END OF THE RECESSION:
1939-1941
Blas Delgado
IB History of the Americas
RUN UP TO WORLD WAR II
•  There were series of neutality acts in the 1930’s, most of which prohibited the
transportation of arms so that the US could remain neutral
•  Neutrality Act of 1939- Permitted belligerents to purchase war materials from
the US, but only if they paid in cash and carried the goods away on their
own ships (AKA: cash and carry act)
RUN UP TO WORLD WAR II
•  Lend-Lease Program- President Roosevelt enacted in attempt to help Britain
fight off Hiltler’s advances while still keeping the United States indirectly
involved
•  The US was able to export $32 billion worth of goods to Great Britain and the
Soviet Union because of this act
•  All of the wartime goods that were sold gave millions of Americans
desparatley needed jobs during the Great Depression
RUN UP TO WORLD WAR II
•  Taxation- the number of Americans required to pay taxes was 4 millionin 1939
and rose to 43 million in 1945
•  In 1941, the US Government was able to take in $8.7 billion in taxes
•  War Bonds- Began in 1941 and produced $185 million by the end of the war
THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE
IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY
•  Deepest and longest-lasting economic dowturn in the western world
•  Began October 27, 1929 when the stock market crashed
•  Sent Wall Street into panic
•  Decline in industrial outputs
•  Obliterated millions of investors and the economy
•  13 to 15 million americans unemployed by 1933
THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE
IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY
•  High and rising unemployment rates
•  Half of the banks in America had failed
•  Failing companies laid off their workers
•  World War II jump started American industries in 1939
IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY
What caused The Great
Depression?
•  Number of reasons
•  Stock Market crash
•  Bad banking structure
•  Tight monetary policies
When did The Great
Depression end and why
•  Ended Dec 7, 1941
•  USA borrows 1 billion dollars to build up
military
•  U.S. manufacturing increases by 50%
•  GDP grew and unemployment rate fell
•  1939 unemployment rate: 17.2%
•  1941 unemployment rate: under 5%
NEW DEAL PROGRAM
•  Businessmen and Bankers opposed FDR’s economic experiments.
•  They feared FDR’s experiments because:
-The nation was taken off of the gold standard
-It allowed for deficits in the budget
-FDR disliked consessions to labor
NEW DEAL PROGRAM
•  FDR responded with the New Deal Program in 1935
-Social Security Act of 1935 (August 14, 1935)
-Heavier taxes on the wealthy
-New controls over bank and public utilities
-Enormous work relief programs for the unemployed
SOCIAL SECURITY ACT
•  Ratified August 14, 1935
•  It was created to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of
Federal old age benefits
•  It enabled the states to make more adequate provisions for aged people,
blind people, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare,
public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation
laws
AFDC (AID TO FAMILIES WITH
DEPENDENT CHILDREN)
•  Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
•  Created by the Social Security Act of 1935
•  Created for states to provide cash welfare payments for needy children who
had been deprived from parental support because their mother or father
was away from home, incapacitated, deceased, or unemployed.
•  All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands all operated an AFDC program
•  States were required to provide aid to all people who were in classes eligible
and their income and resources were within the states limitations
WENDELL WILLKIE
•  He ran against Franklin D. Roosevelt in the election of 1940 as the Republican
party nominee even though he had previously been a democrat
•  He campaigned against FDR’s New Deal Program and the “government’s
lack of military preparedness”
•  During the election of 1940,
-Roosevelt preempted the military issue by expanding military
contracts. Because of this, Willkie redirected his campaign and accused FDR
of warmongering
•  After losing the election, Willkie became one of FDR’s most unlikely allies
WENDELL WILLKIE
•  Humiliating his party, he called for stronger national support for some of FDR’s
controversial initiatives, such as the Lend-Lease Act.
•  Willkie began a new campaign to “awaken America from it’s isolationism
slumber”
•  He also pushed for unlimited support for Britain in their battle against Nazi
Germany
•  Traveled to Britain, the Middle East, Ussr, and China as FDR’s personal
representative in 1942
•  He also wrote One World as a plea for international peacekeeping after the
war
SOURCES
•  https://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/willkie-wendell.cfm
•  https://www.ssa.gov/history/35act.html
•  https://aspe.hhs.gov/report/aid-families-dependent-children-afdc-andtemporary-assistance-needy-families-tanf
•  https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/statbriefs/whatAFDC.html
•  https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/franklindroosevelt
•  http://www.ushistory.org/us/49.asp
•  http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression
•  https://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/great-depression.cfm
SOURCES
•  https://www.google.com/search?q=define+akin&oq=define
+akin&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.2011j1j4&client=tablet-androidsamsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&espv=1&ie=UTF-8#q=dates+of+the
+great+depression
•  http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/06/world-war-ii-before-the-war/
100089/
•  http://orientalreview.org/2010/04/13/secret-run-up-to-world-war-ii-theresponsibility-of-the-west/