Unit 2- The Depression

• what happened in 1929 in America

  The Wall Street stock market crashed leading to a decade long depression in America
• What were economic effects of the crash

  • Wages fell and many workers were sacked
  • Most people couldn’t afford to pay back their loans and stopped depositing money, forcing banks to close
  • Banks couldn’t give credit to people so people didn’t have enough money to buy goods leading to businesses to close
• What were social effects of the depression

  • By the end of 1933, 25% of American workforce was unemployed
  • Severe poverty and starvation
  • Relief schemes and charities provided food, clothing and accommodation to the unemployed
  • Homelessness increased
• How did the depression affect farmers

  • They were already experiencing overproduction so the crash made prices even lower and not profitable for farmers to produce their crops
  • Droughts which made matters worse
  • farmers debts increased
• What did president hoover do to help the depression

  • Did very little to intervene as he thought is he created the right conditions, people could work themselves out of poverty
  • Made sure the government didn’t spend more than it received
  • Began to introduce policies such as the federal home loan bank act to encourage banks to give more mortgages
• Where hoover’s policies effective

  No
• What were Hoovervilles

  Nicknames for the shanty towns homeless people built as many people lost their houses
• Why did americans lose confidence in Hoover

  • Did nothing to help the depression
  • July 1932 - hoover used force to make the bonus army marchers leave Washington DC
• Who were the two contenders in the 1932 election

  Hoover and roosevelt
• what did FDR do differently to help him beat hoover in the election

  • Thought that the government should be responsible in helping struggling us citizens
  • Proposed ‘The New Deal’ which aimed for relief, recovery and reform
• What was FDR’s aims

  • to improve people’s lives by giving them direct relief like food and shelter
  • Wanted to rebuild us trade and industry
  • To create social and economic reforms to protect future growth
• What was the first period of FDR’s presidency called

  The Hundred Days
• What did Roosevelt do in his hundred days

  • Wanted to restore confidence in banking system so passed the Emergency Banking Act 1933 which allowed weaker banks to be supervised and reorganised
  • Wanted people to trust the government - used radio broadcasts to explain actions of the government, known as fireside chats, and continued this throughout his presidency
  • created alphabet agencies which helped fight the economic and social results of the depression
• What was the CCC

  Civilian Conservation Corps

  • Provided labour for thousands of unemployed men in forestry, water and soil conservation projects
  • By 1942, work was given to more than 3 million people
• What was the AAA

  Agricultural Adjustment Administration

  • Paid farmers to limit food production meaning prices and incomes rose
  • Allowed farmers to modernise and rebuild their farms
• What was the second new deal?

  • 1935
  • focused on improving social welfare and looking after the most vulnerable people in society
• What were some parts of the second new deal

  • Social security act - Americans aged over 65 received pensions and workers could receive benefits if they lost their jobs
  • Wagner Act - gave workers rights to join trade unions without risk of being sacked
• What were failures of the new deal

  • Many Supreme Court judges were republicans who disagreed with fdr’s policies And said that he was taking power the the constitution (set of laws) hadn’t given him so some of FDR’s agencies were closed
  • many thought fdr needed to do more to help the poor as unemployment was still a big problem
  • Some thought fdr was spending too much money on the new deal
• Who did the new deal not benefit

  • African - Americans faced discrimination through the new deal agencies
  • Women were paid less than men
• How did popular culture influence the depression

  • Offered hope and an escape from reality
  • many films were made during the 1930s
  • music was very optimistic
• how did cinema change in the 1930s

  • Talkies replaced silent movies meaning musicals became very popular
  • Films of a variety of genres were made - the wizard of oz and King Kong
• How did the war boost America’s economy before they even joined the war

  • Started the Lend Lease program in 1941 which supplied weapons and military supplies to allies (especially UK and USSR), this helped reduce unemployment
  • Exported other supplies such as chemicals, timber, coal and clothing
  • Food was exported - boosting American agriculture and farmers incomes rose significantly
• Why did America decide to join the war

  Japan carried out a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, in December 1941, causing around 2400 Americans to die
• How did us economy prosper once they joined the war

  • In January 1942, Roosevelt established the war production board which helped convert factories to meet demands of the war e.g car factories turned into plane factories
  • Many new businesses started during the war such as Coca Cola and wrigley’s chewing gum
  • Created millions of new jobs which ended mass unemployment - end of 1943 there was a shortage of workers
• What were social impacts of the SWW for women

  • When many men went to fight in the war, women could replace them in their jobs
  • Many women joined the military in non-fighting roles
  • Government started propaganda campaigns to encourage women to join the war effort and created characterless such as ‘ Rosie the Riveter’
  • Women could earn their own money and many didn’t want to be dependent on their families or husbands
• What were social impacts of the SWW on discrimination

  • In June 1941, Roosevelt’s signed order which made it illegal to discriminate against workers because of their race
  • African Americans still faced discrimination and prejudice from white workers
  • US army had policy of ‘segregation without discrimination’