Hoover and the Depression
The Coming of the Depression
The Great Crash 40% increase in the Market 10/21 & 10/23 – big declines 10/29 – Black Tuesday 16 Million shares traded
Causes of the Depression Lack of diversification – mostly cars & construction Demand not up to supply (uneven distribution of wealth) Over speculation of the Market Decline in exports / International debt Easy Credit Buying on Margin
Progress of the Depression No confidence in the economy Banks collapse $2.5 million in deposits are gone Unbelievable unemployment rates Cuts in wages and hours Money supply down Interest Rates go up
The American People in Hard Times
Unemployment and Relief Ohio Cities face 50-80% unemployment Suicide rates are up Nomads and trash pickers Soup kitchens can’t handle #’s Tax revenue is down (no help in sight) Health issues (malnourished) Dust Bowl/Black Blizzards/Okies
African Americans and the Depression Worsened an already bad life of most Whites take jobs Scottsboro Riots in South NAACP & CIO
Hispanics and Asians in the Depression Went inward in communities Many went back to Mexico Some join communist party Chicanos – not allowed in schools, not admitted to hospitals Treated like blacks, but had no historical connections to American society
Women and Families in the Depression Go back to kitchen due to competition for jobs Only one civil service job per family Increase work because of need, took jobs men don’t want, mostly black women No more consumerism Pack many into one house Make own clothes Less divorce – too expensive Men desert families Lower birth and marriage rates
The Depression and Societal Values Who is to blame? Self Help books Suicide Crime Racism Sexism
The Depression and the Arts Photography of rural poverty Writers (Richard Wright – Native Son) Steinbeck – Grapes of Wrath Radio – Superman, Dick Tracy, Lone Ranger, Amos & Andy, World Series, Soaps, Hindenburg, War of the Worlds) Movies – Mr. Smith goes to Washington, Disney, Wizard of Oz
The Allure of the Left Communism softens due to the rise of Fascism Stalin might need FDR) Critical of industry & government
The Ordeal of Herbert Hoover
The Hoover Program Voluntary cooperation – don’t slow production (fails) Federal Farm Board – try to buy surplus Outlaws Strikes Builds Hoover Dam Rugged Individualism
A Deepening Crisis Hoovervilles Democrats get Congress Gains brief surge in economy – uses it to justify his programs Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Popular Protest Farmers Holiday – hold back resources from market Bonus Army – MacArthur, Eisenhower, & Patton sent to DC to displace Vets Bad image of Hoover using military against his own people
The Election of 1932 Hoover is the “Most Hated an in America” FDR – imaginative, energetic, charismatic Promises a New Deal
The Interregnum (Lame Duck Period) Banks are collapsing Hoover wants a promise from FDR not to mess with banks FDR refused
Effects of the Depression Political – Hoover out, Democratic dominance, New Deal coming, Increase in Presidential Power Economic – Business losses & failures, farm Foreclosures, unemployment issues, loss of personal savings, low prices Social – end of Flappers, increased poverty & homelessness, new themes in art, stress on the family