The Great Depression Causes pages 366-372 12.1

Causes; Unstainable Financial Practices in 1. Agriculture 2 Causes; Unstainable Financial Practices in 1. Agriculture 2. Consumption 3. Industry Fuels then Collapse 1920s Prosperity; Republicans Take Credit  Decentralization of national government All Americans Equal (Appeared So) Election of 1928; Herbert Hoover Wins; “A Chicken in Every Pot. A Car in Every Garage.”

Troubling Signs; 1. American Farmers  WWI Situation  Rural Depression (dust bowls, didn’t share boom) 2. Uneven distribution of Wealth More goods than the average worker can buy Poor = Less Poor, Rich = Much Richer Industrial Worker; Placed in Better Conditions; Credit  Debt Rich did not buy enough  not a lot of money in circulation

Stock Market Crashes; Black Tuesday  October 29, 1929 Over speculation  Gambling w/ money didn’t have  dangers of bull market Black Tuesday; investors lost millions; buy back stock Officially Starts Depression

First Institution to Fail; Banks  People ALSO removed their money from banks By 1930; 1,350 banks had closed  misguided policies Result; Too little money in circulation, business cut production  cut in workers (layoffs)  unemployment  further spending reduces  even more businesses close  more lay offs

Government Attempts to Fix Issue; Passes Tariffs (protective taxes)… Hawley- Smoot Tariff; Actual Effects  So High, Other Countries Can’t Compete  Pass retaliation Tariff (enact their own tariffs)  Causes it to go global

Primary Causes; 1. Unsold Agricultural Surplus  increasing farm debt 2. Hardships in Europe (Tariff) 3. Uneven Distribution of Wealth 4. Rampant Stock Speculation

Americans Face Hard Times pg. 373-381 CH 12.2

Lives Affected; Urban Cutbacks in Factories, Unemployment (15%-25%), Lost Homes, Hoovervilles Rural  First to experience, Crop prices, farmers lost farms and homes

Travel For Work; “No Help Needed”  Say less, stare more, slower, clothing worn out At home; Water replaces milk, kids ate smaller meals, hunger lurked  breadlines/ soup kitchens Keeping from going hungry; Sell furniture, pawned jewelry Hoovervilles, Hoover-Flags, Hoover Blankets

Culture of the Great Depression; Loss of American Dream E Culture of the Great Depression; Loss of American Dream E.V Harburg; Brother Can You Spare a Dime

Farmers; Tenant Farming; Dust Bowls  Drought  Loose Top Soil  High Winds (8,000 ft.) Okies

Depression Affects Family Life; 1. Psychological 2. Betrayed 3 Depression Affects Family Life; 1. Psychological 2. Betrayed 3. Left Home for work… or… Lower Birth Rates, Children Quit School

Hoover’s Response Fails pg. 384-388 CH. 12.3

Hoover Believed  Depressions are like storms  weather them out Hoover’s Response; Government Shouldn’t Interfere, Volunteerism Asks government to reduce taxes and lower interest rates Believed in Localism  Issue can be solved by state and local government Why do these attempts fail?

Taking a more active approach; 1 Taking a more active approach; 1. Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC, 1932); Trickle Down Economics (banks & large businesses Successful? Why? 2. Hoover Dam in Colorado River  Creates Jobs

Hoover’s Popularity Dies Out; Bonus Army March Adjusted Compensation Act (1924)  Lump Sump Payment by 1945 1931; Want $ Earlier  response  Riots Hoover’s Response/ Request  Ike, MacArthur, Patton  Result Backlash  Result

Americans Are Ready For Change Election of 1932 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt