The Great Depression

red flags

there were a lot of these that the federal government missed; if they made changes, it could have shortened the length of the depression

stock market crash

begins October 29, 1929. known as Black Tuesday

red flags

there were a lot of these that the federal government missed; if they made changes, it could have shortened the length of the depression

stock market crash

begins October 29, 1929. known as Black Tuesday

superficial prosperity

of the Roaring Twenties, this was the first red flag along with the uneven distribution of wealth. Many people afforded their goods on credit

value

stores sell products without this, boasting they were doing better but they didn't have the full value because of credit

why did stores go out of business?

no one paid them back during the Great Depression after relying on credit

boosts the economy; small, huge

many people with equal amounts of money does this, but a _ population controlled ____ part of the economy, but there was not enough of them to keep the economy afloat

railroads, coal, and lumber

major industries that dropped in productivity

why railroad's productivity dropped?

cars were taking over, and the railways employed a large amount of the population, making wages impactedwh

why coal's productivity dropped?

used in trains, but the US was an oil-consuming country. Coal-mining was a major employer for the working class, so layoffs and cuts in wages were dramatic and lots of people were affected

why lumber's productivity dropped?

same story as coal

housing

major indicator of the health of a nation's economy; high housing means high economy. low housing means low economy. Was going down during GD, and no one addressed it

farmers

overproduction after WWI caused their crop prices to drop 60%; major warning sign because no farmers means no food

McNary Haugen Bill

the government tried to help farmers through this legislation that offered price supports to farmers if it were passed; government would have paid what farmers lost, but Coolidge vetoed it

government mistakes

Federal Reserve Board and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act

Federal Reserve Board

made two decisions: interest rates could increase or decrease, and money in circulation could increase or decrease-- these decisions could help the economy, but this decided to raise interest rates and decrease the amount of $ in circulation (very bad during an economic depression)

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act

raised tariffs on imported goods to encourage people to buy American, making foreign goods more expensive; other countries do it right back

poor; global

world trade is ____ after the HSTA, and the Great Depression was __

Hoover as President

makes bad decisions during the Great Depression, and is only in office nine months before the crash

Hoover's rugged individualism

thinks that if you are struggling, don't turn to the government, just work harder to get out of your tough spot

associational principles

call on the major leaders of industry to think of a plan instead of coming to the government; people do not like Hoover's idea at all

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

biggest federal peacetime intervention in the economy; governemnt was hands off before, but not now-- authorized $2 billion in loans to banks and businesses to create jobs and help

drives debt up

consequence of the reconstruction finance corporation because banks/businesses must pay back the money they are given, but most can't because they are suffering

deficit

in fear of this, Hoover passed the Revenue Act, making taxes go upD

Direct Aid

American people wanted welfare payment, but Hoover was against this

charity

Hoover tells people to go here to get money, but it's not what America wanted to hear

Bonus Army

final failure of Hoover's presidency

the deal with food in cities

chances were slim to get food, so many people had to beg, wait in bread lines, or go to food kitchens at the crack of dawn

the deal with shelter in cities

many people were homeless, and they created Shantytowns, which was when people made shelter out of garbage and were little cities within cities basically

25%

average unemployment rate for Americans

50%

unemployment rate for African Americans and Immigrants because of racism and discrimination

tenant farming; migrants

how people in rural areas worked (similar to sharecropping); many were kicked out of their farms and became

Okies

migrants from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl

a drought occurred in the Great Plains region and brought many dust storms

causes of the Dust Bowl

drought, overproduction (poorly trained farmers who would plant wherever they could and sucked all the moistness from the soil – giant sandbox), and removal of prairie grass (removed last barrier against wind storms that the soil had) – totally dried out soil and wind easily whipped it up to create the dust storms

conditions in the home during the dust storms

In the home, dust still found a way in even with windows/doors closed, constantly living in a home with a thin layer of dust on everything, blocking up windows and doors with wet towels. Common condition was dust pneumonia – couldn’t keep dust out of their bodies, and would breathe it in, many people who stayed developed asthma. education greatly impacted – many schools would shut down (dangerous to be outside – livestock would die from dust), schools decided to keep doors open and it became a family decision – dust storms were unpredictable and random – many families didn’t want to take that risk and kept their children home.

how people in the dust bowl ate

prioritize nutrition over taste– eat whatever they could to get the calories – ketchup sandwiches, canned goods; desperate, sake of nutrition

shelter/pay during the dust bowl

lot of people turned to migration (because of poverty, starvation), aimlessly traveled country to find a place to stay (Okies); no option to plant their own food and survive off of that – only option was to leave and not suffer

how the Dust Bowl was fixed

FDR’s presidency addresses these issues, and they plant trees and teach farmers proper farming techniques, plus the normal weather patterns returned

fifty percent

due to remaining racism and discrimination from the 1920s, African Americans and immigrants faced an even higher unemployment rate of

twenty-five percent

the national average unemployment rate during the Great Depression

credit

in order to keep up with demand, farmers bought machinery on during the war

Rugged Individualism

Hoover believed in this; thought that Americans needed to be tough and work hard to solve their problems, not turn to the government

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act cw

this increased the tariff on all imports after WWI; highest America had ever set in history to that date, which is the reason why other countries respond the way they do -- hurts world trade

Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado

the following states were impacted by the drought in the Great Plains

Herbert Hoover

this man was president during the Great Depression

overproduction

due to this, crop prices dropped by 40% after WWI

farmers

WWI had been a great time for this group because demand for their products rose

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929; stock market crash

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

loaned $2 billion to banks in order to help them get back on track after the crash; federal government directly gives $ to the people

Direct Aid

Hoover was opposed to this

superficial

due to the overuse of credit during the 1920s, the prosperity of the decade was _

Okies

migrant farmers that traveled throughout the US looking for work were nicknamed this

Dust Bowl

the area in the Great Plains that suffered a major drought that dried out their soil and made it sand-like

housing

this industry is the major sign of how the economy is doing

Bonus Army

WWI veterans who were promised a bonus in 1945 marched to Washington to demand the bonus early; final nail in Hoover's presidential coffin

anti-semitism

at an all time high during the Great Depression; with the stereotype that all Jews work in banking, many Americans blamed the Depression on Jews

Father Charles Couglin

priest and radio hose who blamed the Depression on Jews; he would use his radio show to expose Hollywood stars as Jewish and accuse Hollywood of brainwashing the American public

Black migrants

while white migrants were ok, the town of Dalhart, Texas, refused these people

the racist trial in Dalhart

2 Black men were arrested for taking food and shelter from a train station since they were migrants and they were dying; they were put in front of the judge, who ordered them to dance and then go back to jail for two months

keeping up appearances

Hoover was focused on doing this for his presidency; he didn't want Americans to see the effect of the GD on the White House

panic

Hoover didn't want Americans to _, so he continued the WH's lavish dinner parties instead of making cuts and changes; thought they would see that everything was normal

America's reaction to Hoover's parties

they were so angry that the president was living large and eating these mountains of food while they were starving to death and suffering, plus they were begging for Direct Aid

Boulder Dam

Hoover approved the construction of this to create a ton of jobs: people were needed to build and supplied needed to be bought from within the country; problem was that this was only a small part of the country, so many public work projects would need to be approved to make a real difference.

hydroelectric power

Hoover was ok with the dam's deficit because it would generate this and eventually pay off the debt from the RFC

midterm elections

hugely important to the sitting president because it can decide who controls Congress and indicate whether or not the public supports the president

Republican; Democrats

If America approved of Hoover, they would vote more ; if they disapproved, _ would be voted in to stop him

1930 midterms

a wave of Democrats enter Congress because people are fed up with Hoover

Federal Home Loan Bank Act

lowered mortgage rates for homeowners, making the monthly payment less. However, by this point in the Depression, many had already lost their homes or were so far behind on payments that this didn't make much of a difference

1932

worst year of the Depression; Hoover's last year in office and the year of the Bonus Army

Bonus Army

WWI veterans who wanted their military enlistment bonuses early (instead of 1945); they petitioned to the government to request early payout now

Congressman Wright Patman

this caught his attention, so he drafted a bill for the vets called the Patman Bill

BEF March on Washington

in mass, the Bonus Army go to DC and camp out outside the US Capitol (vets and their families) to show that they were the faces being affected

BEF

Bonus Expeditionary Forces

"red agitators"

rumors spread that the Bonus Army weren't actually vets, but communists

95%

of the Bonus Army, this many were actually veterans after the Department of Veteran Affairs fact-checked that they were

Senate

voted against the passage of the Patman Bill, meaning no early pay out of the bonus

2,000 BEF

stay in DC after the bill is denied, but Hoover now felt they were trespassing

troops led by MacArthur and Patton

ordered by Hoover, they were sent to clear out the remaining BEF; on horseback, they threw tear gas and speared tents with their bayonets, and they ultimately burned the camp to the ground

many; few

injuries; ____ deaths -- one 11 month old child

images and news

spread across the country of the Bonus Army, and it made people angry1

1932 presidential campaign

the Bonus Army happened as this was underway

Hoover

Republican presidential nominee with three promises: balance the budget, keep tariffs high, and repeal prohibition

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democratic presidential nominee with four promises: aid to farmers, public works jobs, "New Deal", and repeal prohibition; wins election

Franklin Roosevelt

Democratic candidate for president in 1932

Federal Reserve Board

this government agency cut the money in circulation and increased interest rates during the 1920s

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act

this increased tariffs on foreign goods (manufactured and agricultural)

Boulder Dam

Hoover was okay with this project initially causing a deficit because it would pay for itself later

presidential election

the Bonus Army debacle occurred during this

Senate

the Patman Bill was voted down by the _

Great Plains

this is the region in the United States that was plagued by the Dust Bowl

run away from their families or get a poor man's divorce

Many men would do these actions rather than watch their family suffer due to their unemployment

poor man's divorce

At its most basic, a man ended his marriage by selling his wife to another man.

deficit

this occurs when a nation spends more than it takes in

Wright Patman

the Congressman that proposed an earlier payout of the WWI veteran's bonus

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929 is often referred to as…

repeal prohibition, keep tariffs high, and balance the budget

Hoover's campaign promises were to…

housing

this market is the major indicator of how the economy is doing

Revenue Act

after the creations of the RFC, Hoover passed this in order to raise taxes to pay for the rising deficit

malnutrition

the increase in __ in children led to the development of serious health issues later in life

RFC

this would issue $2 billion to banks and businesses in order for them to create public works jobs