1. USH Notes
GPS 17

2. The Great Depression Main causes:
Overproduction
Underconsumption
Contributing factors that made the Great Depression worse
The Stock Market Crash of 1929
Speculation led to plummeting stock prices
Mass selling of stocks led to business and bank closures
Made the depression worse and made recovery more difficult

3. The Great Depression (contd)
Bank closures – people lost everything; no such thing as deposit insurance at the time
Reluctance to invest in stock market after the crash
Led to a continuous fall in stock prices, leading to business closures.
Unemployment rate = 25% (1 of 4 workers were unemployed)
Rampant homelessness
Hoovervilles – villages of homemade shacks (named mockingly for Pres. Herbert Hoover, who was blamed for not doing enough to end the depression)
Soup kitchens and breadlines became commonplace

6. OVERPRODUCTION AND UNDERCONSUMPTION (LOW DEMAND) EMPLOYEE LAYOFFS
Causes:
Effects:
OVERPRODUCTION AND UNDERCONSUMPTION (LOW DEMAND)
EMPLOYEE LAYOFFS
LOW WAGES
REDUCED CONSUMER BUYING POWER (CONSUMERS COULD NOT BUY AS MUCH)
HAWLEY-SMOOT TARIFF (high tariffs on foreign goods)
LESS FOREIGN DEMAND FOR AMERICAN GOODS
UNEMPLOYMENT
A FURTHER REDUCTION IN DEMAND FOR AMERICAN GOODS

7. The Dust Bowl
An environmental situation that made the Great Depression even worse for many people
Drought in the Plains combined with fallow fields led to huge dust storms
Many people lost homes and farms and fled to other parts of the country
Ex. Okies moving to California

8. The Dust Bowl

9. USH Notes
GPS 18

10. The New Deal
Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan to end the Great Depression
Government took a bigger role in helping Americans in times of desperation; people have expected this of the government ever since
Believed in deficit spending to help Americans (the gov’t borrowed money to pay for programs)
Started government programs to put Americans to work and to kick start the economy

11. First New Deal Plan Included: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Public Works Administration (PWA) and Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

12. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Established in 1933 to build hydroelectric dams in parts of the rural South; meant to bring jobs and cheap electricity to the area
Mainly to attract industry to the South
Secondary impact would be environmental – dams would control flow of rivers and flooding

13. Second New Deal Included: Wagner Act/National Labor Relations Act
Social Security
Works Progress Administration (WPA)

14. Wagner Act Also called the National Labor Relations Act
Signed July 1935
Guaranteed workers the right to organize unions without interference from employers and to bargain collectively.
Set up the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which organized factory elections by secret ballot to determine whether workers wanted a union or not.
Effect of the Wagner Act: Stimulated a burst of labor activity, including the formation of more labor organizations and more strikes.

15. Social Security Act Three programs
Old age insurance for retirees over 65; ensured that retired people would have some income
Unemployment compensation/wages
Aid for the disabled and for impoverished families with children