Chapter 23 - The Great Depression

Great Depression Downward Cycle

people stopped borrowing and buying. industries built on debt-fueled credit purchases sold fewer goods. retailers lowered prices, when it did not attract enough buyers to turn profits, workers were laid off to lower labor costs. farmers crop production costs exceeded sales and revenue.

1932 Presidential Election

incumbent Herbert Hoover (R) promised he would stand strong behind the U.S. Constitution over economic recovery. NY Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) won in a landslide with his promise of a New Deal economy.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

32nd President of the U.S. from 1933 to 1945. a democrat and progressive, he implemented the New Deal to combat the Great Depression and led the country during WW2.

Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929)

the stock market crashed, losing $14 billion in one day, $30b by mid-November, marking the beginning of the Great Depression. millions of shares were sold, with shares in markets such as U.S. Steel dropping from $262 to $22, dismantling investor wealth and confidence.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930)

1930 tariff, the highest in U.S. history, aimed to promote domestic American industry but ultimately exacerbating the Great Depression as other countries retaliated with tariffs, creating mass decline in global trade, and American exports falling by 78 percent.

Bank Failures (1930-1932)

banks denied loans and called in debt. people panicked by market crashes rushed to withdraw their money before banks closed, leading to closure, taking remaining patron’s personal deposits, savings, and credits with them. 40% of banks closed by 1933.

Herbet Hoover’s Politics of the Depression

limited government intervention in the economy rather than direct federal relief. focusedc on volunteerism, local services, cooperative business associationalism, self-resilience, and natural economic recovery. inadequately addresses the severe economic crisis.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) - 1932

last ditch effort by Herbert Hoover in 1932 created to provide emergency loans to struggling banks, railroad, private industries, and insurance companies. critics argued it was a bailout for big businesses/banking while the masses starved.

1930s Charitable Organizations

private agencies attempted to meet the needs of the growing impoverished Americans, but the overwhelming unemployed, underfed, and unhoused Americans by mid-1932 left the majority of private charities ineffective or into closure.

POUR (President’s Organization for Unemployment Relief)

Hoover’s inadequate program to organize efforts of private charitable agencies to assist those in need, asking business leaders to maintain employment and encouraging state and local charities without direct federal intervention.

The Dust Bowl (1932-1936)

severe drought in the Great Plains (TX, OK, KA, AK, MO, NE, NM, S/ND) from 1932-1936, fertile topsoil turned to dust, massive wind storms chocked settlers and livestock. farmers migrated westward (CA) in search of employment and living conditions.

The Okies

2.5 million migrants left the Dust Bowl, primarily from Oklahoma and dust bowl states, seeking work and better living conditions in California. met with state sanctioned border blockads, discrimination, low wage jobs, and poor living conditions in migrant camps.

The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

novel by John Steinbeck that portrays the struggles of a family of "Okies" migrating from the Dust Bowl to California during the Great Depression, with themes of survival, community, and injustice, increasing sympathy for migrants.

1930s Immigration & Deportation

public fear of foreign workers working for lower wages prompted the Hoover administration to issue mass denial of visa applications, between 1930-1932, 54,000 immigrants were deported, 44,000 leaving voluntarily.

Mexican Immigrants

hit hard by anti-immigrant policy, with deportation raids in 1931, and “voluntary” return programs uniting Mexicans back with their mother country. the Mexican-born population living in AZ, CA, NM, TX fell from 600,000 to 375,000 from 1930-1940.

The Bonus Army (summer 1932)

summer 1932, 55,000+ unemployed veterans and their families converged in D.C. to petition for a bill authorizing immediate payment of cash bonuses to veterans of WW1 scheduled to be paid out in 1945. Hoover ordered the military to disperse the group, leading to violent clashes.

Great Depression Unemployment

unemployment peaked at 25 percent in 1932. impacting all populations but initially laying off married white women, Black Americans (50 percent unemployed), and immigrant workers.

The First New Deal (1933-1935)

initiviates implemented by FDR focused on immediate economic recovery and emergency measures through progressive legislation reforms. the three R’s of Relief, Recovery, and Reform fueled FDR’s early administration.

FDR’s Fireside Chats

series of radio addresses by President Franklin D. Roosevelt aimed at reassuring the American public during the Great Depression. chats explained his new deal policies and efforts to combat the economic crisis.

FDR’s First Hundred Days

focused on immediale stabilization of the banking system, and relief effort programs: CCC employing men, FERA providing cash to unemployed relief agencies, TVA creating jobs and improving infrastructure, AAA boosting ag production/prices, NRA setting fair competition codes.

Bank Holiday (March 1933)

FDR’s temporary four-day closure of banks to prevent panic withdrawals, allowing time to stabilize the banking system through the Emergency Banking Act. FDR’s first Fireside Chat encouraged public trust in the banking system and deposits finally outplaced withdrawls.

Glass-Steagall Act (1933)

1933 legislation that separated commercial banking from investment banking, reducing risk of financial speculation, protecting depositors' funds. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guaranteed protected bank deposits up to $2500.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) 1933

1933 legicaltion created to raise the prices of agricultural commodities (and farmer’s income) by offering cash incentivites to voluntarily limit surplus production, decreasing supply, raising prices. deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1935, falling in 1936.

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) - June 1933

1933 legislation aimed at promoting industrial growth and improving labor conditions. established PWA and NRA (National Recovery Admin), businesses created codes of fair practices to coordinate prices prices, production levels, conditions of employment, and union protection.

FDR Public Work Projects

infrastructure and employment grew: Civil Works Admin (CWA-1933), Works Progress Admin (WPA-1935) put unemployed people to work on project designed by local governments. Public Works Admin (PWA-1933) provided grants-in-aid to governments for large infrastructure projects.

Tennessee Valley Authority TVA

1933 New Deal Program, remade the Tennessse River watershed: hydroelectric power, industrial reform, and economic development. led to Southern employment, infrastructure, and electricity, encapsulating FDR’s vision for integrating the South into the national economy.

New Deal Programs In The South

market prices increased as landowners limited cotton production, laying off tenants and Black farmworkers. NRA improved working conditions, 1935 Wagner act protected unions, 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act closed regional wage gaps. TVA led to electricity, employment, infrastructe.

Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)

1938 federal law that established minimum wage, 40 hour work week, overtime pay, recordkeeping, child labor employment standards, aiming to protect workers' rights. closed pay gaps between Northern and Southern workers. one of the last major New Deal legislations.

Senator Huey Long

radical opponenet of FDR, proposed Share Our Wealth program, where government would confiscate and redistribute the assests and fortunes of the wealthy. other opponents of FDR advocated for old-age pensions, less cooperation with banks, and more state-driven economies.

Republican Opposition To FDR

by late 1934, Republicans criticized Roosevelt’s industry regulation and federal spending for public works and employment programs. South democrats grew hostile as he disrupted their social status quo, and the Republican Supreme Court struck down several New Deal reforms.

Supreme Court Black Monday Rulings (1935)

Supreme Court declared key aspects of the New Deal unconstitutional, including the (NIRA) National Industrial Recovery Act, crippling federal industry regulation and codes, and dismantling the AAA. restricted FDR’s legislative power.

The Second New Deal (1935-1936)

FDR’s secondary set of aggressive programs, including the Works Progress Administration, legal protection for unions through the Wagner Act, progressive income taxes to redistribute wealth, and the Social Security Act providing old-age pension, unemployment insurance, and economic aid.

The Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act) - 1935

1935 federal legislation that protected the rights of workers and unions to organize and bargain collectively. workers banded together, forming the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and strikes became effective, such as the 1937 General Motors sit-down strike.

The Social Security Act (1935)

1935 law that established old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and economic aid based on means and dependents. financed by payroll tax not the federal government. government now played a role in social welfare and individual economic security.

Scottsboro Boys

nine African American teenagers who were falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. their trials were marked by racial injustice and drew national attention, highlighting the issues of racism and legal inequality.

Race & The New Deal

to maintain New Deal support, FDR rejected abolishing the poll tax or make lynching a federal crime. relief reform packages avoided Black needs. Social Security Act excluded agricultural and domestic workers, majority Blacks. AAA and NRA overwhelmingly benefited whites.

End of The New Deal (1937-1939)

recession of 1937 along with Roosevelt’s attempt to pack the courts led to conservative gains in the 1938 midterms, slowing congressional support for new reforms. the looming threat of war in Europe overshadowed New Deal reforms both in public view and FDR’s policies.

FDR & New Deal Legacy

Americans viewed the federal government as a potential ally in daily struggles, finding work, wages, fair prices, and union organization. FDR’s progressive policies shaped modern liberalism and expanded the role of government in economic recovery.