APUSH - Pd. 7 Part 2 (Great Depression & WWII)

causes of the Great Depression

1. Over-production & under-consumption - b/c items that ppl don’t buy on regular basis are overproduced (ex. cars and appliances)

2. Problems for farmers and industry

3. Increasing American debt - b/c used credit to buy beyond means (by end of 20s, ppl must cut back on spending)

4. Uneven distribution of wealth - gap btwn rich and poor widened, spending was done by top 30%

5. Stock market speculation/crash - catalyst

What were the problems for farmers and industry that helped cause the Great Depression?

• decline in demand after WWI

• crop prices decrease, so farmers can’t pay loans and farms are foreclosed

• railroads, textiles, and coal lose money b/c there’s competition from newer tech (cars, synthetic fabrics, natural gas, etc.)

How did stock market speculation help cause the Great Depression?

• many bought “on the margin” - borrowed money to pay for stocks (risky)

• stock market wasn’t regulated; some companies altered price in increase profit (created a “bubble”)

• cycle of peaks and drops, then crashed Oct. 29th, 1929 (Black Tuesday)

  • ppl who bought on the margin couldn’t pay back

  • ppl rushed to sell and prices dropped

How did the stock market crash affect banks?

led to run on banks - ppl tried to withdraw money, but banks fail b/c don’t have enough

• so ppl lose savings → businesses fail → unemployment (or kept jobs w/ pay cuts)

Dust Bowl

wind storms that swept away soil, making farming impossible and depositing dust everywhere

• worsened the effects of Great Depression

• caused by over-farming and droughts

Hoover’s response to the Great Depression

limited federal gov involvement (b/c Republican) - thought ppl should rely on own communities, states, churches, nonprofits, and themselves (would build American character)

• implemented some public works projects (Hoover Dam!), but very limited federal gov relief for individuals

public’s response to Hoover’s policies during the Great Depression

upset, wanted more relief; nicknamed makeshift towns for homeless “Hoovervilles” as criticism of Hoover

FDR’s response to the Great Depression

New Deal (relief, recovery, and reform) - much more federal gov intervention/relief than Hoover gave

• FDR’s administration took unprecedented amount of federal power

• goals = unite to fix country, help farmers, federal gov provides temporary employment w/ public works projects, be more careful about banking/money/investments

Did the New Deal pull the US out of the Great Depression? Explain.

No - kept US from falling farther into depression for the most part, but WWII was what pulled US out of depression

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

Hoover raised taxes on imported goods even higher to try to encourage ppl to buy US goods; backfired b/c other countries retaliated w/ own tariffs, so more expensive for US citizens to buy foreign goods

Bonus Army

WWI veterans marched on DC demanding bonus payments, but Hoover refused to meet them and sent General MacArthur to remove them from public areas

• led to riot where 3 ppl died, so American opinion turned against Hoover (no hope of reelection)

First 100 Days

FDR had ambitious agenda to immediately put New Deal into place; ended up putting 15 laws through Congress during time (many relief)

Election of 1932

Hoover (Rep.) vs. FDR (Dem.) - FDR won by landslide b/c ppl wanted new leadership to save them from Great Depression

Emergency Banking Act/Bank Holiday

relief; FDR closed banks for 5 days so they could recover from bank runs, only stable ones could reopen (revived system to make it more stable); urged Americans to redeposit money

fireside chats

FDR used radio chats to communicate with public/explain policies (esp. bank holiday); made ppl feel heard and gave hope that gov would take action

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

recovery; FDR paid farmers to not grow crops, created production limits, and destroyed crop and livestock surpluses to raise prices

• prices started to rise by 1934

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

FDR’s program (relief) that employed 3 million young men, paid them $30 a month to work on conservation efforts (plant trees, fight fires, drain swamps, control floods, build park trails)

Public Works Administration (PWA)

(under FDR, relief) large-scale public works project (built dams, bridges, hospitals, and schools) to provide jobs, reviving economy

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

• established by FDR (recovery) to employed men for public usefulness (schools, parks, playgrounds, pools, roads, sewage plants, airfields, hospitals)

• included federal arts projects - dramas, concerts, writing (guidebooks, local history books, oral histories), murals, and sculptures - kept American arts alive/vigorous

Court Packing Scheme

after downturn in support, FDR wanted to add 15 more judges to Supreme Court (wanted to appoint ppl who would vote for his policies)

• unhappy Congress didn’t agree, but a justice got scared and started voting with FDR

Wagner Act

(under FDR, reform) created National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) - reaffirmed labor’s rights to bargain for wages, hours, and working conditions; to strike; and to arbitration of grievances

Social Security

(under FDR, reform) money given to unemployed, aged, dependent, and handicapped; financed by federal gov and FICA taxes paid by employees

Pearl Harbor

Dec. 7th, 1941; US cut off trade with Japan when Japan wanted US oil, so Japanese surprise attack on American ships in which over 2,000 Americans died

• changed public opinion about war - outraged, so wanted to join and get revenge (ex. FDR asked Congress to declare war the day after (“A date which will live in infamy”), and all but one voted yes)

What was US public opinion towards WWII before Pearl Harbor?

generally didn’t want to directly aid, but provided limited help to British through Cash & Carry Act and Lend-Lease Act

US’s WWII military strategy in Europe

invade, beginning on outer edge (North Africa - important b/c imperialism), then move inward through Italy and into Germany

US and Japanese WWII military strategy in the Pacific

island-hopping - go from island to island and take control; goal = have more islands than opponent and get close to opponent’s mainland

Neutrality Acts

Congress banned US from providing weapons/supplies to keep US out of WWII, but implemented Cash & Carry system (will trade, but other countries must pay in cash and transport cargo themselves)

Lend-Lease Act

FDR’s attempt to give more aid to countries in need, particularly Britain (“lend” weapons even tho didn’t expect to get them back)

Selective Training and Service Act

males aged 21-36 must register for military draft

Four Freedoms

during WWII mobilization, FDR emphasized freedom of speech, religion, from want, and from fear

GIs

“Government issue”

War Production Board

changed peacetime industries to war industries, part of Office of War Mobilization (directed by James F. Byrnes)

How did mobilization during WWII affect unions?

less strikes/union activity b/c more unified, feared Axis Powers winning

mobilization efforts during WWII

• shortages of goods and rationing - everything possible going overseas to troops

• propaganda

• women in the workforce

• Selective Training and Service Act

• “Four Freedoms”

• GIs

• War Production Board/Office of War Mobilization

popular culture during WWII

everything was about the war: music, baseball (teams must combine), movies, victory gardens (plant own gardens to grow own food), blackouts (when worried about German U-boat activity along shore), Red Cross is huge, rubber/metal drives, etc.

Mexican Americans during WWII

• immigrants encouraged to work on Southwest farms to help farmers

• Zoot suit riots - btwn American military and young Mexican-Americans men; race-based violence

African Americans during WWII

fought in segregated units (ex. Tuskegee Airmen)

Native Americans during WWII

Navajo Code-Talkers - transmitted messages in native language, which no one could crack

Japanese-Americans during WWII

FDR’s Executive Order 9066 (order of president, not Congress) placed Japanese-Americans in internment camps as early as 1942 b/c fear of spies

• racist - didn’t do much to Germans or Italians

• their whole livelihoods were gone, suffered poor treatment