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Renaissance Assignment Details

  • Due Date: Today
  • Components:
    • Part 1: Submit your thoughts about the selected piece (poem or artwork).
    • Part 2: Provide a link to the selected piece for review.
  • Submission Instructions:
    • If only the piece was submitted without the write-up, send the write-up via email to avoid half credit.
    • If only the write-up was submitted without the link, resend the link via email to avoid half credit.

Herbert Hoover and the Beginnings of the Great Depression

  • Election of 1928:

    • Herbert Hoover is elected president.
    • Background:
    • Son of an Iowa blacksmith and a school teacher.
    • Made a fortune as a mining engineer, working globally across Asia, Africa, and Europe.
    • Gained prominence for coordinating food relief efforts during WWI.

  • Hoover's Economic Philosophy:

    • Condemned government regulation as a hindrance to economic opportunities for ordinary Americans.
    • Advocated that self-interest should be subordinate to public interest, demonstrating progressive ideas.
    • Preferred the term "social action," believing private agencies could effectively manage regulatory and welfare policies, rather than direct government intervention.

  • 1928 Republican Convention:

    • Calvin Coolidge chose not to run, leading to Hoover's nomination.
    • Hoover highlighted the prosperity of the era and ambitiously pledged to end poverty.

  • Opposition Candidate: Alfred Smith

    • Democratic nominee and the first Catholic to be a major party nominee.
    • Born into poverty in New York, became a Tammany Hall politician and spokesman for new immigrants.
    • Achievements as New York Governor:
    • Passed laws limiting work hours for women and children.
    • Opposed the Red Scare and called for the repeal of Prohibition.
    • His campaign faced challenges due to anti-Catholic sentiment, which helped Hoover gain support in critical areas.
    • Smith demonstrated early signs of Democratic coalition development by winning urban, farmer, and Northern African American support.

Hoover's Inauguration and Policy Initiatives

  • Crime and National Security:
    • Identified crime as a national issue and initiated a campaign against it, including the creation of the Wickersham Commission to propose remedies.
    • Systematized federal crime reporting and expanded the prison system and enforcement agencies, leading to the development of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
    • Increased border controls and authority of Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

The Stock Market Crash and Emergence of the Great Depression

  • Black Tuesday: October 29, 1929

    • Stock market crash led to an immediate loss of approximately $10 billion in market value within five hours.
    • Triggered the onset of the Great Depression, described as the greatest economic calamity in modern history.

  • Pre-Crash Warning Signs:

    • Depression was already evident in rural areas prior to the stock market collapse.
    • Rapid real estate booms and busts in regions like Southern California and Florida.
    • Failing banks and mortgage foreclosures indicated economic instability.
    • Significant income inequality and persistent difficulties in farming communities.

  • Scale of the Financial Decline:

    • New automobile and consumer goods sales stagnated post-1926.
    • Ultimately led to approximately 26,000 business failures by the early 1930s.
    • Employment cutbacks and reduced investments further exacerbated economic decline.

  • Global Economic Impacts:

    • Defaults by Germany on reparations payments led to financial repercussions in France and Britain.
    • Global panic ensued, causing millions to lose their life savings as banks failed.
    • GDP decreased by a third, prices fell by 40%, and unemployment rates reached 25% by 1932.

Social Consequences of the Great Depression

  • Mass Migration and Societal Changes:

    • People traveled across the country in search of work and stood in bread lines.
    • Creation of shanty towns known as "Hoovervilles" outside urban areas.
    • Depression reversed long-standing migration patterns to cities; people sought land to farm.

  • Demographic Changes:

    • Suicide rates soared to historical highs, birth rates dropped to historical lows.
    • The public perception of big business diminished significantly due to the economic crisis.

  • Public Response to Economic Hardship:

    • Many Americans responded with resignation; others protested against the inadequacies of Hoover’s policies.
    • Notable events included the Bonus Army march of 1932, where unemployed veterans demanded early bonus payments.
    • Hoover's response: Dispersing the veterans with federal troops heightened public discontent.
    • Unemployed demonstrations began to rise, with demands for job creation and relief.

  • Farmers’ Protests:

    • Farmers protested against low prices by blockading roads to prevent goods from reaching the market.
    • The communist party organized unemployment councils to protect families facing evictions.

Hoover's Response to the Crisis

  • Federal Measures:

    • Advisers advised against federal intervention, proposing thrift and moral virtue rather than economic support.
    • Hoover resisted direct federal economic interventions, preferring private charity and the voluntary actions of businesses.
    • Collaboration with business leaders aimed at coordinating wage maintenance without government regulations.
    • Hoover's public assurances of economic recovery conflicted with growing economic despair.

  • Effectiveness of Hoover’s Policies:

    • Critiques of Hoover's response emerged even from pro-business outlets, indicating it was out of touch.
    • Measures included curtailing legal immigration and deporting undocumented individuals, with significant negative impacts on the Mexican American community.
    • Introduced the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, worsening international trade and contributing to deeper economic crisis.
    • A budget-balancing tax increase further reduced consumer purchasing power.

  • Later Concessions:

    • By 1932, Hoover acknowledged the insufficiency of voluntary measures and enacted the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to aid failing banks and businesses.
    • Introduced Federal Home Bank Loan System to assist homeowners, but resisted direct unemployment aid, viewing it as a disservice.

Ideological Shifts Post-Depression

  • Questioning Capitalism:
    • Intellectual concerns about capitalism's unchecked nature led to a re-emphasis on the limits of free enterprise.
    • The concept of freedom in America began to evolve beyond mere economic enterprise to include societal support mechanisms and civil liberties.
    • The Great Depression discredited previous laissez-faire views, setting a foundation for a positive state role in the economy and paving the way for a resurgence of progressive ideas and modern liberalism with upcoming New Deal policies.