a history of the united states · 2018. 8. 29. · copyright ©2011, ©2008 by pearson education,...

Copyright ©2011, ©2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved.

The American Journey: A History of the United States, Brief Sixth Edition

Goldfield • Abbott • Argersinger • DeJohn Anderson • Barney • Weir • Argersinger

THE AMERICAN JOURNEY A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

Brief Sixth Edition

Chapter

The Great Depression

and the New Deal

1929-1939

25





The Great Depression and the New

Deal 1929-1939

• Hard Times in Hooverville

• Herbert Hoover and the Depression

• Launching the New Deal

• Consolidating the New Deal

• The New Deal and American Life

• Ebbing of the New Deal

• Good Neighbors and Hostile Forces

• Conclusion





Learning Objectives

• What triggered the Great Depression?

• How did Herbert Hoover respond to the

Depression? Why did his policies fail?

• What were the goals of the early New

Deal?

• What were the major accomplishments of

the Second New Deal?





Learning Objectives (cont'd)

• What impact did the New Deal have on

American social and economic life?

• Why did the New Deal lose momentum

after 1936?

• How did Roosevelt respond to the rise of

fascism in Europe?





Introduction

• The unprecedented federal activism of the

1930s, enacted through the programs of

the New Deal, effectively restored

confidence to many Americans and

permanently transformed the nation’s

responsibility for the welfare of its citizens.

New Deal

- The economic and political policies of the

Roosevelt administration in the 1930s.





Hard Times in Hooverville





Crash!

• The stock market crash marked the

beginning of the Depression but the

weakness of the New Era economy was

the cause.

• The unequal distribution of wealth was the

most damaging economic aspect as half

the nation’s people lived at or below

subsistence level.





Crash! (cont'd)

• The domination of the economy by

oligopolies kept prices artificially high and

rigid.

• Weaknesses in agriculture, coal, and

textile industries contributed as did poor

management and regulation of banks.

• International economic difficulties and

government policies also contributed.





Crash! (cont'd)

Great Depression

- The nation’s worst economic crisis, extending

throughout the 1930s, producing unprecedented

bank failures, unemployment, and industrial and

agricultural collapse and prompting an expanded

role for the federal government.





FIGURE 25–1

Distribution of Income in

the United States, 1929–

1946





The Depression Spreads

• By 1930, industrial production plummeted

and by 1932 was at about 50 percent of its

1929 level.

• By 1932, one-fourth of the labor force was

unemployed and personal income dropped

by over half between 1929 and 1932.





The Depression Spreads (cont'd)

• Farmers were particularly hard hit by the

depression as commodity prices fell 55

percent between 1929 and 1932.

Foreclosure and eviction proliferated.

• Urban families were also evicted and

some moved into “Hoovervilles.” Soup

kitchens became common.





The Depression Spreads (cont'd)

Hooverville

- Shantytown, sarcastically named after President

Hoover, in which unemployed and homeless

people lived in makeshift shacks, tents, and

boxes. Hoovervilles cropped up in many cities in

1930 and 1931.





FIGURE 25–2 Unemployment, 1925–1945





Homeless Americans gathered in squalid

Hoovervilles like this one in Seattle and struggled to

survive.





“Women’s Jobs” and “Men’s Jobs”

• Working women were affected in complex

ways. They were concentrated in low-paid

jobs and so were less likely to be fired. But

traditional attitudes to attempt to restrict

employing married women prevailed.

• Women were not generally hired for

traditional male jobs but men did displace

women as teachers, social workers, and

librarians.





Families in the Depression

• Families experienced great strains.

Divorce declined because of the expense

but birthrates also fell.

• Husbands and fathers were often

humiliated and despondent when fired

from their jobs.





Families in the Depression (cont'd)

• Women’s responsibilities grew. The

number of female-headed households

increased. Some women became wage

earners and others expanded household

duties to lower expenses and raise money.

• Children not only felt the tension and fear

of their parents, they also went hungry.

Some stayed home for school and gave

up future plans. Some left home.





Families in the Depression (cont'd)

• Family conflicts increased as hopes faded.





“Last Hired, First Fired”

• Racial minorities were often the last hired

and first fired and so were less able to

weather the economic pain.

• Black unemployment rates doubled those

of whites.

• Racism limited the assistance African

Americans received and by 1932 most

African Americans were suffering acute

privation.





“Last Hired, First Fired” (cont'd)

• Hispanic Americans faced increasing

competition for a smaller number of poor

paying jobs.

• Almost half a million Mexican immigrants

and their American-born children left the

United States in the 1930s.





The Great Depression made more desperate the

plight of Mexican Americans





Protest

• Most Americans did not protest the hard

times and blamed themselves for their

plight.

• Communists, socialists, and other radical

groups organized formal protests,

including staging marches, demonstrating

for relief, and blocking evictions.





Protest (cont’d)

• Rural protests also erupted. Communists

organized some protests but others were

more informal.





Herbert Hoover and the Depression





The Failure of Voluntarism

• Hoover fought the depression more

vigorously than any past president but

preferred voluntary private relief over

government action.

• Hoover tried to use voluntary business

organizations to fight the depression but

was unable to secure corporate

cooperation.





The Failure of Voluntarism (cont'd)

• Voluntary relief efforts fell far short and

Hoover vetoed a congressional plan to aid

the unemployed.

• As the depression worsened, Hoover

pushed through a tax cut and established

the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to

fund recovery through government loans.





Hungry men stand numbly in one of New York City’s

82 breadlines.





Bonus Army

• In 1932, unemployed veterans of WWI

gathered in Washington D.C.

• They demanded payment of service

bonuses that were not due to them until

1945

• 10,000 erected a shantytown near the

White House





Bonus Army (cont’d)

• General Douglas MacArthur led infantry,

cavalry and tanks against the Bonus Army

• Result: Widespread outrage

• Greatly affected his chances to win the

1932 election





Police and military assaults on these homeless

veterans infuriated Americans





Repudiating Hoover:

The 1932 Election

• Hoover’s treatment of the Bonus Army

symbolized his unpopularity, setting the

stage for the 1932 election. Hoover

refused to meet with veterans and

eventually the army brutally evicted them

from their shantytown camp. The public

was outraged at the treatment of the

Bonus Army.





Repudiating Hoover:

The 1932 Election (cont'd)

• The Republicans nominated Hoover while

the Democrats chose New York governor

Franklin D. Roosevelt who promised a

new deal for Americans.

• Though Roosevelt spoke in vague terms,

he won a landslide election.





Repudiating Hoover:

The 1932 Election (cont'd)

Bonus Army

- A group of unemployed veterans who

demonstrated in Washington for the payment of

service bonuses, only to be dispersed violently by

the U.S. Army in 1932.





MAP 25–1 The

Election of 1932





President Franklin D. Roosevelt





Launching the New Deal





Action Now!

• In his first 100 days in office, Roosevelt

passed a large body of legislation.

• The banking crisis was addressed first by

a bank holiday and passage of the

Emergency Banking Act. Prompt action

and a fireside chat over the radio restored

confidence in the banks.





Launching the New Deal (cont'd)

The Glass-Steagall Act reformed the financial

industry and created the Securities Exchange

Commission.

Other measures included the Home Owners

Loan Corporation and the Farm Credit

Administration.





Action Now! (cont'd)

Fireside chats

- Speeches broadcast nationally over the radio in

which President Franklin Roosevelt explained

complex issues and programs in plain language,

as though his listeners were gathered around the

fireside with him.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

(FDIC)

- Government agency that guarantees bank

deposits, thereby protecting both depositors and

banks.





Launching the New Deal (cont'd)

Securities and Exchange Commission

(SEC)

- Federal agency with authority to regulate trading

practices in stocks and bonds.





Major Laws of the Hundred Days





Creating Jobs

• The Federal Emergency Relief

Administration furnished funds to state and

local agencies for relief.

• The Civil Works Administration create jobs

for 4 million workers on construction and

other jobs.

• The Public Works Administration also

provided work relief.





Creating Jobs (cont’d)

• The Civilian Conservation Corps employed

2.5 million young men to work on

reforestation, flood control, and other

environmental projects.





Helping Some Farmers

• The Agricultural Adjustment Administration

subsidized farmers not to plant crops and

so reduce surpluses.

• Agricultural conditions improved and gross

farm income rose by half by 1935.

• The Agricultural Adjustment Administration

helped large commercial farmers but

harmed small farmers.





Helping Some Farmers (cont’d)

• In 1936, the Supreme Court declared the

Agricultural Adjustment Administration

unconstitutional but other laws retained

the farm subsidy program.





A coal miner greeting Franklin D. Roosevelt in West

Virginia in 1932.





The Flight of the Blue Eagle

• The National Industrial Recovery Act

created the National Recovery

Administration to revive industry.

• The NRA suspended antitrust laws and

attempted to have industrial and trade

association draft production, pricing, wage,

and working conditions codes.

• Labor was provided the right to organize

unions and bargain collectively.





The Flight of the Blue Eagle (cont'd)

• Large businesses in particular misused the

provisions of the NRA causing support to

wane.





Critics Right and Left

• Conservatives claimed that the New Deal

had expanded government activity and

increased regulation weakened the

autonomy of American business.

Industrialists and bankers organized the

American Liberty League to attack the

New Deal.





Critics Right and Left (cont'd)

• Critics on the Left claimed the New Deal

had not reached the poor, including racial

minorities. Strikes increased dramatically

and at times erupted into violence as

employers used brutal methods against

the strikers.





Critics Right and Left (cont'd)

• Francis Townsend touted his plan for a

government pension for the elderly while

Father Coughlin mixed anti-Semitism with

demands for social justice.

• Huey Long’s Share-Our-Wealth Society

posed the biggest threat to FDR.





Landowners who received AAA payments evicted

these black sharecroppers huddled in a makeshift

roadside camp in Missouri in 1935.





18-year old mother and her child in a migrant labor

camp in 1937





Consolidating the New Deal





Weeding Out and Lifting Up

• The Wagner Act guaranteed workers the

right to organize union and banned

employers from using unfair labor

practices. The National Labor Relations

Board enforced the Wagner Act.

• The Social Security Act provided

unemployment compensation, old-age

pensions, and aid for dependent mothers

and children, and the blind.





Weeding Out and Lifting Up (cont'd)

• The Banking Act of 1935 increased the

authority of the Federal Reserve Board

over currency and the nation’s credit

system. The Revenue Act of 1935

provided for a graduated income tax and

increased estate and corporate taxes.

• The Resettlement Administration focused

on land reform and help for poor farmers,

many suffering from the Dust Bowl.





MAP 25–2 The Dust Bowl





Americans eagerly embraced the Social Security

program in the 1930s





President George W. Bush’s campaign to reform

Social Security stirred angry protest throughout

America.





Expanding Relief

• In 1935, the Emergency Relief

Appropriation Act authorized $5 billion for

emergency public employment.

• The Works Progress Administration gave

jobs to 9 million people in such diverse

pursuits as building hospitals, parks, and

sewer systems, and the arts.

• The National Youth Administration gave

part-time jobs to students.





The Roosevelt Coalition and the

Election of 1936

• The 1936 election supplied Americans with

an opportunity to vote on FDR and the

New Deal.

• The Republicans nominated Alf Landon.

• The New Deal had created a strong

coalition of white Southerners, western

farmers, labor, urban ethnic groups, and

women.





The Roosevelt Coalition and the

Election of 1936 (cont'd)

• Eleanor Roosevelt attracted as much

support from women as her husband did.

• Roosevelt won in a landslide.





Eleanor Roosevelt campaigns with FDR in Fremont,

Nebraska, in 1935.





The New Deal and American Life





Labor on the March

• Government support and worker

determination fueled the labor revival.

• The Wagner Act stimulated the

organization of workers into unions that

overwhelmed the craft-based American

Federal of Labor.





Labor on the March (cont'd)

• To organize industry-wide unions, the AFL

formed the Committee for Industrial

Organization to unionize workers in the

steel, auto, and rubber industries.






• In 1937, the Congress of Industrial

Organizations was formed as a separate

group and won major victories in the auto

and steel industries. The struggles were

bitter and at times violent, including the

Memorial Day Massacre in 1937 when

police fired on strikers and their families

killing ten people.






Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

- An alliance of industrial unions that spurred the

1930s organizational drive among the mass-

production industries.





Women and the New Deal

• Relief programs produced mixed results

for women. Men’s programs were stressed

and women received less relief and lower

pay. WPA programs emphasized

traditional ideas on women’s work.

• The NRA and Social Security Act also

discriminated against women.





Women and the New Deal (cont'd)

• Women did gain political influence as they

helped develop and implement New Deal

social legislation.

• Women also served at high levels in the

Roosevelt administration. Secretary of

Labor Frances Perkins was the first

woman cabinet member.





Minorities and the New Deal

• The New Deal’s record on racial issues

was limited because FDR needed the

support of Southern Democrats.

• Agencies like the CCC and NRA

discriminated against African Americans.

They did benefit from New Deal programs

as they provided relief to many and helped

sharpen their sense of citizenship.





Minorities and the New Deal (cont'd)

• Key New Deal figures also campaigned

against racial discrimination. African

Americans campaigned for reforms

leading FDR to prohibit discrimination in

some agencies.

• Native Americans also benefited as federal

policy was refocused to support traditional

culture.





Minorities and the New Deal (cont'd)

• Hispanic Americans received less aid from

the New Deal.





Mary McLeod Bethune was the highest-ranking

African- American woman in the Roosevelt

administration.





The New Deal:

North, South, East, and West

• The New Deal’s agricultural programs

helped southern agriculture advance and

the FERA and WPA improved southern

city sewer systems, airports, bridges,

roads, and harbors.





The New Deal:

North, South, East, and West (cont'd)

• The Tennessee Valley Authority

coordinated activities across seven states

to control floods and generate

hydroelectricity, among other things. The

Rural Electrification Administration

extended power to rural areas.





The New Deal:


• The West received the most per capita aid

in welfare, relief projects and loans. The

Bureau of Reclamation built huge dams to

control western river systems and promote

large-scale development.





The New Deal:


Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

- Federal regional planning agency established to

promote conservation, produce electric power,

and encourage economic development in seven

southern states.





MAP 25–3 The Tennessee Valley Authority





The New Deal and Public Activism

• The New Deal programs often helped

groups to shape public policy and social

and economic behavior by fostering grass

roots democracy.

• The AAA set up committees comprised of

more than 100,000 people to implement

agricultural policy and perform other

services.





The New Deal and Public

Activism(cont'd)

• In urban areas, public housing projects

were initiated locally. Unions, religious and

civic groups, neighborhood associations,

and civil rights groups formed associations

to overcome the hostility of bankers and

realty agents to public housing.





Ebbing of the New Deal





Challenging the Court

• After the Supreme Court declared several

important measures unconstitutional and

after his landslide 1936 election, FDR

sought to restructure the federal judiciary.

His court-packing attempt failed and

helped split the New Deal coalition.





More Hard Times

• After federal expenditures were cut to help

balance the budget, a sharp recession

occurred in 1937 that led to increased

spending.





Political Stalemate

• The recession strengthened the New Deal

opponents and the conservative

congressional leadership blocked most

new reforms.





Good Neighbors and Hostile Forces





Good Neighbors and Hostile Forces

• Roosevelt extended the Good Neighbor

policy in Latin America but relations were

strained due to the economic depression

and U.S. support of dictators.





Neutrality and Fascism

• As the threats of fascism and Nazism

grew, Roosevelt tried to educate the

American public on the potential danger.

• Most Americans desired peace at all costs

and resisted involvement in European

affairs.

• U.S. relations with Japan were strained by

Japanese aggression in East Asia.





Neutrality and Fascism (cont’d)

Fascist Government

- Subscribing to a philosophy of governmental

dictatorship that merges the interests of the state,

armed forces, and big business; associated with

the dictatorship of Italian leader Benito Mussolini

between 1922 and 1943 and also often applied to

Nazi Germany.





Edging toward Involvement

• After the Munich agreement, FDR shifted

focus toward preparing for war, fearing

conflict was inevitable in Europe.

• FDR moved to revise the neutrality.





This street scene in Berlin shows the shattered

windows of Jewish businesses





Conclusion





Conclusion

• The Great Depression and the New Deal

mark a major divide in American history.

• The depression cast doubt on traditional

economic, social, and political attitudes,

policies, and practices.

• The New Deal brought partial economic

recovery but also expanded the roles of

the federal government and the

presidency.





Conclusion (cont'd)

• The New Deal also revitalized the

Democratic Party.

a history of the united states · 2018. 8. 29. · copyright ©2011, ©2008 by pearson education,...

Documents