Great+Depression


 * GREAT DEPRESSION MODULE**

My most updated material for this World War Two module is on the following page of our wiki: http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/HIST+386+Content


 * My Website Spotlight blog posts that pertain to this module**

Civilian Conservation Corps (American Experience) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/ccc/ http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2011/12/website-spotlight-civilian-conservation.html

Riding the Rails (American Experience) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rails/ http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2011/12/website-spotlight-riding-rails.html

Seabiscuit (American Experience) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/seabiscuit/ http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2011/12/website-spotlight-seabiscuit.html

Surviving the Dust Bowl (American Experience) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dustbowl/ http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2011/12/website-spotlight-surviving-dust-bowl.html

Route 66 http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/exhibition_10_1.html http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/11/09/captured-the-85th-anniversary-of-u-s-route-66/5078/ http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2012/06/website-spotlight-route-66.html

America in the 1930s http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/front.html http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2012/06/website-spotlight-america-in-1930s.html

Farming in the 1930s http://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/farminginthe1930s.html http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2012/06/website-spotlight-farming-in-1930s.html


 * Websites which provide an overview of this module**:

America in the 1930s (UVA). This is terrific.

1. Timeline—by year. Check out how incredible this is!! [|http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s2/Time/1929/1929fr.html]

2. Depression Slang http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA04/hess/Slang/kids.html#Joe Deal particularly with these two parts: a. Click on "Shoot Some Soda Jerk Slang" and work through that section. b. Click on "Don't Be Dead Between the Ears, Check Out Some Jivin' Slang" and work through that section.

//History Now// The Great Depression (entire issue) []

1930s today: interview with Jonathan Alter http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/30s-today-jonathan-alter/


 * BUSINESS DID WELL IN THE 1920S**

1. Presidents.

All three were Republicans: Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover.

President Warren G. Harding obituary (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1102.html

President Calvin Coolidge obituary (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0704.html

Calvin Coolidge Passes - 1933 | Today in History | 5 Jan http://youtu.be/huAmXAQDBvk

Finding Dulcinea: On This Day: President Coolidge Delivers First Presidential Address Broadcast on Radio []

Alfred Smith obituary (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1230.html

President Herbert Hoover obituary (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0810.html

Herbert Hoover Miller Center (University of Virginia) http://millercenter.org/president/hoover My Website Spotlight blog post http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2012/06/website-spotlight-herbert-hoover.html

All three were pro–business ("The business of America is business").

2. Supreme Court.

Protected business and private property as it had in the Gilded Age. Sheltered business from government regulation Hindered organized labor from striking.

3. Congress. Responsive to corporate lobbying.

4. Welfare capitalism.

Corporations countered the appeal of unions by offering pensions, profit–sharing, picnics, and company-sponsored sports teams.

5. Consumerism

[We will see a replay of this consumerism when we look later at the 1950s.]

Consumer society.

Number of consumers increased by advertising (increased sophistication plus increased expenditures), credit, and higher wages

6. Automobile

Ford Model T

a. The car altered American life as much as the railroad had 75 years earlier. b. Car registrations went from 8 to 23 million in the 1920s. c. Car prices more affordable: mass production and competition d. Automobile industry fostered growth of other industries


 * Items to make cars: steel, glass, rubber, textiles.
 * Roads: "good roads" movement.
 * Motels and diners
 * Oil drilling
 * Gas stations


 * STOCK MARKET CRASH** (1929)

Black Tuesday, Stock Market Crash Ushers in Great Depression (On This Day, Finding Dulcinea) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day---Black-Tuesday--Stock-Market-Crash-Ushers-in-Great-Depression.html

Photo Gallery []

Crash of 1929 (American Experience) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/crash/ My Website Spotlight blog post http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2011/12/website-spotlight-crash-of-1929.html

Crash of 1929 https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/photo-gallery/crash/

The Crash of 1929 & The Great Depression (PBS) 1of6 http://youtu.be/ccNilnpvbJg

(A) Business context

1. Increasing flow of consumer goods: autos, radios, and household appliances

2. Installment credit increased sales

3. Optimism in the air Unlimited prosperity would never end "Blue skies keep smiling on me"

Irving Kaufman - Blue Skies (1927) http://youtu.be/V7cPcEa4e8I

4. But the consumer–goods revolution contained seeds of its own collapse.


 * Factories produced more than country could consume.
 * Workers had insufficient purchasing power.
 * Farmers were particularly suffering.

5. Mild recession in 1927


 * Business should have heeded warning
 * Should have raised wages
 * Should have lowered prices.
 * Government should have tightened installment buying.

(B) Investment issues

1. Stocks could be bought on margin:

$100 down could buy stock worth $1,000.

2. Stocks rose more on speculation than on underlying company value.

3. Corporations focused on profits, dividends, and expansion

4. Not enough money went to the workers—who were also consumers.

5. Stock market crash in October 1929 burst the bubble.

29 October 1929 Stock Prices Collapse (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1029.html#article

(C) After the Stock Market crash

1. Beginning of the depression.

2. Between 1929 and 1932, industrial production declined by almost 45% Decline of production led to plant closings and unemployment.

3. Unemployment rose quickly:


 * 1930—5 million (15% unemployment)
 * 1931—9 million (25%)
 * 1932—12 million (40%)

4. Bank failures rose steadily.

5. Protectionism

Smoot–Hawley tariff raised U.S. import duties to an all–time high.

Protectionism: The Battle of Smoot-Hawley (Economist) http://www.economist.com/node/12798595

Ben Stein's take on Smoot-Hawley (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/business/10every.html

Difficult for other countries to sell their products in U.S. Difficult for them to earn dollars to buy American products. Other countries raised their tariffs in retaliation.

6. Depression became world–wide.

Impact of the depression

Depression dominated American life for 10 years (1929–1939). People postponed marriage; married couples postponed having children. Malnutrition and deteriorating diets made people susceptible to disease. Out–of–work fathers felt ashamed of their diminished roles.

[]
 * President Herbert Hoover**

Google Images: Herbert Hoover http://bit.ly/wihkgC

Google Images: Herbert Hoover political cartoons http://bit.ly/xgiX2W

Time Capsule http://dmarie.com/timecap/ 6 February 1929


 * 1928 Presidential Election**

Hoover won the 1928 election against Al Smith

Dirty Campaigning in the Roaring Twenties: Herbert Hoover vs. Al Smith - Mental Floss []

Should a Catholic Be President?: A Contemporary View of the 1928 Election []

Al Smith’s Address of Acceptance of the Democratic Presidential Nomination (1928) https://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/al-smiths-address-of-acceptance-of-the-democratic-presidential-nomination/text

Not too successful. Remedies relied upon self–help, not government assistance. Traditional: tried to balance the budget Vetoed several relief measures.
 * Hoover's administration**

Hooverville (Wikipedia) []

See also:

The Ordeal of Herbert Hoover (2 part series) http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/summer/hoover-1.html http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/summer/hoover-2.html


 * Bonus Army March** (1932)

Google Image Search http://bit.ly/wInmQR

Bonus Army (Wikipedia) [] []

Bonus Expeditionary Force

World War I veterans (15,000) camped in Washington

Demanded payment immediately of promised (1945) cash bonuses

President Hoover ordered the army to evict the veterans

Army, commanded by Douglas MacArthur, operated harshly []

"Cheered in 1917, Jeered in 1932"

Bonus Army march []

Bonus Army (Library of Congress) Scroll down 2/3 of the way []

1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jul30.html


 * The Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)**

Franklin D. Roosevelt (Wikipedia) []

Google Images: Franklin Roosevelt http://bit.ly/wgOWay

Election of 1932. FDR won easily over Hoover. []

Paralyzed nation strengthened by physically–handicapped President Google Images: Franklin Roosevelt and polio http://bit.ly/Axrtg8

[] http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/profiles/r/eleanor-roosevelt.html
 * Eleanor Roosevelt**. Details on her life.

Google Images: Eleanor Roosevelt http://bit.ly/zfqYio

Great advocate of social justice; admired by blacks.

Marching on Washington: Marion Anderson []

Eleanor Roosevelt letter resigning from the Daughters of the American Revolution []

Four–month transition a problem. Partially solved by 20th Amendment (1933) []


 * New Deal**

The Great Depression (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jul08.html

The First 100 Days of the New Deal (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun16.html


 * First 100 Days**

Congress was in session for one hundred days before it adjourned. During this period, FDR went fifteen for fifteen in major legislation. Subsequent presidents are measured by this impossible standard.

Context: prior bank failures FDR issued a decree closing all banks in America. This approach called a "banking holiday"
 * Saving the Banks**

[] Provided for government supervision and assistance to banks Strong ones would be reopened with federal support. Weak ones would be closed Deposit insurance ($5,000) would be available
 * Emergency Banking Relief Act.**

[] FDR made great use of radio to reach public.
 * Fireside chats**

[]
 * Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)**

Farming in the 1930s [] Click through each of the seven modules

Three million people left farms in the 1930s.

Agricultural Adjustment Act was designed to help farm problems:

Overproduction Low prices paid for crops Low income of farmers Difficulty of paying mortgages Rise in farm foreclosures

The act provided for the following:

Government paid subsidies to farmers who

a) Restricted crop acreage: wheat, cotton, corn, rice, or tobacco

b)Reduced number of livestock, particularly pigs.

Great Depression: How Young Americans Survived the Hard Times []


 * Dust Bowl**

Dust Bowl (Finding Dulcinea) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May/Great-Plains-Hit-With-Devastating-Dust-Storm.html

Drought and poor farming techniques led to dust storms. Many from Oklahoma (Okies) and Arkansas (Arkies) fled to California.

[|Surviving The Dust Bowl - YouTube]

Use "Dust Bowl 1930" as search term in Google Images. http://bit.ly/wzsbYY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haboob
 * Digression**: Iran hostage rescue force ran into a vast dust cloud:

American Experience: Dust Bowl Surviving the Dust Bowl [] Then go to Photo Gallery. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/photo-gallery/dustbowl/

See also:

The Dust Bowl of the 1930s []

Surviving the Dust Bowl https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/dustbowl-worster/

Dust Bowl Legacy http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/legacy/

Interactive Dust Bowl http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/interactive/

Dust Bowl Biographies http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/bios/

Dust Bowl Photo Gallery http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/photos/

Dust Bowl: Woodie Guthrie film clip http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/watch-videos/#2250832371

Black Sunday dust storm https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sunday_(storm)

Woody Guthrie Dust Bowl ballads http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCDE6EDFA72C89CA0


 * Grapes of Wrath**

Grapes of Wrath Plot summary Clip about the movie

Grapes of Wrath "Two for a Penny" Movie Clip http://youtu.be/CPI7QbqPj9E

Discussing 'The Grapes of Wrath' - CornellCast http://www.cornell.edu/video/discussing-the-grapes-of-wrath

The Grapes of Wrath - Setting | Steinbeck in the Schools | San Jose State University http://sits.sjsu.edu/curriculum-resources/the-grapes-of-wrath/setting/

Grapes of Wrath []


 * U.S. Route 66**

America on the Move | The People's Highway: Route 66 []

Photos: The 85th Anniversary of U.S. Route 66 []

First drive-in movie theater opens — History.com This Day in History — 6/6/1933 []

A postman wrote a Route 66 travel guide for black people (Green Book) http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38370631

8 Things You May Not Know About Route 66 http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-route-66


 * Seabiscuit **

Google Images http://bit.ly/xY3Bz2

Seabiscuit (American Experience) []

Seabiscuit https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/seabiscuit-rivalry/

Seabiscuit https://youtu.be/HAXTMOvLElA

Seabiscuit part 1 http://youtu.be/MdXme8s-SCE


 * Riding the Rails **

Google Images http://bit.ly/wJj6OJ

Riding the Rails (American Experience) []

Great Depression -- Letters from Boxcar Boys and Girls of the 1930s []

Teaching about the Great Depression <span style="font-family: &#39;Calibri&#39;,&#39;sans-serif&#39;; font-size: 14.6667px;">[]

Riding the Rails during the Great Depression <span style="font-family: &#39;Calibri&#39;,&#39;sans-serif&#39;; font-size: 14.6667px;">[]

Riding the Rails https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/further-reading/rails-further-reading/

Riding the Rails: Hobo Kids during Great Depression 1/5 http://youtu.be/pIblZmwvGww

[]
 * Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)**

Job corps for white men, aged 18–25. Supervised by U.S. army. Workers paid $30 per month, of which $25 had to be sent to family. Pumped $2 billion into economy (equivalent to $200 billion today). Work planned by National Park Service: Tree planting (North Dakota to Texas), flood control, road construction.

American Experience: Civilian Conservation Corps [] Go to Photo Gallery. Click through the photos there. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/photo-gallery/ccc/

See also:

Civilian Conservation Corps (National Archives, //Prologue// magazine) http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/fall/ccc.html

Civilian Conservation Corps https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/photo-gallery/ccc/

Civilian Conservation Corps http://youtu.be/Jsg8hQK4EK8

[]
 * National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)**

Industrial cornerstone for New Deal. Corporations were to hold down prices. Labor was to accept wages offered. Shows faith in planning. Section 7 (a) of the NIRA encouraged labor unionizing.

Google Image Search under NRA Blue Eagle http://bit.ly/yfPAeP

See also:

National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) https://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/national-industrial-recovery-act

Our Documents - National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=66

Blue Eagle []

[]
 * Opposition to the New Deal**

a) Conservative critics. Republicans did not like government control of the economy.

b) Liberal critics:

1) Father Charles Coughlin.

Catholic priest from Detroit Weekly radio sermons (30 million audience) Criticized the New Deal Proposed a National Union for Social Justice to counter the New Deal. Anti-Semite: depression caused by international Jewish bankers. Expressed support for Hitler's approach to running Germany.

Charles E. Coughlin (Holocaust Museum bio) [] Reverend Charles E. Coughlin http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX96.html

American Rhetoric Speech Bank: Roosevelt or Ruin http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/charlescoughlinrooseveltorruin.htm

Charles Coughlin the radio priest https://youtu.be/pyGs5qQXtQY

2) Dr. Francis E. Townsend

[] []

Proposed an Old Age Revolving Pensions plan Every person over age 60 would get a $200 per month pension. His plan would cost 50% of national income to help 7% of population.

3) Huey Long.

Former Governor of and Democratic Senator from Louisiana. Proposed a Share Our Wealth Society Tax rich people heavily Furnish each family an annual income of $2,500 Assassinated in 1935

Huey Long https://youtu.be/z40jiA0ZOo8

Huey Long: "Every Man a King" Address (1934) https://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/huey-longs-every-man-a-king-address

Every Man a King American Rhetoric Speech Bank http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hueyplongking.htm

Huey Long: “Share Our Wealth” Address (1935) https://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/huey-longs-share-our-wealth-address

Share Our Wealth American Rhetoric Speech Bank http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hueyplongshare.htm

FDR and the Kingfish http://www.americanheritage.com/content/fdr-and-kingfish?page=show


 * Social Security Act**

FICA deduction today. Designed to prevent more radical alternatives (Townsend and Long) Workers required to pay into it Answer to critics of "relief" Worker's payment matched by employer

See also:

Congress and the New Deal: Social Security https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/treasures_of_congress/page_19.html

Social Security (Stanford History Education Group) http://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/Lessons/Unit%2010_New%20Deal%20and%20World%20War%20II/Social%20Security%20Lesson%20Plan.pdf

Social Security Act (1935) https://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/social-security-act

Social Security Act (Finding Dulcinea) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-this-Day--Congress-Passes-Social-Security-Act.html

Frances Perkins []


 * Second phase of New Deal**:

Emphasized underconsumption. Massive public works programs for the jobless Home relief (the dole) versus work relief.


 * Works Progress Administration (WPA)**

WPA (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr08.html

[] Employed 3 million men as manual laborers: roads, hospitals, bridges.
 * Webquest: Posters from the WPA**

Employed educated persons: Federal Art, Writers', Theater Projects Federal Music Project (Wikipedia) [] Federal Theatre Project (Wikipedia) [] Federal Writers' Project (Wikipedia) []

Criticized by conservatives as make-work

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/depwwii/depress/wparoad.html Section entitled "Great Depression and World War Two Go to the following section: "Americans React to the Great Depression" Go to article entitled "WPA Road"
 * Library of Congress: American Memory Timeline**

[] FDR won a second term easily
 * Presidential Election of 1936**

Results in U.S. House of Representatives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1936 Results in U.S. Senate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_1936


 * Supreme Court**: FDR attempt at "**Court Packing**"

Court Packing Bill (Wikipedia) [] Court Packing (Finding Dulcinea) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/Feb/On-This-Day--FDR-Suggests--Court-Packing--Plan.html

Court declared AAA and NIRA unconstitutional on 5-4 votes. FDR wanted to appoint pro–New Deal justices Proposed six new ones (one for every member over age 70). Congress (both parties) opposed the plan Felt he was overreaching and looking like a dictator.

Issue became moot: a swing justice changed his voting pattern. The so-called "switch in time that saved nine" [] Owen Roberts (Wikipedia) []

Soon thereafter, several older justices retired.

FDR and the Supreme Court special exhibit http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/#/exhibit/32/02

//History Now// FDR's Court-Packing Plan []

[]
 * Recession of 1937–1939**

Seeing a temporary economic improvement, FDR stopped deficit spending; the economy took a dive. Shows FDR conservatism.

People talk today about the need for more stimulus and the merits/demerits of cost cutting.

[]
 * Presidential Election of 1940**

War had started in Europe on 1 September 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. FDR won historic third term.

[]
 * New Deal coalition**

Democratic Party consisted of the following:

Farmers Urban immigrants Organized labor

White southerners

Northern blacks Ever since the Civil War, blacks had usually voted Republican. Big shift occurred during the New Deal: blacks began voting for Democrats

This New Deal coalition held together until the 1960s, when the civil rights movement created internal tension in the Democratic Party.


 * New Deal assessed**

Liberal, evolutionary reform program New Deal was not a revolutionary break with the past. New Deal ideas (TVA & Social Security) had been around for decades. New Dealers had been active in reform movements since Progressive era.

New Deal failed in its fundamental purpose: to put people back to work and end the depression. Depression only ended due to World War II.

But New Deal gave Americans back their psychological will to overcome.

In the past, federal government had served as an economic regulator. During New Deal, it became an economic guarantor and stimulator as well.

Congressional Republicans are currently trying to limit the size of government, much of which began with the New Deal.