Title: The Roaring Twenties and The Great Depression
1The Roaring Twenties and The Great Depression
- Brother can you spare a dime?
2Timeline of Events
- 1918
- World War I ends
- 1919
- More than 3,000 strikes occur in the U.S.
- Palmer Raids begin and continue until 1920
- 1920s
- Harlem Renaissance begins
3Timeline of Events
- 1920
- Warren G. Harding is elected president
- Eighteenth Amendment goes into effect beginning
the Prohibition Era which included speakeasies
and organized crime - Nineteenth Amendment passes giving women the
right to vote - Andrew Rube Foster founds the Negro National
League
4Timeline of Events
- 1921
- Chinese Communist Party is founded in Shanghai
- Sacco and Vanzettti are convicted of robbery and
murder - Federal Aid Road Act funds a national highway
- Emergency Quota Act is passed restricting
immigration
5Timeline of Events
- 1922
- Benito Mussolini is appointed Prime Minister of
Italy - Teapot Dome Scandal
- Louis Armstrong plays for King Olivers Creole
Jazz Band in Chicago - King Tuts tomb is discovered in Egypt
6Timeline of Events
- 1923
- President Harding dies Calvin Coolidge becomes
president - German economic crisis
- Time magazine begins publication
- Mustafa Kemal becomes the first president of new
Republic of Turkey
7Timeline of Events
- 1924
- Calvin Coolidge is elected president
- Vladimir Ilich Lenin, founder of the Soviet
Union, dies - 1925
- A. Phillip Randolph organizes the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters - The Scopes trial takes place in Tennessee
8Timeline of Events
- 1926
- British laborers declare a general strike
- Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan
- Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles is
established - Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim
the English Channel
9Timeline of Events
- 1927
- Henry Ford introduces the Model A
- Holland Tunnel, the first underwater tunnel
connects New York City to New Jersey - Charles Lindbergh makes the first nonstop solo
transatlantic flight
10Timeline of Events
- 1927
- Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs in one season
- The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson is released
- Bessie Smith, a female blues singer, becomes the
highest paid black artist in the world
11Timeline of Events
- 1928
- Herbert Hoover is elected president
- Joseph Stalin launches the first of his
Five-Year-Plans for the USSR - President Alvaro Obregon of Mexico is
assassinated - Steamboat Willie, the first animated movie with
sound, was released by Walt Disney
12Timeline of Events
- 1929
- National Revolutionary Party is organized in
Mexico - Woodbridge Cloverleaf, the first cloverleaf
intersection is built in New Jersey - The first Academy Awards are presented
- The stock market crashes on October 29th
- Hoover Dam begins construction
13Timeline of Events
- 1930
- Army officers lead by Jose Uriburu seize control
of Argentina - More than 40 of the nations banks fail from
1930-1933 - Congress passes the Hawley-Smoot Tariff
- Grant Wood paints American Gothic
14Timeline of Events
- 1931
- Jane Addams shares the Nobel Peace Prize
- Japan invades Manchuria
- 8.02 million Americans are unemployed
15Timeline of Events
- 1932
- The Bonus Army arrives in Washington, D.C.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president
- Roosevelt launches the New Deal
- Ibn Saud becomes king of newly-united Saudi
Arabia
16Timeline of Events
- 1932
- From prison, Mohandas K. Gandhi leads a protest
against British policies in India - Federal Home Loan Bank Act is approved by
Congress - Reconstruction Finance Corporation is approved by
Congress
17Timeline of Events
- 1933
- Century of Progress Exposition begins
- The Twenty-First Amendment ends prohibition
- Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party take power in
Germany - Japan withdraws from the League of Nations
18Timeline of Events
- 1933
- Frances Perkins becomes the 1st woman cabinet
member serving as Secretary of Labor - Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
- Public Work Administration (PWA)
- Civil Works Administration (CWA)
19Timeline of Events
- 1933
- Emergency Banking Relief Act (EBRA)
- National Recovery Administration (NRA)
- Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)
- Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)
- Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
20Timeline of Events
- 1934
- Congress creates the SEC to regulate the stock
market - Indian Reorganization Act is passed
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
21Timeline of Events
- 1935
- Congress passes the Social Security Act
- Mussolini leads Italian invasion of Ethiopia
- British Parliament passes the Government of India
Act - Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- National Youth Administration (NYA)
22Timeline of Events
- 1935
- Banking Act of 1935
- Rural Electrification Administration (REA)
- National Labor Relations Board (Wagner Act)
- 1936
- President Roosevelt is reelected
- Civil war begins in Spain
23Timeline of Events
- 1937
- Labor unions begins using sit-down strikes
- United States Housing Authority (USHA)
- Japan invades northern China
- Hindenburg disaster
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released
- Zora Neale Hurston writes Their Eyes Were
Watching God
24Timeline of Events
- 1938
- Route 66 is completed, linking Chicago, Illinois
to Los,Angeles California - Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDC)
- Fair Labor Standards Act
- Orson Welles creates widespread panic with his
radio show, The War of the Worlds
25Timeline of Events
- 1939
- The Wizard of Oz is released in movie theaters
- Germany invades Poland
- Gone with the Wind is released on film
- John Steinbeck publishes The Grapes of Wrath
- 1940
- President Roosevelt is elected a third time
26Economic Troubles
- Industry
- Basic industries
- railroads, textiles, and steel
- Barely made a profit
- New forms of transportation
- Trucks, buses, and automobiles
- Railroads lose business
- Mining and lumbering
- No longer in big demand
27Economic Troubles
- New forms of energy take away from coal
- huge profit losses due to new forms of energy
- Hydroelectric
- Fuel oil
- Natural gas
- By 1930s supply more than ½ the energy that had
come from coal
28Economic Troubles
- Boom industries weaken
- Automobiles, construction, and consumer goods
- Housing industry weakens key indicator
- Housing starts to fall so do jobs in related
industries - Furniture manufacturing and lumbering
29Forms of Energy
30Farmers Need a Lift
- Agriculture suffered the most
- During WWI prices rose and international output
for crops like wheat and corn soared - Planted more crops
- Borrowed money for more land and equipment
- Demand fell after WWI and crop prices fell by 40
- Farmers planted more but this caused a greater
drop in prices - 1919- 1921 annual income drops from 10 billion
to 4 billion - Farmers are in debt and having problems paying
back loans
31Farmers Need a Lift
32Farmers Need a Lift
- Farmers in trouble
- Many lost their farms due to foreclosure
- Many defaulted on their loans and rural banks
began to fall as well - Auctions were being held to recoup losses
- Congress
- McNary-Haugen (price legislation) bill
- Called for federal price supports for key
products like wheat, corn, cotton, and tobacco - Government would buy surplus crops at guaranteed
prices and sell them on the world market - Coolidge vetoed the bill twice
33Consumers Spend Less
- Incomes fall people have less to spend on goods
and services - Late 1920s Americans are buying less
- Rising prices
- Stagnant wages,
- Unbalanced distribution of income
- Overbuying on credit
- Production expanding faster than wages
34Living on Credit
- Americans in the 1920s were living beyond their
means - Bought goods on credit
- Paid on the installment plan with interest
- Credit was easily available and encouraged
Americans to go into debt - Many had trouble paying back their debts
- Consumers begin cutting back on spending
35Living on Credit
36Uneven Distribution of Income
- The rich are getting richer and the poor are
getting poorer - 1920-1929
- Wealthiest 1 of Americans income rose 75
- Rest of Americans income rose 9
- 70 of nations families earned less than 2,500
per year - Families earning twice that much could not afford
luxuries - Unequal distribution meant most Americans could
not participate fully in the economic advances of
the 1920s
37Uneven Distribution of Income
38Election of 1928
- Republican
- Secretary of Commerce under Harding and Coolidge
- Never held public office
- Mining engineer from Iowa
- Quiet and reserved
- Major advantage years of prosperity under
Republican presidents
- Democrat
- Career politician
- 4 term governor of New York
- Personable and enjoyed being in the limelight
39Election of 1928
- Hoover won by an overwhelming margin
- America was happy with Republican leadership
Hoover wins!
40Dreams of Riches
- Economist warned of weaknesses in the stock
market - Stock market was the most visible symbol of
American prosperity - DJIA Dow Jones Industrial Average most widely
used indicator of the stock markets health - Dow is based on the stock prices of 30 large
firms trading on the NYSE - 1920s stocks rose steadily reaching an all time
high of 381 points - Many (about 4 million Americans) took advantage
of the bull market
41Dreams of Riches
- Trouble was looming
- Speculation (over-speculation) the buying of
stocks and bonds on the chance of a quick profit - Buying on the margin paying a small down
payment and borrowing the rest - Money easily available to investors
unrestrained buying and selling fueled the upward
spiral - Government did not help in discouraging these
risky undertakings
42And It All Comes Crashing Down
- September 1929
- Stock market peaks and then falls
- Confidence fell in the market and some investors
sold their stocks and pulled out - October 24, 1929
- Stock market takes a plunge
- Panicked investors sell their shares
- October 29, 1929
- Black Tuesday
- The bottom fell out of the market
- 16.4 million shares were dumped that day
- Investors sold as quickly as possible
43And It All Comes Crashing Down
44And It All Comes Crashing Down
45And It All Comes Crashing Down
- November 1929
- Investors lost about 30 billion
- The bubble burst and it all came crashing down
- The Stock Market Crash
- Signaled the beginning of the Great Depression
- People panicked and withdrew their money from
banks - Some could not get their money because banks had
invested it in the stock market - In 1929 600 banks closed
- By 1933 11,000 of the nations 25,000 banks
failed - Millions of people lost their life savings
46And It All Comes Crashing Down
47The House of Cards Tumbles
- 1929 1932
- GNP (Gross National Product) the nations total
output of goods and services - went from 104 billion to 59 billion
- About 90,000 businesses went bankrupt
- Including automobiles and railroad companies
- Million of workers lost their jobs
- Unemployment skyrocketed
- 1929 3
- 1933 25
- 1 out of 4 workers lost his/her job and those who
kept them faced pay cuts and shorter hours
48The Dominoes Fall
- Other countries besides the U.S. were hit by the
depression - Great Depression limited the amount of European
goods the U.S. imported - Americans were having difficulty selling their
products abroad - 1930 Hawley-Smoot Tariff passed by Congress
- Established the highest protective tariff in U.S.
history - Designed to protect Americans farmers and
manufacturers from foreign competition - Had the opposite effect causing world trade to
drop by 40
49Causes of the Great Depression
- Tariffs and war debt policies that cut down the
foreign market for American goods - A crisis in the farm sector
- The availability of easy credit
- An unequal distribution of income
- These led to falling demand for consumer goods
- Federal government kept interest rates low
allowing companies to borrow easily and build up
large debts - Borrowed money was used to buy stocks which later
led to the crash
50Depression in the Cities
- People lost jobs, were evicted, ended up in
streets - sleeping in parks, sewer pipes
- wrapping themselves in newspapers to keep warm
- Many built makeshift shacks from scraps
- Shantytowns built up throughout cities
- Soup kitchens offered free or low cost food
- Breadlines offered free food provided by
charitable organizations
51Depression in the Cities
52Depression in the Cities
53Depression in the Cities
- African Americans and Latinos had difficulty
- Unemployment rates were higher
- Racial violence occurred when competing for jobs
with whites - 1933 24 African Americans were lynched
- Latinos
- Whites demanded that they be deported
- 1930s hundreds of thousands of people of
Mexican descent relocated to Mexico - Some left voluntarily and other were deported
54Depression in the Rural Areas
- Farmers were also hit hard by the depression
- One advantage for farmers
- They could grow food for their families
- Most farmers lost their land because of debt and
falling prices - 1929-1932 400,000 farms were lost to
foreclosure - Farmers turned to tenant farming to survive
55Depression in the Rural Areas
56Depression in the Rural Areas
57Depression in the Rural Areas
58The Dust Bowl
- Drought hit in the early 1930s on the Great
Plains - Farmers used tractors to break up the prairie
grasses but eventually they exhausted the land
through overproduction - Land became unsuitable for farming
- Windstorms scattered the topsoil leaving only
sand and gravel - 1934 wind storm carried dust hundreds of miles to
east coast cities
59The Dust Bowl
- Regions hit the hardest included
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- New Mexico
- Colorado
60The Dust Bowl
61The Dust Bowl
62The Dust Bowl
- Thousands of farmers and sharecroppers left the
area - Packed up their families and headed west
following Route 66 to California - Migrants became known as Okies (originally a term
for people from Oklahoma), but now a negative
term - Found work as farmhands
- End of 1930s thousands of farm families had
migrated to California and other Pacific states
63Route 66
64Route 66
65The American Family
- Families were the source of strength for most
Americans - Americans believed in traditional values and
emphasized the importance of the family even
during the depression - Many families with money so tight stayed home to
entertain themselves playing board games like
Monopoly invented in 1933 or listening to the
radio - Sometimes families did break apart under the
strain of trying to make ends meet
66The American Family
67Men in the Streets
- Men had difficulty coping with unemployment
- Many would walk the streets daily looking for
work - Some would become discouraged and others would
leave their families because they could not cope
with not being the bread winner - 300,000 transients or hoboes wandered the country
- Hitching rides on railroads and riding in boxcars
- Sleeping under bridges
- Developed their own hidden language to help them
cope as they wandered
68Riding the Rails
69Riding the Rails
70Women Struggle to Survive
- Women worked hard to help their families to
survive - Canned food
- Sewed clothes
- Managed household budgets carefully
- Some women worked outside the home for less money
then men - They were often resented by males and many others
who believed women, especially married women
should not take work away from men - Women suffered just as much as men did, they just
did it privately
71Women Struggle to Survive
72Children Suffer Hardships
- Poor diet and lack of healthcare led to serious
health problems - Malnutrition and diet-related diseases like
rickets ran rampant among young children - Rickets a lack of vitamin D and calcium in the
diet - Schools shortened their school year or closed all
together - 2,600 schools closed by 1933 leaving 300,000
children out of school - Many went to work in sweatshops under horrible
conditions
73Children Suffer Hardships
- Hundreds of thousands of teenagers (boys and
girls) hopped freight trains looking for work,
adventure, and any escape from poverty - Many of these wild boys fell victims to murder
or beating by freight yard patrolmen - 1929-1939
- 24,647 trespassers on the railroads were killed
- 27,171 were injured on railroad property
74Children Suffer Hardships
75Social and Psychological Effects
- Demoralization causes loss of will to survive
- 1928 1932 suicide rate rose to 30
- Compromises and Sacrifices
- Adults stopped going to the doctor and dentist
- Many young people gave up their dreams of going
to college - Financial security became the primary focus in
life - Stigma of poverty and having to scrimp and save
never left most people - People started to show kindness to strangers
during the depression - Families shared their strengths and resources and
bonded within their communities
76Hoovers Reassurance
- Hoover tried to tell Americans that the nations
economy want on a sound footing - Believed that Americans should remain optimistic
- Experts believed the best course for the country
to take was to do nothing and let the economy fix
itself - Hoover felt the government should play a limited
role in helping to solve the problem - Governments role was to encourage and facilitate
cooperation, not to control it - Hoover was cautious in his assistance with the
depression
77Hoovers Cautious Steps
- Hoover called together key leaders in business,
banking, and labor - Urged them to work together to find solutions to
the nations economic problems - Asked employers not to cut wages
- Asked labor leaders not to demand wage increases
or to go on strike - Created a special organization to help private
charities generate contributions for the poor - None of these ideas worked and the economy was
still in dire straits
78Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam)
- Hoover proposed the a dam to be built on the
Colorado River when he served as the secretary of
commerce - Hoover financed the building of the dam by using
profits from sales of the electric power the dam
would generate - Arranged an agreement between the seven states
that had water rights on the Colorado River basin - Won approval in 1929 as part of a 700 million
public works project - Hoover able to authorize construction of the dam
in 1929 - 726 ft high and 1,244 ft long worlds tallest
and second largest
79Hoover Dam
80Democrats Win Congress
- 1930 Congressional Elections
- Democrats take advantage of anti-Hoover
sentiments - Republicans lose control of the House of
Representatives but keep control of the Senate by
1 vote - Farmers grow more and more resentful
- Refuse to sell the crops at a loss so they burn
them or dump the milk on the roads - Some used force to keep from being foreclosed
upon - Some declared a farm holiday and did not work
their fields
81Hoovers Heartlessness
- Hoovervilles
- Shantytowns in American cities
- Hoover Blankets
- Newspapers people used as blankets to keep warm
- Hoover flags
- Empty pockets turned inside out
- People began to resent Hoover and believed the
great humanitarian had become a cold and
heartless leader - Hoover refused to provide direct relief or other
forms of federal welfare
82Hoover Ditty
- Mellon pulled the whistle
- Hoover rang the bell
- Wall Street gave the signal
- And the country went to hell.
83Hoover Takes Action
- Backs Cooperatives
- Federal Farm Board
- intended to raise crop prices
- members to buy crops and keep them off the market
temporarily until prices rose - National Credit Corporation
- Tried to prop up the banking system
- Persuaded nations largest banks to establish it
- Organization loaned money to smaller banks to
help them stave off bankruptcy
84Hoover Takes Action
- Hoover appeals to Congress to pass a series of
measures - reform banking
- provide mortgage relief
- Funnel federal money into business investments
- Federal Home Loan Bank Act 1932
- Lowered mortgage rates for homeowners
- Allowed farmers to refinance their farm loans to
avoid foreclosure - Glass-Steagall Banking Act
- Passed after Hoover left office
- Separated investment and commercial banking
85Hoover Takes Action
- Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
- January 1932
- Authorized up to 2 billion for emergency
financing for banks, life insurance companies,
railroads, and other large businesses - Hoover believed the money would trickle down to
the average citizen through job growth and higher
wages - Unprecedented example of federal involvement in a
peacetime economy - Too little, too late
86Bonus Army
- Bonus Expeditionary Force AKA the Bonus Army
- 10 to 20 thousand WWI veterans and their families
arrived in D.C. - Led by Walter Waters, an unemployed cannery
worker from Oregon - Came to support the Patman Bill which would
authorize the government to pay a bonus to WWI
vets who had not been adequately compensated for
their wartime service
87Bonus Army
- Money was to be paid out in 1945 in cash and life
insurance - Congressman Wright Patman felt is should be paid
immediately - Hoover respected the people and even gave them
food and supplies, allowing them to assemble in
sight of the Capitol - June 17th Senate votes down the Patman Bill
- Hoover asks the Bonus Army to leave
- Most did, but about 2,000 refused
88Bonus Army
- Hoover felt the groups should be disbanded
- July 28th 1,000 soldiers under the command of
General Douglas MacArthur and his aide, Major
Dwight D. Eisenhower came to remove the vets - Infantry gassed more than 1,000 people
- 11 month old baby killed,
- 8 year old boy partially blinded by the gas
- 2 people were shot
- Many were injured
89Bonus Army
90Bonus Army
91Election of 1932
- Americans were stunned and outraged by the
gassing - Hoovers popularity suffered again
- Election of 1932
- Hoover is facing Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Americans are ready for a change
- FDR was the Democratic nominee
- 2 term governor of New York
- Distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt
- Effective reform minded leader
- Possessed a can-do attitude
- Friendly and confident
92Election of 1932
FDR 23 million votes and Hoover 16 million
votes Senate Democrats - 2/3 majority House
Democrats - ¾ majority
93Roosevelts Wait
- Roosevelt won in November 1932 but did not take
office until March 1933 - 20th Amendment passed in February 1933 moving the
inauguration date for the presidency to January - FDR was not idle
- Carefully selected a team of advisors including
lawyers, professors, and journalists Brain
Trust - Began to formulate a set of policies
- Three goals of the New Deal
- Relief for the needy
- Economic recovery
- Financial reform
94The Hundred Days
- Lasted from March 9 to June 16, 1933
- Congress passed over 15 major pieces of New Deal
legislation - Laws that expanded the federal governments role
in the nations economy - First step
- Banking and finance reform
- On March 5th he declared a bank holiday closing
all banks to prevent further withdrawals
95The Hundred Days
- Emergency Banking Relief Act
- Authorized the Treasury Department to inspect the
countrys banks - Those that were sound could reopen at once
- Those that were insolvent were kept closed
- Those that needed help could receive loans
- Measure revived public confidence in banks
- Open banks were in good financial shape
96Fireside Chat
- March 12th
- FDR gives his first fireside chat
- Talks in clear, simple language about his New
Deal measures - Made Americans feel the president was talking
directly to them - Explained how the banking system worked and
because of this many Americans returned their
savings to the banks
97Fireside Chat
98Banking and Finance
- Glass-Steagall Act
- Established the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) - Provided federal insurance for individual bank
accounts of up to 5,000 (now 100,000) - Also required banks to act cautiously with their
customers money - Federal Securities Act
- May 1933
- Required corporations to provide complete
information of all stock offerings - Made them liable for any misrepresentation
99Banking and Finance
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- June 1934
- Regulates the stock market
- Prevents people with inside information about
companies from rigging the stock market for
their own profit - Roosevelt persuaded Congress to approve a bill
allowing the manufacture and sale of some alcohol - Purpose was to raise government revenue by taxing
alcohol - 21st Amendment passes repealing prohibition by
the end of 1933
100Rural Assistance
- Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) 1933
- Set up to raise crop prices by lowering
production - Government paid farmers to leave a certain amount
of land fallow - Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 1933
- Focused on the badly depressed Tennessee Valley
- Renovated 5 existing dams and constructed 20 new
ones - Created thousands of jobs
- Provided flood control, hydroelectric power and
other benefits to a poor region
101Rural Assistance
102Works Projects
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) 1933
- Put young men 18 25 to work building roads,
parks, planting trees, and helping in soil
erosion and flood control projects - 3 million young men worked for the CCC between
1933 1942 - Wages 30 a month, 25 was sent home to the
family - Supplied food, lodging and clothing for the
workers - Public Works Administration 1933
- Part of the National Industrial Recovery Act
(NIRA) 1933 - Provided money to states to create job chiefly in
the construction of schools and other community
buildings - Civil Works Administration (CWA) 1933
- Built 40,000 schools and paid salaries of more
than 50,000 school teachers in rural areas
103Works Projects
104Works Projects
105Fair Practices
- National Recovery Administration (NRA) 1933
- Established codes for fair practices
- Set prices of many products to ensure fair
competition - Established standards for working hours and a ban
on child labor - Codes limited production and establish prices
106Food, Clothing, and Shelter
- Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) 1933
- Provided government loans to homeowners who faced
foreclosure because they couldnt meet loan
payments - National Housing Act 1934
- Created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
- Furnishes loans for home mortgages and repairs to
this day - Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) 1933
- Funded with 500 million to provide direct relief
for the needy - ½ the money was given to states for grants-in-aid
- Rest distributed to states to support work relief
programs - Headed by Harry Hopkins
107Food, Clothing, and Shelter
108New Deal Under Attack
- Roosevelt agreed to deficit spending
- Deficit spending spending more money than the
government receives in revenue - Believed it was a necessary evil to be used only
at a time of great economic crisis - New Deal did not end the depression
- Liberals believed the New Deal did not go far
enough - Conservatives believed the government was trying
to control business and spending too much on
direct relief
109New Deal Under Attack
- Supreme Court boosts the Conservatives
- 1935 Court stated that NIRA was
unconstitutional - Declared the law gave legislative powers to the
executive branch - enforcement of industry codes within states went
beyond the federal governments powers to
regulate interstate commerce - 1936 Court stated that the AAA was
unconstitutional - Stated that agriculture was a local matter and
should be regulated by the states rather than by
the federal government
110Court Packing Bill
- 1937 Roosevelt asks Congress to enact a
court-reform bill to reorganize the federal
judiciary - Wanted to appoint 6 new judges to the Supreme
Court - Many members of Congress and the press protested
on the grounds that the president was violating
principles of judicial independence and
separation of powers - 1937 a justice retires and Roosevelt appoints
Hugo Black, a liberal shifting the balance of the
- Court
- 7 justices will be appointed
- by Roosevelt over the next
- 4 years
111Roosevelts Critics
- 1934 American Liberty League formed by
conservatives - Opposed New Deal measures that it believed
violated respect for the rights of individuals
and property - Father Charles Coughlin
- Broadcast radio sermons on economic, political
and religious ideas - Initially a supporter of the New Deal
- Favored a guaranteed annual income and
nationalization of banks
112Roosevelts Critics
- Dr. Francis Townsend
- A physician and health officer in Long Beach,
California - Believed Roosevelt wasnt doing enough to help
the poor and elderly - Devised a pension plan that would provide monthly
benefits to the aged - Huey Long
- A senator from Louisiana
- Wanted to be the president
- Created a nationwide social program called
Share-Our-Wealth - At the height of his popularity, Long was
assassinated by a lone gunman
113Roosevelts Critics
114Second Hundred Days
- 1935
- Seeking ways to build on the programs established
during the first 100 days - Economy had improved in the first 2 years of
FDRs administration - Unemployment still high
- Production lagged behind 1920s levels
- New Deal had widespread popularity
- FDR launched 2nd New Deal
- Prodded by his wife, Eleanor, a social reformer
115Second Hundred Days
- 1936 Presidential Election
- 2nd New Deal was under way
- Republicans Alfred Landon governor of Kansas
- Democrats FDR
- Overwhelming victory for the Democrats
- marked the first time that most African Americans
voted Democratic - was the first time labor unions gave united
support to a presidential candidate - vote of confidence for FDR and the New Deal
1161936 Presidential Election
Winner!
117Farmers Get a Hand
- Mid 1930s
- 2 out of 5 farms were mortgaged
- The Grapes of Wrath
- Written by John Steinbeck
- Described the experience of a tenant farmer and
his family - Won the Pulitzer for fiction in 1940
- Agricultural Adjustment Act (2nd) 1938
- Paid farmers for cutting production of soil
depleting crops - Rewarded farmers who practiced good soil
conservation - Brought back many of the features of the original
AAA
118John Steinbeck
119Farmers Get a Hand
- Sharecroppers, migrant workers poor farmers
received help under the 2nd New Deal - Resettlement Administration
- Created by an executive order in 1935
- Provided monetary loan to small farmers to buy
land - Farm Security Administration (FSA) 1937
- Replaced the Resettlement Administration
- Hired photographers like Dorothea Lange, Ben
Shahn, Walker Evans, Arthur Rothstein, and Carl
Mydans - Used the photographs to create a pictorial
history of the difficulties faced by rural
Americans
120Photographers
121Extending Relief
- Works Progress Administration (WPA) 1935
- Created as many job as possible as quickly as
possible - Spent 11 billion to give jobs to more than 8
million workers - Built 850 airports
- Constructed 651,000 miles of roads and streets
- Put up more than 125,000 public buildings
- Women workers in sewing groups made over 300
million garments for the needy - Employed many professionals who wrote guides to
cities, collected historical slave narratives,
painted murals on walls of schools and public
buildings and performed in theatre troops
122WPA
123Extending Relief
- National Youth Administration (NYA) 1935
- Created specifically to provide education, jobs,
counseling, and recreation for young people - Provided student aid to high school, college, and
graduate students - Students worked part time positions at their
schools in exchange - For graduates unable to find work or dropouts, it
provided part time jobs like working on highways,
parks, and public grounds of buildings
124NYA
125Improving Labor
- Fair Labor Standards Act 1938
- Set maximum hours at 44 per week (decreased to 40
after 2 years) - Set minimum wage at 25 cents an hour 40 cents
an hour by 1945 - Set rules for employment of workers under 16 and
banned hazardous work for those under 18 - Social Security Act 1935
- Created the social security system with 3 parts
- Old age insurance for retirees 65 or older and
their spouses - Unemployment compensation administered at the
state level - Aid to families with dependent children and the
disabled
126Utilities
- Rural Electrification Administration (REA) 1935
- Established by executive order
- Financed and worked with electrical cooperatives
to bring electricity to isolated areas - 1945 45 of Americas farms and rural homes had
electricity - 1949 90
- Public Utility Holding Company Act 1935
- Took aim at financial corruption in the public
utility industry - Outlawed ownership of utilities by multiple
holding companies - Proved difficult to enforce
127Utilities
128Women and the New Deal
- FDR named several women to important positions in
the government - Eleanor Roosevelt
- Was a driving force behind FDR bringing women to
the work place - Frances Perkins
- the 1st female cabinet member as the Secretary of
Labor - Played an important role in the creating the
Social Security system - Supervised labor legislation
129Improving Labor
- Supreme Court in 1935 declared the NIRA
unconstitutional - National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) 1935
- Reestablished the NIRA provision of collective
bargaining - Federal government protected the rights of
workers to join unions and engage in collective
bargaining - Prohibited unfair labor practices such as
threatening workers, firing unions members, and
interfering with union organizing - Set up the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
to hear about unfair practices
130Women and the New Deal
- 2 other women became diplomats and another a
federal judge - Women faced discrimination in the work place
- 82 of America felt if a husband had a job a wife
should not work
131Women and the New Deal
132African American Activism
- Activism by African Americans was on the rise in
the 1930s - A. Philip Randolph organized the first all-black
trade union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters - FDR appointed more than 100 African Americans to
key positions in the government - Mary McLeod Bethune
- Educator
- Head of the Division of Negro Affairs of the NYA
- Worked to ensure that the NYA hired African
American administrators and provided job training
and other benefits to minorities - Helped to organize the Black Cabinet,
influential African Americans who were advisors
to FDRs administration
133African American Activism
- William H. Hastie and Robert C. Weaver
- Appointees to the Department of the Interior
- Marian Anderson
- African American singer who performed at Lincoln
Memorial on Easter Sunday in D.C. because the
members of the DAR would not allow her to perform
in their concert hall - Civil Rights
- FDR did not promote civil rights for African
Americans because he was afraid of upsetting the
white Democratic vote - Refused to approve a federal anti-lynching law
and an end to the poll tax - Many New Deal agencies discriminated against
blacks but they supported him because they
thought his ideas gave them their best hope for
the future
134African Americans the New Deal
135African Americans the New Deal
136Mexican Americans
- Received in fewer benefits than African Americans
- Settled mainly in the Southwest
- Found work laboring on farms
- Farm works who tried to unionize met with
violence - CCC and WPA did help some Mexican Americans
- Were also disqualified from some programs because
they were migrant works and did not have a
permanent address
137Native Americans
- Received strong government support from New Deal
- Native Americans receive full citizenship under
the law in 1924 - John Collier is appointed commissioner of Indian
affairs - Indian Reorganization Act 1934
- Moved away from assimilation and towards autonomy
- Mandated 3 areas economic, cultural, and
political - Economic Native American land belong to the
tribe - Cultural Native American children could attend
school on the reservations - Political tribes could elect tribal councils to
govern the reservation
138New Deal Coalition
- An alignment of diverse groups dedicated to
supporting the Democratic Party - Included Southern whites, various urban groups,
African Americans, and unionized industrial
workers - Kept Democrats in control throughout the 1930s
and 1940s
139Labor Unions
- Labor Unions
- Union members had better working conditions and
increased bargaining power - FDR was a friend of labor
- 1933 1941 union membership increased from
less than 3 million to more than 10 million - Unionization of major groups began to occur
- Coal miners, auto workers, rubber and electrical
workers - Which would become dominant?
140Labor Unions
- American Federation of Labor opposed industry
wide unions - Key Labor Leaders for a new union
- John L. Lewis United Mine Workers of America
- David Dubinsky International Ladies Garment
Workers - Form the Committee for Industrial Organization
- Signed up unskilled and semi-skilled workers
gaining success - Expelled from AFL in 1938
- Changed name to Congress of Industrial
Organizations (CIO) - Joined back with AFL to become the AFL-CIO in
1955
141Labor Leaders
142Labor Disputes
- Sit down strikes
- one of the main bargaining tactics of the 1930s
- Workers did not walk off the job, the stayed in
the plant but did not work - Prevented the factory owner from hiring
strikebreakers - Very effective
- Republic Steel Plant Strike (Memorial Day
Massacre) - Memorial Day, 1937
- Chicago, Illinois
- Police attacked steel workers outside the plant
- 10 people killed, 84 wounded
- NLRB stepped in and required Tom Girdler, the
head of Republic Steel to negotiate with the union
143Election of 1936
- FDR Democratic nominee Alfred Landon
Republican
Win 2!
144Election of 1936
- FDR wins for the 2nd time
- New Deal coalition helps FDR to win
- Also includes urban voters
- Roosevelt carries the 12 largest cities in the
U.S. - Support came from various religious and ethnic
groups including Roman Catholics, Jews, Irish,
Polish and Slavic groups - New Deal legislation aided the urban poor
- New Deal has a tremendous influence on American
society and culture
145Culture in the 1930s
- Motion Pictures
- Golden Age and profitable
- 65 of the population went to the movies once a
week - 15,000 movie theatres nationwide
- Radios
- 1930 13 million sold
- 1940 28 million sold
- 90 of American homes had a radio
146Movies are the Rage
- All genres vied for attention including comedies,
musicals, love stories, and gangster films - New Stars on the rise
- Clark Gable
- Marlene Dietrich
- James Cagney
- Helped to launch a new era of glamour and
sophistication in Hollywood - Gone With the Wind (1939)
- Most popular movies of all time and the most
famous during the era - Starred Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh
147Movies are the Rage
148Movies are the Rage
- Flying Down to Rio (1933)
- Starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Americas favorite dance partners - Light romantic comedy
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- Monkey Business and Duck Soup
- Starring the Marx Brothers
- Had an escapist quality about them
- Little Caesar (1930) and The Public Enemy (1931)
- Gangster films sent on gritty street in urban
America
149Movies are the Rage
150Movies are the Rage
151Movies are the Rage
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and Mr. Smith Goes
to Washington (1939) - Present the social and political accomplishments
of the New Deal in a positive light - Directed by Frank Capra
- Portrayed honest, kindhearted people winning out
over the greedy special interests
152Movies are the Rage
153Radio Entertains
- Embodied the democratic spirit of the times
- Families spend hours around the radio listening
to their favorite programs - Radio is a direct means of access to the American
people - Offered a wide range of entertainment including
dramas and variety shows - The War of the Worlds broadcast by Orson Welles
- One of the most famous shows broadcast
- People actually believed that Martians were going
to attack the Earth
154Radio Entertains
155Radio Entertains
- Many radio personalities made it to the silver
screen including Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and George
Burns and Gracie Allen - Soap operas (named because they were sponsored by
soap companies) played in the late morning and
early afternoon - The Lone Ranger, a childrens program aired in
the afternoon - A description of the crash of the Hindenburg was
one of the first radio broadcasts aired worldwide
156Hope, Benny, Burns and Allen
157Hi Ho Silver!
158The Hindenburg
159The Hindenburg
160The Hindenburg
161The Arts in Depression America
- Art, music, and literature of the time very sober
and serious - Artistic work portrayed the American people
- Conveyed a message of strength of character and
the democratic values of the American people - Many artists received direct support from New
Deal legislation - Harry Hopkins, the head of the WPA stated it best
Theyve got to eat just like other people.
162Artists Decorate America
- Federal Art Project
- Branch of the WPA
- Paid artists a living wage to produce public art
- Aimed to increase appreciation of art and promote
positive images of American Society - Created posters, taught art in schools, and
painted murals on public buildings - Murals were inspired by the work of Mexican
muralists like Diego Rivera who portrayed the
dignity of ordinary Americans at work
163Artists Decorate America
- Outstanding Painters of the New Deal
- Grant Wood American Gothic, 1930
- Edward Hopper Nighthawks, 1942
- Thomas Hart Benton The Arts of Life in America
Arts of the City, 1932 - Federal Theatre Project
- Hired actors to perform plays and artists to
provide stage sets and props for theatre
productions - Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty, 1935
portrayed the labor struggles of the 1930s
164Grant Wood
American Gothic, 1930
Grant Wood
165Edward Hopper
Nighthawks, 1942
Edward Hopper
166Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton
The Arts of Life in America Arts of the City,
1932
167Clifford Odets
168Woody Guthrie Sings of America
- Woody Guthrie
- Singer and songwriter
- Used music to capture the
- hardships of America
- Traveled the country in
- search of brighter
- opportunities and told
- his troubles in songs
169Writers Depict American Life
- Federal Writers Project
- Gave Saul Bellow a future Nobel and Pulitzer
Prize winner his first writing project - Richard Wright Native Son, 1940
- Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching
God, 1937 - John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath, 1939
- James T. Farrell Studs Lonigan trilogy, 1932-
1935 - Jack Conroy The Disinherited, 1933
- James Agee and Walker Evans Let Us Now Praise
Famous Men, 1941 - Thornton Wilder (playwright) Our Town, 1938
170Writers Depict American Life
171Writers Depict American Life
172Impact of the New Deal
- 1937
- economy had improved enough to convince many
Americans that the Depression was finally ending - Economic troubles still occurred throughout the
nation - Congress wanted to scale back New Deal programs
so FDR agreed - Outcome
- Industrial production dropped
- Unemployment increased from 7.7 million in 1937
to 10.4 million in 1938 - 1939
- New Deal is essentially over
- FDR more worried about Hitler and his rise to
power in Germany
173Supporters and Critics
- Opinions range from harsh criticism to high
praise - Conservatives Critics
- Made federal government too large and too
powerful - Government stifled free enterprise and
individual initiative - Liberal Critics
- FDR did not do enough to socialize the economy
and to eliminate social and economic inequalities - Supporters
- FDR struck a reasonable balance between
unregulated capitalism and overregulated
socialism - Helped the country recover from its economic
difficulties
174Expanding Governments Role
- FDRs administration expanded the power of the
government especially the power of the president - Gave the president a more active role in shaping
the economy - Federal government put millions of dollars into
the economy, created jobs, settled labor disputes
and established many new agencies still used
today - FDIC and SEC regulate banking and investment
activities - New Deal did not end the Great Depression but did
alleviate the suffering of thousands of people - Gave people hope and allowed the to regain their
dignity
175Expanding Governments Role
- Federal government went deep into debt to help
the American people - Federal deficit
- 1934 2.9 billion
- 1937-1938 100 million