1930s

• When was the depression?

  1929-1939
• What were the causes of the Wall Street crash?

  • Overproduction
  • Unequal distribution of wealth- more than half below poverty line
  • Foreign tariffs
• What was the bull market?

  A period of rising stock prices where people only paid 10% upfront.
• How did the Great Depression affect people?


  Unemployment- 13m by 1932

  Homelessness ‘hoovervilles’

  Dustbowl farms
• What did president hoover do? 1928

  • Rugged individualism
  • $1.5b to businesses
  • Hoover dam
  • 1930 tax cut by $130m
• When did FDR win his election?

  1932
• What were FDRs strengths?

  • Democrat policies- direct action, end prohibition.
  • Personality, hope for working class and empathy form his polio.
• What the new deal?

  • Relief
  • recovery
  • reform

  15 speeches a day!
• What did FDR do in his first 100 days?

  • Closed all banks for 4 days and got them up and running- $1b produced
  • Fireside chats and ended prohibition in 1933.
  • Economy act cut pay of workers by %15
• What were the alphabet agencies?


  New Deal programs

  • CCC employed 2.5m men.
  • CWA temporary work for 4m men.
  • FCA lent $100m to farmers
• Who opposed FDR?

  • The rich- raised taxes
  • Supreme court- stopped AAA in 1935
  • Repuicans- wanted laissez faire not what they saw as communism.
• Who was Huey long?

  Politician who attacked the new deal in 1934 for not doing enough for the poor. Proposed ‘share our wealth scheme’
• FDR failure?


  Didn’t end the depression. In fact 1938 unemployment was 10.4m.
• 1930s pop culture?


  Jazz, swing, Hollywood films, WPA for the arts, 1933 comic books.