New Trends in Popular Culture

Americans enjoy more leisure time The average work week in

the city: 1850-70, 1910-55, 1930-45

At the same time, salaries and wages were on the rise

Americans Flock to the Movies With more free time and

more of a disposable income, Americans looked for new entertainment

Motion Pictures During the 1920s, 60-

100 million Americans went to the movies each week! Motion pictures

transcended languages and literacy- unlike Broadway plays/orchestras

Charlie Chaplin, the most popular silent film star, played Little Tramp

The Jazz Singer- (1927) The first movie with sound synchronized to the action Silent pictures faded out,

replaced by “talkies”

The Radio and Phonograph Break Barriers

Radios brought distant events into millions of homes in a way that newspapers no longer could.

Phonographs allowed for people to listen to the songs they heard on the radio anytime they wanted.

The Golden Age of Sports Babe Ruth Red Grange Jack Dempsey Bobby Jones Bill Tilden

Americans needed hope after WWI, the 1920s sports heroes gave them just that.

The Great Depression

Causes of the Great Depression1. Problems in the Agricultural Sector

Farmers were ¼ of the American workforce Demand for crops were still low (compared to time of

war) Most were in debt from when they bought more land,

and farm equipment to meet the demand of wartime crop production

The Great Depression

2. Wealth was Distributed Unevenly 1923-1929 Worker productivity increased by

32%, however, workers’ wages increased only 8%.... = corporate profits up 65%

Rich got A LOT richer, poor got poorer 1929, the top 1% of earners made the same

amount of money as the bottom 42% of Americans.

60% of all American families earned less than $2,000 per year…

24,000 of the country’s wealthiest families earned $100,000 or more.

PROBLEM- rich families did not eat 50x more, did not purchase 50x more= The wealthy few did not buy enough to keep the economy booming

3. Easy Credit hides the problems in the economy

By 1929, 80% of radios and 60% of cars were purchased on installment credit.

The majority of Americans were living beyond their means

The Great Depression The Stock Market Crashes October 23, 1929- Dow

Jones drops 21 points in one hour= confidence lost in the market

October 24 (Black Thursday) stock market continuing to drop, investors start to sell.

October 29, Black Tuesday, “The Crash” – more than 16 million shares were sold, BILLIONS of dollars lost.

People that bought on the margin lost everything they had.

The Great DepressionThe Banks Collapse 1st institution to feel

effects, depositors feared for their money and withdrew from the banks

Monetary Policies- 1920s Federal Reserve cut interest rates to stimulate growth In 1929 the Fed limited the

money supply to discourage overspeculation (lending).

The result, there was too little money in circulation to help the economy after the crash. Banks were out of hard money had to close.▪ 1929- 641 commercial banks

closed▪ 1930- 1,350 closed▪ 1931- 1,700 closed

The Great DepressionBusinesses Close, Unemployment

Rises The collapse of the stock

market and reduced consumer spending, businesses began production cutbacks to save money.

Companies began to close plants, laying off employees

As more Americans lost their jobs, unemployment grew, incomes shrank, consumers spent less money… so businesses cut production even more.

By 1933, 25% of all American workers were unemployed

The Great Depression4. Hawley-Smoot Tariff

raised prices of foreign imports to a level where they could not compete in American market.

European countries enacted tariffs of their own, closing the international market to American producers.

The ripple effect caused by the Hawley-Smoot Tariff helped to destroy international trade, devastating to global economy.

The Great DepressionDepression Goes Global WWI left global economic structure

shaky, Germany borrowed from the U.S. to pay GB & France, and GB & France owed money to U.S. PLUS an international imbalance in trade. THE STRUCTURE COLLAPSES in the 1930s.

U.S. can’t loan money to Germany any longer, and well you get the idea…

Europe experiences the same cycle of business failures, banks collapse and unemployment rose.

OK, so what REALLY caused the Great Depression?

Influential economist, John Maynard Keyes argued that a lack of government interference led to the Great Depression.

Lack of money supply (the Fed), unequal distribution of wealth (Harding/Coolidge pro-big business), stock speculation (buying on the margin), consumer spending (installment credit), productivity, and employment could have been controlled by a proactive government.

But others disagree…

Causes of the Great Depression

Availability of easy credit

Agricultural problems

Uneven Distribution Of Wealth

Foreign trade HurtBy Tariffs

Americans Face Hard TimesMisery & Despair Grip

America’s Cities Many people lost jobs and

were evicted from their homes, slept in parks, sewer pipes. Shantytowns- made up of

shacks, also called Hoovervilles

Bread Lines- lines of people waiting to receive food provided by charities.

Americans Face Hard Times

Poverty Devastates Rural America Drought plagued the great Plains in

the 1930s. Overproduction- farmers plowed

through plains grasses that in the past and prevented the topsoil from blowing away during drought.

The combination of high winds, drought, and loose topsoil resulted in massive dust clouds.

This area of the Great Plains (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado) became known as the Dust Bowl

1930-1934, 1 million farms failed to pay mortgages and lost their farms. Some farmers remained on their

land as tenant farmers, worked for bigger landowners.

Okies- Dust Bowl refugees, most headed west looking for jobs.

Americans Face Hard TimesFew Americans Escape Hard

times Increase in mental illness -

Suicides went up by 30% Families broke apart under the

financial strain. People stopped going to the

doctors No longer afford the “extras”

like movies or entertainment 300,000 became “Hoboes,”

which were people who wandered the country, hitching rides on railroad boxcars and sleeping under bridges.

Hoover’s Response FailsCautious Response to Depression Fails1. Asked businesses to keep

employment, wages, and prices at current level.

2. Reduced taxes, lower interest rates, created public works program

3. Asked the wealthy to donate and volunteer.

He encouraged, did not legislate. FAILED, businesses continued to do what was best for them.

Hoover also believed in localism, the policy whereby problems could best be solved by local and state levels. States had no money to do so

Hoover believed that public assistance is unconstitutional.

Hoover’s Response FailsHoover Adopts More

Activists PoliciesHoover tried to help by doing

the following: Reconstruction Finance

Corporation (RFC) 1932 $1 billion gov’t loans to

railroads, businesses. Trickle-down economics= give

money to banks, banks loan to businesses, businesses hire workers, production and consumption increases, ending the depression.

Hoover Dam Brought jobs to the southwest

in the early 1930s

Hoover’s Response FailsAmericans Protest Hoover’s Failures Some Americans questioned capitalism-

it created great inequalities, and the depression was a sign that it was about to collapse.

The Bonus Army Marches on Washington, D.C.

WWI Veterans seeking the bonuses Congress promised them, known as Bonus Army Adjusted Compensation Act (1924)

promised a payment to veterans in 1945.▪ Many out of work veterans argued that they

should receive it in 1931. Congress passed the bill, Hoover vetoed 20,000 veterans marched on Washington

and camped out. Hoover called for General Douglas

McArthur and federal troops to clear out the camps

The use of tanks and tear gas were being used against veterans, destroying the little popularity that Hoover had left.

“Don’t Pay, All Stay!”

Needless to say, Hoover was not re-elected…

The New Deal (1932-1941)

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

Roosevelt Takes ChargeDemocratic presidential nominee in

1932 election, pledged “a new deal for the American people”

“The country needs, and unless I mistake its temper, the country

demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a new method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another.

But above all, try something!” FDR, May 1932

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery Not only does FDR win,

but the Democrats also gain control of the Senate as well.

FDR collects a group of professionals and academics, whom were nicknamed the “Brain Trust.”

Advisors were made up of men and women, republicans and democrats

Also valued the advice of wife Eleanor.

FDR Offers Relief and RecoveryFDR’s First 100 Days FDR proposed and

Congress passed 15 bills 3 Main Goals:

RELIEF RECOVERY REFORM

Restored the nation’s confidence Start of the fireside

chats

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery First 100 Days

Activity Reforming the

Financial System Helped Farmers Rural Southerners Relief and Industrial

Recovery

Opposition to the New Deal Emerges Conservatives

Gov’t was too powerful Gov’t determined how businesses operated, created

huge national debt, destroying free enterprise. Liberals

Gov’t was not doing enough to end depression, mostly socialists and communists

Populists (spokesmen for poor Americans) Father Charles Coughlin, catholic priest/radio

host, wanted to nationalize banks, anti-Semitic, supported….

Huey Long, Louisana Senator, “Shar our Wealth” tax the rich and distribute to the poor. Many enemies, assisinated 1935

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

The Second New Deal addressed the

problems of the elderly, the poor, and the unemployed. It created new public-works projects; helped farmers; and enacted measures to protect workers rights.

FDR Offers Relief and RecoveryWorkers Progress Administration

(WPA) built or improved a good part of the

nation’s highways, dredged rivers and harbors, and promoted soil and water conservation.

provided programs in the arts for unemployed artists.

By 1943 the WPA employed 8 million people.

Helped build the San Antonio River Walk and parts of the Appalachian Trail.

FDR Offers Relief and RecoverySocial Security Act Set up a system of pensions for retired

workers. The law also created insurance for victims of

work-related accidents, and provided aid for poverty-stricken mothers and children, the blind, and the disabled.

Rural Electrification Administration (REA) Loaned money to electric utilities to build

power lines. Provided affordable electricity for isolated

rural areas.

Fair Labor Standards Act Banned Child labor. Set the work week at 44 hours. Established a hourly minimum

wage. New Deal’s most controversial

legacyNational Labor Relations Act

(Wagner Act) Outlawed unfair labor

practices. Granted workers the right to

organize unions and to use collective bargaining.

Created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to look into worker’s complaints.

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

Challenges To The New Deal

The Supreme Court struck down the AAA and the NIRA on the grounds that agriculture is a local matter and should be regulated by the state instead of the federal government (unconstitutional).

FDR issued a plan to add up to six new justices to the nine-member Court. Court Packing because all

of the new justices would most likely support the New Deal legislation. ▪ Historical Significance:

Critics saw FDR as trying to upset the balance of power between the 3 branches of government.

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

Effects of the New Deal Frances Perkins was the

first female cabinet member, Secretary of Labor. Sec. Perkins was influential in establishing Social Security and winning approval for the Fair Labor Standards Act

Mary McLeod Bethune helped to organize a “Black Cabinet” of influential African Americans to advise the Roosevelt administration on racial issues.

African Americans Make Advances & Face Challenges

African Americans were one group that benefited from the New Deal. Mary McLeod Bethune worked to provide jobs for African Americans. FDR met with the “Black Cabinet” to discuss social issues that African Americans were facing. Did Roosevelt always listen to the “Black Cabinet?” Why?

▪ No. Needed the political support of whites in the South.

Overall, African Americans still voted for FDR because he was their best hope for the future.

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

New Deal Aims at Other Groups MEXICAN AMERICANS

Generally approved of the New Deal because the CCC & WPA helped some. The New Deal did not interfere with their work on farms.

NATIVE AMERICANS John Collier created the Indian Reorganization

Act (Indian New Deal) of 1934, which moved away from the policy of assimilation, economic assistance, and greater control of their own affairs.

New Deal Coalition This was an alignment of diverse groups

dedicated to supporting the Democratic Party. Southern Whites African Americans Blue collar industrial workers Immigrant roots Poor Midwestern farmers

After 1932, democrats secured the Whitehouse in 6 out of the next 8 presidential elections

Evaluating The New Deal The New Deal expanded the power of the

government and the president. Regulated business. Settled labor and management disputes. The FDIC and SEC restored confidence in the banking and

stock market. Government employed deficit spending.

FDR left the country with a large debt.

What had the greatest effect? Social Security – Assumed the responsibility for the social

welfare of its citizens. Effects on Agriculture – Oversaw the nation’s agriculture by

setting up quotas on the production of crops. Environmental Benefits – Conserved and promoted policies

designed to protect the nation’s natural resources. FDR’s Legacy – Ranks 3rd in most Historical Rankings of

Presidents. ▪ Why do you think? Who’s he behind?

▪ Helped the country in one of the most trying times in history.▪ George Washington, Abraham Lincoln