•3/4/2016
1
Unit 7: 1920-1939 Chapters 31-32
2
USHC- 6.1
Explain the impact of the changes in the 1920s on the economy, society, and
culture, including the expansion of mass production techniques, the invention of
new home appliances, the introduction of the installment plan, the role of
transportation in changing urban life, the effect of radio and movies in creating a
national mass culture, and the cultural changes exemplified by the Harlem
Renaissance.
3
Culture of the 1920’s
4
American Heroes in the 1920s (Aviation)
 Charles Lindbergh
• The first to fly nonstop from New York to Paris
 Amelia Earhart
• First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
• First person to fly solo from Hawaii to California
• Attempted to Fly around the world Disappeared 1937
•
5
American Heroes in the 1920s (Sports)
 Sports Heroes
• Champions in wrestling, football, baseball, and swimming became American heroes.
• Perhaps the most famous sports figure was baseball’s George Herman ―Babe‖ Ruth
• Jack Dempsey - One of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.
• Jim Thorpe
–he won Olympic gold medals in the:
–pentathlon and decathlon,
–played American football collegiately and professionally
–played professional baseball
–played professional basketball.
6
Americans on the Move
 While cities continued to grow, many Americans moved from cities to suburbs.
 Improvements in transportation made travel between the cities and suburbs increasingly
easy.
7
A Consumer Economy
 The 1920s saw the development of a consumer economy
 Until the 1920s, middle-class Americans generally paid cash for everything. Manufacturers
developed installment plans and clever advertising to encourage consumers to buy on
credit.
 Many new electric appliances created a surge in demand for electricity. Between 1913 and
1927, the number of electric power customers quadrupled.
• Vacuum
• Icebox
• Radio
• Lamps
8
A Consumer Economy
 By the 1920s, marketers developed a new approach to advertising.
• Advertisers used psychology to appeal to consumers’ emotions and insecurities to sell
•1
credit.
 Many new electric appliances created a surge in demand for electricity. Between 1913 and
1927, the number of electric power customers quadrupled.
• Vacuum
• Icebox
• Radio
• Lamps
8
A Consumer Economy
 By the 1920s, marketers developed a new approach to advertising.
• Advertisers used psychology to appeal to consumers’ emotions and insecurities to sell
products.
 As consumption rose so did productivity.
• A measure of productivity is the Gross National Product (GNP). (The GNP is the total
value of goods and services a country produces annually.)
9
Bypassed by the Boom
 Some Americans struggled to survive during the 1920s.
 Many unskilled laborers remained poor, and their wages and working conditions did not
improve with the boom.
 Agricultural industries had expanded to meet wartime needs but later failed to uncover
new markets.
10
Waves of Migration
 Industrial expansion during the 1920s also encouraged African American migration to the
North.
• However, they often faced discrimination in both the North and the South.
11
Waves of Migration
 After World War I, masses of refugees applied for entry into the United States.
• Immigration from China, Japan, and Southern and Eastern Europe was limited
• However, many immigrants from Mexico and Canada filled low-paying jobs in the US.
12
The Jazz Age
 Jazz became so strongly linked to the culture of the 1920s that the decade came to be
known as the Jazz Age.
• Harlem, a district in Manhattan, New York, became a center of jazz music.
13
The Jazz Age: Continued
 Jazz pioneers made important contributions to jazz music.
• Duke Ellington
• Louis Armstrong
• Bessie Smith
14
Other Art Inspired by Jazz
 Painting
• Painters in the 1920s took the pulse of American life.
• Painters showed the nation’s rougher side;
–Georgia O’Keeffe’s
15
Other Art Inspired by Jazz
 Literature
• Novelist Sinclair Lewis attacked American society with savage irony
• Playwright Eugene O’Neill proved that American plays could hold their own against those
from Europe.
16
Other Art Inspired by Jazz
 The Lost Generation
• Gertrude Stein remarked to Ernest Hemingway that he and other American writers were
all a ―Lost Generation,‖
17
The Harlem Renaissance
 Harlem Renaissance
•3/4/2016
•2
• Novelist Sinclair Lewis attacked American society with savage irony
• Playwright Eugene O’Neill proved that American plays could hold their own against those
from Europe.
16
Other Art Inspired by Jazz
 The Lost Generation
• Gertrude Stein remarked to Ernest Hemingway that he and other American writers were
all a ―Lost Generation,‖
17
The Harlem Renaissance
 Harlem Renaissance
• Harlem emerged as an overall cultural center for African Americans
• Expressing the joys and challenges of being African American,
• The following writers enriched African American culture as well as American culture as
a whole :
–James Weldon Johnson
–Zora Neale Hurston
–Langston Hughes.
18
Mass Media
 The popularity of motion pictures grew throughout the 1920s; ―talkies,‖ or movies with
sound, were introduced in 1927.
• Jazz Singer
19
Mass Media 1920’s
 Newspapers
 Tabloids
 Magazines
 Radios
20
Radios
21
Women’s Changing Roles
 Flappers challenged conventions of dress, hairstyle, and behavior.
• Many Americans disapproved of flappers’ free manners as well as the departure from
traditional morals that they represented.
22
USHC- 6.2
•3/4/2016
Explain the causes and effects of the social change and conflict between
traditional and modern culture that took place during the 1920s, including the
role of women, the “Red Scare,” the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, immigration
quotas, Prohibition, and the Scopes trial.
23
Politics of the 1920’s
24
Election 1920
 Candidates
• Warren G Harding
Republican
404
• James Cox
Democratic
127
 Issues of the election
• Emerging from the shadow of World War I
• Putting the economy back on track
16,152,200
9,147,353
25
Front Porch Campaign
26
Return to Normalcy
27
Election of 1920
 Republican Warren G. Harding called for a return to ―normalcy.‖
 Many Americans hoped that Harding’s ―normalcy‖ would protect them from the spread of
Russia’s communism
28
The Republican “Old Guard” Returns
 Warren G. Harding, inaugurated in 1921, looked presidential:
•3
• Putting the economy back on track
25
Front Porch Campaign
26
Return to Normalcy
27
Election of 1920
 Republican Warren G. Harding called for a return to ―normalcy.‖
 Many Americans hoped that Harding’s ―normalcy‖ would protect them from the spread of
Russia’s communism
28
The Republican “Old Guard” Returns
 Warren G. Harding, inaugurated in 1921, looked presidential:
• Found himself beyond his depth in the presidency
• He was unable to detect moral halitosis in his evil associates
• He could not say no and designing politicians leeched on to this weakness
• He promised to gather around him the ―best minds‖ of the party
29
1
•3/4/2016
The Good
Herbert Hoover
Secretary of Commerce
2
Andrew Mellon
Secretary of THE Treasury
30
1
The Good
Andrew Mellon
Secretary of THE Treasury
2
Successful Businessman
TAX
CUTTER
31
LOWER TAXES
MORE REVENUE
32
A Mellon Maxim
―The history of taxation shows that taxes which are inherently excessive are not paid.‖
-- Andrew Mellon
Taxation: The People’s Business
33
GOP Reaction at the Throttle
 Harding was a perfect ―front‖ for enterprising industrialists:
• New Old Guards:
• Hoped to crush the reforms of the progressive era
• Hoped to improve on the old business doctrine of laissez-faire
• But for the government to guide business along the path to profits
–They achieved their purpose by putting the courts and administrative bureaus in
safekeeping of fellow stand-patters
34
GOP Reaction at the Throttle
(cont.)
• Harding lived less than three years as president:
• But appointed four of the nine justices:
• His fortunate choice for chief justice was ex-president Taft, who performed his duties
ably but was more liberal than some of his cautious associates
• The Supreme Court axed progressive legislation:
• It killed a federal child-labor law
• Stripped away many of labor’s hard-won gains
• Rigidly restricted government intervention in the economy
35
GOP Reaction at the Throttle
(cont.)
• Landmark case Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923):
•4
• But appointed four of the nine justices:
• His fortunate choice for chief justice was ex-president Taft, who performed his duties
ably but was more liberal than some of his cautious associates
• The Supreme Court axed progressive legislation:
• It killed a federal child-labor law
• Stripped away many of labor’s hard-won gains
• Rigidly restricted government intervention in the economy
35
GOP Reaction at the Throttle
(cont.)
• Landmark case Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923):
–It reversed its own reasoning in Muller v. Oregon (see p. 645):
»Which declared women to be deserving of special protection in the workplace
»And invalidated a minimum-wage law for women
»Reasoning: because women now had the vote (19th Amendment), they were the
legal equal of men and could no longer be protected by special legislation.
–These two cases framed a debate over gender differences:
»Were women sufficiently different from men that they merited special legal and
social treatment?
»Or were they effectively equal in the eyes of the law and undeserving of special
protections and preferences?
–
36
The Aftermath of War
 Wartime government controls on the economy were swiftly dismantled:
• The War Industries Board disappeared
• With its passing, progressive hopes for more government regulation of big business
evaporated
• Returned railroads to private management in 1920
• Some hope for permanent nationalization
• Congress passed the Esch-Cummins Transportation Act:
–Encouraged private consolidation of the railroads
37
Red Scare
 Red Scare (an intense fear of communism and other radical ideas)
• Some Americans were concerned that the European immigrants entering the United
States were Communists or other radicals.
38
Palmer Raids
 The United States Attorney General [Mitchell Palmer] hoped to gain public support for a
bid for the presidency in 1920.
• In a series of raids which came to be known as the Palmer Raids, the federal
government under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, arrested 4,000 alleged communists
who were held without bond.
• Later 600 were deported.
• Palmer predicted a series of anarchist attacks that did not materialize and he was
discredited, but not before arousing feeling against dangerous foreigners.
39
“The Case Against the Reds”
•3/4/2016
―Upon these two basic certainties, first that the "Reds" were criminal aliens and secondly
that the American Government must prevent crime, it was decided that there could be no
nice distinctions drawn between the theoretical ideals of the radicals and their actual
violations of our national laws.‖
40
41
Sacco and Vanzetti Case
 Sacco and Vanzetti Case
• Two anarchists were accused of a robbery and murder.
• Many people believed that they were singled out because they were both radicals and
immigrants.
• After a trial that many believed was unfair
• The jury found them guilty and sentenced them to death.
•5
nice distinctions drawn between the theoretical ideals of the radicals and their actual
violations of our national laws.‖
40
Sacco and Vanzetti Case
 Sacco and Vanzetti Case
• Two anarchists were accused of a robbery and murder.
• Many people believed that they were singled out because they were both radicals and
immigrants.
• After a trial that many believed was unfair
• The jury found them guilty and sentenced them to death.
41
The Harding Presidency
 Foreign Policy
• Harding and many Americans wanted a policy of isolationism, avoiding political or
economic alliances with foreign countries.
• Harding called for international disarmament, (a program in which nations voluntarily
give up their weapons).
• He promoted the expansion of trade
• Acted to protect business at home
42
Americanism
43
Hiking the Tariff Higher
 Businesspeople sought to keep the market to themselves by throwing up tariff walls:
• Fordney-McCumber Tariff Law:
• Lobbyists wanted to bust the average from 27% to 38.5%, almost as high as Taft’s
Payne Aldrich Tariff of 1909
• Duties on farm produce were increased
44
Hiking the Tariff Higher
(cont.)
– The high-tariff course set off a chain reaction:
• European producers felt the squeeze
• Impoverished Europe needed to sell its manufactured goods to the United States
• International trade, Americans were slow to learn, is a two-way street.
45
The Harding Presidency
 Domestic Issues
• As Americans became more isolationist during the Red Scare, they also became more
nativist. (Nativism)
• In 1921, Congress passed a law restricting immigration. The law included a quota, (or a
numerical limit imposed on immigrants).
46
The Harding Presidency
 The Teapot Dome Scandal
• In 1923, corruption scandals rocked Harding’s administration.
• The worst was the Teapot Dome Scandal. (Harding’s Secretary of the Interior
secretly gave drilling rights on government land to two private oil companies in return
for illegal payments).
–There was no evidence that Harding was involved in the scandals.
–He died while still in office.
•3/4/2016
47
48
Election 1924
 Candidates
• Calvin Coolidge (I)
Republican
382 15,725,016
• John W. Davis
Democratic
136 8,386,503
• Robert M. LaFollette Progressive
13 4,822,856
 Issues of the election
• Good Economy, Corruption (Teapot Dome Scandal)
49
Coolidge on Isolationism
•6
47
48
Election 1924
 Candidates
• Calvin Coolidge (I)
Republican
382 15,725,016
• John W. Davis
Democratic
136 8,386,503
• Robert M. LaFollette Progressive
13 4,822,856
 Issues of the election
• Good Economy, Corruption (Teapot Dome Scandal)
49
Coolidge on Isolationism
―It will be well not to be too much disturbed by the thought of either isolation or
entanglement of pacifists and militarists. The physical configuration of the earth has
separated us from all of the Old World, but the common brotherhood of man… has united
us by inseparable bonds with all humanity.‖
•3/4/2016
-- Calvin Coolidge
Inaugural Address (1925)
50
Washington Naval Conference 1921
Naval Arms Control
Avoid Arms Race
51
Washington Naval Conference 1921
52
Dawes Plan
53
Kellogg-Briand Pact
 Coolidge wanted peace and stability without getting the US too deeply involved in other
nations.
 Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg worked with the French foreign minister to create the
Kellogg-Briand Pact.
• Under this pact more than 60 nations agreed not to threaten each other with war.
• Unfortunately, there were no provisions for enforcement, and many of the countries that
had signed the pact would be at war with each other by 1941.
54
Social Issues of the 1920’s
55
The Great Migration
56
57
PULL
Factors
58
PULL
Factors
59
60
61
Race Riots
62
Chicago Race Riot (1919)
63
The Most SUCCESSFUL Silent Film EVER
64
(Second)
Ku Klux Klan
Peak Membership:
5 Million (1925)
65
The True American
Circa 1920
66
TARGETS
67
March on Washington
•7
63
The Most SUCCESSFUL Silent Film EVER
64
(Second)
Ku Klux Klan
Peak Membership:
5 Million (1925)
65
The True American
•3/4/2016
Circa 1920
66
TARGETS
67
March on Washington
1925
68
Notable Klan Members
69
Sen. Byrd on the Klan
To young people aspiring to become involved in politics:
"Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don't get that albatross around your neck. Once
you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena."
70
Sen. Byrd on the Klan
―I was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision... Seeing only what I wanted to see because I
thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions.‖
71
Decline
By 1930, the Klan’s membership declined sharply due to acts of violence and scandals
involving its leaders.
72
Issues of Religion
Fundamentalism
 As science, technology, modern social issues, and new Biblical scholarship challenged
traditional religious beliefs, a religious movement called fundamentalism gained popularity.
• Fundamentalism supported traditional Christian ideas and argued for a literal
interpretation of the Bible.
73
Special Creation
74
Darwinism
Human Evolution
75
Tennessee Law
AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities... and all other
public schools of Tennessee...
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be
unlawful for any teacher in any [public schools]... to teach any theory that denies the story
of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has
descended from a lower order of animals.
76
Tennessee Law
Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act,
Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One
Hundred $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) Dollars for each
offense.
•
Section 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the
public welfare requiring it.
•
77
John Scopes
Substitute Teacher
•8
Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act,
Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One
Hundred $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) Dollars for each
offense.
•
Section 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the
public welfare requiring it.
•
77
•3/4/2016
John Scopes
Substitute Teacher
Taught a lesson on evolution to purposefully violate the law
78
American Civil
Liberties Union
79
Clash of the Titans
80
GUILTY
...but not really!
The conviction was overturned by a higher court.
81
The “Monkey Trial”
―Such obscenities as the forthcoming trial of the Tennessee evolutionist, if they serve no
other purpose, at least call attention dramatically to the fact that enlightenment, among
mankind, is very narrowly dispersed. It is common to assume that human progress affects
everyone -- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of,
say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous…
82
The “Monkey Trial”
83
Prohibition
 The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which took effect on January 16, 1920,
(made the manufacture, sale, and transport of liquor, beer, and wine illegal).
 Congress also passed the National Prohibition Act in 1919. This was more commonly
known as the Volstead Act. This was to enforce the 18th Amendment
As a result,
• many Americans turned to bootleggers (suppliers of illegal alcohol).
• speakeasies (Bars that operated illegally), were either disguised as legitimate
businesses or hidden in some way, often behind heavy gates.
 Prohibition sharpened the contrast between rural and urban areas, since urban areas were
more likely to ignore the law.
 Additionally, it increased the number of liquor-serving establishments in some major cities
to far above pre-Prohibition levels.
84
Prohibition
85
Organized Crime
 Organized Crime
• The tremendous profit resulting from the sale of illegal liquor, as well as the complex
organization involved, helped lead to the development of organized crime.
• Successful bootlegging organizations often moved into other illegal activities as well,
including:
• gambling
• prostitution
• racketeering
• As rival groups fought for control in some American cities, gang wars and murders
became commonplace.
• One of the most notorious criminals of this time was Al Capone, nicknamed ―Scarface,‖
―a gangster who rose to the top of Chicago’s organized crime network‖.
• Capone proved talented at avoiding jail but was finally imprisoned in 1931.
•9
including:
• gambling
• prostitution
• racketeering
• As rival groups fought for control in some American cities, gang wars and murders
became commonplace.
• One of the most notorious criminals of this time was Al Capone, nicknamed ―Scarface,‖
―a gangster who rose to the top of Chicago’s organized crime network‖.
• Capone proved talented at avoiding jail but was finally imprisoned in 1931.
86
•3/4/2016
A Failed Experiment
―Five years of Prohibition have had, at least, this one benign effect: they have
completely disposed of all the favorite arguments of the Prohibitionists.
―None of the great boons... that were to follow the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment
has come to pass. There is not less drunkenness in the Republic, but more. There is not
less crime, but more. There is not less insanity, but more. The cost of government is not
smaller, but vastly greater. Respect for law has not increased, but diminished.‖
-- H.L. Mencken
87
USHC- 6.3
Explain the causes and consequences of the Great Depression, including the
disparities in income and wealth distribution; the collapse of the farm economy
and the effects of the Dust Bowl; limited governmental regulation; taxes,
investment; and stock market speculation; policies of the federal government and
the Federal Reserve System; and the effects of the Depression on the people.
88
Crash and Depression
(1929-1933)
89
Election 1928
 Candidates
• Herbert C. Hoover
Republican
• John W. Davis
Democratic
87
 Issues of the election
• Good Economy, Prohibition
444 21,391,381
15,016,443
90
Economy Appears Healthy
 Herbert Hoover won the 1928 election, benefiting from the years of prosperity under
previous Republican presidents.
 Americans had unusually high confidence in the economy in the 1920s.
• People made risky investments based on the popular notion that everyone ought to be
rich.
 Many employers believed that they could prevent strikes and keep their productivity high
with benefits that would meet and exceed the demands of workers.
• This approach to labor relations is called welfare capitalism.
91
Economy Appears Healthy (continued)
 Under welfare capitalism employers:
• raised wages
• provided paid vacations
• health plans
• recreation programs
• English classes for recent immigrants.
• They set up ―company unions‖ to hear the concerns of their workers.
 As a result of welfare capitalism, organized labor lost members during the 1920s.
92
Economic Danger Signs
1. Uneven Prosperity
2. Personal Debt
•10
• raised wages
• provided paid vacations
• health plans
• recreation programs
• English classes for recent immigrants.
• They set up ―company unions‖ to hear the concerns of their workers.
 As a result of welfare capitalism, organized labor lost members during the 1920s.
92
Economic Danger Signs
1. Uneven Prosperity
2. Personal Debt
3. Playing the Stock Market
• The rapid increase of stock prices encouraged:
• Speculation
• Buying on margin
4. Too Many Goods, Too Little Demand
5. Trouble for Farmers and Workers
• Coolidge vetoed a farm relief bill.
93
The Market Crashes
 The market crash in October of 1929 happened very quickly.
 In September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had reached an all time high of 381.
 On October 23 and 24, the Dow Jones Average quickly plummeted, which caused a panic.
 On Black Tuesday, (October 29, 1929), most people sold their stocks at a tremendous loss.
 Great Crash (collapse of the stock market)
• Overall losses totaled $30 billion.
 The Great Crash was part of the nation’s business cycle.
94
The Great Depression
 The economic contraction that began with the Great Crash triggered the most severe
economic downturn in the nation’s history—the Great Depression.
 The Great Depression lasted from 1929 until the United States entered World War II in
1941.
 The stock market crash of 1929 did not cause the Great Depression.
• Both the Great Crash and the Depression were the result of deep underlying problems
with the country’s economy.
95
Underlying Causes of the Depression
1. Unstable Economy
• The prosperous economy of the 1920s lacked a firm base.
• The nation’s wealth was unevenly distributed.
• Those who had the most tended to save or invest rather than buy goods.
• Industry produced more goods than most consumers wanted or could afford.
2. Over Speculation
• Speculators bought stocks with borrowed money and then pledged those stocks as
collateral to buy more stocks.
• The stock market boom was based on borrowed money.
3. Government Policies
• During the 1920s, the Federal Reserve System cut interest rates to assist economic
growth.
• In 1929, it limited the money supply to discourage lending.
• As a result, there was too little money in circulation to help the economy after the Great
Crash.
96
Poverty Spreads
 People of all levels of society faced hardships during the Great Depression.
 Sometimes the homeless built shacks of tar paper or scrap material. These shanty town
settlements came to be called Hoovervilles.
 Farm families suffered from low crop prices.
•3/4/2016
•11
growth.
• In 1929, it limited the money supply to discourage lending.
• As a result, there was too little money in circulation to help the economy after the Great
Crash.
96
Poverty Spreads
 People of all levels of society faced hardships during the Great Depression.
 Sometimes the homeless built shacks of tar paper or scrap material. These shanty town
settlements came to be called Hoovervilles.
 Farm families suffered from low crop prices.
97
Poverty Spreads (Continued)
 As a result of a severe drought and farming practices that removed protective prairie
grasses, dust storms ravaged the central and southern Great Plains region.
• This became known as the Dust Bowl.
 The combination of the terrible weather and low prices caused about 60 percent of Dust
Bowl families to lose their farms
•
•
•
98
Poverty Strains Society
 Impact on Health
• Some people starved and thousands went hungry.
• Children suffered long-term effects from poor diet and inadequate medical care.
 Stresses on Family
• Living conditions declined as families crowded into small houses or apartments.
• Men felt like failures because they couldn’t provide for their families.
• Working women were accused of taking jobs away from men.
 Discrimination Increases
• Competition for jobs produced a rise in hostilities against African Americans, Hispanics,
and Asian Americans.
• Lynchings increased.
• Aid programs discriminated against African Americans.
99
Americans Pull Together
 Penny Auctions (When banks foreclosed on a farm, neighboring farmers would bid pennies
on land and machines, which they would then return to the original owners).
100
Signs of Change
 Prohibition Is Repealed
• In February 1933, Congress passed the Twenty-first Amendment
 The Empire State Building
 The End of an Era
• Many things that symbolized the 1920s faded away.
- Organized crime gangster Al Capone was sent to prison.
- Calvin Coolidge died.
- Babe Ruth retired.
101
Hoover’s Limited Strategy
 Hoover convinced business leaders to help maintain public confidence in the economy.
 To protect domestic industries
• Congress passed the Hawley-Smoot tariff,(the highest import tax in history).
• European countries also raised their tariffs, and international trade suffered a
slowdown.
 Hoover set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), (which gave government
credit to banks, industries, railroads, and insurance companies).
• The theory was that prosperity at the top would help the economy as a whole. Many
Americans saw it as helping bankers and big businessmen, while ordinary people went
hungry.
102
Hoover’s Limited Strategy (Continued)
•3/4/2016
•12
• Congress passed the Hawley-Smoot tariff,(the highest import tax in history).
• European countries also raised their tariffs, and international trade suffered a
slowdown.
 Hoover set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), (which gave government
credit to banks, industries, railroads, and insurance companies).
• The theory was that prosperity at the top would help the economy as a whole. Many
Americans saw it as helping bankers and big businessmen, while ordinary people went
hungry.
102
Hoover’s Limited Strategy (Continued)
 Hoover did not support federal public assistance
• He believed it would destroy people’s self-respect and create a large bureaucracy.
 Finally, public opinion soured for Hoover when he called the United States Army to disband
a protest of 20,000 unemployed World War I veterans called the Bonus Army.
103
A “New Deal” for America
 FDR promised a New Deal for the American people.
 He was ready to experiment with government roles in an effort to end the Depression.
 As governor of New York, Roosevelt had set up an unemployment commission and a relief
agency.
104
A “New Deal” for America (Continued)
 FDR’s wife, Eleanor, was an experienced social reformer.
• She worked for:
• public housing legislation
• state government reform
• birth control
• better conditions for working women
105
The Election of 1932
Franklin Roosevelt
1. Believed that government had a responsibility to help people in need.
2. Called for a reappraisal of values and more controls on big business.
3. Helped many Americans reassess the importance of ―making it on their own‖ without
any help.
4. Much of his support came from urban workers, coal miners, and immigrants in need of
federal relief.
 Roosevelt won 57 percent of the popular vote and almost 89 percent of the electoral vote.
106
The Election of 1932
Herbert Hoover
1. Believed that federal government should not try to fix people’s problems.
2. Argued that federal aid and government policies to help the poor would alter the
foundation of our national life.
3. He argued for voluntary aid to help the poor and argued against giving the national
government more power.
 Hoover gave very few campaign speeches and was jeered by crowds.
107
USHC- 6.4
•3/4/2016
Analyze President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal as a response to the economic
crisis of the Great Depression, including the effectiveness of New Deal programs
in relieving suffering and achieving economic recovery, in protecting the rights of
women and minorities, and in making significant reforms to protect the economy
such as Social Security and labor laws.
108
The New Deal
(1933–1941)
109
Restoring Hope and the First Hundred Days
 The term New Deal came to refer to the relief, recovery, and reform programs of FDR’s
administration that were aimed at combating the Great Depression.
•13
in relieving suffering and achieving economic recovery, in protecting the rights of
women and minorities, and in making significant reforms to protect the economy
such as Social Security and labor laws.
108
The New Deal
(1933–1941)
109
Restoring Hope and the First Hundred Days
 The term New Deal came to refer to the relief, recovery, and reform programs of FDR’s
administration that were aimed at combating the Great Depression.
110
Restoring Hope and the First Hundred Days
 In the first hundred days of his presidency, Roosevelt pushed many programs through
Congress
• to provide relief
• create jobs
• stimulate the economy
 Some of FDR’s programs were based on the work of federal agencies that had controlled
the economy during World War I.
111
4 Areas of New Deal Reform
1. Stabilizing Financial Institutions
• FDR wanted to restore public confidence in the nation’s banks.
• Emergency Banking Act
• Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933.
–This act established a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
112
4 Areas of New Deal Reform
2. Providing Relief and Creating Jobs
• FDR persuaded Congress to establish the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
(FERA).
• FERA put money into public works programs
– Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
• The CCC put more then 2.5 million men to work maintaining forests, beaches, and
parks.
113
4 Areas of New Deal Reform
3. Regulating the Economy
• In 1933, Congress passed the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).
• NIRA established the National Recovery Administration (NRA)
114
4 Areas of New Deal Reform
4. Assisting Home-owners and Farmers
1. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
2. Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)
3. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
115
The Second New Deal
 When the New Deal failed to bring about significant economic improvement, critics began
to attack the programs.
 The Supreme Court declared the NIRA unconstitutional
 The Supreme Court also struck down the tax that funded AAA subsidies to farmers.
116
The Second New Deal
 The Second New Deal included:
• more social welfare benefits
• stricter controls over business
• stronger support for unions
• higher taxes on the rich
117
New and Expanded Agencies
 Congress passed the
• Works Progress Administration (WPA) 8 Million Jobs
•3/4/2016
•14
 The Supreme Court also struck down the tax that funded AAA subsidies to farmers.
116
The Second New Deal
 The Second New Deal included:
• more social welfare benefits
• stricter controls over business
• stronger support for unions
• higher taxes on the rich
117
New and Expanded Agencies
 Congress passed the
• Works Progress Administration (WPA) 8 Million Jobs
• Social Security Act
• Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC)
• Farm Security Administration (FSA)
• National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), called the Wagner Act(1935)
118
The 1936 Election
 FDR won a landslide victory over Republican candidate Alfred M. Landon.
 FDR carried every state except Maine and Vermont, winning 523-8 in the electoral college.
 FDR’s victory showed that most Americans supported the New Deal.
119
Limitations of the New Deal
 The New Deal fell short of many people’s expectations.
• The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• covered fewer than one quarter of all gainfully employed workers.
• It set the minimum wage at 25 cents an hour, which was below what most workers
already made.
• The NRA codes, in some cases:
• permitted lower wages for women’s work
• gave boys and men strong preference in relief and job programs.
120
Limitations of the New Deal
 No New Deal programs protected domestic service, the largest female occupation.
 Many federal relief programs in the South reinforced racial segregation and because the
Social Security Act excluded farmers and domestic workers, it failed to cover nearly two
thirds of working African Americans.
121
Political Critics
New Deal Does Too Much
 Republicans, in Congress believed that the New Deal went too far.
 A group called the American Liberty League, founded in 1934.
122
Political Critics
New Deal Does Not Do Enough
 Many Progressives and Socialists attacked the New Deal because they believed that the
programs did not provide enough help.
123
Other Critics
 Some other New Deal critics were demagogues
• Father Charles E. Coughlin
• Huey Long
124
Modern-Day Critics
 Modern critics also attack:
• the policy of paying farmers not to plant.
• In a time of hunger, the program wasted precious resources.
 Finally, the New Deal receives criticism from people who oppose deficit spending.
125
Modern-Day Critics (Continued)
 Debate about the New Deal continues today.
 Critics believe:
• that the programs violated the free market system.
 Supporters believe:
•3/4/2016
•15
124
Modern-Day Critics
 Modern critics also attack:
• the policy of paying farmers not to plant.
• In a time of hunger, the program wasted precious resources.
 Finally, the New Deal receives criticism from people who oppose deficit spending.
125
Modern-Day Critics (Continued)
 Debate about the New Deal continues today.
 Critics believe:
• that the programs violated the free market system.
 Supporters believe:
• that providing relief to the poor and unemployed was worth the compromise.
126
The Court-Packing Fiasco
 Roosevelt, in an effort to gain more support in the Supreme Court, proposed a major
court-reform bill.
• He recommended that Congress allow him to add six additional Supreme Court justices,
one for every justice over 70 years old.
• His argument was that this would lighten the case load for aging justices.
• His real intention, however, was to ―pack‖ the Court with judges supportive of the New
Deal.
127
The Court-Packing Fiasco
 Critics warned that FDR was trying to undermine the constitutional separation of powers.
 In the end, FDR still wound up with a Court that tended to side with him.
 However, he also suffered political damage.
128
The Recession of 1937
 In August 1937, the economy collapsed again. Industrial production and employment
levels fell.
 The nation entered a recession
• The new Social Security tax was partly to blame. The tax came directly out of workers’
paychecks, through payroll deductions.
129
The Recession of 1937
 The President had become concerned about the rising national debt
 To fund the New Deal, the government had to borrow massive amounts of money.
• As a result the national debt rose from:
• $21 billion in 1933 to $43 billion by 1940.
130
Lasting New Deal Achievements
 The New Deal had a profound effect on American life.
• Voters began to expect a President to formulate programs and solve problems.
131
Lasting New Deal Achievements
 Some federal agencies have also endured such as:
• Tennessee Valley Authority
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
• Social Security system
 Perhaps the New Deal’s greatest achievement was to restore a sense of hope to the
nation.

•3/4/2016
•16