The Great Depression and the

1
The Great Depression and the New Deal

• How the greatest economic crisis in American
  history shaped American politics, culture and
  society

2
I. The Stock Market Crash

• Republican responsibility for the economy
• Stock market outraces real economic growth
• The problem of buying stock on margin
• Public concern over the stock market by 1929
• The crash
• Deflationary Psychology

3
II. The Great Depression

• Initial governmental optimism
• Catastrophic unemployment figures
• Urban poverty, especially for immigrants, is the
  worst
• State and local governments as well as private
  charities can do little

4
II. The Great Depression

• Corporate failures
• Drop in farm income
• Even the wealthy had problems
• --Howard Johnson restaurant chain
• Riding the rails looking for work

5
III. Contributing Causes to this Economic
Catastrophe

• American farmer in trouble
• Unstable American foreign trade
• The Gold standard forsaken in Europe
• Weak and vulnerable American banks
• Large individual debt
• Corporate profits enriched only a few

6
IV. The Response of the Hoover Administration

• Positive statements aggravate the Depression
  crisis
• Hoovers background
• Hoovers actions to stem the economic crisis
• Creation of the Reconstruction Finance
  Corporation (1932)
• Trickle Down Solutions

7
IV. Hoovers Response (cont.)

• Unemployment continued and farm prices dropped
  dramatically
• Violent farm protests by 1932
• Hoover was limited by his own governmental
  philosophy
• Hoover championed voluntarism as a solution

8
IV. Hoovers Response (cont.)

• Growing inability to compromise with Congress
• Hoovers unpopularity grows
• His name becomes synonymous with the Depression
• Economic and Political blunders
• The Bonus March (Summer of 1932)

9
V. The Election of 1932

• Democrats nominated Franklin Roosevelt
• FDRs background
• Republicans nominated Hoover
• Roosevelts campaign
• FDR projects the image that he will take action
  as President
• Results of the Election

10
VI. The New Deal A Revolution?

• Origins of the phrase
• Contrast with progressivism
• Major success restoration of confidence
• FDRs Brain Trust
• Military analogy
• Reliance on Social Workers
• --Frances Perkins and Harry Hopkins

11
VI. The New Deal A Revolution? (cont.)

• Bi-partisan support for FDR publicly and in
  Congress
• How revolutionary was the New Deal?
• New Deal may have prevented a revolution
• Really not a revolution in the truest sense

12
VII. Changes Made

• Federal government directly provided services to
  the American people
• -- welfare state
• Vast centralization of national power
• Increase in power of the presidency
• Democratic party becomes majority party
• Blacks vote for Democrats

13
VIII. Franklin Delano Roosevelt The Man

• Strong president who enjoyed leading
• Great politician
• Used the radio effectively
• -- fireside chats
• Not a systematic thinker
• Great ability to project empathy
• Many Americans think of FDR as part of the family
• More loved and hated than any other president

14
IX. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt

• Creates model for the active first lady
• Activist, especially for Blacks and women
• Real concern for the poor
• FDRs eyes and legs
• Reputation for being constantly on the go

15
X. The New Deal and American Banking

• Emergency Banking Act (March 6, 1933)
• Use of the fireside chat to explain the bank
  holiday to the American public
• Initial success
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (1933)
• US abandoned the gold standard

16
XI. The New Deal and the Problem of Individual
Economic Relief

• Justification for the alphabet soup agencies of
  the New Deal
• Federal Emergency Relief Administration
  (FERAspring, 1933)
• --directed by Harry Hopkins
• Civil Works Administration (1933-34)

17
XI. Problem of Individual Economic Relief (cont.)

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCspring, 1933)
• Public Works Administration (PWAJune, 1933)
• --Directed by Harold Ickes
• Works Progress Administration (WPA1935)

18
XI. Problem of Individual Economic Relief (cont.)

• WPA directed by Harry Hopkins
• Federal Writers and Artists projects
• National Youth Administration (NYA)
• National Recovery Administration (NRA1933)

19
XII. The New Deal and the American Farmer

• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAAspring, 1933)
• Commodity Credit Corporation (1933)
• Dust Bowl migrations
• -- Okies
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVAspring, 1933)
• Farm Security Administration (FSA1937)

20
XIII. The New Deal and Organized Labor

• FDRs sympathy with union concerns grows
• Growth in union membership
• Wagner Act (1935)
• --Creation of NLRB
• Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
  created in 1935

21
XIII. The New Deal and Organized Labor (cont.)

• The Leadership of John L. Lewis and others
• Use of the sit down strike
• Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)
• --minimum wage 40 cents
• --prohibition of child labor
• --maximum work week of 40 hours

22
XIV. The Social Security Act (1935)

• Myth of poor being lazy exposed
• 13 weeks of unemployment insurance
• Pension fund for retired people over 65
• Funds also for disabled and single parent
  families
• Response to more radical schemes

23
XIV. The Social Security Act (cont.)

• Huey Longs Share Our Wealth program
• Revenue Act of 1935 (Soak the Rich Tax)
• Health insurance pulled due to congressional
  resistance
• Problems with Social Security initially and
  long-term
• Important New Deal legacy

24
XV. The Culture of the 1930s

• Return to political and social concern in 30s
  literature
• --John Reed Clubs
• John Dos Passos
• -- U.S.A. (1938)
• John Steinbeck
• --Grapes of Wrath (1939)
• Richard Wright
• --Native Son (1940)

25
XV. The Culture of the 1930s (cont.)

• Ill Take My Stand (1930)
• Thomas Wolfe
• William Faulkner
• --Absalom! Absalom! (1936)
• James Agee and Walker Evans
• --Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941)
• 1930s Movies
• -- The Wizard of Oz
• --The Marx Brothers

26
XVI. Roosevelts Second Term (1937-1941)

• Election of 1936
• FDR vs. Alf Landon (R-Kan)
• Biggest landslide since 1820
• The Roosevelt Recession of 1937-1938
• Harsh CIO strikes

27
XVII. The Court Reorganization Act (Spring, 1937)

• Supreme Court attack on the New Deal
  (1934-1936)
• FDRs proposals for change
• Court fight eroded public confidence in Roosevelt
  administration
• Supreme Court suddenly begins to reverse itself
  on the New Deal
• Congressional opposition takes shape

28
XVIII. Summary of the Results of the New Deal

• Did not end the Depression
• Many agricultural problems unsolved, especially
  for southern Blacks and tenant farmers
• Did restore national hope
• Controls were built into the economy to avert
  future crises
• --Federal Securities Act of 1933 and SEC (1934)
• The Government as broker state
• Restoration of confidence in U.S. government and
  economybut both different than before 1932