelt appointed many to federal posts

  39. The Plight of Minorities • Latinos • About 2 million living in the US • Resentment against Mexican Americans grows • Government forces many to leave • 500,000 leave in the early years of the Great Depression

  40. Entertainment and the Arts • The Depression produced two separate trends in the entertainment and the arts • Escapism: light or romantic entertainment that helped people forget about their problems • Social Criticism: portraits of the injustice and suffering of Depression America

  41. Radio and the Movies • Radio “soap operas” • Adventure programs (Dick Tracy and Superman) • 85 million went to the movies every week • Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) • Wizard of Oz (1939) • Gone with the Wind (1939)

  42. Making Connections • Analyzing: What was the Dust Bowl? How did advanced farming technology contribute to it? • Answer the Essential Question: How did the Great Depression affect economic activity and social traditions of Americans, especially minorities?

  43. Effects of the New Deal

  44. Essential Question Why did some people support Roosevelt’s New Deal and others oppose it?

  45. Critics of the New Deal • FDR thought big business would help found the New Deal • Big business viewed the government expansion of power as a threat to individual liberties • Preferred laissez-faire

  46. Demanding More Reform • Some believed the president had not gone far enough • Louisiana Senator Huey Long • Called for taxing the rich heavily • Wanted to redistribute that money to the poor • Very popular • Assassinated in 1935

  47. The Second New Deal • Mid 1930s – Economy improved slightly but the Depression was not over • FDR took bolder steps • Raised taxes on the wealthy • Created jobs with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) • Social Security Act: created a tax on workers and employers to provide monthly pensions for retired people. Also launched the welfare system. • Unemployment insurance • Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Banned child labor and set minimum wage at 40 cents per hour

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