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Intro question • Imagine this: you come home from school and your parents are outside your house with piles of items from inside. They say to you that they have lost everything they had in savings and they also have lost their jobs. They ask you to come up with a plan as to how they are going to survive. Write down a plan for survival for you and your family. What would you do?
Causes of the Great Depression • Economic trouble in Europe
Causes of the Great Depression • U.S. Economic Policies • Smoot-Hawley Tariff
Causes of the Great Depression • Buying on Credit
Causes of the Great Depression • Stock Market Crash • Bull Market • Margin Buying • Black Thursday • Black Tuesday • October 29, 1929
Causes of the Great Depression • Banking Crisis Investors lose their investments in the stock market and can’t repay their loans (margin buying) Fearing for their savings, other Americans “run” to the bank to get their savings Banks are left with little income and little cash reserves; some banks are forced to close As a result, more banks failed and the Depression set in even more.
Intro Question: Explain the difference between empathy and sympathy.
Unemployment Skyrockets • 1929 – 1.5 million unemployed 1933 – 15 million • Even workers who were able to keep their jobs saw their wages and hours cut dramatically. • African Americans had a particular hard time because economic trouble only enhanced racial discrimination. • Women actually saw an increase of employment in the 1930s…why do you think?
City Life During the Depression • It was a fight to survive in the city during the depression. • People relied on charitable organizations, help from neighbors, breadlines, and garbage for things to eat. • Homeless often gathered themselves in shantytowns.
Farm Life During the Depression • Oversupply cause farmers to let crops rot and slaughter their animals because they could not afford to feed them. • Their income dropped and they could not afford to pay their mortgages. • Farmers banned together to help one another. • Tenant farmers were hit especially hard. • Southwest farmers of Mexican decent were often encouraged to leave the country.
Family Life in the 1930s • Due to economic strains, the marriage rate fell. • Suicide rates increased by 28% from 1929 - 1932
Psychological Effects • In pairs, answer the following questions and be ready to discuss: • What is the meaning of work? • What does it mean to have a job? • What do you think people feel when they lose their job? • What would say to someone who lost their job through no fault of their own?
The Election of 1932 • The Republicans reluctantly renominated Herbert Hoover as their candidate. • Public resentment for the Republicans was widespread and suggested they would lose • The Democrats nominated New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, or FDR. • Not only did FDR win the presidency but the Democrats also won decisive majorities in both houses of Congress. • Roosevelt won because he offered Americans a “new deal”.
If you were an average American living in 1932, what would you want to hear from the President in his Inaugural Address?
Grade how FDR did in his speech? • What kind of a public speaker was FDR? • What was the message of his speech? • How did the people react? • What overall grade would you give FDR on his First Inaugural Address and why?
When the President has a televised address to the nation, do you watch it? Why or why not?
FDR’s First 100 Days • Immediately following taking office, FDR called Congress into special session. • During the next 100 days, Congress approved 15 measures thought up by FDR and his “brain trust”, which became known as the “New Deal”.
Banking Reform • The day after FDR took office, he declared a banking holiday proclamation. • The purpose of this was to stop the massive withdrawals that were crippling the nation’s banks. • A few days after his proclamation, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act
Further Banking Reform • Confidence in the nation’s banks increased even more when Congress created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). • This organization insured each bank deposit up to $2,500
Direct Relief to the Needy • To help the nation’s 13 million unemployed, Congress (under FDR’s request) created the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). • This organization channeled $500 million to state and local agencies
Job Creation • Many Americans did not want a “hand out”; they wanted a job. • In response the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created. • Members were trained and employed in several different conservation projects.
Relief vs. Recovery SPEND!! SPEND!! SPEND!! • FDR knew that relief was short-term while recovery was long-term • In order to recover from the depression, FDR based his programs on famous economist John Keynes, who stated that government had to spend money to encourage investment and consumption
Agricultural Recovery Ummm…how about a little help please???? • FDR hoped to help farmers by encouraging them to cut their output. • To do this Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which created the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA).
Tennessee Valley Authority • One of the largest New Deal programs was the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). • This organization created many dams and power plants to help combat electricity shortages, disease, and the areas low standard of living
Equality Under the New Deal • Eleanor Roosevelt (FDR’s wife) was instrumental in helping New Deal programs reach minorities. • In addition, African Americans were appointed to key federal government positions. • American Indians also saw the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act, which reversed the Dawes Act.
Have you ever heard the expression “Just when you think things can’t get any worse…they do.”
The Dust Bowl • A huge drought hit the Great Plains in the mid-1930s. • High winds picked up the topsoil and created huge dust cloud that buried farms and towns. • The Dust Bowl caused many farmers to lose everything and forced them to migrate to a new home.
Critics of the New Deal • Some reformers, both conservative and liberal, opposed New Deal reforms. • Among them was U.S. Senator Huey Long, who proposed a new kind of relief called Share-Our-Wealth. • According to this plan, the government was supposed to seize wealth from the rich through taxes and then provide a minimum income to every American family
What do you think about this idea?Do you agree or disagree? In pairs, discuss this and be ready to share.
The Second New Deal • After the Civil Works Administration (CWA), FDR created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) • This organization built airports, buildings, bridges, and miles of roads.
Social Security • In 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act. • This act did 3 things: • Provided unemployment insurance • Provided pensions for retired workers over the age of 65 • Provided payments to people with disabilities, the elderly, and widows and their children.
The Election of 1936 • Roosevelt promised to continue the New Deal reforms. • As a result, he won the election easily. • In addition, for the first time since Reconstruction, African Americans in the North supported the Democrats.
FDR and the Supreme Court • FDR was angered at the Supreme Court for ruling several of his New Deal programs unconstitutional. • As a result, he asked Congress for the power to appoint one new justice for each of those over 70 (there were 6). • FDR was meant with staunch criticism for this.
What do you think? Should FDR have proposed this? Was he right or wrong? Explain your answer.
Effects of the Second New Deal • Some major effects of the Second New Deal were: • Organization of labor • Relief for farmers • Recession (Remember the business cycle)
What do you think? In our country, should there be more government or less government? Explain your response.
