The Response to the Economic Collapse

The Response to the Economic Collapse Putting the Depression in Perspective

Agenda 04/16/2012 • Notebooks Back • Intro and Bell Work • Graphing the Economic Collapse • Hoover and FDR Respond to the Collapse • Chapter 31 Notes (Conservatives, Liberals, and Radicals) • Remember! 1920s and Depression Quiz 4/24

Bell Work! Did you miss it? • What obligation does the United States government have to ensure that all Americans are fed? That all Americans have jobs? That all Americans have a secure retirement? • Why do you think the government should or should not take on the onus of ensuring that all Americans have these necessities?

Graphing the Economic Collapse: Understanding Causes an Effects • To put the Great Depression in perspective, we will graph 6 sets of economic data. By considering the data we will be able to develop a sophisticated understanding of what caused the economic collapse and what its effects were. • We will look at: • Average stock prices • Gross National Product (GNP)-The total dollar value of all goods and services produced by American firms • Unemployment • Average annual salaries of workers • Business failures • Bank closures • Once you have graphed the data, you will be given a set of questions to consider using your graphs. • The graphs and question responses will be turned in at the end of class.

Responding to the Collapse Conservatives, Liberals, and Radicals oh my!

Hoover’s Conservative Response to Hard Times • Hoover was believer in self-reliance, rugged individualism, and hard work. His administration would formulate economic policy around those attributes. • He did not believe that it was the job of the government to provide aid to the needy. He felt government handouts would make Americans dependent on the government. • Instead of government aid, Hoover encouraged private charity. • Hoover believed the economy was essentially sound and could be guided back into prosperity. • Voluntary cooperation, trickle-down policies, and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

FDR Calls for a New Deal for the American People • FDR’s charisma and confidence convinced the public that he was the man that could turn the economic crisis around. • FDR promised a “New Deal” for the American people. He promised to try anything and everything he could to turn the tide. • The New Deal focused on 3 R’s: Relief, Recovery, and Reform. • In his first 100 days as president, FDR would usher in sweeping changes that would set the bar for all presidents that followed.

The Three R’s • We will look at FDRs administration in more detail on Friday. But, some examples of his first 100 days are: • Relief: aimed at helping the unemployed, Congress created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to put young men to work. • Recovery: aimed at reducing the downward slide of the economy, the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) tried to make farming profitable again by reducing overproduction and raising crop prices. • Reform: focusing primarily on the financial sector, measures like the Truth-in-Securities Act required companies issuing stock to provide full and accurate information to investors.

FDR’s First Inaugural Address 1933 This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

Ch. 31 Notes: Responding to Crisis “Say that civilization is a tree which, as it grows, continually produces rot and dead wood. The radical says: ‘cut it down.’ The conservative says: ‘don’t touch it.’ The liberal compromises: ‘let’s prune, so that we lose neither the old trunk nor the new branches.’” –FDR 1932 Campaign Speech Read sections 31.1 and 31.2. After reading the sections write a two sentence description that summarizes each ideology: radical, conservative, and liberal. Then answer the following question: Which ideology do you think would be the most effective in addressing the economic collapse of the Great Depression? Why?

Chapter 31 Sections 3 & 4 • Read sections 31.3 and 31.4 and construct a T-Chart like the one below: • As you read Sections 31.3 and 31.4, list actions taken by Hoover and Roosevelt to address the nation’s economic problems. Briefly describe how each action was meant to help the nation economically. Then label each action with a C if you think it was a more conservative action or an L if you think it was a more liberal action.

Economic depression can not be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. The basis of successful relief in national distress is to mobilize and organize the infinite number of agencies of self help in the community. That has been the American way. —Herbert Hoover This nation asks for action, and action now. Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men. –FDR You have learned that the Great Depression severely limited economic opportunities for most Americans. Both President Hoover and, later, President Roosevelt tried to promote economic opportunities by taking a variety of actions based on their own political ideologies. Read the following quotations by these two presidents: Using these quotations and information from your reading, write two or three paragraphs in which you evaluate the extent to which each president succeeded in advancing economic opportunities for all Americans. Each paragraph should use evidence to support your position

The Response to the Economic Collapse