Welcome! The Topic For Today Is… Great Depression

Great Depression

Topic 1: 200 Question: Did the stock market crash of 1929 cause the Depression? Answer “ The stock market crash of 1929 did not so much cause the Depression, then, as help trigger a chain of events that exposed longstanding weaknesses in the American economy.”

Topic 1: 400 Question: What was the purpose of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation? Answer To provide federal loans to troubled banks, railroads, and other businesses

Topic 1: 600 Question: Describe the conditions for blacks during the Depression. Answer Many left land either by choice or by being forced off by landlords Many moved to southern cities, however unemployed whites in the urban south believed they had first claims (rights) to all work. In 1932, half of all the African Americans living in the south were unemployed. Limited relief that existed almost always went to whites first

Topic 1: 800 Question: What were the 5 main causes of the Great Depression? Answer Lack of diversification Maldistribution of wealth Credit structure of the U.S. economy Declining exports The collapse of the international credit structure

Topic 2: 200 Question: Average summer temperatures (over 100 degrees), over-farming, and a prolonged drought (lasting a decade) were major causes of what event during the Great Depression? Answer The Dust Bowl

Topic 2: 400 Question: What did the Republican Party think should be done about the economy at the start of the Great Depression? Answer Leave it be and it will fix itself

Topic 2: 600 Question: How were women affected? Answer The Depression strengthened the popular belief “that a woman’s proper place is in a home.” Most men and many women thought that work should go to men however, single and married women worked in the 1930s because they and their families needed the money. Women lost many Professional positions to men.

Topic 2: 800 Question: Describe some of the actions taken by Herbert Hoover during his presidency. Answer The Bonus Army-reaction Voluntary Cooperation (labor, businesses, and farmers) Attempted to use government spending at first then began spending far less Agricultural marketing act (helped farmers maintain prices, bought surpluses) Hawley-Smoot Tariff –designed to protect over 75 farm goods

Topic 3: 200 Question: What was the broad coalition of “antifascist” groups on the political left? Answer The Popular Front

Topic 3: 400 Question: Where did Hoover believe unemployment relief should come from? Answer It should be provided by local governments and private charities

Topic 3: 600 Question: What characterized popular culture during the Depression including radio, movies, and literature? Answer There was a sort of escapism which included upbeat and romantic messages

Topic 3: 800 Question: What was the Bonus Army and how did it contribute to Hoover’s unpopularity? Answer: WWI vets wanted bonus which was passed by congress in 1924 but would not be paid until Hoover refused their request to pay it now (during the Depression) so they set up camp until Hoover tried chasing them out first with Police, then successfully with the Army.

Topic 4: 200 Question: Who was largely blamed by the Americans for the Depression? Answer Herbert Hoover

Topic 4: 400 Question: What was the name of the group of young Americans who travelled to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists? (1/3 of its members died in combat) Answer Abraham Lincoln Brigade (this provided an example of how the left helped to give meaning and purpose to individual lives)

Topic 4: 600 Question: What did the election of FDR in 1932 reflect about American desires for their economy? Answer Americans wanted the government to take a more active role in solving the current economic problems

Topic 4: 800 Question: What was the Scottsboro case, and what were the results? Answer: March 1931, 9 black teenagers arrested for vagrancy and disorder. Then two white girls accused them of rape. Medical evidence indicated otherwise. These boys quickly were convicted by an all-white Alabama jury and sentenced to death. However, the Supreme Court overturned these convictions and awarded the boys new trials which attracted national attention. None of the all- white southern juries who sat in on these cases acquitted the defendants however, all got their freedom eventually. Four charges were dropped. Four early paroles. One escaped. The last one of the nine was not let out until 1950.

Topic 5: 200 Question: How did Hoover’s first term affect his reelection in 1932? Answer It hurt his reputation and resulted in FDR’s election to the presidency

Topic 5: 400 Question: Describe the living conditions for a common American during the Great Depression. Answer Great strains on families Many families had to retreat from consumer patterns Many families informally broke up despite a decline in divorce rate

Topic 5: 600 Question: How would you describe Hoover’s response to the Depression? Answer He became less willing to increase spending and he worried more about balancing the budget. (cautious)

Topic 5: 800 Question: What did J.P. Morgan and Company as well as other big banks do just prior to “Black Tuesday”? Answer: They began conspicuously buying up stocks in order to restore public confidence in the stock market and in the economy.