The Great Depression and World War II

1
The Great Depression and World War II

• Essential Question

How did the people of Washington respond to the
economic, social, and political challenges of the
Great Depression and World War II?
2
From Boom to Bust

• The 1920s was a time of prosperity (wealth) and
  change.
• Herbert Hoover was elected president and
  announced the future was bright with hope. But
  this all changed on October 29, 1929.
• This was the largest selling day in the history
  of the New York Stock Exchange. Many people were
  selling their stocks and few were buying.
• Suddenly the price of stocks dropped and many
  people lost everything they had overnight.
• This began a time period in history known as the
  Great Depression.
• During this time, banks lost peoples money, many
  factories closed, and thousands of people lost
  their jobs.
• Many people went hungry during the Great
  Depression and began living in the streets.

3
The Dust Bowl Stretches Westward

• In 1928, one of the most severe droughts in our
  nations history came to the Great Plains states.
  This turned forests into a fire waiting to
  happen.
• In 1936, the Forest Service reported 450,000
  acres of national forest in the Northwest had
  been destroyed by fire.
• Many farmers suffered during this time because
  they couldnt get a good price for their crops.
  These crops began to rot.
• Many farmers and family fled the Great Plains
  states. They migrated west in search of work and
  a better life.

4
Voters Blame Hoover

• The Great Depression was the worst and longest
  economic downturn in the nations history.
• Many people blamed President Herbert Hoover. No
  one was helping the many people suffering.
• When it was time to elect a president, Americans
  rejected Hoover and elected Frankin D. Roosevelt.

5
A New President

• Franklin D. Roosevelt promised a New Deal for
  the American people.
• FDRs New Deal created jobs that put people back
  to work. The programs were identified by their
  abbreviations and referred to as alphabet soup.
• Although the Pacific Northwest had a very small
  population and lots of natural resources, it
  needed federal help, too.

6
The Grand Coulee Dam

• The biggest New Deal project in Washington was
  the Grand Coulee Dam.
• A severe drought and high unemployment during the
  Great Depression prompted FDR to approve the
  project.
• More than 12,000 workers were hired to help build
  the dam.
• The dam is one of the largest concrete structures
  in the world.
• Even though the dam created thousands of jobs for
  the unemployed, it forced thousands of people
  from their homes to make way for the dam.

7
Victory for Labor

• The New Deal created many jobs, but many workers
  still suffered.
• Wages were low, hours were long, and the
  conditions were dangerous.
• Much-needed labor reforms came with the passage
  of the National Labor Relations Act.
• The new law protected workers who joined unions
  and organized strikes.
• The new law boosted union membership but also
  fueled union rivalries.

8
Native Americans Get a New Deal

• In 1887, the Dawes Act was passed to help
  Americanize Indians.
• FDRs Indian Reorganization Act repealed the
  Dawes Act and encouraged tribal culture and
  tribal government.
• Because many Washington Indians had married
  outside of their tribes and worked outside of the
  reservation, they did not immediately benefit
  from the Indian Reorganization Act.

9
The Worst Was Over

• By 1939, the worst of the Great Depression was
  over.
• Businesses started to open and many people were
  able to work again.
• People were able to purchase goods and could
  afford food for their families.
• World War II began and the war ended what was
  left of the Great Depression.

10
Another World War

• In Germany, a man named Adolf Hitler was
  determined to conquer Europe.
• Hitler wanted to rid Germany of people he
  considered inferior, especially Jewish people.
• Hitler ordered millions of Jews and others to
  concentration camps where many were put to death.
  This mass murder was called the Holocaust.
• World War II began when Hitlers army invaded
  Poland.
• Italy and Japan joined Germany. They were called
  the Axis Powers.
• The Axis Powers fought against the
  AlliesEngland, France, and the Soviet Union.
• The United States joined the Allies when the
  Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7,
  1941.

11
Wartime Economic Boom

• The war brought economic prosperity to the United
  States. There were war-related jobs for everyone.
  
• Aluminum production became the states great new
  war industry.
• The Kaiser Shipbuilding Company supplied the U.S.
  military with aircraft carriers.
• Washingtons Boeing plants built thousands of
  bombers used in the air war against Germany and
  Japan.

12
Building the Atom Bomb

• The United States began the secret Manhattan
  Project to develop the atom bomb before the
  Germans could do it.
• Hanford, Washington, was the site of one of the
  secret projects research facilities.
• Most of the workers in Hanford didnt know what
  they were building.
• The world discovered the secrets of Hanford when
  America dropped the atomic bombs on Japan to end
  the war.

13
Relocation of Japanese Americans

• Pearl Harbors attack was such a surprise that
  many people thought Japanese Americans might be
  helping Japan.
• The government ordered all persons of Japanese
  ancestry living on the West Coast to relocate to
  special camps.
• Many Japanese Americans lost their homes and
  businesses as a result.
• They spent the war surrounded by barbed wire and
  armed guards.
• Gordon Hirabayashi was one of the few Japanese
  Americans to challenge relocation.
• Congress issued a formal apology to Japanese
  Americans in 1988.

14
The War Ends

• President Roosevelt died suddenly in April 1945
  from a stroke.
• Less than a month later, Germany surrendered,
  ending the war in Europe, but war in the Pacific
  was still raging.
• The new president, Harry S. Truman, weighed his
  options for ending the war with Japan.
• Truman decided to drop an atomic bomb on
  Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb killed thousands and
  flattened the city.
• When Japan refused to surrender, Truman decided
  to drop a second bomb. The second bomb devastated
  the city of Nagasaki.
• Japan had no choice but to surrender. The war was
  finally over.

15
War Brings Social Change

• The war transformed Seattle into an industrial
  center and brought a lot of new people to the
  state, including African Americans and Mexicans.
• Many white people resented the invasion of
  newcomers.
• The Bracero Program allowed Mexican men to work
  in the United States during the war as temporary
  farm laborers.
• The role of women changed forever as a result of
  both world wars.
• Women took over at home and in the workplace.
  They helped in all branches of the military. Some
  even worked as spies!
• The number of women in the labor force grew 110
  percent during the war years.
• After the war, a womans place was no longer just
  in the home. Women began to challenge their
  traditional roles.