Title: Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression

The Depression had a calamitous effect on tens of millions of Americans. Homes taken away when mortgage payments were not made Homeless built shantytowns, sarcastically called “Hoovervilles”

Life savings lost as thousands of banks failed. Employers went bankrupt or, to avoid bankruptcy, laid off the majority of workers In rural areas, farmers struggled as produce prices dropped more than 50%

To make matters worse, a prolonged drought afflicted the Great Plains Region turned into a giant Dust Bowl Result: Agrarian unrest –Attacked those who tried to evict them –Conspired to keep their farms Formed Farmers’ Holiday Association –Organized demonstrations

Hoover made 2 mistakes in addressing the problems of the Great Depression Encouraged passage of the Hawley-Smoot Tariff –Raised import duties of foreign goods to 40% Expulsion of the Bonus Expeditionary Force –World War I veterans lobbied for early payment of benefits for their service but bill was defeated –They refused to leave & squatted in empty government offices –Hoover ordered the Army to expel them; cavalry attacked them with tear gas

This ensured the loss of Hoover’s re- election & the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt Argued for a more interventionist government Promised relief payments to unemployed Inaugural address: Declared war on the Depression “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself nameless, unreasoning, unjustified fear.” Implemented sweeping reform called the New Deal Listen to 1933 speech