The Onset of the Great Depression and the Policies of Herbert Hoover

Ripple Effects of the Stock Market Crash Run on the Banks 1930 – 1,352 banks failed. By 1933 – 9,000 banks had failed Cuts in Production In 1932 alone, 30,000 companies went out of out of business. Rise in unemployment By 1933 – 12 million workers unemployed (1/4 of workforce) 1929 average family income - $2, average family income - $1,600

Crisis has emerged. What does the government do? Task: You’re President Hoover. Write a 2 minute radio address to the Nation in which you explain how the government is going to respond to this economic crisis.

Hoover’s Response to the Crisis: Voluntary Action – Hoover initially tried to get business leaders to keep wages up voluntarily. This happens for a short amount of time but in the end fails. Hawley-Smoot Tariff – 1930 – Huge tariff on foreign imports designed to help domestic industries. Hurts more than it helps. Reconstruction Finance Corporation – 1932 – Gave government credit to banks so they could extend loans. People saw this as Hoover simply helping the banks. They didn’t want to go into more debt with loans anyway.

The Bonus Army – WWI veterans march on Washington (summer 1932). Want their pensions earlier. They set up camp in and around Washington and refused to leave. After a while, President Hoover sent in the Army (General Douglas MacArthur) to remove the marchers. Violence ensued. Bonus Army Gather outside Washington D.C.

Bonus Marchers Lobbies Congress

Bonus Army Camp - Brooklyn Contigent Washington D.C.

Bonus Army - Sioux City Iowa Contingent Washington D.C.

Bonus Army Shanty-Town burns after being set ablaze by the U.S. Army

Douglas MacArthur - Far left Dwight Eisenhower - Far Right

Let’s take a look at a selection from President Hoover’s memoirs to see his point of view. As you read the handout, answer the following three questions for classwork points … 1)In what ways does Hoover defend his actions with regards to the Bonus Army? 2)According to Hoover, who organized and managed the Bonus Army? 3)Do you think Hoover makes convincing arguments? Why/why not?

Life During the Great Depression Hard times leads to bread lines and soup kitchens – charitable organization (often privately run) which gave poor people meals.

Soup Kitchen in Chicago (this one was sponsored by Al Capone)

Another line for handouts, this one in Oakland, CA

Poor Living Conditions: Families or individuals in many cases could not pay their rent/mortgages. Bailiffs – court officials who would throw non paying tenants out of their homes. Shantytowns/Hoovervilles – Areas where homeless people would put up shacks, forming extremely impoversied communities. Hobo – term used to describe homeless and unemployed Americans who wandered, seeking ways to make a living.

Man Living in a Hooverville

Man Living in a Hooverville #2

Man Living in a Hooverville #3

The Dust Bowl Farmers in the Midwest removed the topsoil in order to farm. During a drought, unused lands turned to dust, and wind created massive, devastating dust storms. This added to the already difficult time for American farmers.

Dust Storm approaching Stratford, Texas

Buried Machinery in Dallas, South Dakota

Abandoned House – Haskell County, Kansas

Sand piled up in front of a farmhouse in Oklahoma.

Missouri Dust Storm

That can’t be good ….

Son of a Dust Bowl Farmer

Because of the Dust Bowl, many farmers had to give up their livelihood and migrate west.