CHAPTER 13
LOUISIANA’S HUEY LONG
ERA: POVERTY AND
PROGRESS
Pages 414-453
Focus on Skills
Using the Internet
Page 416
Section 1
A Time of Changes
Pages 417-423
Section 2
The 1927 Flood
Pages 424-427
Section 3
Huey Long
Pages 428-441
Section 4
The Great Depression in
Louisiana
Pages 442-449
Meeting Expectations
The Share Our Wealth Program
Page 450
Chapter Summary
Page 451
Activities for Learning
Pages 452-453
13
Louisiana’s
Huey Long Era:
Poverty and Progress
Chapter
Chapter Preview
Terms: prohibition, Women’s
Christian Temperance Union,
severance tax, Ku Klux Klan,
Public Service Commission,
crevasse, impeachment, censor,
Share Our Wealth program,
Great Depression, Civilian
Conservation Corps, Works
Progress Administration
People: Lavinia Egan, Huey
Long, Earl Long, Alvin O. King,
O. K. Allen, Dr. Carl Weiss,
Richard Leche
Places: Winn Parish
Focus
Ask students about natural
disasters they have seen on
television or have actually
experienced. Ask them if they
remember any stories that disaster
survivors have told. Ask why they
think disaster survivors have such
vivid memories of the event. (You
may want to mention specific
disasters.)
414
H
istory is much more than the record of important actions taken by
important people. One major event in the history of Louisiana is the
story of many families who faced a frightening disaster. The children who lived through the Flood of 1927 never forgot that
experience. Oral histories collected more than fifty years later from these nowelderly citizens revealed those memories.
Some of the memories are very focused. One man who was not even six years
old remembers taking his treasured marbles when his family left their home.
He said he could still remember the feel of those marbles that he held tightly
in his hand.
Others remember sounds. Church bells were rung to warn people of breaks
in the levee. The frightening sound of the rushing water was heard more than
a half hour before the rising floodwaters reached them. A cow trapped on top
of a barn was bawling loudly, but no one could rescue the animal. Several remembered the sound of their mothers’ crying when they found their houses
literally filled with mud and dirty water. For others, it was even worse. Their
homes were either totally destroyed or heavily damaged because the rushing
water had pushed them hundreds of yards.
Many described scenes they could still see when they closed their eyes. Large
herds of cattle were driven to safety by men on horseback. A woman who was
a young girl in 1927 describes her amazement at seeing an automobile coming
to rescue them. Her family still used a wagon for transportation. Others described the boats that took them to safety. Many reported the long lines of
wagons filled with the possessions of fleeing families. Often a coop of chickens
sat on top of the pile.
Louisiana The History of an American State
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe some of the scenes
people who witnessed the Flood of
1927 saw. (Comprehension)
• explain how the Flood of 1927
affected people. (Comprehension)
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students compare a story of
a modern disaster with one of the
flood stories. Have them note
similarities and differences.
Guiding Question 8-12
Some recalled scenes in the tent cities set up for refugees from the flood.
Rows and rows of the white tents were
filled with families who had left their
homes in the flooded areas. Thousands
of people lived in these shelters
for many weeks. The tent cities
were visited by many government
officials, including Herbert Hoover,
who was elected president a
year later.
Because many were farm
families, even the children
understood that the ruined
fields of crops they saw meant
hard times ahead. The people who
later told their stories of the Flood
of 1927 all recall the struggle for
recovery.
Writing Activity
Read aloud to the class a story
told by a disaster survivor. As you
read, have students write down
sensory words that they hear. Then,
ask them to use those sensory words
to write their own story. Discuss
why the senses might be enhanced
during times of disaster.
Lagniappe
A statue of Huey Long also
stands in the U.S. Capitol. That
statue was dedicated in 1941.
Louisiana Senator Allen Ellender
spoke at the dedication ceremony.
Right: This statue of Huey Long
stands over his grave facing the
State Capitol in Baton Rouge,
built during his term as
governor.
Chapter 13
Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
415
TEACH
Internet Activity
Have students use a search
engine to find stories about people
affected by Louisiana hurricanes.
T414
T415
Each Focus on Skills defines a
skill, gives the teacher an
opportunity to conduct a guided
practice on the skill, and finally
allows students to apply their
understanding by practicing the
skill on their own.
Try This!
1. Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia
2. The site contains the date and
time the page was last updated.
3. Highlights from Long’s life and
career
4. The article does not contain a
bibliography; however, there are
links to other sites for additional
information.
5. The information is objective and
factual.
Focus
on
Skills
Using
theInternet
Defining the Skill
The Internet contains a wealth of information to
help you find answers or research topics. When using the Internet, however, you should not accept everything you read as being factually correct. Some
sites are quite reputable and make every effort to
assure accuracy, while others may provide incorrect
information. Some Internet sites are easy to use,
while others are cumbersome and require you to
access other sites to actually find the information
you seek. When you use an Internet site, you should
consider the following:
1. Who is the author of the information? You
should determine if the person or group that
posted the information is an expert in that
field. Note the web address to find some
information about the origin of the content
of the site. Addresses that use .org belong to
organizations like libraries, museums, and
nonprofit groups. Addresses that use .com are
typically businesses. These sites may contain
commercials for their products. Addresses
that use .edu belong to schools and colleges,
while .gov are U.S. government sites.
2. When was the information posted? Information you find on the Internet may be quite
old, even though the web page says something like “Top News Events of the Day.” Try
to find a date on the page so you will know
how old the information is.
3. What type of information is included, that is,
a home page, a primary source, an e-mail?
Where does the information come from? Try
to find where the author obtained the
416
information that is posted. The more
knowledge you have about information on the
Internet, the better you can assess its
validity and usefulness.
4. Is the information objective, or is it biased?
Many pieces of information are placed on the
Internet in an effort to persuade readers. Did
the author use certain words for emotional
appeal? You must read the information found
there carefully and determine if it contains
facts or opinions. You might want to review
the cue words found in Chapter 11 that
sometimes are used to express opinions.
SECTION 1
A TIME OF CHANGES
A Time of Changes
Go to web site en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long
to access information on Huey Long. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow.
1. Who was the author of the information?
2. When was the information posted?
3. What type of information is included?
4. Where does the information come from?
5. Is the information objective or biased?
It’s Your Turn!
One way to determine the accuracy of information
found on the Internet, is to compare it with information from other sources. Compare the information on
pages 428-441 in your textbook with the information from the Internet site listed above. On a separate sheet of paper, create a graphic organizer that
will be useful for recording information to compare
and contrast the two articles. Then, decide if you think
the information in the Internet article is accurate.
INTRODUCE
Outline
As you read, look for:
A. Cultural Changes
B. Prohibition
C. Political Changes
1. Women’s Suffrage
2. Progressive Governors
3. The Constitution of 1921
• the cultural changes of the 1920s,
• the political changes of the 1920s, and
• vocabulary terms prohibition, Women’s Christian Temperance
Union, severance tax, Ku Klux Klan, and Public Service
Commission.
The decade after World War I is often referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the
Jazz Age. It was a time of rapid change, as if Americans were trying to make up
for the time lost during the war.
1922
First radio program in state broadcast
1918
Huey Long elected to
Railroad Commission
1915
1921
New Louisiana
constitution
written
1920
1920
Prohibition went into effect;
Nineteenth Amendment ratified
Materials
Textbook, pages 417-423
Blackline Masters
The Roaring Twenties,
page 175
Women’s Suffrage, page 176
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Above: Francis T. Nichols was
elected governor in 1877.
When the state constitution
was revised, the governor’s
term was reduced to one
year. This was a result of
Nichols’s challenge of the
Louisiana Lottery Company.
Figure 27 Timeline: 1915–1935
Try This!
1928
Huey Long elected governor
1930
Huey Long elected to
U.S. Senate
1927
Major flood on Mississippi
Focus
1935
Huey Long assassinated
1925
1930
1927
Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic
1929
Stock market crash; Great Depression began
1931
“Star Spangled Banner” became national anthem
1935
1935
Social
Security
Act
became
law
1932
Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president
1933
Prohibition repealed
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Section 1 A Time of Changes
417
The following chart illustrates one type of graphic organizer students may use.
Comparing and Contrasting Sources: Huey Long
Information That Is The Same
Huey Long was born in Winnfield on August 30, 1893.
Based on my analysis, I believe the Internet article is:
Information That Is Different
Have music from the Roaring
Twenties playing as students enter
the room. Ask them how the mood
created by the music is different
from the mood of World War I. (One
source of music clips is www.basso
cantante.com/flapper/music.html.
It has clips from the 1910s through
the 1930s.)
TEACH
Social Studies Skill
Objectives
It’s Your Turn!
T416
1
Section
GLE 6: Describe ways in which location and physical features have influenced
historical events in Louisiana and the development of the state (e.g., Mississippi
River/swamp in the Battle of New Orleans).
GLE 27: Describe ways by which public policies are formed, including the role of
lobbyists, special interest groups, and constituents.
GLE 30: Evaluate a type of tax in a historical context (e.g., severance tax).
GLE 52: Explain how supply and demand affect prices.
GLE 63: Interpret data presented in a timeline correlating Louisiana, U.S., and
world history.
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present, explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
Reading a Timeline
Have students look at the
timeline. Make a KWL chart to
determine what they already know
about the items on the timeline.
Ask them to choose one event that
greatly impacted Louisiana and give
reasons for their choice.
Guiding Question 8-11
T417
Cultural Changes
BLM Assign students The Roaring
Twenties from page 175 in the BLM
book.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• name two jazz musicians.
(Knowledge)
• identify Louisiana’s first radio station. (Knowledge)
• name early radio programs.
(Knowledge)
• compare radio programs in the
past with those of today. (Analysis)
Below: The “roaring” 1920s
brought great changes. You
can see that in this view of
Canal Street in New Orleans:
Automobiles are much
more common and women’s
fashions have changed
drastically.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
New Orleans created the music for the Roaring Twenties. Brass bands were
popular throughout America at the turn of the century. New Orleans bands
developed their own style as they paraded through the streets. The new music
was labeled “jazz,” and it soon spread around the world. A popular pastime of
the twenties was to ride the steamboats and dance to a jazz band. Two of the
more famous jazz musicians were Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.
That music became part of the new radio broadcasts thrilling America.
Louisiana’s first radio station was WWL of New Orleans. The station’s first broadcast was from Loyola University on March 31, 1922. On that first radio program, the college president began with a commercial asking for donations for
a building fund. Then the few radio owners heard a piano composition. WWL
still broadcasts from New Orleans.
As radios became more common, the broadcasts offered more variety. Baseball games were vividly described by exciting announcers. Continuing dramas
called “soap operas” attracted many loyal listeners. They were called soap operas because they were sponsored by soap manufacturers.
Ask students to look at the photo
and describe what kind of music the
band was probably playing. Point
out Louis Armstrong in the picture
and ask students who he was. (You
may want to bring in music selections by Louis Armstrong to play for
the class. One of the best sites for
jazz is www.pbs.org/jazz/.)
Class Discussion
Critical Thinking
Ask students what their lives
would be like today without the
radio. How did the radio change
society? How did people get
information before radio?
Movies brought new entertainment to the twentieth century. The first moving pictures were seen in the state soon after the new century began. In
Marksville, “the pictures” or “picture slides” were first shown in a tent on a
vacant lot. That type of makeshift theater was also used in other towns and
cities. But by 1927, there were fifteen major theaters in New Orleans and fifteen nickelodeon movie houses. The matinees, or afternoon movies, cost 10
cents. The most expensive weekend ticket cost 25 cents.
The first talking movie shown in New Orleans, The Glorious Betsy, came to the
Tudor Theater in 1928. In 1929, an elaborate new theater in New Orleans, the
Saenger, held the premiere of Evangeline. That movie, based on the poem by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, told a romantic story based on the Acadian exile.
In the 1920s, women’s clothing and hair styles changed radically. The women
who wore the styles of the Roaring Twenties were called “modern” or even flappers. Their short skirts and bobbed hair shocked the older generation. Strict
rules at the Louisiana State Normal School for teachers now seemed old-fashioned to the students. One young woman was almost expelled from the
Natchitoches school because she cut her hair short.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students look at the photo
and compare the items in the
picture, e.g., dress, cars, buildings,
with today.
Internet Activity
Have students use a search
engine or go to www.decades.com/
to access information on various
decades. Put the students in groups
and have some research the 1890s,
1900s, 1910s, and 1920s. As students report their findings, have
them compare and contrast the different periods of time.
Guiding Question 8-12
Multidisciplinary Activity
Art Have students find examples of
the fashions of the Roaring
Twenties. (One good site is
www.fashion-era.com/. Click on
“Fashion Flappers” in the 1914-1955
box.) Ask them to either draw or
make an outfit from that period of
history.
T418
Prohibition
There were many people in the United States who wanted prohibition, a
ban on the making and selling of alcohol. They blamed society’s problems on
liquor and believed that banning it would improve American life.
418
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Above: The Fate Marable
Band is shown here playing
aboard the riverboat S.S.
Capital in 1919. The young
Louis Armstrong is the third
person from the right.
Lagniappe
The first motion picture to
feature spoken dialogue was
The Jazz Singer starring Al
Jolson, America’s most
popular singer of the time.
Warner Bros. released the
film in 1927.
Section 1 A Time of Changes
419
Objectives (Cont.)
Critical Thinking
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course of
Louisiana’s history .
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who were influential in Louisiana’s development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 76: Trace and describe various governments in Louisiana’s history.
In the 1920s, Hollywood
brought entertainment to millions
of Americans and helped create a
national popular culture of
common dress fashions, speech
expressions, behavior, and heroes.
Ask students how a national
medium, such as movies, creates a
national culture. How were the
movies different from those of
today?
Ask students
• where the first moving pictures
were shown. (Knowledge)
• to identify the first talking movie
shown in New Orleans. (Knowledge)
• to name the movie about the
Acadians that premiered at the
Saenger theater. (Knowledge)
Multidisciplinary Activity
Math Tell students that movies in
the late 1920s cost 10 cents to see
during the afternoon and 25 cents
in the evening. Ask students to find
out what movie tickets cost today
and compare those prices to the
ones in the 1920s. Ask students to
calculate the percentage of increase
in the cost of seeing a movie.
Writing Activity
In the 1920s, the modern-day
American advertising industry was
born. Newspapers and magazines, as
well as motion pictures and radio,
were markets for delivering
commercials and ads to millions of
consumers who had money to spend
during the prosperous times after
World War I. Have students design
newspaper ads for a new Oldsmobile
and a new product called Listerine.
They should be sure that their ads
have a definite sales appeal and
target audience.
T419
Political Changes
Reading Strategy
Cause and Effect
To reinforce the skill of recognizing cause and effect, have students
identify several effects of
prohibition. Then have them select
one effect and discuss how it caused
other things to happen. (For example, if students say that one effect
of prohibition was that people purchased illegal liquor, ask them to
identify an effect of purchasing illegal liquor. They might answer that it
caused an increase in crime.)
Guiding Question 8-13
Compare and Contrast
Have students make a chart of
political ideas during the 1920s. In
the second column of the chart, ask
them to define the issue.
Guiding Question 8-12
Women’s Suffrage
Above: Louisiana’s coastline
made it easy to smuggle
illegal whiskey into the
state. This fuel truck is
being loaded with whiskey
in New Orleans.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• to name an organization that
supported prohibition. (Knowledge)
• to identify the constitutional
amendment that prohibited the
manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages. (Knowledge)
• to describe problems that were
caused by prohibition.
(Comprehension)
Reading Strategy
Prohibition was just one of the important political ideas of this era. These
ideas about improving life for Americans were part of the progressive movement. Many of the changes sought by the progressive movement required political action.
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the term
prohibition and use it in a sentence.
Have them define terms associated
with prohibition, e.g., speakeasies,
bootleggers, and moonshiners. Ask
students if these terms were
commonly acceptable language
before prohibition. Discuss how new
words become part of acceptable
language.
420
The antiliquor or prohibition movement started in the late 1800s as part
of the early progressive movement. Several organizations formed to work
for prohibition; the best known organization was the Women’s Christian
Temperance Union.
In 1917, Congress voted to stop the sale of alcohol. It adopted the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages. The amendment was ratified by 1919 and
went into effect in 1920. But even before 1920, some parts of Louisiana had
made the sale of liquor illegal. A number of towns and parishes had held local
elections on banning alcohol. Places where it was still legal to sell liquor were
called “wet,” and the places that prohibited liquor were called “dry.”
The reaction to prohibition was different in each region of the state. Protestant North Louisiana strongly supported prohibition. The Catholics in South
Louisiana did not have the same religious restriction against drinking. People
in South Louisiana were, therefore, more open in ignoring the law.
Prohibition created problems throughout Louisiana. Buying illegal liquor
was not difficult. Speakeasies, moonshiners, and bootleggers operated throughout the state, from New Orleans to the smallest towns. Speakeasies were illegal
bars, where customers had to speak quietly so the police would not hear them.
Moonshiners made their own liquor to sell to those who wanted it. Bootleggers
sold smuggled liquor; the name came from the practice of hiding flasks of
whiskey in their boots. Coastal Louisiana offered these new outlaws the same
protection that pirates had always found. Thousands of inlets made it easy to
bring in a boat filled with liquor.
Women were active in the progressive movement, particularly in the prohibition movement. They also formed local clubs
to help their neighbors and to improve the quality of life. For
example, a Shreveport club’s speaker discussed the need for pure
food standards. The Women’s Club of Shreveport was responsible for the city’s first park, Princess Park.
Many women also supported the women’s suffrage movement,
although Louisiana women were generally more conservative
about seeking the vote. A few women in Louisiana had spoken
out for women’s rights when African American men were granted
the vote during Reconstruction. But most Louisiana women of
the time did not agree. The New Orleans Times gave the general
nineteenth-century opinion, “Politics is bad enough for men,
without drawing ladies into such an atmosphere of corruption
and publicity.” In 1914, the Louisiana Federation of Women’s Clubs
would not even agree to take a stand for women’s suffrage.
One early supporter of women’s rights was Lavinia Egan from
Bienville Parish. She attended the Baptist college at Mt. Lebanon in Bienville Parish and later studied in Europe. Ahead of
her time and place in the South, she asserted her rights at a
young age. At a time when other women still rode a horse sidesaddle, she wore pants and sat in a regular saddle. Egan participated in the
national woman’s suffrage efforts and joined other women in Louisiana who
wanted the right to vote.
In 1919, the Nineteenth Amendment, which would give women the right to
vote, was passed by the U.S. Congress and sent to the states for ratification. In
August 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the amendment.
Women in Louisiana were able to vote for the first time the following November.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe how women’s lives
changed in the 1910s and 1920s.
(Comprehension)
• identify the role women’s clubs
played in the community.
(Knowledge)
• name an early supporter of
women’s rights from Bienville Parish.
(Knowledge)
• identify the constitutional
amendment that gave women the
right to vote. (Knowledge)
Above: When two men who
had criticized the Klan were
found murdered, Governor
Parker worked to ensure that
their killers were found and
indicted.
The Bourbons who had controlled the state were replaced by governors who
were more progressive. The governors in the early twentieth century made
changes that improved life in Louisiana.
John Parker of New Orleans supported the progressive movement. He had
even joined Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party and had run for governor
as its representative in 1916. Parker returned to the Democratic Party and was
elected governor in 1920.
Section 1 A Time of Changes
421
Research Activity
Ask students to use a search
engine or other reference materials
to research Carrie Nation and the
role she played in the temperance
movement.
Guiding Questions 8-14 and 8-16
Geography Activity
Ask students to describe how
the geography of coastal
Louisiana supported the illegal
alcohol trade.
Guiding Question 8-2
Economic Activity
Reinforce the concept of supply
and demand by discussing how
short supplies and high prices
affected the sale and consumption
of alcoholic beverages.
T420
Addressing Learning
Styles
Body/Kinesthetic
Have students role-play Carrie
Nation rallying supporters to fight
the illegal manufacture and sale
of alcohol.
Guiding Questions 8-6 and 8-14
Verbal/Linguistic
Have students write a poem
illustrating the prohibition period.
Reinforcing Vocabulary
Have students review the
meaning of suffrage.
Critical Thinking
Progressive Governors
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Reading Strategy
Internet Activity
Geography Activity
Have students go to www.mith
2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/Read
ingRoom/History/Vote/brief-his
tory.html and complete Women’s
Suffrage on page 175 in the BLM
book.
Have students go to www.law.
umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftri
als/anthony/ratifmap.html to
review an interactive map that
shows when each state ratified
the 19th Amendment. Have
students use the key to list the
order of the states that ratified
the amendment. Ask them to also
note the states that never ratified
the 19th Amendment.
Ask students how women showed
their support of women’s rights. Ask
them to compare how women in the
early 1900s made a statement for
women’s rights with the manner in
which women of the late 1900s
made a similar statement.
Guiding Question 8-6
Have students brainstorm the
events that they think might have
resulted in the changing roles of
women in the early 1920s. Use a
cause and effect graphic organizer
to record the events and changes.
(You might start them thinking by
giving them an example, such as
new inventions affected women by
allowing them more free time.)
Guiding Question 8-13
T421
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students make a chart of
Louisiana’s progressive governors.
Ask them to list the governor’s
name, dates of service, and major
accomplishments.
Guiding Questions 8-12, 8-17,
and 8-19
Building Vocabulary
Have students define severance
tax. Ask them why the tax was so
named. Have them list various items
on which severance taxes would be
assessed.
Guiding Question 8-7
Below: The Ku Klux Klan was
not just a force in the South.
This march took place in
Washington, D.C., in 1926.
As governor, Parker could not enact all of the progressive changes he wanted.
But he was able to move the state in that direction. He recognized the need
for a larger university and moved the Louisiana State University campus to its
present location in Baton Rouge.
Another change brought by Parker was a tax on natural resources. For the
first time, Louisiana established a severance tax on resources taken from the
land. The severance tax is based on the idea that removing a resource from the
environment means that future generations are deprived of its use. The tax is
a fee for using this nonrenewable resource. Parker explained that “those who
are getting rich from natural resources of the state owe a debt to this and future generations, as they are removing and destroying resources created by
the Almighty . . . never again to be replaced.”
Some of the severance tax money went towards improving the roads, with
more gravel roads added. Governor J. Y. Sanders had begun the gravel road
program, and Governor Parker expanded it. The road construction was done on
a pay-as-you-go basis. Because the state could not borrow money to build roads,
the road-improvement program was limited.
Governor Parker also faced a problem with the Ku Klux Klan during his
term. The Klan had been founded in Tennessee in 1865. Originally a club for
Confederate veterans, it quickly became a political force that used violence
and intimidation, especially against former slaves. The Klan faded in the late
1800s but was revived in the United States after World War I. Terrorism was
directed against anyone whose behavior the Klan did not like. Immigrants and
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• identify some of the major
changes effected by Governor John
Parker. (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 8-17
• explain Governor Parker’s reason
for assessing a severance tax.
(Comprehension)
Guiding Question 8-7
• name some of the uses of the
money obtained from the severance
tax. (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 8-7
• explain the origins and practices
of the Ku Klux Klan.
(Comprehension)
minorities were its main targets, with some ugly results. The Ku Klux Klan spread
around the country, and violence and lynchings were not limited to the South.
States like New York and Ohio reportedly had more than 200,000 members.
The Klan even paraded in front of the White House in full regalia (costume).
In Louisiana, the Klan continued to threaten African Americans and commit vigilante actions. A major incident occurred in Morehouse Parish in 1922.
Two young white men who had defied the Klan were found tortured and murdered. Governor Parker worked to ensure that the killers were indicted and
prosecuted; they were not, however, convicted. Finally, in 1925, Louisiana passed
a law that made wearing masks illegal and required members’ names to be made
known. This law was intended to stop the secret violence carried out by KKK
members who hid behind masks.
Ask students to
• name the groups targeted by the
Ku Klux Klan. (Knowledge)
• describe the methods used by the
Klan to spread terror.
(Comprehension)
Critical Thinking
The Constitution of 1921
The legal structure of the state government faced more revisions during this
period. When John Parker became governor, the state was regulated by the
constitution of 1913. That constitution had been written because the state’s
financial structure needed changes. It also included some ideas of the progressive movement, such as juvenile courts.
But by 1921 there were problems with the 1913 constitution; a new one was
needed. The constitution of 1921 is described as the most “legislative” of all the
constitutions Louisiana has had. That is, it did not serve as a broad framework
for government but was very detailed. Because the constitution was so specific,
it required frequent changes that could only be made through amendments.
The 1921 constitution did include some positive elements. For the first time,
the need to protect the environment was recognized. The Railroad Commission, which had been set up to regulate transportation and communication
companies, was given more power and became the Public Service Commission. It was on the Railroad Commission that Huey Long developed the power
that made him governor.
Check for Understanding
1. What was the music of the Roaring Twenties? Where did it
come from?
2. What new entertainment became popular?
3. Why did some people want prohibition?
4. What was the attitude of women in Louisiana about the
suffrage movement?
5. What important tax change did Governor Parker push for?
6. What law was passed that was intended to stop the KKK’s
violence?
422
Class Discussion
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Above: An early 20th-century
locomotive on display
in Baton Rouge. The 1921
Constitution gave more
power to the Railroad
Commission, which was
later renamed the Public
Service Commision.
Lagniappe
Before the constitution of
1921 was replaced, it had
been amended 536 times.
In comparison, the U.S.
Constitution, written in
1787, has been amended
only 27 times.
Section 1 A Time of Changes
423
Writing Activity
Have students write a news
article that includes the who, what,
when, where, how, and why of one of
the following events: the
formation of the Ku Klux Klan, the
governorship of John Parker, the
passage of the severance tax, or the
Louisiana Constitution of 1921. Ask
students to use peer editing to
revise the news articles.
Guiding Question 8-18
T422
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students why the Klan
members are carrying American
flags.
Class Discussion
Reading Strategy
Ask students
• why the Louisiana Constitution
of 1921 was amended so frequently. (Application)
• to identify some of the
provisions of the Constitution of
1921. (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 8-19
Making Connections
Have students go back and find
provisions of previous state
constitutions. Have them examine
how some of the provisions fit the
time in which the documents were
written.
Guiding Question 8-19
Ask students if they think crime
and violence declined when it
became illegal for KKK members to
wear masks.
Ask students why they think the
people responsible for killing two
young white men in Morehouse
Parish in 1922 were not convicted.
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
1. Jazz, which came from New
Orleans
2. Movies
3. Some people blamed society’s
problems on liquor and
believed banning it would
improve American life.
4. Many women supported the
suffrage movement, although
Louisiana women were
generally more conservative
about seeking the vote.
5. Governor Parker supported a
severance tax on resources
taken from the environment.
6. A law making the wearing of
masks illegal and requiring
KKK members’ names to be
made known
Alternative Assessment
Have students write a summary
of each event in the section.
Lesson Closure
Ask students which reforms
from this period they would have
supported. Have them give reasons
for their choices.
T423
SECTION 2
THE 1927 FLOOD
2
Section
Class Discussion
INTRODUCE
The 1927 Flood
Outline
As you read, look for:
A. Relief Efforts
B. Flood Waters Near New
Orleans
C. The Effects of the Flood
Materials
Textbook, pages 424-427
Blackline Masters
The Great Flood, page 177
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Ask students
• why guards had to protect the
levees during the Great Flood of
1927. (Comprehension)
• to describe in their own words
the vastness of the Great Flood.
(Comprehension)
• to explain how the refugee camps
were organized. (Knowledge)
• the impact of the 1927 flood on Louisiana, and
• vocabulary term crevasse.
Below: The Great 1927 Flood
was the worst in the state’s
history. This locomotive is
trying to get through the
flood waters at Bayou Sara
in West Feliciana Parish.
New Year’s Day 1927 was not a day for celebration. Heavy rains and melting
winter snow had filled the Mississippi River with rushing water. On January 1,
the river reached flood stage in Illinois. The raging water soon threatened the
great river valley.
Breaks in the levees—called crevasses—sent water roaring out over the
land. The water carried roofs of houses, dead cows, snake-filled tree branches,
and almost anything else that blocked its path. Before the flood ended, more
than 70 crevasses had sent flood waters over 16 million acres of land. More
than 200 people were killed, and more than 700,000 were left homeless in the
Mississippi River Valley.
Critical Thinking
Ask students
• if their home were being flooded,
what things they would try to save.
Have them rank the items in importance and give reasons for their
ranking.
• to describe how Louisiana’s
geographic features caused the
Flood of 1927.
Guiding Questions 8-2 and 8-21
• how flooding changes the geographic features of an area.
Guiding Question 8-3
Focus
Ask students if they have ever
experienced a flood. If so, ask what
it was like. Tell them that one of the
worst floods in Louisiana history
took place in 1927. (Have them
calculate how many years ago that
flood occurred.) Now people have
experienced another major flood
caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Reading Strategy
(Model Curriculum Activity 8-10)
Compare and Contrast
Have students go to www.pbs.
org/wgbh/amex/flood/maps/inde
x.html to find information on the
floods of 1927 and 1993. Ask them
to make a graphic organizer to compare and contrast those two events.
Guiding Questions 8-12, 8-16
TEACH
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students look at the photo.
Ask them how dangerous it is to
drive through flood waters — in an
automobile or train. What might
happen to the vehicle?
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the term
crevasses. Ask them what happens
when crevasses are formed in levees.
T424
424
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
BLM Assign students The Great
Flood on page 176 in the BLM book.
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 2: Locate major landforms and geographic features, places, and bodies of
water/waterways on a map of Louisiana.
GLE 6: Describe ways in which location and physical features have influenced
historical events in Louisiana and the development of the state (e.g., Mississippi
river/swamp in the Battle of New Orleans).
GLE 7: Explain how or why specific regions are changing as a result of physical
phenomena (e.g., changes in the coastal wetlands).
GLE 15: Analyze the benefits and challenges of the Louisiana physical
environments on its inhabitants (e.g., flooding, soil, climate conducive to growing
certain plants).
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present, explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 78: Describe and analyze the impact of Louisiana’s geographic features on
historic events, settlement patterns, economic development, etc.
T425
Geography Activity
Critical Thinking
(Model Curriculum Activity 8-10)
Making a Map
Reading a Map
Explain to students that the area
affected by the Great Flood was
about 27,000 square miles. To
illustrate that size, have students
use a highway map to locate their
hometown. Then draw a circle with
a 93-mile radius around their
hometown. Tell them this area
would have been flooded. Ask them
to identify the towns, geographical
features, and manmade features
that would have been affected.
Guiding Question 8-1
Ask students if New Orleans
should have been protected at the
expense of other towns. Have them
speculate on why this decision was
made. What factors did the decision
makers consider?
Addressing Learning Styles
Verbal/Linguistic
Have students debate whether it
is better to rechannel the Mississippi
River or relocate people in order to
avert future disasters. Have students
consider economic, historical, ecological, cultural, and geographical
perspectives in their arguments.
(Model Curriculum Activity 8-12)
Guiding Question 8-2
Internet Activity
Have students go to www.pbs.
org/wgbh/amex/flood/filmmore/
ps_headlines.html to read
newspaper accounts of the Flood of
1927. Ask them to make a list of
those groups singled out in the
various articles as having been
affected by the flood. Ask them
what this tells them about the
effect of the flood on people’s lives.
Guiding Question 8-18
Have students go to www.pbs.
org/wgbh/amex/flood/sfeature/sf
_flood_1.html to find images and
comments about the flood. Ask
them to choose one of the images or
descriptions and write a paragraph
describing their feelings on reading
or seeing the image.
(Model Curriculum Activity 8-11)
Guiding Question 8-18
Addressing Learning Styles
Intrapersonal
Have each student write a journal entry from the perspective of a
person their age who experienced
the Flood of 1927.
T426
Above: These refugees of the
flood waited anxiously for
news of friends and relatives.
Lagniappe
At a time when the federal
budget barely exceeded
$3 billion, the flood caused
an estimated $1 billion
in direct and indirect
property damage.
426
refugees were fed, housed in tent cities, and given basic medical care. Some of
the camps served up to 10,000 people. The camps were located in Iberia and
Caldwell parishes, among other places. Boatloads of people and cattle were
brought to Baton Rouge and moved to camps in the area.
To keep up the spirits of the people, the Tallulah Orchestra, a group of black
musicians, played at the levee. At the Lafayette camp, Cajun fiddles tempted
the refugees to dance for a while.
President Calvin Coolidge did not visit the flooded Mississippi Valley, instead sending Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. Hoover described the
flood as “the greatest peacetime disaster in our history.” A National Geographic
writer described his trip on a relief boat as it floated past the treetops in the
floodwaters.
Flood Waters Near New Orleans
New Orleans waited nervously as the water headed down the river. Would
the levees hold? The city had been built below sea level on drained swamps. In
1913, a pump was designed to remove water from the low-lying areas. When
more swamp land was drained, the city grew. A system of pumps and canals
kept the city dry. If the pumps failed or the water came in too fast, the city
would be under water.
City government and business leaders in New Orleans decided the city could
be protected if the water was diverted. The parishes downriver would have to
take the flood to save the city. Federal officials agreed to allow the levee to be
dynamited below New Orleans. Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes were
flooded, but New Orleans was saved.
The Effects of the Flood
Above: U.S. Secretary of War
Dwight F. Davis (right) and
Secretary of Commerce
and future president Herbert
Hoover (left) visited one
of the tent camps in the
devastated Mississippi Valley.
The flood of 1927 left that region of Louisiana in ruins; much more of the
state was severely damaged. The federal government acted to protect the country
from another flood like this. Millions of dollars were spent to build stronger
levees. About twenty-eight miles of spillways above New Orleans were built to
drain flood waters into Lake Pontchartrain.
Check for Understanding
Human/Environment Interaction
Organize students into groups.
Have each group develop a plan to
control the Mississippi River. You
might want some groups to send
their plans to the Army Corps of
Engineers with recommendations
on how to implement them.
(Model Curriculum Activity 8-12)
ASSESS
1. What happened when the levee broke?
2. What volunteer group came to help the flood refugees?
3. Why was the levee dynamited below New Orleans?
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Group Activity
Check for Understanding
Section 2 The 1927 Flood
427
1. Water flooded the land.
2. Red Cross
3. To save the city
Alternate Assessment
Ask students to make a poster
illustrating the Flood of 1927.
Multidisciplinary Activity
Class Discussion
Multidisciplinary Activity
Critical Thinking
Have students listen to a blues
excerpt that came from the flood.
Ask them to describe how the
music reflects the emotions of
people who were affected by the
flood. (You may go to www.pbs
.org/wgbh/amex/flood/sfeature/s
f_flood.html and click on “Voices
from the Flood” to hear an example of the music.)
Ask students
• to explain why people in New
Orleans were nervous about the
flood waters heading toward the
city. (Comprehension)
Guiding Question 8-5
• what sacrifices were made to
save New Orleans from the flood.
(Comprehension)
Art Have students create a flyer
warning people of the health
hazards in a flood area.
Ask students to explain what
would happen if the Mississippi
River no longer flowed by New
Orleans. What would that mean to
the region? How have location
and physical features impacted
the development of life in
Louisiana?
(Model Curriculum Activity
8-12)
Guiding Question 8-13
Lesson Closure
Have each student write a newspaper headline describing something
associated with the Flood of 1927.
T427
SECTION 3
HUEY LONG
3
Section
Critical Thinking
INTRODUCE
Huey Long
Outline
As you read, look for:
A. Huey Long’s Early Life
B. Huey Long as Governor
1. Positive Steps
2. Growing Opposition
C. Huey Long as Senator
1. On the National Stage
2. Long and Roosevelt
D. Huey Long’s Last Days
E. A Legacy of Scandals
• Huey Long’s political career and his influence on the state,
and
• vocabulary terms impeachment, censor, and Share Our Wealth
program.
Materials
Textbook, pages 428-441
Blackline Masters
Huey Long Scramble,
page 178
Sequencing Events, page 179
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Above: Huey Long, shown
here as a teenager, was the
seventh in a family of nine
children. Opposite page:
Huey Long may have provided the best description
when he told reporters, “I
am suis generis (one of a
kind), just leave it at that.”
Focus
Have students look at the pictures of Huey Long on pages 428
and 429. Draw their attention to his
statement, “I am suis generic (one
of a kind).” Ask students if they
know people whom they would
describe as “one of a kind.” Ask
what traits or characteristics make a
person one of a kind. Have them
predict what made Huey Long one
of a kind.
Tell students the textbook
equates Huey Long’s power to that
of the Mississippi River. Both had
enough force to bring major change
to Louisiana. Ask students to discuss
what type of human power could be
compared to the power of the
Mississippi.
Guiding Question 8-21
Huey Long often said the “end
justifies the means.” Ask students
what that means.
The power of the Mississippi River brought the flood of 1927. The power of
Huey Long brought political change just one year later. Huey Long was elected
governor in 1928.
Who was Huey Long? Even people in other states know he was the governor
of Louisiana, and his name is more widely known than any other political figure in Louisiana. Only Charles Lindbergh was photographed more by the journalists of the day.
People who lived in Huey Long’s Louisiana were seldom mild in their opinions of him. They either loved him or hated him. Some of the poor considered
him a saint. Newspaper notices giving thanks to St. Anthony and St. Jude
sometimes added thanks to Huey Long. In some homes, his picture sat on
mantels alongside the religious statues.
What did this governor do that made him so different and so controversial?
He liked to describe himself as one of a kind. When questioned about his
methods, he replied, “The end justifies the means.” In other words, he considered it acceptable to use power in any way necessary in order to help the people.
Some described him as ruthless and power hungry. He controlled all local and
state government jobs, and he fired teachers who did not agree with him. People
who received state jobs were expected to contribute regularly to his campaign
fund. This system was called “the deduct,” since money was deducted from
state employees’ pay. Long made a point of destroying his enemies and was
merciless in his personal attacks on his political opponents.
Lagniappe
• Al Taliaferro, the creator of the
Huey, Dewey, and Louie ducklings,
named Huey after Huey Long.
• Randy Newman wrote a song
entitled “Kingfish” to describe the
career of Huey Long.
• A character (Willie Stark) in
Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s
Men is supposedly based on the
political career of Huey Long.
• Huey Long supposedly composed
the LSU marching band’s pregame
song.
Huey Long’s Early Life
Research Activity
Huey Long’s rough road to power in Louisiana began in Winn Parish. He was
born near Winnfield on August 30, 1893. The political views of his hometown
may have influenced his thinking. Winn Parish was the home of the Populist
movement in Louisiana, and in 1912 the Socialist candidate for president got
36 percent of the parish’s vote. Both of these groups believed that wealth was
distributed unfairly, and Long certainly would have heard conversations about
these ideas. However, his father was not a Populist; he led a middle-class life in
428
Section 3 Huey Long
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
429
Using Photos and
Illustrations
TEACH
Class Discussion
Ask students
• how Huey Long kept his power.
(Application)
• why Huey Long would fire teachers who did not agree with him.
(Comprehension)
• to describe the deduct system.
(Comprehension)
• to identify the birthplace of Huey
Long. (Knowledge)
• to name a belief of the Populists.
(Knowledge)
T428
Have students research one of
the items in the Lagniappe. (NOTE:
There are a couple of words in the
song “Kingfish” that you should
preview before having students read
the lyrics.)
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 27: Describe ways by which public policies are formed, including the role of
lobbyists, special interest groups, and constituents.
GLE 30: Evaluate a type of tax in a historical context (e.g., severance tax).
GLE 62: Construct a timeline of key events in Louisiana history.
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present, explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course
of Louisiana’s history.
GLE 68: Interpret a political cartoon.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who were influential in Louisiana’s development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 76: Trace and describe various governments in Louisiana history.
GLE 78: Describe and analyze the impact of Louisiana’s geographic features on
historic events, settlement patterns, economic development, etc.
Have students discuss what Huey
Long might be saying. Have
students write a statement or even
a speech that Huey Long may have
been delivering in the picture.
T429
Social Studies Skill
Constructing a Timeline
Have students make a timeline
highlighting the major events in the
life of Huey Long.
Guiding Questions 8-11 and 8-12
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe Long’s early schooling.
(Comprehension)
• list early jobs that Long held.
(Knowledge)
• identify Long’s wife. (Knowledge)
• name the first statewide office for
which Long ran. (Knowledge)
• identify the age requirement
to run for the legislature or
governorship of Louisiana.
(Knowledge) (You may want
to refer students back to
Chapter 4 to review this
information.)
Above: This is an early
portrait of Huey Long and
his wife Rose. Rose completed his U.S. Senate term.
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Making Connections
Ask students to
• explain why Long might not have
been a good student even though
he had a brilliant memory.
• discuss how Long was able to skip
the seventh grade and enroll in the
eighth.
• compare Long’s school experiences with those of students today.
Guiding Question 8-12
the community. Long’s brothers and sisters resented his later claims of a poor,
deprived childhood, which they considered lies to get votes.
From his earliest days, Long was lively and restless. The rule of the day said
children should be seen and not heard, but Huey Long ignored this. He gave
his opinion whenever he pleased, and he was not reserved with any adults. As
a teenager, he went to Baton Rouge to compete in a debate. He did not win,
but he informed the wife of the superintendent of education that a bunch of
professors had cheated him. He also told her that he intended to become the
governor and would remember that she had been nice to him.
Huey Long was always described as brilliant, even by his enemies and by
the national political leaders who knew him. Although he had an amazing
memory, he was never a good student because he did not concentrate. The
year he was supposed to enter the seventh grade he decided to skip that grade.
When school started, he just showed up and enrolled himself in eighth grade.
Later, he quit high school before he graduated because of an argument with
the school principal. Other students described him as a bossy boy who would
not take any role other than the star. When the playground game was baseball, he would not play if he could not pitch.
His first jobs were as a traveling salesman, where he learned the art of selling himself to the public. Some of these early sales jobs took him from doorto-door in rural Louisiana. His first political strength came from the contacts
he made on the road. Later, when he entered politics, he returned to these
buyers to ask for their votes.
He met his future wife, Rose, in Shreveport and for a while continued his
sales jobs. But his next career move was to enroll in law school at Tulane. Before completing the program, he arranged for a private bar exam (test to become a lawyer). He said he did not have the time or money to continue classes
and was ready to go to work. This incident shows his boldness in going after
what he wanted. No one had ever received such special arrangements.
After he passed this test, he returned to Shreveport to practice law. By 1918,
he was impatient to start his political career. He had told his wife he planned
to be the governor, a U.S. senator, and then the president of the United States.
But because of his age (he was only 24), the only statewide office he could
hold was on the Railroad Commission
(which was later renamed the Public
Service Commission).
Huey Long intended to use the
commission to gain statewide recogHuey Long served on the
nition and power. In his first stateRailroad Commission from
wide campaign, Long introduced a
1918 until 1926, and was
new technique—he mailed campaign
the committee’s chairman
letters to the voters. He also borrowed
for five years.
money to buy a car, returning to visit
rural residents he had met while a
Class Discussion
Ask students how Long planned
his campaign for governor after
being defeated in his first bid for
that office.
Huey Long as Governor
By 1923, he was ready to run for governor. Although he did not win, he
surprised many politicians with the large number of votes he received. He ran
again in 1927. Huey Long prepared for this second race by analyzing his first.
He realized that he needed the support of the Acadian Catholic farmers in
addition to the Protestant hill farmers. He then supported Catholic candidates
in other races and campaigned on their behalf. In another effort to win South
Louisiana votes, he selected a running mate who could campaign in French.
In his first campaign for governor, he had used the new medium of radio to
speak to the people of Louisiana. During his second campaign, station KWKH
of Shreveport gave Huey free radio time. Another of his campaign techniques
was to use trucks with sound systems. He used those trucks to travel through
rural areas, speaking to voters. He gave over six hundred campaign speeches
and mailed out flyers all over the state. Louisiana historian Glenn Jeansonne
said Huey Long’s campaign promises were different because “the concept of
the state government acting like Santa Claus was new to Louisiana, previously
it had acted more like Scrooge.”
Multidisciplinary Activity
Below: After he was elected
governor in 1928, Long
worked for such social
reforms as improving
the roads and providing free
school books for children.
430
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Verbal/Linguistic
Have students listen to excerpts
from Huey Long’s radio broadcasts.
Ask students to analyze his style of
speaking. Ask students to prepare a
speech in Long’s style by listing
main points in a two- to threeminute speech.
Critical Thinking
Ask students
• to explain the meaning of the
concept of “the state government
acting like Santa Claus.”
• to explain how Huey Long would
come across in a modern-day campaign. How would he do in television debates?
Research Activity
Have students find out the cost
of radio or television political ads.
Compare their prices to the free air
time radio stations gave Huey Long.
Ask students if media ads are worth
the cost.
Lagniappe
Critical Thinking
Ask students how Long’s early
life was a predictor of his future
success in politics. Have students
comment on his desire to be a star,
his selling career, and his boldness
in getting his law license.
Guiding Question 8-17
salesman. Winning his election to the Commission, he worked for low utility
rates. He also started his lifelong battle with Standard Oil Company, whose
pipelines were regulated by the commission.
Section 3 Huey Long
431
Addressing Learning Styles
Body/Kinesthetic
Have students role-play a
campaign visit Long made to one
of his former customers when he
was a traveling salesman.
Group Activity
Have students discuss the
various campaign techniques Huey
Long used. Ask each group to plan
a campaign strategy for Long.
T430
T431
Major opposition to his plan for free textbooks came from Shreveport. The
people there believed that giving the books to the church schools was unconstitutional. Also, as Mayor L. E. Thomas said, “This is a rich section of the state.
We are not going to be humiliated or disgraced by having it advertised that
our children had to be given the books free.”
Huey Long’s method for handling this opposition is a good example of how
he operated. The state owned eighty acres of land that were needed for the
new airbase planned for the area. The governor informed Shreveport’s leaders
that if they were so well off they did not need the textbooks, they did not
need the airbase either. He would talk about deeding the state land for the
airbase to them when they agreed to back his free textbook plan. He later said
that he “stomped them into distributing the books.”
Other Long programs involved taxes. The poll tax was abolished. The poor
supported Huey Long, and he wanted to make sure they could all vote. When
the homestead exemption was enacted, property was taxed only on the amount
above a certain value. This helped protect a person’s home from being seized
to cover a tax debt. During the Great Depression, many people could not pay
their property tax, and their farms and homes were seized. The homestead exemption was an effort to stop these losses.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Tell students that Huey Long’s
Governor’s Mansion was patterned
after the White House. Ask them to
locate a picture of the White House
and compare the two buildings.
Research Activity
Have students use a search
engine or other reference materials
to research the Old Governor’s
Mansion. Ask them to list ten
interesting things they find. (One
source of information is www.old
governorsmansion.org/History/ind
ex.htm.)
Guiding Question 8-16
The strategy worked. In 1928, Huey Long was elected governor. When he
won the election, the whirlwind began. The rural people who supported him
said, “He hit the ground running and never stopped.” Huey Long had big plans
for himself and his state.
The Old Governor’s Mansion,
which is on the National Register
of Historic Places, serves as a
historic house museum today.
Positive Steps
Getting the state on the road to progress meant paving the road first—literally. By 1930, there were 23 million cars in Louisiana, up from 3 million in
1920. Louisiana was stuck in its muddy roads. Automobiles required better roads.
State law had to be changed to get enough money to replace gravel roads with
paved roads. But the constitution did not allow the state to borrow money to
build roads.
Governor Long convinced the legislature to change the law and begin the
road building. Huey Long’s road plan put a few miles of paved road in each
parish so that the people could see how good the road was and demand more.
This meant support for more state bond issues to raise money to build roads.
Better roads were just one of Long’s campaign promises. By the 1920s, free
textbooks were provided to schoolchildren in many other states—but not in
Louisiana. Huey Long made free textbooks his crusade. Many of the children
in Louisiana attended Catholic schools. In order to get around the issue of using
state money for textbooks in church-run schools, Long insisted that the books
were for the children individually and not for the schools.
Critical Thinking
Ask students to explain how the
state constitution was an obstacle to
paving roads in Louisiana.
Class Discussion
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students use a graphic
organizer to record the various
programs that Huey Long promoted.
Guiding Questions 8-12 and 8-18
T432
Ask students to
• explain how Long convinced
Shreveport to accept free textbooks.
(Comprehension)
• describe how Long’s tax proposals
were designed to help his
supporters. (Application)
Guiding Question 8-7
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Have students define homestead
exemption. Ask how it would benefit
homeowners, especially the poor.
Guiding Question 8-7
Growing Opposition
Lagniappe
Ask students to
• explain Governor Long’s strategy
for getting support for his roads
program. (Comprehension)
Guiding Question 8-6
• describe how Long was able to
get around the issue of using state
money to provide textbooks for
church-run schools.
(Comprehension)
Class Discussion
432
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
As Long pushed for his programs, his style offended more and more people.
Many people thought his personal crudeness and character were inappropriate
for a governor; he seemed to make a point of not being a gentleman. His verbal attacks on critics and opponents were ruthless, and his favorite target was
big business. His feud with Standard Oil Company over regulations and taxes
became legendary.
Huey Long believed profits earned by big business in the state were too high
and that big business did not do enough in return. He needed more money to
fulfill his promises, and he wanted the business interests to pay for his programs. In 1929, he started an effort to raise the oil severance tax. Standard Oil
led the fight against this tax increase.
By this time, Long’s opponents had enough backing in the state house of
representatives to bring impeachment charges against him. (Impeachment
is the process of bringing charges of
wrongdoing against a public official
while that person is still in office.) An
ugly, bitter political fight followed.
The chamber of the house of repreAt the time, Standard Oil
sentatives was a wild scene. One rephad a number of oil wells
resentative walked across the desks to
and a major refinery in
get to the front of the room. He later
Louisiana.
accused an opponent of throwing a
punch and cutting his face.
Lagniappe
Above: Earl Long, Huey’s
younger brother, visited state
senators one by one to
obtain their signed agreement to vote against removing Huey from office.
Opposite page, above: The
Old Governor’s Mansion was
built in 1930 during Huey
Long’s term. It is said that
Long wanted to be familiar
with the White House when
he became president so he
had it duplicated in Baton
Rouge. Opposite page,
below: This is the bedroom
of Long’s daughter Rose in
the Old Governor’s Mansion.
It can now be seen at the
Old State Capitol.
Section 3 Huey Long
433
Internet Activity
Reading Strategy
Have students use a search
engine to find a political cartoon
opposing the policies and practices of Huey Long. Ask them to
write a paragraph explaining the
meaning of the cartoon.
Guiding Question 8-15
Reinforcing Vocabulary
Have students review the
meaning of impeachment. Remind
them that Andrew Johnson was
impeached.
Group Activity
During the 1920s, America’s
biggest businessmen were admired
as captains of industry and finance.
But Americans’ attitudes toward
business changed in the 1930s.
Many began to view these same
businessmen as vultures living off
the suffering of the people.
Divide students into groups and ask
each group to research one of the
captains of industry. They should
find information on the person’s
career and business successes.
People to research include: J. P.
Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, James B.
Duke, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius
Vanderbilt, Henry Ford, Harvey
Firestone, and George Westinghouse.
(You might need to explain the
terms captain of industry and/or
robber barons.)
Guiding Question 8-16
Research Activity
Have students research Huey
Long’s feud with the Standard Oil
Company. Have students find the
cause of the feud, the positions of
the two major contenders, and the
results.
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Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students go to www.louisia
na101.com/11_18_newcap2.html
to find a variety of photographs of
the New State Capitol. Ask them to
list ten things they learned from
looking at the pictures.
Lagniappe
• Some of the interior marble for
the State Capitol came from as far
away as Italy.
• The desks in the Senate chamber
are made partly from Australian
laurel wood.
• There are four statues on the
22nd floor exterior representing
Law, Science, Philosophy, and Art.
• When built, it was the tallest
building in the South and one of
the few with central air
conditioning.
• The construction of the Capitol
took 14 months and cost $5 million.
• Driving west on Interstate 10,
away from Baton Rouge, you can see
the State Capitol in your rearview
mirror for miles. If the freeway was
a few hundred meters north, then
you could see the building as you
approach the city.
Spotlight
The
“New”
Capitol
State
The most famous landmark of
Baton Rouge rises near the Mississippi River as a monument to
Huey Long. The “new” State Capitol, as many still call it, is just a
few blocks upriver from the “old”
State Capitol, where the impeachment proceedings against Huey
Long took place.
Long had first mentioned the
need for a new Capitol building
in a 1927 campaign speech. The
architects followed Long’s suggestion for a tower and designed a
“tower type of building with a
broad and dignified base.”
The building is designed to show
the state’s history, progress, and
the “aspirations of the people.”
The designers wanted “to express
in stone and granite, bronze and
marble, and in other enduring materials, the colorful history of this
once unbounded dominion, then
struggling colony, and now progressive and powerful state.”
The art on the base of the
building represents the state’s resources as well as the struggles
and achievements of the people.
The designs on the tower symbolize spiritual ideals. The frieze, or narrow band of carvings, on the
base depicts many scenes from Louisiana history—
434
T434
Above: “The Pioneers” statue stands to the left of the
Capitol entrance. It honors the men and women who
created our state out of the wilderness.
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Above: The Louisiana State
Capitol is the tallest capitol
building in the United States.
Right: The steps up to the
entrance bear the names of
all fifty states.
from the earliest French explorations to the time of the
Capitol’s construction. Portrait panels of twenty-two
important individuals are
above the windows. The two
large statues at the entrance
are called “Pioneers” and “Patriots.” The Pioneers statue
honors the settlers, and the
Patriots statue represents
the state’s defenders. On the
Capitol’s tower, huge corner
figures represent law, science,
philosophy, and art.
Forty-nine steps approach
the entrance. The steps welcome visitors from every state
and emphasize the interdependence of the United States.
Each step is carved with the
name of a state, listing them
in the order in which they
were admitted to the Union.
Originally, the top step had
only the motto E Pluribus
Unum. Alaska and Hawaii were
added to this step when they
became states in 1959.
Section 3 Huey Long
Addressing Learning Styles
Visual/Spatial
Have students design a new
Capitol for Louisiana. Ask them to
draw a picture of the outside of the
building and design a floor plan to
accommodate the various work that
is done in the facility.
Research Activity
Have students research what
agencies and offices are located in
the Capitol. (You might refer students back to Chapter 4, where they
learned about the agencies of state
government.)
Writing Activity
Have students write a letter to
the governor giving reasons why
Louisiana should have a new
Capitol.
435
T435
The house of representatives brought seven charges of impeachment against
Governor Long. The impeachment was the ultimate battle of his life. His
brother Earl had fought many childhood battles for Huey; once again he
stepped in to help. Earl Long visited state senators one by one and obtained
their signed agreement to vote against removing Governor Long from office.
This document, called the “Round Robin,” was signed by fifteen senators—
enough to block Long’s opponents. Huey Long himself always blamed this
incident for his vicious political methods. He said, “I used to get things done
by saying ‘please.’ That didn’t work and now I’m a dynamiter. I dynamite ‘em
out of my path.”
Lagniappe
The impeachment charges
brought against Huey Long included
bribery, attempted bribery,
misappropriation of state funds,
intimidating the press,
incompetence, and corruption.
Critical Thinking
Ask students to examine the
charges brought against Huey Long.
Have them decide if these charges
were valid. Ask them to find evidence to support one or more of the
charges.
Civics Skill
Taking a Stand
Read a list of Huey Long’s
programs. Ask students if they
would favor or oppose each one.
Have the class come to a consensus
as to Long’s top two programs. (You
might want to include his support of
LSU, the Share the Wealth program,
his tax restructuring, his roads program, his educational reforms, etc.)
Guiding Question 8-12
Lagniappe
In 1946, Robert Penn
Warren published All the
King’s Men, a novel said to
be based on the life of Huey
Long. This book won a
Pulitzer Prize.
Right: Oscar K. Allen
(seated) was handpicked
by Huey Long (standing
right, next to Allen) to
become the governor in
1932. He continued Long’s
programs until his death
in office in 1936.
436
Critical Thinking
Long became even more aggressive as he headed toward his political goal.
The next step in his planned path to the White House was the U.S. Senate. He
ran for the Senate in 1930, after he had been governor for only two years. He
won the race, but he refused to take the oath of office or leave the state until
he had full control. Lieutenant Governor Paul Cyr had become an enemy because he was too independent. Huey Long did not intend to allow him to take
over as governor. Long manipulated the situation so that he could leave Alvin
O. King, president of the senate, in charge as the acting governor.
Then he arranged for O. K. Allen to be elected as the new governor. Allen
was so widely known as Huey Long’s puppet that he was accused of signing
anything put in front of him. Earl Long once said that a leaf blew in the window and Allen signed it, because he thought “Huey had sent in another bill.”
Under Huey Long’s control, Governor Allen continued the social programs.
Charity hospitals provided medical care for the poor. The Louisiana State Uni-
Ask students to describe how
Long continued to maintain control
of Louisiana after he was elected to
the U.S. Senate. (Comprehension)
Guiding Question 8-6
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Social Studies Skill
T436
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the term
censor. Ask them under what
circumstances censorship might be
warranted. Ask them if they have
ever had anything censored. If so,
how did they feel?
Huey Long as Senator
Class Discussion
Making a Political Cartoon
Have students draw a political
cartoon in which Huey Long is
ridiculing his opponents. (You may
want to put students in pairs or
trios and have one or two students
generate ideas for the cartoon and
one student actually draw the cartoon.)
Reading Strategy
Ask students to discuss Long’s
censorship of a student newspaper
at LSU. Ask them if Long’s actions
were an infraction of freedom of the
press. Have them propose a solution
to the situation.
Class Discussion
versity (LSU) Medical School was established in New Orleans. The main growth
of the campus occurred during this era. New buildings were constructed and
funding increased.
The relationship Huey Long had with LSU was complicated. He felt entitled
to lead the band, coach the football team, and hire and fire anyone there. This
heavy-handed control also led to a censorship incident. In 1934, when the
student newspaper at LSU published a story he had tried to censor (to remove
or suppress), he had the newspaper staff expelled. He commented, “I like students, but this state is putting up the money for that college, and I ain’t paying anybody to criticize me.”
Long also demonstrated his belief in control of the press by operating his
own statewide newspaper, the Louisiana Progress, which printed exactly what
he wanted it to say. He used cartoons to ridicule his opponents. Their faces
were added to buzzards, goats, hogs, and other animals, which were then labeled with insulting nicknames, like “turkey buzzard Walmsley.” (T. Semmes
Walmsley was the mayor of New Orleans.) The Louisiana Progress was even
distributed by state workers during their workday.
Above: Huey Long felt
entitled to lead the LSU
band. Here he is leading the
marching band between two
drum majors.
Ask students
• how Long controlled the press.
(Knowledge)
• what would happen today if state
workers openly supported political
causes. (Analysis)
Critical Thinking
Have students refer to the list of
characteristics of a good leader that
they developed in a previous
chapter. Ask them to apply those
characteristics to Huey Long to
determine whether or not he was a
good leader.
Writing Activity
Section 3 Huey Long
437
Have students write an anti-Huey
Long editorial. Ask them how Long
might have reacted to the editorial.
Guiding Question 8-6
Multidisciplinary Activity
Writing Activity
Have students write a campaign speech for Huey Long’s senatorial campaign. In the speech
give details of his successes as
governor and how his experience
as governor has prepared him to
be a U.S. senator.
Art Have students draw a caricature
of one of Long’s opponents by
adding his face to an animal. Be
sure the students add an insulting
nickname to their drawings.
BLM Assign Huey Long Scramble on
page 177 in the BLM book.
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On the National Stage
Class Discussion
In 1932, when Huey Long believed he had total control of the Louisiana
government, he finally reported to Washington. There he continued his showy
behavior. On his first day in the Senate, he broke the rules by smoking a cigar
and greeting everyone loudly. He wanted to inform the other senators that the
“Kingfish” had arrived. Long had adopted that nickname from the “Amos and
Andy” radio show. The Kingfish character was the head of the lodge, the boss
of the group.
Long set about acquiring national attention with his economic program.
In those depression years, the poor listened eagerly to any voice
promising delivery from their misery. Long called his program “Share
Our Wealth,” and he used as its slogan “Every man a king.” The
continuation of this quote from William Jennings Bryan was “and
no man wears a crown.” Huey’s critics said he certainly planned
for one man to wear the crown—Huey P. Long.
Long’s radio broadcasts offered the promise of the American
dream. His Share Our Wealth program proposed to end poverty
by giving every family a minimum income of $5,000 a year. The
program would be paid for taking more money from the wealthy
through taxes. Long said no one should have an income of more than
$1 million a year.
The program would also provide old-age pensions of $30 a month
to elderly people who had less than $10,000 in cash. People living in the
nightmare of poverty wanted to believe him. One of his most popular
speeches attacked big business. He compared America’s wealth to a great
barbecue. He accused the richest men in America of taking “85 percent of
the grub.” The audiences cheered when Long said the greedy could not
even use all they had and should share their wealth with everyone.
Ask students
• where Huey Long’s nickname
originated. (Knowledge)
• to identify the name of Long’s
poverty program. (Knowledge)
• to list the provisions of Long’s
poverty program. (Knowledge)
• to explain how Long envisioned
wealth to be shared.
(Comprehension)
Critical Thinking
Have students read the
description of Long’s first day in
the U.S. Senate. Ask students what
impression he might have made on
other senators.
Long quoted research that
suggested “2% of the people owned
60% of the wealth.” In one radio
broadcast, he told the listeners,
“God called: ‘Come to my feast.’ But
what had happened? Rockefeller,
Morgan, and their crowd stepped up
and took enough for 120,000,000
people and left only enough for
5,000,000 for all the other
125,000,000 to eat. And so many
millions must go hungry.” Ask students to explain what Long meant.
Long and Roosevelt
This outspoken and radical new senator had arrived in Washington just as
the government was battling the depression that began in 1929. Although the
two men shared some ideas, the strong
personalities of Senator Huey Long
and President Franklin D. Roosevelt
soon clashed. Long had spent his life
Before his planned run for
making sure no one told him what to
the White House, Huey Long
do. He did not intend to change this
organized “Share the
approach just because the other man
Wealth” Clubs all across the
was the president of the United States.
nation. He claimed that
Huey Long made no secret of his
the clubs had more than
plan to become president, and he even
5 million members.
wrote a book called My First Years in
Research Activity
Ask students to try to find a
copy of Long’s book, My First Years
in the White House. This book has
often been called Long’s Second
Autobiography. It was published
posthumously after his death. Have
them skim the book to determine
what Long would have done as
president. (You may have students
go to www.ssa.gov/history/huey
chapt3.html to read Chapter 3 or
www.ssa.gov/history/hueychapt5
.html to read Chapter 5 from the
book.)
T438
Lagniappe
the White House. Some political ana-
438
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
lysts say that Long’s pressure affected Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. The New
Deal was the name given to the programs enacted by Congress to deal with the
problems and hardships caused by the Great Depression. Many historians believe the New Deal programs offered more benefits for the people, including
social security and the minimum wage, because so many Americans believed
Long’s promises of sharing the wealth. Roosevelt once described Huey Long
and General Douglas McArthur as the two most dangerous men in America.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• how Huey Long affected the New
Deal. (Comprehension)
• how many bills were passed by
the Louisiana Legislature between
August 1934 and September 1935.
(Knowledge)
Guiding Question 8-19
• to identify the political enemy
Long wanted to punish.
(Knowledge)
• to tell how Long proposed to
punish his political enemy.
(Knowledge)
• to identify Long’s assassin.
(Knowledge)
• to explain why Dr. Weiss shot
Huey Long. (Comprehension)
Huey Long’s Last Days
Despite the excitement of Washington politics, Huey
Long had no intention of allowing Louisiana to function without him. He returned to Baton Rouge frequently, usually directing Governor Allen to call a
special session of the legislature. Between August 1934
and September 1935, seven special sessions of the legislature passed 463 bills. These bills gave Long even
more power and added more programs to the state
government.
In the fall of 1935, Long had several plans to put in
effect. He wanted to pass laws giving him control of
the New Deal programs in the state. (President
Roosevelt had blocked Long’s efforts to control this
money.)
He also wanted the legislature to pass a bill designed
to punish a political enemy. The bill would gerrymander Judge Benjamin Pavy’s district. (To gerrymander
means to set the boundaries of a political district in
an unfair way.) The new judicial district would include
mainly Long supporters, a sure way to defeat the judge
in the next election.
On a hot September night in 1935, the judge’s sonin-law came to the State Capitol. Dr. Carl Weiss was a
small, serious-looking man in a white linen suit. Shots blasted in the marble
corridor on the first floor. After an encounter that lasted only a few minutes,
Dr. Weiss lay dead on the floor, shot more than fifty times. Long’s bodyguards
had emptied their guns into Weiss’s body.
Although he had been shot, Senator Long ran down the corridor, spitting
blood and holding his stomach. He was rushed to the then-nearby Lady of the
Lake Hospital, where surgery was performed. Huey Long died two days later
on September 10.
The shattering events of that night in Baton Rouge still puzzle the world.
Questions have no clear answers. What provoked the incident? Did Dr. Weiss
fire the actual shots that hit Huey Long? Was Long hit by bullets from more
than one gun? Was the medical care Huey Long received correct?
Critical Thinking
Ask students if one person
should have as much political power
as Huey Long. Have them give reasons for their answers.
Above: Dr. Carl Weiss, the
son-in-law of Judge Benjamin Pavy, shot Huey Long
(opposite page) on September 8, 1935. Questions
about the assassination,
however, still linger.
Section 3 Huey Long
439
Group Activity
Critical Thinking
Reading Strategy
Research Activity
Have students design a program to share the wealth.
Have students create a new
nickname for Huey Long. The
name must express his personality
or works.
Reinforcing Vocabulary
Ask students to review the
concept of checks and balances.
Ask them to give examples of how
checks and balances work. (You
may want to refer them back to
Chapter 4.) Have them
hypothesize why checks and
balances did not work under Huey
Long’s regime.
Have students find an original
newspaper account of the attack
on Long and his death. Compare
the information in the article with
that in the textbook. Ask students
if the newspaper article only
contains the who, what, when,
where, and why of the event or
does it also include opinion and
bias.
Addressing Learning Styles
Body/Kinesthetic
Have students role-play a
meeting between Huey Long and
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Guiding Questions 8-14 and
8-17
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students look at the
photograph of Huey Long. Ask
them to brainstorm a list of words
that describe Long based on his
image in the picture.
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the term
gerrymandering. The term
gerrymandering was used in reference to a bill signed by
Massachusetts Governor Elbridge
Gerry to create a senatorial district
that favored his DemocraticRepublican Party. Gilbert Stuart
added a head, arms, and legs to the
outline of the district — giving it
the appearance of a salamander. The
cartoon can be seen online at
www.boondocksnet.com/cartoons
/mcc253.html.
Guiding Question 8-6
T439
Group Activity
Have students make a list of
unanswered questions about the
assassination of Huey Long.
Questions might include:
• What provoked the incident?
• Did Dr. Weiss fire the actual shots
that hit Huey Long?
• Was Long hit by bullets from
more than one gun?
• Was the medical care Long
received correct?
• Was there a conspiracy to kill
Long?
Divide the students into groups
and give each group one question to
investigate. After their investigation, have the students answer their
assigned question based on their
findings.
Critical Thinking
• Have students discuss what
makes a person a “legend.” (Ask
them to name people who are legends and give reasons why these
people are legends.) Have students
make a list of the things that Long
did that make him a legend.
Guiding Question 8-17
• Ask students why Long’s death
created problems in Louisiana.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students discuss why so
many people attended Huey Long’s
funeral.
Above: More than 175,000
people attended Huey Long’s
funeral at the State Capitol.
Long was buried on the
grounds of the State Capitol.
Lagniappe
The “Old” Governor’s
Mansion is listed on the
National Register of Historic
Places. The property is now
maintained by the
Foundation for Historical
Louisiana.
440
For more than fifty years, theories and stories about the assassination have
circulated. As recently as 1996, a researcher received permission from the Weiss
family to exhume (remove from the grave) Carl Weiss’s body for study. The
researcher could not make any new conclusions. The state police also reopened
the investigation because some of the evidence, including the gun that Weiss
supposedly used, was recovered. The new official investigation concluded that
the 1935 investigation was correct. Dr. Carl Weiss fired the bullet that killed
Huey Long.
After Huey Long left the scene, his legacy of roads, bridges, hospitals, and
free textbooks remained. Two buildings in the capital city tell his story as clearly
as anything else he left—the governor’s mansion and the Capitol building.
When Huey Long became governor, he did not like the drafty, old governor’s
mansion. He had a crew of inmates from Angola State Prison tear down the old
house and had a new mansion built on the same site. People say Huey Long
wanted it to look like the White House, because he planned to be president.
A Legacy of Scandals
Huey Long’s death left his supporters without a leader. During Long’s political career, he had made sure no one became strong enough to challenge his
power. After his death, many arguments flared. Finally, Long’s supporters agreed
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
on Richard Leche as the candidate for governor. Elected
in 1936, he continued most of Long’s programs.
Leche differed from Long in his attitude toward
business. Governor Leche created a state Department
of Commerce and Industry and showed his support of
business by agreeing to a one cent sales tax. Business
leaders wanted sales taxes instead of more business
taxes; Long had opposed sales taxes because he
thought they were not fair to the poor.
Governor Leche did continue Long’s programs to
help the poor. As he spent more and more money, however, rumors of theft and corruption spread throughout the state. Newspapers started investigating those
reports.
By 1939, Governor Leche had resigned, saying he
had health problems. But the United States government soon convicted him of mail fraud, saying he had
carried on illegal dealings through the mail. He was
sentenced to ten years in the federal penitentiary. He
was also accused of making money from oil that was
sold without paying the severance tax, but he was not
convicted of this. At one point, Leche was reported
to have said, “When I took the oath of office, I didn’t
take any vow of poverty.”
Some of the worst scandals involved Louisiana State University. The president, who had been appointed by Huey Long, fled the state with funds belonging to the university. The person in charge of the building programs was
accused of taking kickbacks (illegal bribes) for contracts. With the money and
stolen building materials, he had built himself a mansion filled with black marble
and gold bathroom fixtures.
Check for Understanding
Class Discussion
Ask students
• how Governor Richard Leche
differed from Huey Long. (Analysis)
• why Governor Leche resigned
from office. (Knowledge)
Research Activity
Have students research one of
the scandals in Louisiana after Huey
Long’s death. Ask them to tell when
it occurred, who was involved, and
what the outcome was.
Guiding Question 8-16
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
Above: Governor Richard
Leche is seen leaving the
Governor’s Mansion with his
wife and son following his
resignation from office
amid rumors of corruption.
He was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Earl Long.
1. What did Huey Long do when he lost his first race for
governor?
2. Name two positive actions by Governor Huey Long.
3. What are two reasons why some people opposed him so
strongly?
4. What was Huey Long’s ultimate political goal?
5. What did Long talk about on his national radio broadcasts?
6. How did Huey Long die?
Section 3 Huey Long
441
1. He analyzed his first race and
planned how he would gain
the support of groups whose
support was instrumental to
his being elected.
2. He built roads and provided
free textbooks.
3. Some were offended by his
style and thought him to be
crude. Others opposed him
because of his policies toward
big business.
4. He wanted to be president of
the United States.
5. He discussed his Share Our
Wealth program, which was
designed to end poverty.
6. He was shot by Dr. Carl Weiss
and died two days later.
Alternate Assessment
Writing Assignment
Have students write an obituary
for Huey Long. Ask them to include
the major accomplishments in his
life. (Instead of an obituary, you
may want to ask students to write
an epitaph.)
Multidisciplinary Activity
Art Have students design a
monument to Huey Long.
T440
Multidisciplinary Activity
Language Arts Have students
interview 3-5 people to get their
opinions of the impact Huey
Long’s actions made on Louisiana
today.
Music Have students write a song
describing Huey Long’s presence
in Louisiana.
Art Have students draw a picture
illustrating Huey Long’s presence
in Louisiana.
Have students develop and act
out a scene in the life of Huey
Long.
Lesson Closure
According to Huey Long’s sister
Lucille, his last words were, “Don’t
let me die, I have got so much to
do.” Have students predict what
Long might have done had he not
been killed.
T441
SECTION 4
THE GREAT DEPRESSION IN
LOUISIANA
4
Section
Cause and Effect
Have students describe how a
community is affected by mass
unemployment. How does it affect
the local economy? What elements
are involved in the chain reaction to
losses of jobs?
Guiding Question 8-13
The Great Depression
in Louisiana
INTRODUCE
Outline
A. Living through the Depression
B. The New Deal in Louisiana
As you read, look for:
• the causes of the Great Depression,
• how the Great Depression affected
Louisiana, and
• vocabulary terms Great Depression,
Civilian Conservation Corps, and Works
Progress Administration.
Materials
Textbook, pages 442-449
Blackline Masters
The Works Progress
Administration, page 180
The New Deal Alphabet Soup,
page 181
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
Have students try to imagine
living through one week with no
money and no place to live. Discuss
with students how they would live
without jobs, money (the banks
failed), a home (homes and property
were lost when people could not pay
rents or mortgages), and no welfare
system to take care of those needing
help during the depression. Point
out that programs we have today
that act as a safety net to help
those in need did not exist during
the depression.
Reading Strategy
Math Give students the following
unemployment statistics: 1928: 2.0
million; 1929: 1.6 million; 1930: 4.3
million; 1931: 8 million; 1932: 12.1
million; 1933: 12.8 million. Ask
them to create a graph illustrating
unemployment for that 6-year
period.
Much of Huey Long’s power came from people who
were struggling economically. Long’s political programs and his Share Our Wealth program were influenced by the economic crisis of the time.
The United States saw its economy shift from
the boom of the Roaring Twenties to a depression
that lasted ten years. The stock market crash of
October 24, 1929, signaled that change.
During the Great Depression, unemployment
reached the highest level the United States had ever
measured. By 1937, a government study described
the South as the nation’s number one economic
problem.
town or in a city apartment. Some rural families took in their city relatives to
keep them from starving. One resident of Assumption Parish recalled her depression years: “We did not know where our next meal was coming from and
then someone would share from their gardens.”
Living Through the Depression
The New Deal in Louisiana
Louisiana had just begun to see economic recovery and growth after the poverty that followed
the Civil War. The Great Depression halted all economic growth and brought even more poverty.
Much of Louisiana’s economy still depended on
cotton. But during the depression, farmers could not make a living selling their
cotton crops. The price of cotton, 25 cents a pound in 1929, fell to 5 cents a
pound in 1932.
Most residents of rural Louisiana were fairly self-sufficient, a fact that proved
useful during the hardships of the depression. Farmers could at least feed their
families by planting gardens. Those who lived in towns and cities had a much
harder time. Planting a garden was not possible if you lived on a small lot in
442
Multidisciplinary Activity
When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, he took strong
steps to help the economy. On March 9, 1933, he ordered a bank “holiday.”
Banks were closed and not allowed to reopen until they could prove they were
sound (financially safe). Until they were approved to reopen, they could only
pay out 5 percent of their total deposits in emergency funds. This prevented a
“run” on the banks, which occurs when many depositors demand to withdraw
their money at the same time. Banks do not keep cash on hand equal to all
deposits because they loan depositors’ money to others or invest it in interestpaying assets.
National banks had to be approved for reopening by the United States government. State banks had to get approval from the state committee on banking to reopen.
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Section 4
Above: As Franklin Roosevelt
campaigned in 1932, he
spread a feeling of optimism
that times would get better.
Opposite page: Farmers and
agricultural workers were
already suffering in 1929.
The Great Depression made
their lives much more difficult. These children playing
jacks near Pontchatoula
worked as strawberry pickers.
The Great Depression in Louisiana
Lagniappe
In 1930, after the stock market
crash, a reporter asked Babe Ruth
how he felt about making more
money per year than the president
of the United States. Ruth replied,
“I had a better year.” (Ruth made
$80,000 while the president made
$75,000.)
Class Discussion
443
Ask students to
• describe what Franklin Roosevelt
did to make banks financially safe.
(Comprehension)
• explain why it was important to
stabilize the banks. (Analysis)
TEACH
Economics Activity
Give each student an imaginary
100 shares of stock in a company
selected from the New York Stock
Exchange. Have students use
newspapers to track their stock for a
certain period of time. At the end of
the time, have students determine
how much money they would have
gained or lost. (You might want
them to create graphs to show their
progress.)
Guiding Question 8-9
T442
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 2: Locate major landforms and geographic features, places, and bodies of
water/waterways on a map of Louisiana.
GLE 27: Describe ways by which public policies are formed, including the role of
lobbyists, special interest groups, and constituents.
GLE 51: Use economic concepts (e.g., scarcity, opportunity cost) to explain
historic and contemporary events and developments in Louisiana.
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence, and development of Louisiana and the nation (e.g., mass
production, oil boom and decline).
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical
research using a variety of
resources, and evaluate those
resources to answer historical
questions related to Louisiana
history.
GLE 73: Describe and explain
the importance of major events
and ideas in the development of
Louisiana.
T443
Research Activity
Have students use a search
engine or other reference materials
to research the stock market crash
of 1929.
Guiding Question 8-16
Critical Thinking
Have students discuss how
national and world events affect the
stock market, e.g., how airline
stocks were affected after September
11. How might stocks be affected if
the president of the United States
becomes seriously ill or dies in
office?
Geography Activity
Building Vocabulary
Introduce the term economic
geography. Use this term to examine
why the depression was easier on
some sections of the country than
on others. (You might introduce the
students to the Dust Bowl and
discuss its economic implications.
You could have students read a
portion of John Steinbeck’s The
Grapes of Wrath or show a clip from
the movie.)
Guiding Question 8-9
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students go to memory.loc
.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html to
access photographs taken during the
Great Depression. Ask them to select
a photo to share with the class.
Have them tell why they think the
photograph they selected is representative of that period of history.
Guiding Question 8-16
T444
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The Great Depression
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The U.S. economy boomed in the 1920s. The economy
expanded because new technology meant more and
more goods could be produced. Automobiles rolled
off new assembly lines, and Americans could buy
them on credit. Buying on the installment plan made
it easier for people to get what they wanted, and
they often ignored their increasing debt.
Businesses produced more and more consumer
goods. As business production increased, businesses’
profits increased. But workers’ incomes did not keep
up with business profits. Most of the country’s wealth
belonged to only one-tenth of 1 percent of the population of the United States.
444
Above: Mounted police had to be called out to control
the crowd on Wall Street on “Black Tuesday.” Black
Tuesday usually marks the point where the Roaring
Twenties ended and the Great Depression started.
As business profits rose, the value of business
stocks rose. More people wanted to invest in the
stock market. They began buying stocks on margin.
For example, if investors bought five shares of stock
valued at $10 each, they would pay only part of the
$50 cost and agree to pay the rest from the money
they expected to make when they sold the stock after the price went higher.
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
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The decline in international trade also
affected the American economy. During
World War I, the United States had
loaned money to other nations. After the
war, those nations began repaying the
loans and, as a result, did not have the
money to buy many American goods.
There were more goods produced than
people and other nations could afford
to buy. When people couldn’t buy the
consumer goods, manufacturers had to
cut back. This overproduction, along with
the uneven distribution of prosperity,
buying on credit, stock speculation, and
poor international trade all led to economic trouble.
The crash of the stock market on October 29, 1929, signaled the collapse of
the economic boom. In October 1929,
the values of stock prices dropped 30
percent. By 1933, stocks had lost 80
percent of their value. The crash was followed by the Great Depression, the longest and worst economic downturn in
United States history.
U.S. banks were in trouble because
they had made loans to people who could
not repay them because of the crash. The
banks also lost money because they too
had invested in the stock market.
The depression hurt almost everyone.
People who had been wealthy were now broke and
hungry. At one point during the depression, the unemployment rate reached 25 percent.
Farm families were already going through a depression. Crop prices had dropped from their highs
during World War I. With the depression, prices were
so low that it cost more to produce a crop than the
farmer could sell it for. A drought in the Plains states
made the situation worse; farms literally blew away
in the Dust Bowl region.
Louisiana farm families could at least grow their
own food and managed to survive. People who lived
in cities suffered because they had no place to grow
Above: Unemployment was very high during the Great
Depression. Many of those who had lost their jobs were
willing to do almost anything to earn some money.
a garden. If a family had relatives in the country,
they sent their children to those relatives so they
would not starve.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in
1933, he encouraged the American people by saying, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
He said government must take action to end the
depression. President Roosevelt’s ideas led to the
New Deal programs.
Section 4
The Great Depression in Louisiana
445
Class Discussion
Ask students
• how international trade affected
America’s economy.
(Comprehension)
• to identify what event followed
the stock market crash of 1929.
(Knowledge)
• to explain why banks lost money
as a result of the stock market
crash. (Comprehension)
• why people who lived in cities
suffered more during the depression
than those on farms.
(Comprehension)
Economic Activity
Have students explain the
meaning of the following economic
terms as they relate to the Great
Depression: overproduction, credit,
stock speculation, supply and
demand.
Guiding Question 8-9
Writing Activity
Have each student write a
headline that might have appeared
in the newspaper during the
depression. You might want them
to write a news article instead.
Critical Thinking
Ask students to explain what
Franklin Roosevelt meant by the
phrase, “The only thing we have to
fear is fear itself.” What was the
fear he addressed?
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students make a chart to
record how the depression
affected different groups of people. On the chart, list the effect of
the depression as well as the
names of New Deal programs that
impacted them.
Guiding Question 8-12
T445
Research Activity
Have students research to find
the amount of federal aid given to
Louisiana as part of New Deal
legislation. Have them make graphs
to illustrate the funds.
Guiding Questions 8-10 and 8-16
Geography Activity
Making a Map
By 1934, there were 27 CCC
camps in Louisiana. Ask students to
find where the camps were located.
Use an outline map of Louisiana to
locate the camps.
Guiding Questions 8-1 and 8-10
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students examine the political cartoon. Ask them whether it
was drawn by a person who
supported or opposed FDR’s New
Deal. Have them explain what
Roosevelt means by “It is evolution,
not revolution.”
Guiding Question 8-15
Multidisciplinary Activity
Art Have students research “New
Deal Art in Louisiana.” They should
list the name of the work, the date
it was created, and its location. If
they can find a picture of the work,
have them; download a copy and
write a brief explanation of the art
work. (If any of the work exists in
the local community, they can take
pictures to share with the class.) A
web site that lists a number of WPA
art projects can be found at www.
wpamurals.com/louisian.htm.
Guiding Question 8-16
BLM Assign The Works Progress
Administration on page 180 in the
BLM book.
T446
SSSSSSSSS
The Art of Politics
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During the depression, President
Roosevelt urged Congress to pass laws
to bring economic recovery and relieve the suffering of the unemployed.
One of the first New Deal programs
was direct aid for the needy. Federal
funds came to the state from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.
For the first time, Louisiana had a
statewide program to help the poor—
the Unemployment Relief Committee.
Before the widespread suffering of
the Great Depression brought federal
help for the poor, the state had depended on local governments to care
for the needy. The Poor Laws of 1880
and 1916 directed police juries to
provide for the poor. Some parishes
even maintained a poor house. Now
too many people needed help for the
local governments to handle.
The federal government also
This 1934 political cartoon pokes fun at President Roosevelt and
helped by giving groceries to those in
the many “alphabet” agencies created under the New Deal.
need. This was called the commodity
program. The groceries (commodities)
often included coffee, butter, shortening, beans, corn meal, flour, sugar, and rice. Farmers also benefited when
their crops were bought to be used as commodities.
Another New Deal program was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). This
program provided work for single young men between the ages of 18 and 25.
Young men in the CCC
They lived in special camps and did physical outdoor labor. In Louisiana, CCC
were paid $30 a month, of
workers did soil conservation work on farms and some road construction.
which $25 had to be sent
The CCC camps were located throughout the state. A photograph of the
home to their families.
CCC camp in Pleasant Hill in DeSoto Parish shows us that the young men
wore uniforms and lived in barracks. The buildings in the camp included a
cafeteria and a library.
Another job program provided work for men with families. This was the Works
Progress Administration (WPA). The men, who were paid about $7 a week,
built schools, courthouses, parks, and other public buildings.
The new airbase outside Shreveport, Barksdale Field, was also improved by
a government work program. The base had been established in 1933 when 20,886
Bossier Parish acres were purchased for $1.5 million. During the 1930s, the
WPA paid cotton planters and farmers to grade, plow, harrow, and plant Bermuda grass on 1,400 acres of the base’s land to make it flat and green.
Lagniappe
446
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Internet Activity
Addressing Learning Styles
Have students go to nutrias.
org/photos/wpa/wpaphotos.htm
to find inventories of WPA
projects in Louisiana. Ask students to identify five of the
projects and research one in
depth.
Guiding Question 8-16
Visual/Spatial
Have students imagine they are
artists hired by the WPA to draw a
mural for their local city hall.
Have them sketch the aspect of
the community they would have
highlighted in the mural. Have
them tell why they chose that
aspect to highlight.
Group Activity
Figure 28 New Deal Programs
Program
Date
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
1933 Built dams on the Tennessee River to control
flooding and generate electricity.
Public Works Administration (PWA)
1933 Put people to work building roads, buildings,
and other public works projects.
Assign groups of students to
research one of the New Deal
programs. Have them present their
findings in a mobile.
Guiding Questions 8-10 and 8-16
Purpose
Social Studies Skill
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC)
1933 Insured individual savings accounts so that
people did not lose their money if banks failed
or closed their doors.
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
(FERA)
1933 Provided federal funds for state and
community relief efforts.
Civil Works Administration (CWA)
1933 Provided temporary federal jobs for the
unemployed.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC )
1933 Provided jobs for young single men building
forest trails and roads, planting trees to reforest
the land and control flooding, and building parks.
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
1934 Insured home loans for low-income families.
BLM Assign students The New Deal
Alphabet Soup on page 181 in the
BLM book.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 1934 Regulated stocks and gave stock information.
Social Security Administration (SSA)
1935 Created a system for retirement and unemployment insurance.
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
1935 Employed out-of-work Americans to repair roads,
and build or repair bridges. Also employed
writers, musicians, and artists who painted
murals, wrote guidebooks, and provided public
performances.
National Youth Administration (NYA)
1935 Provided job training and part-time work for
college students.
Section 4
The Great Depression in Louisiana
Reading a Chart or Table
Have students look at the chart
and answer the following questions:
• Which program affected African
Americans?
• Which program helped
low-income families find homes?
• Which programs affected
unemployment?
• What effect does each program
have on life today?
Lagniappe
As a young man, Richard Nixon
earned 35 cents an hour while
working for the National Youth
Administration while he was a
student at Duke University.
447
T447
Critical Thinking
Lagniappe
Critics of New Deal programs
argued that they violated the
individual freedoms of the
constitution and the rights of
private enterprise. Have students
discuss this statement.
The most lasting influence of
Roosevelt’s New Deal may be the
change in how the federal
government became involved in the
free enterprise system – labor
legislation, subsidies to farmers,
the Rural Electrification Authority
that changed rural living conditions,
the Social Security program, the
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, and government
regulation of the finances of banks,
credit, and savings and loan
institutions, and sales of stocks.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe how life in rural communities was changed forever by the
work of the Rural Electrification
Administration. (Comprehension)
• take a stand to support or reject
the practice of paying farmers not to
grow crops. (Comprehension)
• explain how not growing crops
would help the farmers.
(Application)
Lagniappe
• Most of those who enrolled in the
CCC program were 17 or 18 years of
age. They enlisted for terms of six
months to two years. They were paid
$30 a month, $25 of which was sent
home to their families.
• Congress disbanded the CCC
program on July 2, 1942, because
the country needed the young
volunteers to fight in World War II.
Above: The Civilian
Conservation Corps put
thousands of unemployed
young men to work on
conservation projects.
448
T448
Life in the rural South was greatly
affected by the Roosevelt plan that
brought electricity to farms and other
rural areas. The Rural Electrification
Barksdale Field was named
Administration (REA) paid the cost of
for a World War I veteran,
extending power lines, which the early
Lieutenant Eugene Hoy
electric companies said were too exBarksdale of the Army Air
pensive to build and maintain. In adCorps, who lost his life while
dition, the Agricultural Adjustment
flight testing an observation
Administration (AAA) paid farmers not
aircraft over McCook Field,
to grow crops. With smaller harvests,
in Dayton, Ohio, on August
crop prices were expected to rise.
11, 1926.
The poverty of the depression years
increased Louisiana’s health problems.
Hunger brought more disease. Malnourished children risked diseases, such as
pellagra, caused by a poor diet. Public health nurses worked to establish nutrition programs.
In 1937, Congress passed the National School Lunch Act to improve the diet
of America’s children. One of the new senators who supported this bill was
Allen Ellender. He had been an ally of Huey Long in the Louisiana legislature.
Lagniappe
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
He served in the U.S. Senate from
1937 until 1972, when he died during his re-election campaign.
The morale of the people of LouisiPresident Roosevelt himself
ana was boosted by a visit from First
visited New Orleans
Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. When Mrs.
in May 1937.
Roosevelt came to Shreveport in March
1937, thousands of people stood on the
street to watch her pass. She gave two speeches: “A Typical Day at the White
House” and “An Individual’s Responsibility to His Community.”
Lagniappe
Check for Understanding
Above: This rare 1940 color
photograph by Marion Post
Wolcott shows Cajun children
fishing in a bayou near
Terrebonne, a Farm Security
Administration project.
Alternative Assessment
Have students make flash cards
that have events from the section
on one side and a description of
each on the other. Then have pairs
of students ask each other to
describe the events.
1. Why did people who lived in rural Louisiana cope with the
depression better than people in cities?
2. What was the purpose of the New Deal programs?
3. What are two New Deal programs that provided work in
Louisiana?
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Section 4
1. Most residents of rural
Louisiana were fairly
self-sufficient.
2. To bring economic recovery
and relieve the suffering of
the unemployed
3. CCC and WPA
The Great Depression in Louisiana
449
Internet Activity
Writing Activity
Have students use a search
engine to research the New Deal
and its impact on women. What
was behind the attitude that
women in the workplace should
leave their jobs to make way for
unemployed men? What
provisions did the New Deal
programs make for traditionally
female occupations?
Guiding Question 8-16
Tell students to imagine that
they are a waitress in a restaurant
during the 1930s, and they find
that little of the president’s New
Deal helps them. Have each
student write a letter to Mrs.
Roosevelt asking her to influence
the president to incorporate more
legislative packages to help
women.
Guiding Question 8-6
Lesson Closure
Have students respond to the
prompt, “We will/will not have
another major depression
because . . .”
Have students think of ways
that, even today, life is different for
those who lived through the
depression, e.g., older adults might
not trust banks, they may keep and
store items that a younger
generation throws away, they
dislike seeing food wasted.
T449
Critical Thinking
Ask students to evaluate the
provisions of the Share Our Wealth
Program. Have them identify any
provision that they would eliminate
or revise and make any suggested
changes. Ask them to add one or
more provisions they believe would
make the program better.
Answers to Questions
1. A share of the wealth of America,
specifically not less than $5,000
2. By limiting the fortunes of the
richest
3. People over 60 who did not earn
as much as $1,000 per year or
who had less than $10,000 in
cash or property
4. To improve the country, provide
employment in public works, and
give jobs to farmers when
necessary
5. The people who would benefit
from the plan would support it,
and the wealthiest people would
oppose it.
6. There were many poor people in
the United States at the time
because of the Great Depression.
Group Activity
Divide the students into groups
and have them use the Share Our
Wealth program as a model to write
a modern-day plan.
T450
Meeting Expectations
The Share Our Wealth Program
It is said that Huey Long’s Share Our Wealth program forced President Roosevelt to expand his New
Deal programs. The following principles and platform were part of a speech Long gave as a senator.
The material is printed in the Congressional Record
of February 5, 1934.
some share in the recreations, conveniences, and luxuries of life.
5. To balance agricultural production with what can be
sold and consumed according to the laws of God, which
have never failed.
6. To care for the veterans of our
wars.
7. Taxation to run the Government
to be supported, first, by reducing big fortunes from the top,
thereby to improve the country
and provide employment in
public works whenever agricultural surplus is such as to render unnecessary, in whole or in
part, any particular crop.
Principles and Platform
1. To limit poverty by providing that every deserving
family shall share in the
wealth of America for not
less than one third of the
average wealth, thereby
to possess not less than
$5,000 free of debt.
2. To limit fortunes to such a
few million dollars as will al1. What did Huey Long say
low the balance of the Amerievery deserving family
can people to share in the
should have?
wealth and profits of the
2. How did he plan to get
land.
money for the poor?
3. Old-age pensions of $30 per
3. Who would get an oldmonth to persons over 60
age pension in this plan?
years of age who do not
4. Principle 7 says taxes to
earn as much as $1,000 per
run the government would
Above: Huey Long was a passionate
year or who possess less
first be imposed on “big
and colorful public speaker.
than $10,000 in cash or
fortunes.” List three
property, thereby to remove from the field of labor in
ways the plan says this money will be used.
times of unemployment those who have contributed
5. Who would be likely to support this plan and
their share to the public service.
who would oppose it?
4. To limit the hours of work to such an extent as to pre6. Why did this plan appeal to so many people at
vent overproduction and to give the workers of America
this time?
450
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
Group Activity
Chapter Summary
Cultural and Political Change
• The music of the Roaring Twenties was New
Orleans jazz.
• Radio and the movies brought progress and
cultural change.
• The antiliquor movement led to prohibition with
the Eighteenth Amendment passed in 1917.
Prohibition led to illegal activities and was repealed with the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933.
• Women received the right to vote with the
Nineteenth Amendment.
• Governor John M. Parker advocated a severance
tax. The progressive Parker also faced problems
with the Ku Klux Klan.
• The new constitution passed in 1921 showed
progress with some environmental protection
and the creation of the Railroad Commission.
The 1927 Flood
• A major disaster hit Louisiana with the 1927
flood of the Mississippi. The levee broke near
Tallulah, and millions of acres were flooded.
• Relief efforts began to help the people who had
lost their homes.
• Fear of flooding in New Orleans led to a deliberate break in the levee below the city.
Huey Long
• Huey Long became a powerful political figure
who was either loved or hated.
• As governor, Long abolished the poll tax, provided free textbooks for schoolchildren, and had
roads paved.
• Long had a bitter feud with Standard Oil because
he wanted the company to pay much higher
taxes.
• Long’s rough methods led to impeachment by the
state house of representatives, but the senate
Above: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt on a visit to
Shreveport in 1937, with Governor Leche (right).
Divide students into groups and
ask each group to choose one item
from each section of the chapter.
Ask them to develop a method to
teach that item to the whole class.
(It is ok if some groups select the
same item, because their method of
presentation will be different. This
will allow for the material to be
presented in ways to address
different learning styles.)
Multidisciplinary Activity
would not agree to remove him from office.
• Long was then elected to the United States Senate
and soon clashed with President Roosevelt.
• Huey Long’s Share the Wealth plan appealed to
the poor during the depression.
• Long was killed in the State Capitol, and people
still disagree about what happened.
• After his death, Long’s political followers were
caught in a scandal that sent several to prison.
Art Have students create a bulletin
board display highlighting the
material in the chapter. Some
students may do maps, others may
create a collage or draw pictures,
make books, create newspaper
articles, etc.
The Great Depression in Louisiana
• The Great Depression led to the highest unemployment rate in state history.
• People in rural Louisiana coped better because
they could grow food.
• Banks were closed temporarily to save the
economy.
• President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs helped
Louisiana. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the commodity program gave direct
help to the needy. The Civilian Conservation
Corps and the Works Progress Administration
provided jobs.
• The Rural Electrification Administration brought
electricity to rural Louisiana homes.
Chapter Summary
451
T451
REVIEW
1. Answers will vary.
2. a. Jazz
b. Prohibition
c. Suffrage for women
d. That those who took resources
from the earth pay for them
e. Paved roads
f. Share Our Wealth
g. Flood of 1927
h. The Great Depression
i. They grew their own food.
j. Civilian Conservation Corps
3. a. Women bobbed their hair and
wore short skirts.
b. The belief that alcohol was
ruining the country
c. Speakeasies, moonshiners, and
bootleggers operated
throughout Louisiana.
d. Juvenile courts and financial
protections
e. Because such a large area was
flooded and so much was lost
f. They disagreed over how much
taxes Standard Oil should pay.
g. He thought the extremely
wealthy should be taxed so
that the government could
provide many services. The
people who would be expected
to pay the tax were opposed,
as were others who thought
his plan would hurt the
economy. Those who expected
to benefit from his plans
supported it.
h. They could grow their own
food, and many were already
living almost in poverty.
i. Jobs were provided for many,
and public buildings such as
schools were built.
4. Answers will vary.
CONNECT
With Your World
1. Answers will vary.
T452
Activities
for
Learning
A
w
Review
1. Identify the key people and places and
explain each term in your own words.
2. Connect these statements with a key person,
place, or term.
a. This new music of the Roaring Twenties
came from New Orleans.
b. The main idea of this movement was that
people should not drink alcohol.
c. The suffrage movement finally brought
about this change.
d. This was the purpose of the severance tax
supported by Governor Parker.
e. Rural residents in Louisiana benefited from
this program carried out by Governor Huey
Long.
f. He published this plan, which made him
popular with poor people all over the
United States.
g. This major disaster was the result of
human modification of the environment.
h. The highest unemployment rate in
Louisiana history occurred during this
time.
i. This gave rural residents an advantage
during the Great Depression.
j. This New Deal program provided jobs for
young men.
3. Answer these questions.
a. What kinds of cultural changes occurred
during the Roaring Twenties?
b. What idea led to prohibition?
c. How did prohibition affect Louisiana?
452
d. What are two examples of progress in the
1921 constitution?
e. Why was the Flood of 1927 considered a
major disaster?
f. Why did Huey Long and Standard Oil have a
bitter political fight?
g. What were Huey Long’s political ideas?
Why did different groups of people have
different opinions about these ideas?
h. Why did people in rural Louisiana cope
with the depression better than people in
cities?
i. How did New Deal programs affect
Louisiana?
4. Huey Long is considered to be one of
Louisiana’s most influential leaders. Prepare
for a class debate on this question: Would
Huey Long be such a powerful leader today?
Answer these questions as part of your
preparation.
a. Why was Huey Long such an influential
leader?
b. What leadership qualities did he have?
c. How did the situation at the time influence
his leadership?
Connect
With Your World
1. People responded to Huey Long as a leader.
What are the qualities of the people who are
leaders among your peers? Are any of these
negative qualities?
Chapter 13 Louisiana’s Huey Long Era: Poverty and Progress
o
2. Have you ever experienced a flood or another
natural disaster such as a hurricane or
tornado? What happened to you during the
event? How did you feel? How can you relate
this to the people who lived through the
flood of 1927?
With Civics
3. How did women in Louisiana get the right to
vote?
4. How did Huey Long affect the balance of
power between the three branches of
government?
5. Did Huey Long make Louisiana more
democratic or less? Explain your opinion.
With Economics
6. How did the Great Depression affect the
economy of Louisiana?
7. How are Roosevelt’s New Deal programs
examples of public services?
8. What was the economic purpose of the New
Deal programs?
With Geography
9. Explain how human modification of the
environment led to the flood of 1927. How did
the flood change people’s attitudes and
knowledge about modifying the environment?
10. What were the human goals about the use
and control of the Mississippi at the time?
With U.S. History
11. What does the United States Constitution say
about how it can be amended?
12. Why was the New Deal a big change for the
United States?
Extend
1. Write three diary entries from the point of
view of a person of that time. Write a brief
description of the person. Then write about
the flood of 1927, the stock market crash,
and the assassination of Huey Long.
2. Radio news broadcasts provided information
in a new way. Write a one-minute radio news
story about a key event from this time
period.
3. The post office murals painted by New Deal
artists were often designed to spotlight the
local economy. Design a mural that would
show the economy of your community or
Louisiana today.
4. Create a political cartoon showing Huey
Long’s influence on Louisiana.
5. Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol has
a statue of Huey Long. Locate a picture of
this statue on the official U.S. Capitol web
site. Who is the other person from Louisiana
with a statue in the hall? Why was he
selected for this recognition?
6. Locate the official web site of the Old
Governor’s Mansion of Louisiana. Take a
virtual tour to learn more about this
structure built when Huey Long was governor.
7. Do an Internet search to locate web sites
about jazz. What does the information tell
you about the cultural diffusion of jazz?
Listen to some of the jazz music online. Do
you like it? Explain your response.
8. Research to learn more about the efforts to
pass the Nineteenth Amendment. Find out
why some women in Louisiana did not want
the right to vote. How did the Louisiana
legislature vote on the amendment?
13. Why did some people think Huey Long might
be elected president?
Activities for Learning
453
EXTEND
1. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
4. Answers will vary.
5. Edward Douglas White, chief
justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court
6. Answers will vary.
7. Answers will vary.
8. The Louisiana legislature voted
against the amendment.
2. Answers will vary.
With Civics
3. When the 19th amendment to
the U. S. Constitution was
ratified
4. He ignored the concept of the
balance of power and took as
much control as he could.
5. Answers will vary.
With Economics
6. Louisiana struggled, but the
economy was already weak.
7. Tax money was used to pay to
provide services.
8. To push the economy to
recovery
With Geography
9. The levee system controlled the
river so much that the force of
the river built up as it headed
south. With the heavy rains,
there was just too much water
that had nowhere to go. After
the flood, people began to
consider ways to modify the
levee-only system for
controlling the river.
10. People expected to control the
river to protect crops and towns
and thought that technology
had advanced to the point that
man was more powerful than
the river.
With U.S. History
11. An amendment must be passed
by two-thirds vote of Congress
and ratified by three-fourths of
the states.
12. The federal government had
never spent so much money
on so many public programs.
13. Because he had supporters all
over the United States and he
had appeal because of the
poverty of the time.
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