engine of souls | forum 3

mre · Senior Member

Assignment #12: Great Depression Part I

theaa · Veteran Member

FACTS

1. The stocks hit bottom at less than one ninth of their peak value within three years (381 to 41)
2. The stock market crash was not the only cause of the Great Depression but a cataylst. *
3. 20% of banks closed, wiping out nearly 10 million savings accounts.
4. In 1933, the unemployment rate hit 25% of the workforce, not including the farmers.
5. Republican power in the nation reached an end as the power of the federal government increased in order to create new policies to help Americans during the Depression.
6. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff was created by Hoover to increase the tariff on foreign imports from 31% to 49%. It was believed the tariff would protect the American market from competition but instead Europe retailiated and increased tariffs on American goods, causing both America and European countries to go deeper into depression.
7. Roosevelt believed in the three R's : relief for people out of work, recovery for businesses and economy as a whole, and reform of American economic institutions.
8. Roosevelt had many legislative failures but kept trying new ideas out until something worked; he never stopped acting on what he thought could work for the country.
9. Under the New Deal which mainly focused on recovery, Roosevelt enacted legislation for financial recovery programs, programs for relief for the unemployed, industrial recovery program, farm production control program, and many other new programs, some more successful than others.
10. The Second New Deal focused on relief and reform. Roosevelt's relief programs included Works Progress Administration, which employed 3.4 million men and women to work on construction and the arts and the Resettlement Administration which provived loans to sharecroppers and small farmers and also housing for migrant farmers. Reform programs included National Labor Relations Act which garunteed a worker's right to join a union and the unions right to bargain collectively. The Rural Electrification Administration gave loans to electric companies to supply power and federal taxes were increased on the wealthy few and taxed capital gains.

* further researching but putting into a seperate post.

AWHBRY · Veteran Member

My Ten Facts evileye (the topic essay will be flying in shortly!)

-Hundreds of thousands of families went bankrupt: with this they were often forced to move to a less expensive means of housing, meaning w/o electricity… Now men had usually been those who brought home the bacon, expected to do it, and gained a growing sense of self-esteem as they carried themselves along with their family to higher success – when the market crashed these aspiring men not only lost the green paper but their self-esteem and pride as well. Their friends would desert them and they would have to rough it, lowering their standards to a smaller house and little to no food, but what were they to do besides attempt to find a small job along their travels.

-Depression not only steels jobs from the current working force but their children’s as well: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration faced a growing problem during the Great Depression- “Thousands of young people were graduating from high school, or leaving school early with very few jobs open to them”. It’s estimated that roughly 250,000 of these students soon resorted to train-hopping, a dangerous hobby. In order to resolve this issue Roosevelt’s administration formed the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.) This resourceful and productive alternative attracted over 3 million boys seventeen and older. Within the corps they would help to plant trees “covering over 2 million acres” among other tasks. Their efforts helped to nullify the worsening conservation issues, for example preserved forests and protected them under threats of fires. This activity kept to keep many away from the rails and helped in their transition from boys to men. On top of that they earned a respectable pay: 25$/month + 5$ for their own spending. Much of their new earned money would be sent back to their families to aid them.

-The Top Dogs: Over ¾ of American society was now the lower-middle class and the poor. Another factor causing the Great Depression was the extreme imbalance of wealth: “Two percent of the population received about 28 of the national income, but the lower 60% only got about 24%.” This fact along with the one that businesses increased profits held down wages and prices of raw materials led to a pattern that deeply scarred consumer consumption.

-Harsh and Uninterested: The Global economy was doing too hot after WW1 in fact, it really sucked. Germany’s economy and its success were set up to fail by the stipulations of The Treaty of Versailles. Immediately after Germany was defeated they were ordered to pay huge deficits/costs – this was pretty much the main factor in its collapse.

In the years just before the crash of the American stock market crash, 1928/1929, European economies declined as well as a result from a slowing in American investment – Americans were purchasing fewer European products and the likewise said for Europeans with American made products.

-BOOOOM, Rockbottom: Despite President Hoover’s initiative and pleas markets continues to cut wages, something the economy could not afford… but some companies couldn’t even afford to stay open. In 1930 1,300 banks closed on top of the hundreds that had already. In addition auto industries were also cutting wages. In that same year 4 million Americans were unemployed, just two years later the number skyrocketed to over 12 million Americans! Foreclosures and evictions became commonplace, lifesavings literally went out the window, and a growing fear of a revolution arose among the nation’s wealthiest 2%.

-It’s All The Same For Farmers: Agricultural and financial success didn’t have a close relationship with another since the beginning of the Gilded Age/Industrial Revolution and hadn’t made much progress since (with the exception of the big agribusiness owners). “…for many tenant farmers, the depression had little immediate effect because their lives were already so depressed… for some farmers, it was burning corn rather than coal because the price of corn had fallen so low that it was not worth marketing.”

-A Combination: The depression had a mixture of psychological affects which often depended on age and sex. Children had created games, such as “eviction and relief” and it was noted that they all knew how to play it well. On the other hand adults were feeling personally responsible for being unable to keep their job when in actuality cuts just had to be made. One woman remarked that she was just going to give up – a prelude of the feelings that Americans would soon experience – uncertainty about themselves/which would hinder their ambition later on. Those probably more disrupted than woman, however, included the men. “When men lost their jobs, their identity and sense of purpose as the family breadwinner were shattered”. As their social rank fell their bitterness and resentment grew as they were lowered to helping with family chores around the house.

-When the Big Dog Goes Down The Rest Of The World Trails Behind: During the postwar years America was one of the very few countries to prosper. This however was a façade as the glamour evaporated with the stock market crash and simply continued spiraling downward. When the U.S.’s economy went down 20,000 leagues under the sea, the world followed. In the spring of 1931, the leading Austrian bank collapsed, “by June, the German financial system, which had gone from hyperinflation to false stability, was in complete chaos”. That following fall England abandoned the gold standard which brought closer a decline in international lending and trade. Soon most of the industrialized world (including Argentina, Brazil, and Jap.) was caught in the Great Depression.

-The Old Generations Revived?: Many WW1 veterans lost their jobs during this period. They felt the government was responsible for paying full on their pensions. When they weren’t satisfied they marched on D.C. but to no avail, as the Senate defeated the bonus bill. Later generations filled the army that removed them and destroyed their “shanties” – ironic/ creates tension/ and shows how severe situation really was.

-The Resilient Roosevelt: Roosevelt was known as “a pragmatist, one willing to try new things”. This characteristic of his was prominent in his New Deal s “no single ideological position united all the legislation”. Roosevelt was an ardent believer in economic planning and in government spending to help the poor. In his new deal Rosie Velt was establishing a state of welfare that would exist as a safety net over the more dominating state of capitalism.

AWHBRY · Veteran Member

evileye The Civilian Conservation Corps! biggrin

(A.K.A. Roosevelt’s Tree Army)

Mission Statement:

The Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy is a non-profit organization dedicated to research, preservation, and education to promote a better understanding of the Civilian Conservation Corps and its continuing contribution to American life and culture.

The CCC was introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt to institute new jobs and help stimulate the despairing economy. This was a very productive resourceful means of thinking, in my opinion, for it not only kept young teenage boys from “railing” but inspired them, gave them a productive well-paying job (so they could send money back to their desperate families), helped preserve forests, protected those forests from fires, and also aided in the transition of these boys’ childish ways to their “manly-hood”. Franklin Roosevelt’s idea was to save both the young men and land of the country, in a way of which they could benefit from each other. As asserted in source E “Roosevelt proposed to recruit thousands of unemployed young men, enlist them in a peacetime army, and send them to battle the erosion and destruction of the nation's natural resources”. FDR was determined from the beginning, for it only took him, exactly, 37 days from his inauguration date to establish the CCC. The program was very efficient. From 1933-42 the Corps planted over three million trees which was especially helpful to those dustbowl states (trees were important because they helped to keep the soiled rooted).

Some stipulations:

Sound physical fitness was mandatory because of the hard physical labor required.

Men had to be unemployed, unmarried, and between the ages of 18 and 26, although the rules were eventually relaxed for war veterans.

Enlistment was for a duration of six months, although many reenlisted after their all0ted time was up.

Men were paid $30 a month, with mandatory $25 allotment checks sent to families of the men, which made life a little easier for people at home.

…

Camps for the CCC were set up across the board, even in remote places such as Hawaii! Men flocked to sign up as it was a great opportunity to not only earn money but to get away from their stressful, depressing home atmospheres. I think this was a GREAT idea and it was obviously very important, so much so that there are websites today that host and remember its legacy, while on the side advertises their reunion in 2010 : http://www.ccclegacy.org/

Web Sources:

-http://www.ccclegacy.org/

-http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1586.html - referred to as ‘source E’

AWHBRY · Veteran Member

sorry for that super smalll quote, here it is:

“Roosevelt proposed to recruit thousands of unemployed young men, enlist them in a peacetime army, and send them to battle the erosion and destruction of the nation's natural resources”.

PatriciaC · Member

1. More than a collapsing market afflicted the economy; an additional 1,300 banks failed in 1930.
2. U.S Steel announced a 10% wage cut in 1931
3. More than 4 million Americans were out of work in 1930.
4. Men were more affected by the depression than women; when men lost their jobs, their identity and sense of purpose as the family breadwinner were shattered.
5. Even though money was low, women were still in charge of the house, they did the cleaning and cooking etc. and for some they had to do extra.
6. Many families were forced to move in with other relatives, marriage rates, divorce rates, and birth rates all dropped during this decade.
7. World War I veterans lost their jobs during the Depression and asked for their payment early, and were allowed to borrow up to 50% of the bonus due to them but it wasn’t good enough so they marched in to Washington D.C.
8. General Electric Stock sold for 396 in 1929 dropped to 34 in 1932.
9. By 1932, at least one of every four American breadwinners was out of work and industrial production almost came to a complete halt.
10. The Federal Reserve Board, fearing inflation, tightened credit.

PatriciaC · Member

Essay on Families:
Many families were forced to move in with other relatives, marriage rates, divorce rates, and birth rates all dropped during this decade. Many families faced that fact that the men were out of work and men lost their identities and their sense of purpose as the family breadwinner. This caused more stress upon the women, not only were they doing all the house work as usual but they had to deal with their husband’s bitterness and resentment. Families faced un-paid bills, hungry children and husbands who were out of work. Married couples could not afford to keep up with expenses for just the two of them never mind bringing in another mouth to feed, so birth rates dropped significantly. “Birth rates had dropped below the replacement level for the 1st time in American history.” Families faced large amounts of stress from the depression. Some were able to stick by each other and make do with what they had and look to family and friends for help or if they had to looked toward the government for help and some were barely making it through each day but because divorce meant legal fees and having to support two households it was too expensive to bear. Some married women looked outside their households for work, statistics prove that it was easier for women to find work than men during the depression. Marriages were just one of the many things that suffered during the Great Depression.

PatriciaC · Member

Sources:
-text book
-www.eyewitnesstohistory.com

theaa · Veteran Member

The stock market crash in 1929 is described to be a catalyst of the Great Depression, despite popular belief that the crash was the sole cause of the depression. The 1920's actions lead up to the crash with the decade's actions but the depression that followed was resulted from many other factors that spread not only through the nation but to the world.

The other factors in the creation of the Great Depression were started in the 1920s when the consumers lead the economy, buying more than ever on an unstable system. There was an eneven distribution of wealth amongst Americans. Workers wages rose relatively slow compared to the increase in productivity and consumption. People were also speculating their stocks; selling them when they're high and buying when they're low. They played the system instead of investing in the companies and bought on the margin, making the buyers pay only 10% of the stock's worth as a downpayment. When the stocks lost their value, the people owning the stocks ended up owing money to the banks since they bought the stock as a loan. American consumers also used an excess of credit, believing that the economy was going to continue the boom. Also, the overproduction of consumer goods were not bought due to stangant wages, slowing down profits for businesses, the weak farm economy made farmers suffer after WWI due to lowered prices and overproduction and no prosperity, and weak government policies with little government regulation in the big businesses caused hurt in both American and international industries. Another major cause was international economies. The US depended on the European trade and economy which was very weak after WWI. The weak economy in Europe made a sensitive environment around the US looking for their profits.

Arthur · Veteran Member

ðWW2 ended depression

ðMany people lived in Hoovervilles

ðSlums in Indianapolis were called Curtisvilles

ðGreat depression was partly caused by the dust bowl

ðWhile the government was helping the rich they were further neglecting the poor

ðThe Hoover dam was built (one of his accomplishments)

ðVeterans’ pension were cut

ðTariffs were put on foreign goods (other countries did this to us too)

ðIn 1932 after Hoover’s time in office as a republican, democrats won the election

ðFDR made the“New Deal”

Research Topic: Hoovervilles

During the Great Depression many people lost their jobs, houses, their dignity, and sometimes even family members. Also, North America was dealing with the worst ecological conditions it has ever seen with the dust bowl. When families were no longer able to pay their bills, their homes were taken by the bank from them and many were forced to create make-shift huts out of cardboard, and scrap wood. The unemployment and homelessness rate increased so much during this period that these shacks started to appear everywhere, lining the streets and allies of once rich and sophisticated cities. Because the quantity of these huts was so large and growing, the streets started to resemble small homely villages. These villages were known as Hoovervilles and in Indianapolis as Curtisvilles. Although it was a dreary and sad place to move to from the comfort of your home which was just taken from you, it was not out of the ordinary for this to happen during this time. Just as the world gained so many new forms of technology such as cars, radios, and modern bathrooms (water closets), all means to purchase and possess these luxuries were completely evaporated.

Due to the lack of sanitation and improper disposing of wastes in the Hoovervilles, disease spread, adding to the discomfort and anguish of the American people who were just beginning to identify themselves as a world power. Another issue that arose as a result from the loss of jobs and homes was civil unrest. People looted, stealing anything they needed to survive. “It’s barbaric, but hey, its home!” (This quote is from Aladdin and is an inside joke for B block).

_____________________________________

Arthur Motta

Cara · Veteran Member

1.) Franklin Roosevelt was the one who first stated the age old adage, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," as was an inspiring and amazing orator in American history, known for his fireside chats on the radio as well as his ability to relate to the average American from the executive office.

2.) Maldistribution of wealth was a huge problem during this period, the wealthiest 5% receiving 33% of all the income, the lowest 64% receiving 24%

3.) The Harley-Smoot Tariff was passed by Coolidge in 1930 and increased tariff rates, taxes on imported goods, to 49%. This sank the U.S. further into depression because it prevent foreign goods from coming in, and other countries stopped buying as many American goods because foreign countries raised tariffs on American goods.

4.) In the summer of 1932, WWI vets marched on Washington to demand the bonuses they had been promised during the war. They became known as the Bonus Army.

5.) The 21st Amendment which repealed the prohibition of alcohol was passed December 5, 1933.

6.) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was passed by FDR in 1933 and guaranteed individual bank deposits up to $5,000

7.) The Agricultural Adjustment Administration was another one of FDR's programs which encouraged farmer's to cut back on production by paying them for unploughed land (which they later were encouraged to hold Cart Wheel Clinics on by Cara Zajac.) This was done in part in order to control prices.

8.) Father Charles E. Coughlin was a Catholic priest in the 30's who was known for his weekly radio broadcast and his calls for the issuing of inflated currency and the nationalization of all banks.

9.) Unions and strikes were now protected by law, yellow dog contracts (only hiring those not in unions) were now illegal.

10.) The Fair Labor Standards Act established a minimum wages (40 cents per hour), a maximum work week of 40 hours with time and a half for overtime, and child labor restrictions for kids under 16.

Cara · Veteran Member

Patricia, concerning your essay on families, I can understand why birthrates went down, but why did divorce rates? It seems as if the added stresses within the home which you mentioned, if anything, would perhaps increase the divorce rate...what do you think?

Cara · Veteran Member

Essay

     Franklin D. Roosevelt has always been known for the his "alphabet soup" plans during the New Deals, some of the most notable including the PWA, WPA, CCC, and NYA.
     The WPA and PWA were two works organizations during this period aimed at not only employing thousands, but also making important contributions to American ifrastructure and public facilities. The WPA, or Works Progress Administration, began in May of 1935 and was the organization with sought towork on public projects such as buildings, bridges, roads, airports, school, and hospitals. This program employed nearly 9 million people, 40% of the nations workers. Workers would work three hours a week at pay double the relief payments, but still considerably less than if they were privately employed. It cost the government a total of $11.4 million. The PWA, on the other hand was very similar in the sense that it employed people to work on project which serve the public, but this organization was geared more towards the construction of public infrastructure. It was created in 1933 by the National Industrial Recovery Administration (NIRA) and was lead by Harold L. Ickes. This program was given over $4 billion by various levels of U.S. government to employ thousands of people on over 34,000 public projects.
     The CCC, or Civilian Conservation Corps, was one of Roosevelt's most well known and popular programs. Its purpose was to provide jobs to young men in outdoor government camps to "keep them out of trouble" during the 1930's. 2.75 million men ages 18-24 worked for this program as fire fighters, as well as contributing to reforestation efforts, flood control and swamp drainage efforts and the futher development of national parks. These men all lived together in barracks, ate together in mess halls, and were forced to follow strict schedules in a very militaristic fashion. The pay was given out monthly to the young man's family.
    Finally, the National Youth Administration, or NYA, was an organization devoted specifically to the nation's teens and young adults. Created by the WPA in June of 1935, it provided part time jobs for college and high school students to allow them to stay in school, but also provide support for their families. It also helped provide relief to youth who had dropped out of school by helping find them employment.

Justin BRAGA · Veteran Member

Ten Facts on the Great Depression Period

• At the beginning of the Great Depression there was a clear misdistribution of wealth in the United States. When the depression began, the wealthiest two percent of the controlled 28% of the national wealth and income, while the bottom sixty percent controlled only 24% of the national income. Between 1935 and 1936 after the New Deal had gone into effect, the misdistribution of wealth still existed, reporting the nation’s top two-fifths controlled 72.6% of the nation’s wealth, the middle one-fifth controlled 14.1% of the wealth, and the bottom and poorest two-fifths controlled 13.3% of the national income and wealth, clearly displaying a great wealth concentration.

• It is important to note that numerous economic historians, including Robert Higgs in his book Depression, War, and Cold War: Challenging the Myths of Conflict and Prosperity, state that it was other factors, such as World War II that solved the Great Depression, not the NEW Deal. However, it is also important to state that this question of the New Deal’s effectiveness is conflicted among economic historians.

• The Tennessee Valley Authority Act, one of the significant New Deal legislations, was a federally funded plan to construct 9 dams along the Tennessee River along with power and chemical plants. Although this plan authorized complete Government control of the energy industry in the Tennessee Valley, angering many in the private sector of the industry, it also constructed flood protection, created construction jobs, and technologically advanced the Tennessee River Valley.

• Father Charles E. Coughlin, known as the “Radio Priest” for his fiery radio addresses, was Catholic Priest who turned on Roosevelt for his apparent support of big business. Father Coughlin primarily supported a nationalized banking system; however he would be taken off the air for his strongly expressed anti-Semitism.

• Between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, it is important to note that both wished to use the Federal Government to help the people of the United States. However it was how they did it that led to their respective discrepancies. While Hoover sought to institute, for he did not wish to make the poor citizens “lazy” FDR sought direct aid to them and by some has been remarked as a socialist President for his time.

• In 1933, with ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the President, who had prior to this law been inaugurated on March 4, would now be inaugurated on January 20. This was a result of improved transportation during the winter months and the desire to speed up the transition of power between the lame- duck President and the President and the President-Elect.

• It is fair to say, that with his charisma and delightful personality, that FDR was a popular President. This can be cited on the fact that not only was he elected to office four times and was the first President to be elected into the Presidency more than twice, he also won at least 432 electoral votes in all four elections and held his Republican opponents to under 100 electoral votes.

• As a result of the destructive Dust Bowl in the mid west, the Federal Government put into law in the 1934 the Taylor Grazing Act which no longer allowed for free ownership of public and required a permit and a fee, setting the precedent that public land was no longer for sale. It also established the regulation of natural resources in the Western part of the United States.

• Although attacked by liberals for not creating a nationalized healthcare system, the Social Security Act of 1935 provided for the unemployed, the elderly, the blind and disabled, as well as children in need. This law would eventually create the largest welfare system in the United States which still exists today although it is greatly in debt.

• While some considered President Franklin Roosevelt to be socialist, it was clear that there were politicians who were much more far to the left on the political spectrum than he himself. One such being Senator Huey Long, who as Governor of Louisiana rose taxes on big corporations in order to fund state programs and was labeled at times as a “dictator.” Long even spoke of radical redistribution of wealth in one instance where he supported a plan to guarantee every American Family at least annual earnings of $2,000-$3,000.

-- Edited by Justin BRAGA on Thursday 4th of March 2010 06:37:37 PM

-- Edited by Justin BRAGA on Friday 5th of March 2010 02:40:11 PM

Justin BRAGA · Veteran Member

The Presidential and Congressional Elections between 1932 & 1936

The Issues, Politics, and Legislation of our Country during an Economic Tailspin

After clear Republican domination in regards to the Presidency of the United States in the 1920’s the Election of 1932 clearly showed a shift in public opinion of both the Republican and Democratic Parties along with their representative candidates. Beginning with the inauguration of Warren Harding in 1921, through Calvin Coolidge, the Republican Party evolved itself into what can be described as an isolationist, deregulatory, high tariff, and low taxationist political affiliate. Herbert Hoover, a “rags to riches” Quaker Republican had no different story, for he became the third consecutive Republican to be elected to the presidency, however, Democratic challenger, Alfred E. Smith, although the election was an electoral landside in favor of Hoover, was able to pull the Democratic Party together between those of urban and rural regions, leading them to victory in the nation’s twelve largest cities.

However, President Hoover, in his inaugural address to Congress on March 4, 1929 seemed quite content with the country’s situation, not only commending his party’s success but showing no fear of the Democratic Party, stating “If we survey the situation of our Nation both at home and abroad, we find many satisfactions; we find some causes for concern.” This laissez faire view of the country would coincide much differently with the “watchdog” view of the Democrats, who were just waiting to regain power on the possibility on Hoover failure. However, the failure they were looking for to jump on came much bigger than expected. Just six months into his presidency, the stock market crashed under Hoover’s watch, leading to the tumble into the Great Depression with the combination of deflationary and credit mistakes by the Federal Reserve Board, a weak world economy, the Hawley-Smoot Tariff passed under the Hoover Administration which virtually ruined a world market for U.S. goods due to foreign retaliation on the United States’ foreign imports, along poor consumer confidence and protectionism. President Hoover scrambled to save his political career by giving reassuring speeches, forming the National Credit Corporation and Emergency Committee for employment, discussing issues with local politicians as well as business and labor leaders and by demanding a tax cut. Hoover, who wished to limit government intervention in order to prevent dependency, hoped that these policies would not only restore consumer confidence, but the economy as well. However, for the most part, these tactics unfortunately failed, tumbling the country deeper into economic depression.

As the Election of 1932 rolled around, the Democrats saw a bright hope in achieving victory, not only in the Presidency by in Congress as well. Not only did the Democrats promise to end the depression, but they sought to do so in a manner where government spending was reduced, curency inflated, along with the repeal of prohibition on alcoholic beverages. Running on the Democratic Ticket was the 1920 Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt was without a doubt a liberal and promoted cheaper electrical power, conservation and old age pensions as the Governor of New York. However it is important to note that Roosevelt was not an extreme leftist on the political spectrum. Campaigning for a “New Deal”, Roosevelt vaguely outlined his plans to solve the economic problems of the nation. He was famous for saying in his inaugural address in 1933 that the “only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”Although he was vague in his descriptions Roosevelt and the Democrats won in 1932 by great landslides after a deeper economic slide under the Hoover Administration prior to the election. Not only did Roosevelt defeat Hoover by a landslide in 1932, claiming 57.4% of the popular vote while defeating him electorally 472-59, but the shakeup between the 72nd and 73rd proved beneficial to the Democrats and costly to the Republicans. From the 72nd to the 73rd sessions of Congress, the Democrats went from being a minority party to an overwhelming majority, going from 216 seats in the 72nd Congress to 313 seats in the 73rd session, while Republicans blundered, dropping from 218 seats in the 72nd session to 117 seats in the 73rd session with 5 Farm Labor candidates holding congressional seats in that respective session of Congress.

Throughout his first term, President Roosevelt and the Democrats proved to be a party that wished to increase the size of Government. In his inaugural address, Roosevelt noted at this stating “that we can not merely take but we must give as well.” Thus, the Federal Government would in fact expand to lengths never seen throughout Roosevelt’s first term and use people’s money to do so. In his first term as President, Roosevelt would do very liberal things such as raising the income tax on the wealthy, regulate farm production (AAA), legalize labor unions (Wagner-Connery Act), and put people to work using Federal Government Funds with programs such as the CCC, the PWA, and the WPA. I n addition Roosevelt also would expand public housing, take the U.S. off the gold standard, establish Social Security attempt to put regulations on the Supreme Court, as well as establish competitive codes. Roosevelt’ Administration would even take the ownership of an energy company under the Tennessee Valley Authority Act for the “the purpose of maintaining and operating the properties now owned by the United States in the vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in the interest of the national defense and for agriculture and industrial development, and to improve navigation in the Tennessee River and to control the destructive flood waters in the Tennessee River and Mississippi River Basins, there is hereby created a body corporate by the name of the ‘Tennessee Valley Authority.’”

Although at the 1936 election approached, Roosevelt’s popularity was not only due to his vigorous action as an executive, but also because of his direct connection with the people, through radio “fireside” chats. Roosevelt also did things during his term such as address veteran issues and repeal prohibition which for the most part were non-depression issues that were favorable among the people. As the election drew near, the Republican Party appeared desperate. When the 74th Congressional Session was sworn into office in 1935, the Democrats expanded their majority to 322 Seats, while the Republicans fell to 103 seats. In the Presidential Election of 1936, the Democrats re-nominated Roosevelt, and the Republicans chose moderate Kansas Governor Alfred “Alf” Landon. The three main issues in this campaign were the role of the Federal Government, pensions, and foreign policy. Landon, who was outspoken of Roosevelt’s government spending stated that the government should loosen its regulation, allow workers to have private pensions rather than public ones and shifted Republican policy to the belief that the U.S. should be active in world affairs. Roosevelt feeling the opposite, seeing the role of government as an interventionist in business and pensions, but isolationist in regards to world affairs. However, Landon, being a moderate, noted during the campaign that he would still pertain to some of Roosevelt’s policies, but just run them better. Landon did have two-thirds of the nation’s newspapers backing him, but that’s about all he had. Although the Literary Digest predicted in a “scientific” poll a victory for Landon, it was anything but that. Roosevelt defeated Landon, claiming an astounding 60.8% of the popular vote as well as 523 electoral votes to Landon’s minute 8. In fact, Roosevelt won all the states in the North East, which was unheard of for a Democrat during that time, except for Vermont and Maine. Roosevelt’s victory was due in part to his personality, but also his elastic band approach to politics. He satisfied Southern Democrats by opposing anti-lynching and poll tax legislation, while still holding on the black support by supporting black employment in government employment programs. He also was able to claim victory largely in part to organized farmers along with overwhelming amounts of urban voters.

In addition, the Democrats saw gains yet again that election year with the new 75th session of Congress posting 334 Democrat held seats compared to a desolate 88 seats held by Republicans, one of the largest margins ever. Roosevelt, who was the first President to sworn into office of January 20 with the passage of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, fulfilled a Democratic victory cry in his Inaugural Speech claiming “This year marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Constitutional Convention which made us a nation. At that Convention our forefathers found the way out of the chaos which followed the Revolutionary War; they created a strong government with powers of united action sufficient then and now to solve problems utterly beyond individual or local solution. A century and a half ago they established the Federal Government in order to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to the American people. Today we invoke those same powers of government to achieve the same objectives.” Roosevelt would win four Presidential Elections, breaking a President set by George Washington, in what critics labeled as a “Presidential Coup.”

The Presdiential Election of 1932

Political Party	Presidential Nom.	VP Nom.	#	%	#	%

Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	John Garner	472	88.9	22,818,740	57.4
Republican	Herbert Hoover	Charles Curtis	59	11.1	15,760,425	39.6

The Presidential Election of 1936

Sources

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=21804

http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/partyDiv.html#foot1

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres50.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/32_f_roosevelt/f_roosevelt_vote.html

http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?f=0&year=1936

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1932

http://wpscms.pearsoncmg.com/long_longman_mhlus_0/0,11867,3125098-content,00.html

-- Edited by Justin BRAGA on Saturday 6th of March 2010 11:23:09 AM

Justin BRAGA · Veteran Member

Arthur,

Were there Hoovervilles in New Bedford? If so, where were they located in our city?

felicity · Veteran Member

1. Over three million men recieved jobs due to the government's Civilian Conservation Corps between the years of 1933-1942.

2. In 1932, the median income had plummeted to a mere half of what it had ince been in 1929.

3. Seven thousand banks failed in the 1920's, many men and women's lifetime savings gone in an instant.

4. Altough F.D.R. and the Great Depression have been synonymous in the collective mind of the American people for generations, Herbert Hoover did in fact try to "aggressively stem the economic collapse."

5. The Mexican workers in places such as California went on strike by the thousands (18,000 cotton pickers and strawberry pickers went on strike as well).

6. Frances Perkins became the first woman to be named Secretary of State.

7. During the Great Depression over 140,000 women were homeless.

8. The Dow Jones fell from over 381 to 41 points over the course of the Great Depression.

9. In 1945, "the Bonus Armies" marched upon Washington D.C. in order to collect the pensions promised to WWI veterans.

10. F.D.R. was the president during the Great Depression, served four terms, and passed a plethora of acts in order to remedy the ailing government.

felicity · Veteran Member

"The door might not be opened to a woman again for a long, long time, and I had a kind of duty to other women to walk in and sit down on the chair that was offered, and so establish the right of others long hence and far distant in geography to sit in the high seats.”

In a time in history when men were successfully flying across oceans, exploring the Antarctic and the Arctic , writing books that made tremendous changes in the field of psychiatry, Frances Perkins revolutionized the role of the American woman by sitting in (chairhttp://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade30.html).
Mrs. Perkins was the first woman to hold a place in a president’s Cabinet, and furthermore the title of Secretary of Labor. However, this was not the first male-dominated realm she forced her way into; Perkins also attended Worcester Classical High School, Columbia University, and Mount Holyoke College, both institutions that predominantly consisted of men. Throughout her life she strove to make a difference to the world she so readily immersed himself with; women’s suffrage, the plight of the working poor, and the Hull House collation.
Frances Perkins also became an integral fixture of the NCL, or National Consumer’s League, a group she later lead. While affiliated with the NCL, she campaigned for an act which secured a fifty-four hour work week for women and children. However, one of the most pivotal moments of her life was when she witnessed the terrible Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
She continued her political work, and was eventually named chairman of the State Industrial Commission in 1926. While maintaining this illustrious position she created a long term bond with the then governor of New York, Mr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Perkins also succeeded in shortening the work week of women to forty-eight hours and securing a minimum wage. Upon President Roosevelt’s election, Frances Perkins was appointed Secretary of Labor, making her the first woman to ever hold a Cabinet position. As secretary, she penned a majority of the “New Deal” and promoted public work departments, as well as federal unemployment relief. In 1934, she was also named chairwoman of the of the President’s Committee on Economic Security; the Committee on Economic Security was a radical forerunner to Social Security.
In 1945 she resigned, but before she acquiesced her seat she was a strong supporter of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the bill that solidified the role of a minimum range in the United States (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1603.html).

felicity · Veteran Member

Cara, what part of the "alphabet soup" was the most successful?

theaa · Veteran Member

cara, what year were unions legalized?

Charlene · Veteran Member

While sixty percent received merely twenty-four percent of the national income, only two percent received the higher twenty-eight percent of the income. Also prices of raw material goods and wages remained relatively unchanged while business profit increased. (pg. 792) Thus Americans had less money to purchase consumer products, especially towards the end of the decade. These two factors depressed consumer power and help bring along the Great Depression.
An onslaught of economic problems brought upon by World War I also benefit the Great Depression. The placement of high tariffs and the collapse of Germany's economy restricted international trade. During the twenties as the United States became increasingly isolated, less and less American businesses sought to invest in Europe, especially during 1928 and 1929. Americans purchased fewer European goods and Europeans purchased fewer American goods. Thus, both the American and European economy continued to spiral downward.
Many industries, such as the steel and automobile industries, declined during the Great Depression and were forced to lay off workers, thus halting industrial production. Due to the Stock Market Crash of 1928, the U.S. Steel stock fell from 261 to 21; the General Electric stock fell from 396 to 34.
American workers dealt a great blow from the Depression. The median income during 1929 was halved by 1932. Nearly one in four “breadwinners” were unemployed by 1932. The unemployment rate for industrial or “non-agricultural” workers was at it's peak in 1933, peaking at nearly forty percent of American workers unemployed. At 1930, nearly four million Americans were unemployed; by 1932, twelve million Americans were unemployed.
Due to the unemployment rate, many World War I veterans were jobless, thus in desperate need for their veterans' bonuses. A bill was passed in 1931, which allowed them to borrow up to a measly fifty percent of the bonuses due. In 1932, a group of 17, 000 unsatisfied veterans, also called the “Bonus Army”, marched towards Washington D.C and staged a non-violent protest, which would end violently.
In the election of 1932, Democratic nominee Franklin Roosevelt, whom promised and campaigned a “new deal for America”, which would be later known as the “First New Deal”, won in an landslide victory against Hoover: fifty-seven percent of the popular vote.
In the first hundred days of his first term, Roosevelt passed numerous of acts and legislation through Congress, such as the creations of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Reconstruction Finance Committee, and the Federal Trade Commission.
The Roosevelt Administration also sought out to improve the lives of families living in rural areas. In 1935, the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was enacted. In 1936, merely ten percent of the country's farms had electricity. The REA authorized the lending of money to provide electricity to rural areas. As a result, electricity was provided to families in these “isolated rural areas” and now they were had more consumer products, running water, and more farming machinery.
In dealing with the Dust Bowl, which blew away millions of acres of land, the Roosevelt administration brought upon the Taylor Grazing Acts of 1934. In order to prevent overgrazing, the Taylor Grazing Acts prevented public use of open land and authorized regulation of natural resources in the West.
Despite the decrease of consumer power, employment of American workers, and wages; the number of households whom owned radios jumped from 10 million in 1929 to a staggering 27.9 million by 1939. While the radio was used for entertainment purposes, the power of the radio was also demonstrated politically through Roosevelt's famous “fireside chats”, which numerous of Americans tuned in to.

--

Roosevelt's "100 Days"

Franklin Roosevelt's first one hundred days in office is the most recognized in American history. Roosevelt, eager to relief the nation from the burden of the Great Depression, provided an onslaught of bills in his first one hundred days of his first term than any other president in U.S. history. Many bills and program were created during this time period, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Reconstruction Finance Committee, and the Federal Trade Commission.
One issue that Roosevelt tackled immediately was the Banking Crisis. Thousands of banks already closed by 1932 and many Americans distrusted banks. Roosevelt decided to put banks on a "four-day holiday" and took care of transitions, resurrected "sound banks" (banks proved by the government) with the help of loans from the Reconstruction Finance Commitee, and took the country off the gold standard. The issue was tackled through other measures during the First New Deal, such as the Banking Act of 1933, the Economy Act of 1932, and the creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which provided up to $5, 000 for every insured individual.
Roosevelt also took various of "relief measures". In response to the 1.5 million of homeless Americans and the millions of Americans unemployed, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which would provide cities $500 million in grants, was established. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was also established. The CWA employed 4 million Americans and placed them to work on local, state or even federal projects and help build 40, 000 schools, 1, 000 airports and a half of a million of miles of roads. The Public Works Administration (PWA) was similar to that of CWA, except that it had a longer lifespan and aimed to stimulate spending of consumer products and the economy.
Another popular program created during Roosevelt's First New Deal was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC not only provided jobs for young, unemployed men; it also provided long-term effects through reforestation, flood control, and the construction of parks, and roads. By 1941, the CCC had nearly 3 million people.
Lastly, another program created during the First New Deal was the Tennensee Valley Authority Act (TVA) and is considered one of the most important conservation acts of the First New Deal. Like the CCC, it not only provided employment; but also provided long-term improvements. The TVA aimed to "improve the Navigability and to provide for the flood control of the Tennessee River: to provide for reforestation ...to provide agricultural and industrial development" for isolated rural areas in the country. The TVA help built several dams in seven states and provided electricity in these rural areas. As a result, the lifestyles of families changed and they were provided with cheaper electricity, thus access to more consumer goods and household appliances to ease daily life.

[I apologize for the weirdness, the editor is pretty broken. I tried to input BBcodes manually, didn't work.]

courtney · Veteran Member

10 Facts

1. Farmers were the first group to go into a depression in the 1930’s.

2. Depressive disorders affected about 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in one year of the depression. This includes major depression disorder and bipolar disorder.

3. 1300 banks failed in 1930.

4. More than 4 million Americans were out of work in 1930 and at least 12 million were unemployed work by 1932.

5. The depression disrupted women’s lives more than men because regardless if they loss their job they still had to do all the cooking, cleaning and all the household chores, along with the difficulty in finding a means in which to do it.

6. A bill was passed for veterans in which it allowed them to borrow up to 50 percent of the bonus due to them.

7. Roosevelt believed in economic planning and in government spending to help the poor.

8. The New deal was based on the assumption that it was possible to create a just society by superimposing a welfare state on the capitalist system, leaving the profit motive undisturbed.

9. Under the New Deal which mainly focused on recovery, Roosevelt enacted legislation for financial recovery programs, programs for relief for the unemployed, industrial recovery program, farm production control program, and many other new programs, some more successful than others.

10. Eleanor Roosevelt was a powerful women who helped push Roosevelt towards social reform.

“The Age of Leisure”

We all know that we APUSH students like when we have a lot of time on our hands to do what we want, when we want, and not have to worry about anything. During the Great depression this became a problem. The 1920’s was a time in which sports was a huge entertainment. It attracted many people and huge crowed bought tickets to see their sports “heroes” play. During the depression less people bought these sporting events tickets due to lack of money. This is when mini golf and softball became more popular. This is because mini gold and softball were both cheap sports and did not require expensive travel. Although sports were still a huge source of entertainment people started to become more mechanized. Less people were participation in physical activities. The jukebox, the pinball machine, monopoly, radio, and movies all contributed the mechanized factor. Millions of people would sit down and listen to the jukebox, put 5 cense in the machine and play a game of pinball, turn on the radio and or TV and sit down and listen to it.
Monopoly was a huge entertainment factor and soon became the most popular game. During a depression, Americans were fascinated by this game and found it to be some sort of dream to be able to purchase land and build houses on it. It is during this time period in which people started to become fascinated with celebrities.
Before the “age of leisure” people were not used to sitting around. People worked hard for what they had and when they wanted entertainment they would often use some sort of physical activity. Is it during this time that children no longer needed to play tag outside and run around when they were more entertained by the game of monopoly.
This problem still remains today. Often you here about children sitting on the computer for too long, or playing video games every day, and even watching too much TV. It is a problem that is said to have originated in the “age of Leisure” or the time during the great depression.

-Courtney

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/117/
http://www.upliftprogram.com/depression_stats.html

-- Edited by courtney on Sunday 7th of March 2010 11:41:40 AM

-- Edited by courtney on Sunday 7th of March 2010 11:42:08 AM

Matthew Wasilowski · Veteran Member

WWI veterans’ pensions were cut.

The dust bowl helped cause the Great Depression.

People were given odd jobs around America like building the Hoover dam.

In December 1933, the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment.

The Great depression was caused by many more events than the stock market crash.

The Great Depression was worse than the economic panics in 1819, 1837, 1857, and 1873.

Farmers overproduced their crops.

The Harley-Smoot Tariff helped cause the Great Depression.

Roosevelt dominated the 1932 and 1936 elections.

Roosevelt was criticized by both liberals and conservatives.

Charlene · Veteran Member

Felicity,

During her "illustrious" career as Secretary of Labor, were there any specific programs associated with the New Deal that Perkins championed? Was opposition toward the idea of a woman being part of the Cabinent evident during this time?

-- Edited by Charlene on Sunday 7th of March 2010 02:21:14 PM

Justin BRAGA · Veteran Member

Anybody have any questions for my essay? It's a part of the grade for us to respond to questions so if any of you can think of any question for mine, ask and I will do the same for you so you can respond and get your points. Like you, I want project points! :]

Matthew Wasilowski · Veteran Member

Justin,

2 things

1. You say Hoover was laissez faire but then go on to state things he did that weren’t laissez faire like the Hawley-Smoot Tariff. So how laissez faire was Hoover?

2. How would you react today if the 2012 election had the same amount of democrat states as the 1936 election? On a scale of 1 to 10 how sad would you be? JJJ

Charlene · Veteran Member

Justin BRAGA wrote:

Anybody have any questions for my essay? It's a part of the grade for us to respond to questions so if any of you can think of any question for mine, ask and I will do the same for you so you can respond and get your points. Like you, I want project points! :]

Your essay is...intimidating. Very analytical.

Justin BRAGA · Veteran Member

Charlene thank you very much! :]

Matt, the term laissez-faire was not to describe his economic policy, but rather the carelessness and overconfidence Hoover showed in his inaugural speech. Basically the term was to describe the fact that he never would have suspected the economic downturn that ruined his Presidency and gave the Democrats power.

On the second question, I'd have to say an 11 :] In real terms though, I would hope that they would work with Republicans. It is nice to see President Obama finally willing to work with the Republicans, however it is still disturbing that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid have maintained their partisanship.

On a brighter note, if the Democrats held that many seats, I would need to clone some more Scott Browns.

*And there is your Scott Brown reference for March 7, 2010*

-- Edited by Justin BRAGA on Sunday 7th of March 2010 04:52:12 PM

Matthew Wasilowski · Veteran Member

The Harley-Smoot Tariff helped cause the Great Depression.

The Harley-Smoot Tariff was enacted on June 17, 1930. It was met with a great deal of opposition. Henry Ford called it "an economic stupidity”1. Thomas W. Lamont stated “I almost went down on my knees to beg Herbert Hoover to veto the asinine Hawley-Smoot tariff." Roosevelt often spoke against the tariff.

Other countries didn’t react well to the tariff. (Obviously) Other countries such as Canada raised tariffs on the U.S in retaliation. During this time U.S. imports from Europe decreased from a 1929 high of $1,334 million to just $390 million during 1932, while U.S. exports to Europe decreased from $2,341 million in 1929 to $784 million in 19322. This caused the economy to worsen in some countries as some countries relied heavily on international trade3.

Many would agree the Harley-Smoot Tariff helped cause the Great Depression. In a book called “How the Republicans Caused the Stock Market Crash of 19294” Bernard C. Beaudreau claims that the tariff helped cause the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

I think Justin and Arthur will like link number 4 because our old English teacher always said “The republicans caused the Stock Market Crash” :)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960038,00.html2. http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1921_timeline/smoot_tariff.html3. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/depress.htm4. http://eh.net/bookreviews/library/1255

Matthew Wasilowski · Veteran Member

Engine of souls keeps messing up the links on the bottom so just click on the little numbers. :)

felicity · Veteran Member

Actually Charlene, the "illustrious" career I alluded to was Frances Perkins' role as chairman of the State Industrial Commission in 1926. However, Prekins was the person who actually penned the New Deal Act, and championed it wholeheartedly. She also was a driving force behind the Fair Labor Standards Act, which shortened the work week and enforced a national minimum wage.

felicity · Veteran Member

Charlene, do you think any presidents in this era would be able to have such a radical 100 days in office without recieving an enormous amount of whiplash?

courtney · Veteran Member

Patricia,

Why during the depression was it easier for women to find work rather then men.?

Justin BRAGA · Veteran Member

I have to say I did learn a lot from Arthur's essay. Not only were just living in the Hoovervilles themselves bad, but the unsanitary conditions as well as the theft were horrible too. Sometimes things are truly worse than they seem and that proves it. Luckily, with all the banking foreclosures today, we don't see neighborhoods of Hoovervilles. I did do a little research and in fact, Hoovervilles actually existed in our city in the Sassaquin area, which is actually where I currently live. It's kind cool to walk on what was once a Hooverville :]

Cara · Veteran Member

felicity wrote:

Cara, what part of the "alphabet soup" was the most successful?

I personally think that the WPA and PWA were the most successful programs in FDR's "alphabet soup" because they not only dealt with the immediate crisis of unemployment, they also created lasting infrastructures and public facilities and works, some of which are still in use today. While, for these reasons, it acted in a way that satisfied two of the three "R's" (relief and recovery), these organizations also set a precedent for the governments role in employing people as well as what government employees can do, covering "reform."

theaa wrote:

cara, what year were unions legalized?

Thiz, unions became protected under the law in 1935 under the Wagner Act and NLRA (they were never really illegal :p).

Cara · Veteran Member

courtney wrote:

10 Facts

1. Farmers were the first group to go into a depression in the 1930’s.

2. Depressive disorders affected about 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in one year of the depression. This includes major depression disorder and bipolar disorder.

3. 1300 banks failed in 1930.

4. More than 4 million Americans were out of work in 1930 and at least 12 million were unemployed work by 1932.

5. The depression disrupted women’s lives more than men because regardless if they loss their job they still had to do all the cooking, cleaning and all the household chores, along with the difficulty in finding a means in which to do it.

6. A bill was passed for veterans in which it allowed them to borrow up to 50 percent of the bonus due to them.

7. Roosevelt believed in economic planning and in government spending to help the poor.

8. The New deal was based on the assumption that it was possible to create a just society by superimposing a welfare state on the capitalist system, leaving the profit motive undisturbed.

9. Under the New Deal which mainly focused on recovery, Roosevelt enacted legislation for financial recovery programs, programs for relief for the unemployed, industrial recovery program, farm production control program, and many other new programs, some more successful than others.

10. Eleanor Roosevelt was a powerful women who helped push Roosevelt towards social reform.

“The Age of Leisure”

We all know that we APUSH students like when we have a lot of time on our hands to do what we want, when we want, and not have to worry about anything. During the Great depression this became a problem. The 1920’s was a time in which sports was a huge entertainment. It attracted many people and huge crowed bought tickets to see their sports “heroes” play. During the depression less people bought these sporting events tickets due to lack of money. This is when mini golf and softball became more popular. This is because mini gold and softball were both cheap sports and did not require expensive travel. Although sports were still a huge source of entertainment people started to become more mechanized. Less people were participation in physical activities. The jukebox, the pinball machine, monopoly, radio, and movies all contributed the mechanized factor. Millions of people would sit down and listen to the jukebox, put 5 cense in the machine and play a game of pinball, turn on the radio and or TV and sit down and listen to it.
Monopoly was a huge entertainment factor and soon became the most popular game. During a depression, Americans were fascinated by this game and found it to be some sort of dream to be able to purchase land and build houses on it. It is during this time period in which people started to become fascinated with celebrities.
Before the “age of leisure” people were not used to sitting around. People worked hard for what they had and when they wanted entertainment they would often use some sort of physical activity. Is it during this time that children no longer needed to play tag outside and run around when they were more entertained by the game of monopoly.
This problem still remains today. Often you here about children sitting on the computer for too long, or playing video games every day, and even watching too much TV. It is a problem that is said to have originated in the “age of Leisure” or the time during the great depression.

-Courtney

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/117/
http://www.upliftprogram.com/depression_stats.html

-- Edited by courtney on Sunday 7th of March 2010 11:41:40 AM

-- Edited by courtney on Sunday 7th of March 2010 11:42:08 AM

Courtney, two questions...

1. Do you think this "Age of Leisure" was one of the causes of the Depression? Why/why not? And didn't Monopoly become popular during the 30's?

2. These APUSH students who have all sorts of time on their hands...where did you find them??? How is that possible? XD

mre · Senior Member

Grades Updated 4/6/10

Savanna · Veteran Member

Ten Facts

- The dust bowl was a factor in the great depression
-Farmers suffered the depression first
- More than 4 million Americans were out of work in 1930 and at least 12 million were unemployed work by 1932.
-The Harley-Smoot Tariff was another cause in the Great Depression.
-The stock market crash was not a cause but a catylst
-The 21st Amendment which repealed the prohibition of alcohol was passed December 5, 1933.
-Roosevelt believed in economic planning and in government spending to help the poor.
-WWI veterans’ pensions were cut.
-Roosevelt was criticized by both liberals and conservatives.
-Out of all the economic panics, The Great Depression was the worst

Sarah Flood · Veteran Member

10 Facts About the Great Depression-

1. The Stock Market Crash was one of the main causes.
2. Soup kitchens run by charities popped up all over the country.
3. The Dust Bowl wiped out thousands of arcres of land, primarily in Oklahoma leaving people poor, stranded, and homeless.
4. African-American were highly affected more than any other group because they were the first to be layed off from their jobs.
5. The New Deal created by Franklin Roosevelt helped people "get back on their feet."
6. Banks failed and people lost their money.
7. Odd jobs were created in order to give people work such as building dams or bridges all around the country.
8. Strikes and unions could now legally be formed due to specific acts that had been passed in order to benefit the working class.
9. Encouragement speeches over the radio would be given by the president called "Fireside Talks."
10. World War II ultimately ended the Great Depression.