The Great Depression
1928 Election Slogan
Hoovercrats
No Direct Relief Voluntary Actions Business
Hoover reforms
Reconstruction Finance Corp Causes
– Overproduction – Technology – Unequal wealth – Buying on Margin – Easy Credit
– Foreign Trade
Destroying Crops Dust Bowl
Herbert Hoover (1929-33)
Coolidge followed
laissez-faire which would lead to
some problems Hoover
would deal with
1928 Election #1: Tell me
about it
Alfred Smith wanted
Hoover is Loved..
At the time he was
among the most well
known and
respected men in
politics
– Food Admin.
•A combination of tennis, volleyball and medicine ball, Hoover-ball was invented, developed and perfected by White House physician Admiral Joel T. Boone to keep Hoover physically fit.
•Also a time to meet and discuss ideas with his cabinet
Hoover’s Election Day Promise
Hoover promised
the
American people:
“A chicken in every
pot and two cars in
every garage”
Hoover seemed to
Hoovercrats
#2 Economic Developments
1.
Middle Class and working class
2.
Poverty
#3 Consumers expand
1.
Product availability
Corporations
Expanded and anti-trust laws ignored
Hoover condemned the waste resulting from
cutthroat competition and wanted self
Bureau of Budget
Created by Hoover (Commerce Dept.)
Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930
#3
Black Tuesday: October 29, 1929
#4 Describe Black Thursday
and Tuesday
Prices began to fall
Some banks bought stocks
to stabilize the market
Margins were being called in
and people couldn’t pay
Buyers couldn’t be found
and by November the
depression had begun
By November, investors lost
30 billion dollars
Things Get Worse!
From 1929-33 things get worse National income fell from 81 to
41 billion
85,000 businesses closed 400,000 farms were lost
6000 banks failed (1\4 of all
banks)
9 million dollars in savings was
lost
At one point up to 12 million
out of work (1\4 of labor force)
Some went to the Soviet Union
Hoover’s Attempts to end the
Depression
There was
no direct
relief from Hoover and
the government
Hoover proposed
voluntary actions
to
get out of the
depression
#6: How did Hoover
Rugged Individualism
Hoover’s belief
Change must come from within the
people…direct relief would weaken
their self respect
However, Hoover did some things
Breadlines
and
Hoover Reforms\Business
As the depression worsened, Hoover realized
the need for direct relief, but he favored helping
business
Trickle down theory
Don’t cut wages; don’t strike
Critics said he wouldn’t spend money to feed the
hungry
Sent money to pig farmers for meal; not human
Hoover Tries
Relief
Some direct relief efforts were
begun, but it was too late.
One example was Boulder
Dam to create a source of energy and provide jobs.
Later named Hoover Dam (in Colorado) Finished in 1935
He vetoed a similar plan in
Reconstruction Finance Corp
Example of Hoover’s reforms
•
Republican view?
•
Trickle down economics..emergency
loans help stabilize business
•
Democrat view?
I knew it was bad
when the pigeons in
Central Park started
Hoovervilles
Shacks and
shantytowns that
Causes of the
Depression #5
Unequal distribution of wealth Most of the nation’s wealth was
owned by 2% of the people
27,500 of the richest people had more
money than 12 million of the poorest
Most homes had no electricity or heat
furnace
Most bought a new set of clothes
once a year
Easy Credit Overproduction Farming
farmers over expanded during the
war
Did Coolidge help?
Buying on Margin
– get rich quick schemes
– pay a percentage of a stock’s cost and borrow the rest…hoping to make a profit and pay your debt quickly
– Installment plan, etc.
Unbalanced foreign trade
High tariffs lead to lack of
trade with Europe
Technology
Examples of the Depression
In rural areas people had to eat roots and flowers In cities people dug through garbage for food
“I take off my glasses so I won’t see the maggots” It was the time of the train hobo
People fought with dogs for spoiled food
One woman killed her husband for spending the Christmas money in a
bar.
Schools shut down so kids could find work; malnutrition was a problem At schools that did stay open one child said, “I can’t eat. It is my
sister’s turn.”
Bread lines formed……..souplines formed………homeless slept where
Destroy crops
Low prices hurt
farmers and many
began to
destroy
their crops to drive
up prices
…..pouring
milk into the street,
plowing under
Farmer Problems
In the Midwest, due to
overproduction, huge dust storms emerged, rivers dried up. It created the Dust Bowl.
People had to sleep with wet
towels on their heads, street lamps were lit in the middle of the day, dirt covered the tops of cars, homes, telephone poles.
Some storms drifted as far as
200 miles off the coast
Those who left the Dustbowl
Damage to the Republican Party
Hoover’s actions and being
blamed for the depression will open the door for the
Democrats in the next election
Hoover’s actions did help keep
the depression from getting worse
He was also dealing with a
hostile Republican Congress
Hoover was blamed for the
Some day they'll go down together.
They'll bury them side by side.
To few it'll be grief -
To the law a relief -
but it's death for Bonnie and Clyde.
The officers, even after pumping 167 rounds into the car,
The Indiana farmboy who became the FBI's first Public Enemy Number One.
He began working for Al Capone in the early 1930s. Nelson's
Man in
Dust
Farm
Covered
Wagon in
a
Migratory
Carrot
Wife and
Young
Family Leaving
South Dakota for
the West During
the Great
Dust
Bowl
I should know to leave them home. They follow me through the
store with these toys I can't afford. "Kids, take them back, you know better than that."
Dolls that talk, astronauts, T.V. games, airplanes, they don't understand and how can I explain?
I try and try but I can't save. Pennies, nickels, dollars slip away. I've tried and tried but I can't save.
My youngest girl has bad fever, sure. All night with alcohol to cool and rub her down. Ruby, I'm tired, try and get some sleep. I'm adding doctor's fees to remedies with the cost of three day's work lost.
I try and try but I can't save. Pennies, nickels, dollars slip away. I've tried and tried but I can't save. The hole in my pocketbook is
growing.
There's a new wind blowing they say, it's gonna be a cold, cold one. So brace yourselves my darlings, it won't bring anything much our way but more dust bowl days.
I played a card in this weeks game. Took the first and the last letters in three of their names. This lottery's been building up for weeks. I could be lucky me with the five million prize, tears of disbelief spilling out of my eyes.
I try and try but I can't save. Pennies, nickels, dollars slip away. I've tried and tried but I can't save. The hole in my pocketbook is growing.
