CHAPTER 22

MAJOR CAUSES OF THE G.D.

• Uneven distribution of wealth
• Over speculation of stocks
• Overproduction of goods
• International economic instability
• Laissez-faire economic policies

CAUSES CONTINUED

• Hadley-Smoot Tariff
• 1929 Stock Market Crash
• Drought/Dust Bowl

SECTION 1

1928 ELECTION

• Hoover v. Smith
• Prohibition
• Religious slurs
• Republican presidential prosperity
• "Two cars in every garage!"

THE LONG BULL MARKET VOCAB

• Margin: buy stocks on loan
• Margin call: your loan gets called in immediately
• Speculation: uninformed stock buying...risky!
• The market began to run out of buyers...
• CRASH!!!!!

STOCK MARKET CRASH

• Poor Groucho Marx!
• Panic led to more panic!
• Black Tuesday: prices sank the lowest
• Lost $30 billion=total American wage

BANKS GO BUST!

• Lost money in stocks (loans and stocks)
• Couldn't/wouldn't make loans
• Not insured like they are now
• Led to panic, led to more panic!
• Over 3,000 banks closed in first 2 years!

THE FEDERAL RESERVE

SECTION 2

CINDERELLA MAN

Untitled Slide

BY 1933...

• Over 9,000 banks were closed
• 30,000 companies were gone
• 12 million people unemployed
• Income dropped from $2,300 to $1,600

Untitled Slide

• Bread lines and soup kitchens
• Evictions and squatting
• Shantytowns aka HOOVERVILLES
• People became hobos (lots)

THE DUST BOWL

• Agriculture uprooted plant life
• Grain prices dropped...grew less grain
• Drought struck from Dakotas to Texas
• Dust storms occurred frequently (22 in 1934/72 in 1937)
• Many people moved to California (Oakies)

DISNEY DREAMIN'

• Escapism through media
• European celebrities
• Hollywood and Disney
• Mostly happy themes
• Radio programs...rise of soap operas!

DEPRESSIN' AHT

• Thomas Hart Benton
• Grant Wood
• John Steinbeck/William Faulkner
• Margaret Bourke-White

SECTION 3

MISLEADING OPTIMISM?

WHEELIN' AND DEALIN'

• Hoover works with Big Business...
• PUBLIC WORKS: gov't financed building projects
• Did not want to increase spending...
• Didn't/couldn't raise taxes
• Republicans lost a lot of support.

"TOO BIG TO FAIL"

WHEELIN' AND DEALIN' CONT.

• Tried to rescue banks
• Set up National Credit Corporation (NCC)
• Set up Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
• States should give out RELIEF...
• Set up Emergency Relief and Construction Act

HOOVER=TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE!

HUNGRY PEOPLE = ANGRY PEOPLE

HUNGER MARCHES

• Led by the American Communist Party
• Gasp! Commies!
• 1,500 march on DC...
• Sort of mistreated by police...
• But you are allowed to protest! (1st)

FARMERS' REVOLT

• 1930-1934: 1 million farm foreclosures
• Tried to get rid of crops to drive up prices
• Remember the sheep from the article?

THE BONUS MARCHERS

• Bonus for WWI service
• Set for 1945, but allowed early payment
• Started in Oregon, ended up in DC
• Wore uniforms
• Camped in Hoovervilles...

STILL MARCHIN'

• Numbers swelled to 15,000
• Hoover wouldn't meet them
• Then the army cleared out the marchers
• It looked pretty brutal
• Hoover did not win re election...

EFFECTS OF GREAT DEPRESSION

• Unemployment, homelessness, migration
• Business and bank failures
• Bonus Army/other protesters
• creation of government programs
• Downfall of Hoover...rise of Roosevelt!

ANY QUESTIONS?

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR TEST!