Great Depression

Great Depression

1. Hoover

   • rugged individualism- no welfare bc people should provide for themselves
   • thought economy would eventually fix itself
   • FDR
     • many policies and welfare to help
     • elected bc everyone mad Hoover didnt do anything
     • Court Packing-- new law to appoint new Supreme Court justices (they were too old + not retirign + conservatie + not supporting FDR
       • people claimed it was unconstituional but it was

2. Causes

   • tariffs
     • farm crisis
       • credit
         • social gap
           • STOCK MARKET CRASH (BLACK TUESDAY)
           • unequal distribution of income
         • bought more than they could afford- availability bc banks gave them out easily
       • farmers in debt bc bought huge lands to provide for wartime but no demand anymore
     • Smoot Hawley Tariff - US made high tariff to protect itself but Europe followed - stalemate in foreign trade - backfired

3. Escaping Hardships

   • leisure: books, movies, music
     • John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath showed Okies moving from Dust Bowl to California
   • breadlines, soup kitchens
   • Hoover Dam- provided jobs
   • speculation- risky investment for quick profit
   • buying on margin- paying a little + borrowing rest

4. END

   • NEW DEAL
     • policies for Relief (needy), Recovery (economy+jobs), and Reform (finances)
       • First 100 Days-- focused on banking + jobs
       • Emergency Banking Relief Act -- Bank Holiday! -- banks close until stable to reopen
       • Securities + Exchange Commission -- regulated stock + prevents people from rigging for own profit
     • Results- jobs created, economy regulated,
   • WW2
     • Brought economy back to wartime production -- raise in demand -- much gov spending -- available jobs at home for women

5. Hardships

   • Dust Bowl- bc overused farmland + drought- no grass to hold soil so huge storms of dust -- filled everything
   • Hoovervilles- lost homes to live in towns of shacks -- name shows they didn't support Hoover who didn't help them