1. The Great Depression and New Deal

2. What Goes Up…. Stocks rose in the Late 1920s to record highs
Bull Market
Everyone was buying stocks
Bought on a margin or credit (Speculation)

3. Must Come Down Stocks peaked September 1929
However Black Thursday October 24th frightened investors
Brief rise in stocks
Complete Collapse on October 29th
Black Tuesday
Loss of one year profit
People lost everything

4. The Economy Collapses Banks and small investors lost everything
Customers who were encouraged to buy stocks with loans could not repay them
Banks lose money and are forced to shut down
People wanted to withdraw money
Banks did not have enough money to pay all withdrawing depositors
People lost their entire savings
Businesses also forced to shut down

5. The Causes Post war had increase in production
People were not buying products. Those who wanted already had.
International Trade Decreases
Europe still recovering
High tariffs on European goods meant Americans weren’t buying. Europe had no money to buy American Goods.

6. The Depression Hits Home
Unemployment skyrocketed
Soup Kitchens, Breadlines, Shelters spring up
Hoovervilles
Bonus Army
WW1 Vets demanding their bonus
Hoover forces troops to remove them

7. President Hoover Fights Back
Believed Government should not support people
However institutes Reconstruction Financial Corporation
$1.5 billion in Public Works
1932 approaches people believed Hoover couldn’t fix the situation

8. Election of 1932

9. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
Roosevelt begins work immediately
Brain Trust
Experts Roosevelt put together to end the Depression
100 Days
Special Session of Congress begins passing “New Deal” Legislation

10. What is the New Deal? First Goal is to restore confidence in the banks
March 6th, Emergency Banking Act
Temporarily closed all banks to inspect them
Only reopened the ones deemed “healthy”
Fireside Chats- Radio addresses Roosevelt gave directly to the American People
Changed political thinking where federal government should attempt to solve social and economic problems

11. Important Programs Civilian Conservation Corps
18-25 year old men restored national parks, put out forest fires, etc.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Insured bank accounts (protected your money)

12. New Deal Critics Conservatives Liberals New Deal went too far
Would bankrupt our country
Liberals
Didn’t go far enough
Huey Long
“Share Our Wealth”
Guaranteed income of $2500 per year
Assassinated in 1935

13. Second New Deal Democrats win a landslide in congress in 1934
Work Progress Administration
Built hospitals, parks, roads, and schools
National Youth Administration
Part of the WPA
Gave college and high school students part time jobs to stay in school
Social Security Act 1935
Provided aid for the elderly and disabled

14. The Election of 1936

15. Judicial Procedure Reform Act
Supreme Court ruled many New Deal Programs Unconstitutional
JPRA
Would allow president to appoint new justices up to six for every who did not retire at 70
Critics said this was “court packing”
Congress denied the request afraid it would affect checks and balances system
However Supreme Court never ruled anything else of the New Deal Unconstitutional

16. Did the New Deal work? Changed every aspect of American life
Expanded the power of federal government
Parts of the New Deal still exist today
FDIC and Social Security for example
However, small depression still in
Increased deficit spending

17. Americans Face Hard Times
Families lacked money for basic necessities
Divorce rates rose, birth rates fell
Men traveled to find work
Children often dropped out of school to support families
Benefit of big family?

18. Farmers in the Depression
Many farms were foreclosed
Community would unite bid below market prices and give back to owner
Severe drought in the Great Plains
Turned land into a Dust Bowl
Dust covered everything
Dust Storm could last minutes to days
Responded by moving to California

19. Working Hard to Survive
Government deported many Mexican Born farm laborers
Including American born children
African Americans
Lower wages
Segregation
Believed it would be worse under a Republican Administration
Roosevelt asked for advice from African American Leaders who he appointed to his administration
“Black Cabinet”
Eleanor Roosevelt also strong fighter for minority rights

20. Arts and Literature Federal Writer’s Project (FWP)
Part of the WPA
Created travel guides, oral histories, folklore collections
Federal Music Project and Federal Arts Project
Brought music and plays to down trodden areas
Margaret Mitchell
Gone With the Wind