Ch.14

Section 1

 Key industries were barely making profits  Railroads, textile, steel, housing starts declined  Farmers Need a Lift  Demand and crop prices fell after WWI  Farmers grew more to make profits, which depressed prices  Banks foreclosed on farm properties and many banks began to fail  Congress tried to help but Coolidge vetoed their attempts

 Rising prices, stagnant wages, and overbuying on credit meant consumers were spending less  Living on Credit  Living beyond their means meant piles of debt so many consumers cut spending  Uneven Distribution of Income  70% of families earned less than $2,500 per year  Families that made twice as much could not afford new conveniences

 Election of 1928  Republican Hoover v. Democrat Alfred Smith  “We in America are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before.”- Hoover  Dreams of Riches  Many Americans bought stocks hoping to make fortunes  Speculation and buying on margin fueled the rising prices

 Downturn in September  Black Tuesday  October 29, 1929  16.4 million shares were sold with additional millions unable to sell

 Bank and Business Failures  Money withdrawn from banks in panic  Between 1929 and ,000 banks closed and 13 million people (25% of the workforce) were out of jobs  Worldwide Shock Waves  America couldn’t import as many foreign goods  Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act- highest protective tariff in U.S. history  Causes of the Great Depression  Tariffs and war debt policies, farm crisis, easy credit, unequal distribution of income

Section 2

 Cities  Shantytowns sprang up (Hoovervilles)  Soup kitchens and bread lines  Racial discrimination increased  Rural Areas  Had the advantage of being able to grow their own food  Dust Bowl  Drought, overproduction, and wind  Farm families followed Route 66 to California

 Men in the Streets  Trying to search for jobs; some gave up the search and left their families out of shame  Women Struggle to Survive  Canned food, sewed clothing, some worked outside the home and became targets of resentment  Children Suffer  Malnutrition, school closures, teenagers became “Hoover tourists” riding the rails  Social and Psychological Effects  Suicides increased, stopped going to the doctor or dentist, gave up getting married or going to college  Saving became a habit for millions of Americans

Section 3

 Hoover’s Philosophy  Government should encourage and facilitate cooperation  Believed people should succeed on their own efforts and not count on the government to bail them out  Hoover Takes a Cautious Step  Asked employers not to cut wages or lay off workers  Asked labor leaders not to demand higher wages or go on strike

 Boulder Dam  Providing electricity, flood control, and a regular water supply to seven states  Democrats win Congressional Elections (1930)  Republicans lost their majority in the House and had a one vote majority in the Senate  Farmer’s react  Dumping milk, burning crops, and blocking roads all in the hopes of raising food prices

 Backing Cooperatives  Organizations that were created out of the cooperation of private entities  Federal Farm Board- intended to raise farm prices by keeping crops off the market  Direct Intervention  Federal Home Loan Bank Act  Lowered mortgage rate, allowed farmers to refinance to avoid foreclosures  Reconstruction Finance Corporation  Authorized $2 billion in loans to banks, life insurance companies, railroads, and other large businesses

 Patman Bill Denied  Authorized the payment of bonuses to WWI veterans to be paid out in 1945  Hoover provided food and supplies  Disbanding the Bonus Army  WWI veterans who marched on Washington to receive their bonus pay early  Senate denied the bill and Hoover ordered the army to leave  Hoover called out troops to burn the bonus army’s encampment