The US Between Wars The Great Depression

Reasons for the Stock Market Crash  Economic factors  Imbalance between productivity and purchasing power  Recurring problem of overproduction and underconsumption  Severity of collapse  International component  Governmental policies  High tariff reduced foreign demand for U.S. goods  Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930  Gold standard

Hoover’s Recovery Efforts  Advocate of laissez-faire  Focus on government-stimulated voluntarism  Hoover’s exhortations  Exhorted businesses to  stay open  maintain wages  let first blow fall on profits  Union leaders agreed to refrain from strikes and demands for increased wages  Public works and credit  Understood that construction spending could help  Placed emphasis on private and state efforts  States typically outspent feds 10/1

A Run on the American Union Bank

Evicting the “Bonus Army”

“The state is the representative of an organized society of human beings – created by them for their mutual protection and well being. The government is but the machinery through which such mutual aid and protection is achieved.... The duty of the state towards the citizens is the duty of the servant to its master.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, August 1931

Contrasting Candidates Herbert Hoover (Republican)  Time worn  Principled  Stressed volunteerism  Believed in:  limited government  sound money  balanced budget.  Blamed depression primarily on international events

Contrasting Candidates Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat)  Optimistic and energetic  Embraced activist government  Guiding principle: Government had a duty to help people  Pragmatic  “Trial and error” approach  Blamed depression primarily on domestic factors

The Presidential Election of 1932

Roosevelt’s Three-Pronged Strategy  Address financial crises & emergency relief  Promote industrial recovery  Raise commodity prices

Financial Crisis Rescuing the Monetary System  Bank holiday  Emergency Banking Act  Economy Act  Refinancing farm and home mortgages  Reform of banking and stock markets  Creation of FDIC  Regulation of stocks and bonds (SEC)  Abandonment of gold standard

FDR and the “Fireside Chat”

Financial Crisis Emergency Relief Measures:  Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)  Federal Emergency Relief Administration  Civil Works Administration  Works Progress Administration (WPA)  Federal Art and Writers’ Projects  National Youth Administration

Civilian Conservation Corps

CCC Workers

WPA: Building Roads in Utah

Recovery Through Regulation  Aid for agriculture  Aid for industry  Regional planning

The Dust Bowl

National Recovery Act

NRA “We Do Out Part”

Ending the Depression What ended the Great Depression? World War II