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Contents• Election of 1928, 1932, 1936• Flow charts of causes and reversing spiral of Great

Depression• Graphs of stock market and unemployment in the

1930s• Dust Bowl• Election of 1932 and links to FDR inaugural address• New Deal Programs• Fireside Chats (link to audio of 1st fireside chat)• Critics of FDR • Social Security• Movies, radio and the arts of the 1930s

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• (R) Herbert Hoover– Food Administration WWI

– Secretary of Commerce

• (D) Al Smith (corner)

– Governor of New York

– 1st Irish Catholic to run for White House

• Advantage?– Republican prosperity

in the 1920s ensure easy victory for Hoover

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Causes of the Depression

Fewer goods are sold.

Demanddrops.

In order to stay in businesscompanies cut

wages

People lose theirconfidence &

start saving their money

Demanddrops even

further.

Companies are forced to cut costs

by laying people off

Even more peopleLose their confidenceAnd spend less money

People lose their jobs.

The Spiral Of

Depression

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Stock Market Crash of 1929

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted on October 29, 1929.

• $14 billion was lost in one day.

• Stock Market will not recover for decades.

• Unofficial start of the Great Depression.

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Great Depression in the Cities

• In cities across the country people:– lost their jobs– Were evicted from

their houses– Ended up living on the

street.

• Shantytowns, soup kitchens and bread lines appeared

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People waiting in line for bread and soup and also living out of their car.

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• Farmers in the Midwest had over farmed the soil.

• Drought conditions led to 100 of acres of soil being “blown away.”

• These ‘black blizzards’ lasted from 1933 to 1939.

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• WW I vets marched on Washington DC.

• Demanded the bonus that was due in 1945 be paid presently.

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Bonus Army in DC…

• Congress refused their demands.• Gen. MacArthur broke up the

marchers and had their shanty town burned to the ground.

• Public relations disaster for President Hoover.

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HooverFDR

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What were we thinking?What were we thinking?

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Key Quotes: FDR’s Inauguration Speech

This Nation asks for action, and action now. Our

greatest primary task is to put people to work. I shall

ask Congress for broad executive power to wage

was against the emergency.

Link to:•Text of Speech

•Video

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• Series of radio addresses by FDR

• 30 total between 1933 to 1944

• FDR used these to calm American people down.

• CLICK on the radio to link to hear the 1st chat on the Bank Crisis

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FDR and the New Deal

• During the presidential campaign of 1932, FDR promised Americans a NEW DEAL.

• This would be his program to get America back on its feet.

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1. Relief Help people right away

2. Recovery Get the US out of the

Depression

3. Reform Make sure another

depression does not happen

Goals of New Deal Program

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New Deal: Relief• Federal Emergency Relief

Association (FERA)• Civil Works Administration

(CWA)• Public Works Administration

(PWA)• Civilian Conservation Corps

(CCC)• Farm Credit Association (FCA)• Homeowners Loan Corporation

(HOLC)

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New Deal: Recovery• Works Progress

Administration (WPA)• National Recovery

Administration (NRA)• Agricultural Adjustment

Act (AAA)• National Youth

Administration (NYA)• Federal Housing Act

(FHA)

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New Deal: Reform• Federal Deposit

Insurance Company (FDIC)

• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

• Wagner Act (NLRB)• Tennessee Valley

Authority (TVA)• Social Security

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Reversing the Spiral of Depression

Government Spending $

Alphabet Agencies

More Jobs

More Spending

Demand for goods increases

More goods have to be produced

More people withJobs = more pay $

More Spending

Demand for goods increases

More goods have to be produced

More Jobs

More Pay = More Taxes

Cycle of

Prosperity!

Democrats called this Process

‘Pump Priming’

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FDR and the Supreme Court

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Court Packing….• The Supreme Court struck

down several New Deal laws as unconstitutional.

• FDR wanted to increase the size of the court from 9 to 15.– Would appoint justices who

were pro-New Deal

• Congress did not agree with FDR.

• This hurt FDR’s image.

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Huey Long• FDR was NOT doing

enough for the poor.• Long pushed his “Share

Our Wealth” program.• Take all income over

$1,000,000 to give:– House– Car– Annual Salary– For all Americans

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Dr. Francis Townshend

• FDR was NOT doing enough for old people.

• Proposed a $200 a month pension to everyone over 60.

• This was good for (2) reasons:– $$ to boost economy– Open a job up for a

younger American

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Charles Coughlin• FDR had NOT done

enough….

• Fr. Coughlin felt that FDR did not take on the powerful bankers in the United States.

• Used the radio to blast FDR and became known as the “Radio Priest”.

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Liberty League• FDR had gone TO FAR

with the New Deal.

• Interfering with business and people’s lives.

• Government was taking away freedoms from Americans.

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Social Security Act of 1935

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How is Social Security funded?

Social SecurityTrust Fund

Workers Employers

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Social Security

UnemploymentInsurance

Old AgePension

Dependent Families

+Disabled

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• October 30, 1938• Orson Wells performed

HG Wells classic over the radio.– Made Wells famous

• Caused a panic because people thought Martians were invading– Link to listen to the radio br

oadcast.

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• Famous painting entitled “American Gothic”.

• Best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest.

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• Folk singer during the Depression

• His personal and musical styles were deeply influenced by his childhood in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression years.

• This Land is Your Land – famous song

• CLICK HERE to listen to song on YouTube

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• Classical novel written by John Steinbeck in 1939.

• Focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers :– Driven from their home by

the drought– They head to California

looking for a better life

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What will end the Great Depression?

• America’s entry into World War II