2. THE STOCK MARKET CRASHES
During the 1920s, stock prices rose rapidly. Many people bought stocks by buying on margin--purchasing stocks on credit, or with borrowed money, hoping to sell them later at a large profit. In 1929 stock prices began to drop. Frightened investors sold stocks to pay off their loans, but there were few buyers.
On October 29, known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed. Investors lost everything. So many people wanted to sell their stocks, and so few wanted to buy, that stock prices collapsed.
$400
$300
$200
$100 $0
Black Tuesday
Black Tuesday
(October 29
More than 16 million shares were traded
on Wall Street on Black Tuesday, a record that stood for 39 years. Just weeks later, roughly one-third of the value of the stock market had disappeared.
How are the events of Black Tuesday shown on the chart?
March May July Sept. Nov. Jan.

3. THE ECONOMY COLLAPSES
The stock crash caused a banking crisis as banks lost their investments. People tried to withdraw all of their deposits and many banks went out of business. This crisis contributed to losses by businesses, which then needed fewer workers.
Normally when businesses produce more than they can sell, they have to cut back production. As people are laid off, the demand for goods drops. This can
cause a severe recession called a depression. When the economy bounces back, more people are hired, and demand increases. This pattern of ups and downs in the economy is called a business cycle.

4. POLITICAL CARTOON “Blame It on Hoover”
The economy was slow to recover after the crash in This period, the Great Depression, had several causes. One was overproduction of goods as the market was shrinking. Other factors were the uneven division of wealth and limited world trade.
HOOVER’S REACTION President Hoover knew that people needed help. He did not believe, however, that it was the role of the federal government to provide direct relief. He did implement some new programs to help banks and other institutions recover. In 1932 the Bonus Army camped in Washington, D.C. They were veterans who wanted early payment of military bonuses. Hoover sent U.S. troops to evict them. When several people were killed, the public was outraged.
Presidents can affect the economy to some degree through their policies. During the Great Depression, President Hoover was blamed for the financial
crisis. Political cartoons like this one gave voice to those Americans who thought Hoover could have prevented the crisis or could have brought it to an end quickly through government programs.
ANALYSIS
SKILL
How does the cartoonist show Hoover reacting to the crisis?

5. ELECTION OF 1932
The Republican Party nominated Herbert Hoover again in However, much of the public had lost confidence in him. The Democratic nominee was Franklin D. Roosevelt. As governor, he had worked
to provide aid to citizens of New York. In particular, he had provided aid to farmers. Roosevelt promised a “new deal” for the American people. He won the election in a landslide.
When did he live? 1882–1945
Where did he live? Roosevelt lived much of his life in New York State, where he served in the state senate and as governor. He also lived in Washington, D.C., while he was serving as assistant secretary of the navy and later as president. He had a second home in Warm Springs, Georgia.
“The only thing we
have to fear
is fear itself,
nameless,
unreasoning,
unjustified terror.”
-Franklin Roosevelt, 1933
inaugural address
What did he do? He began the New Deal, a set of government programs designed to help the country survive and recover from the Great Depression. He gave many Americans hope for the future when he spoke to them in his fireside chats. Roosevelt also led the country through World War II. His support for strong ties between the Allied countries helped the Allies achieve victory.

6. BUILDING BACKGROUND
When he ran for president in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt promised to provide relief to people suffering from the Depression. Even before he took office, Roosevelt began making plans with his Brain Trust, a group of expert advisers. People endured the harsh winter of 1932–1933, looking forward to Roosevelt’s inauguration.

7. THE HUNDRED DAYS
Roosevelt told Americans that economic recovery was possible. He called Congress into a special session, known as the Hundred Days. They created the New Deal, programs developed by Roosevelt and Congress to aid economic recovery.
One program was the Emergency Banking Relief Act. It was passed to restore confidence in banks. The president told people about it in his first fireside chat, which were radio addresses in which Roosevelt spoke directly to the public. Other programs put people to work on public projects, such as roads, airports, and parks. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) hired people to build dams that provided electricity to poor communities. Frances Perkins, Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, the first female cabinet member, helped pass the National Industry Recovery Act to help businesses.

8. Primary Source
RADIO BROADCAST
Fireside Chats
An American family sits around the radio listening to President Roosevelt answer his critics in his first fireside chat.
“There is an element in our financial system more important than currency [money], more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing [driving away] fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.”
ANALYSIS
SKILL
According to Roosevelt, how should the American people help the government deal with the banking crisis?

9. THE NEW DEAL CONTINUES
The Second New Deal was introduced in The Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed more than 8.5 million people. Eleanor Roosevelt, the first Lady in Roosevelt administration who supported New Deal supported National Youth Administration programs for young people. Congress passed the Social Security Act to help children and the elderly, disabled,
and unemployed who could not provide for themselves.
The New Deal included new labor laws. The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a union with many skilled and unskilled workers. It welcomed women, immigrants, and minority groups. The CIO used a sit-down strike to keep General Motors from replacing strikers. A sit-down strike was a strategy in which striking workers remained inside the workplace This success helped the unions grow stronger.

10. Selected New Deal Programs
Program Purpose
Emergency Banking Relief Act Gave the executive branch the right to regulate banks
Farm Credit Act (FCA) Refinanced loans to keep farmers from losing their land
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Created jobs for single, unemployed young men
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) Paid farmers to grow less (declared unconstitutional)
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Built dams and power plants in the Tennessee Valley
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Guaranteed deposits in individual bank accounts
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) Established fair competition laws (declared unconstitutional)
Civil Works Administration (CWA) Provided jobs for the unemployed
Works Progress Administration (WPA) Created jobs in construction, research, and the arts
National Youth Administration (NYA) Provided part-time jobs to students
National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) Recognized unions’ right to bargain collectively
Social Security Act Provided government aid to the retired and unemployed

11. CLASHES WITH THE COURT
Roosevelt decided to propose a plan for
reorganizing the federal judiciary that was soon to be labeled the “court-packing” bill. This bill would allow the president to appoint a new Supreme Court justice for every justice who was 70 years old or older. Roosevelt would be able to appoint six new justices immediately.
Roosevelt’s judiciary plan drew harsh
criticism from Congress and the public.
Critics charged that Roosevelt was trying
to change the balance of power so carefully defined in the U.S. Constitution. After a heated debate, Congress rejected the bill. The Supreme Court, however, did not overturn any more New Deal legislation. Roosevelt eventually had the opportunity to nominate nine new Supreme Court justices to replace those who had retired or died.

12. Primary Source POLITICAL CARTOON “Blame It on Hoover”
Historians on the left have denounced the New Deal as a conservative phenomenon that let slip the opportunity to radically reform capitalism. Since the 1960s, "New Left" historians have been among the New Deal's harsh critics. New Left historian Barton J. Bernstein, in a 1968 essay, compiled a chronicle of missed opportunities and inadequate responses to problems. The New Deal may have saved capitalism from itself, Bernstein charged, but it had failed to help—and in many cases actually harmed—those groups most in need of assistance.
FDR already has too much power & demands more.
ANALYSIS
SKILL
According to the cartoon, what do members in Congress feel about FDR?

13. THE DUST BOWL
American farmers were already having hard times before the Great Depression. Then the situation got worse. In the early 1930s, a severe drought hit the Great Plains. In the Dust Bowl region, topsoil blew away in the Great Plains causing extreme drought and dust storms. Farmers could not grow crops; many could not pay their mortgages and lost their farms. Although several New Deal programs tried to help farmers, they came too late for most. About 2.5 million people left the Great Plains. Many of them drove to California to look for jobs. They often found that there were already too many workers.

14. HARD TIMES
During the Great Depression, many families had to split up as people looked for work in different places. Children dropped out of school to help support their families.
The Great Depression was especially hard on minority groups. Many faced discrimination and lost jobs to unemployed white workers. But some found jobs through relief programs. Several
African American leaders, including Mary McLeod Bethune, advised the president. They became known as the Black Cabinet.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong advocate of equal rights. She resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution when they refused to rent a hall to African American singer Marian Anderson.

15. “When I knew that my crop was irrevocably [forever] gone
Primary Source
Primary Source
Lawrence Svobida was a Kansas wheat farmer
who saw his life’s work destroyed in the 1930s.
“When I knew that my crop was irrevocably [forever] gone
I experienced a deathly feeling which, I hope, can affect a
man only once in a lifetime. My dreams and ambitions . . .
and my shattered ideals seemed gone forever. The very
desire to make a success of my life was gone, the spirit and
urge to strive were dead within me. Fate had dealt me a
cruel blow above which I felt utterly unable to rise.”
PHOTOGRAPH
Migrant Mother
PERSONAL ACCOUNT
The Dust Bowl
Photographer Dorothea Lange gained fame in the 1930s for documenting the conditions of the poor during the Depression. Lange took this famous photograph of a widowed migrant worker and two of her seven children. The woman worked in the pea fields of Nipomo, California. Her family survived by eating frozen peas and birds the children caught. The woman had just sold her car’s tires for money to buy food.
ANALYSIS SKILL
ANALYSIS
SKILL
How did Svobida feel after his crop was
destroyed?
How would you describe the expression on the
face of the woman in the photograph?

16. DEPRESSION-ERA CULTURE In 1935 the Works Progress Administration put
many artists, writers, and actors to work. Musicians went to rural areas to record traditional music. They preserved culture that might have been lost. Writers interviewed Americans from many different backgrounds. They kept a record of their lives and memories.
John Steinbeck was deeply affected by the hardships of the Depression. He wrote novels about depression life. Folksinger Woody Guthrie crossed the country, writing and singing songs of loss and struggle. At the same time, swing music became popular because it helped people forget about their troubles. Movies were yet another form of escape.
Woody
Guthrie

17. Causes and Effects of the New Deal
Today, people still disagree about the effects of the New Deal. Critics argue that recovery did not occur until the U.S. entered World War II. Supporters say
it gave Americans hope in a time of crisis. The New Deal did expand the role of the federal government. Some of its programs, such as Social Security and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, are still important today.
Causes and Effects
of the New Deal
Causes
• Stock market crash
• Banking crisis
• Soaring
unemployment
• Farmers’ troubles
• Widespread poverty
Effects
• Expanded role of federal
government
• Created major programs
such as Social Security
and the FDIC
• Provided hope and relief
to many Americans but
did not end the Great
Depression

18. National Youth Administration A New Deal program called the
(NYA) helped thousands of young
people continue their education
while working to support their
families. Eleanor Roosevelt was a
strong supporter of the program,
which aimed to teach young
people the skills they would need
to remain part of the workforce.
How did the NYA demonstrate
the ideals of the New Deal?

19. MAIN IDEAS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
1. The U.S. stock market crashed in 1929.
2. The economy collapsed after the stock market crash.
3. Many Americans were dissatisfied with Hoover’s reaction to economic conditions.
4. Roosevelt defeated Hoover in the election of 1932.
5. Congress approved many new programs during the Hundred Days.
6. Critics expressed concerns about the New Deal.
7. New Deal programs continued through Roosevelt’s first term in what became known as the Second New Deal.
8. Roosevelt clashed with the Supreme Court over the New Deal.
9. Parts of the Great Plains came to be known as the Dust Bowl as severe drought destroyed farms there.
10. Families all over the United States faced hard times.
11. Depression-era culture helped lift people’s spirits.
12. The New Deal had lasting effects on American society.