1930s
Kate Garrett
America in Desperation
Collapse
Economic
Collapse
Economic
Events of the 1930’s
Stock Market Crash
The Great
Depression
Dust Bowl
Roosevelt’s Election
of 1932
 Oct. 1929—over-speculation, overproduction, and borrowing on margin cause huge drop in
stock market values
 “Black Monday”—biggest drop in stock market prices = 23%
 Stockholders lose $40 billion
 Over 5,000 banks collapse  thousands lose life savings
 12 million left unemployed, no jobs available
 Many foreclosed homes, some resort to “Hoovervilles”
 Widespread disapproval of Hoover’s “trickle-down” plan
o Government funds big banks, railroads, credit corporations—top of economic pyramid
o Eventually prosperity trickles down to relieve unemployment at bottom
 Hoover gets Congress to fund public works programs—Hoover Dam
 Massive drought throughout Great Plains in mid 30s
 Causes: wind, exhaustion of arable land, new farming techniques loosen topsoil
 “Okies” and “Arkies” migrate westward to escape Dust Bowl
 Portrayed in Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath
Herbert Hoover (reelection)
 Weak “the worst is past” campaign attitude
 Not much support after attempt at handling
Great Depression
 Contrasted with FDR’s election optimism
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
 Built platform on “New Deal” reform idea
 Promoted balanced budget and state
spending to mitigate depression effects
 Aided by “Brain Trust”
o Kitchen cabinet of young professionals
o Wrote many of his speeches, and later
New Deal legislation
Election results
 Roosevelt wins presidency, 472 to 59 votes in Electoral College
The Road to Recovery
Court-Packing Plan
 Roosevelt wants to continue New Deal reforms—conservative S. Court stands in the way
 Asks Congress to allow new justices for every existing one older than 70
 Many think goes against checks and balances—doesn’t go through
 Court against liberal New Deal programs—7 of 9 major New Deal cases were rejected
Roosevelt’s New Deal
Roosevelt creates New Deal program—targets relief, reform, and recovery in U.S., short- and long-term
First New Deal Programs
 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
o Immediate relief—3 million available jobs
o Reforestation, firefighting, flood control
 National Recovery Administration (NRA)
o Aided industry and unemployment
o Especially helped labor reform
o Late nixed by the Supreme Court
 Social Security Act
o System to send payment to retired workers
o Funded by employee/employer payroll tax
o Republicans very opposed
Second New Deal Programs
 Work Progress Administration (WPA)
o Relief program—employed millions of workers
o Built roads, public buildings, airports
o Wages were higher than state relief rates
 National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)
o Filled gap from rejected NRA
o Big step for U.S. labor reform
o Reasserted right of organized labor
o Under National Labor Relations Board, workers
organized into effective unions
1930s
Kate Garrett
1930’s Test of Knowledge
1. ____ Causes of stock market crash
2. ____ Stockholder lost over $40 billion, 5,000
banks collapse
3. ____ Effect of the Great Depression
4. ____ “Hoovervilles”
5. ____ Hoover’s “trickle-down” plan
6. ____ Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath
7. ____ FDR’s Brain Trust
8. ____ Won presidential election of 1932, with
New Deal platform
9. ____ FDR’s plan to put “new blood” in Supreme
Court and lessen conservative influence
10. ____ First New Deal program; offered
immediate relief with 3 million jobs
11. ____ Opposed by Republicans; set a payroll tax
to fund payments for retired workers
12. ____ Aided labor reform, but was one New Deal
program that the S. Court rejected
13. ____ Voided the 18th Amendment; supported in
FDR’s 1932 election platform
14. ____ Three major goals of FDR’s New Deal
15. ____ Gov’t effort to support self-gov’t and
culture of Indian Tribes; reverse forced
assimilation
16. ____ Emergency Banking Relief Act—1933
17. ____ Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats
18. ____ Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act;
effectively ended bank failures by 1945
19. ____ Gov’t should play role in economy; private
sector couldn’t help economic downturns
20. ____ Public response to FDR court-packing plan
1.____________
2.____________
3.____________
A. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
B. Created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.,
which ensured up to $5,000; restored some
public trust in banks
C. Social Security Act
D. Many foreclosed homes, some forced to build
these scavenged shanties
E. Keynesian economics
F. The 21st Amendment
G. Updates given to the public on the state of the
economy and the Great Depression
H. Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
I. Relief, reform, recovery
J. Much opposition; seen as threat to basic liberties
and check & balances system
K. Mass unemployment and unavailability of jobs
L. National Recovery Administration (NRA)
M. Based on westward trek of “Okies” and “Arkies”
to Dust Bowl relief
N. Court-Packing Plan
O. Congress’ immediate response to bank failures;
let pres. regulate transactions/reopen some banks
P. Many people bought stock on margin, causing
speculation, until prices drastically dropped
Q. Behind-the-scenes workers; wrote many of
FDR’s speeches and New Deal legislation
R. “Black Monday” and stock market crash
S. Relief at top of economic pyramid will
eventually aid unemployment at bottom
T. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Fill in the Timeline of Cause/Effect
5.____________
Stock Market
Crash
The Great
6.____________
Depression
4.“____________”
7.____________
____________
Word Bank
foreclosures
Second New Deal
unemployment
Black Monday
Roosevelt
overproduction
disappointment in Hoover
8.___________
Recovery
9.___________
10.__________
borrowing on margin
First New Deal
over-speculation