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The
Great Depression
Your
Key to These Notes:
 A
Major Point  A
Sub-bullet, or a point related to the one above.
A point of
interest that will most likely not be on the AP test.
» Therefore,
or Ergo.
(4-6)
Herbert
Hoover, successor to Coolidge, blamed for market crash, orphaned at age
nine but went through Stanford; was smart; allowed black people in the
White House, was not against Jews either; wanted to help underdeveloped
nations; opposed exclusion of Japanese immigrants- was behind the
Immigration Act of 1924
Hoover
promised a chicken for every pot and a car in every driveway. This
was the exact same promise that Hitler gave to his men.
Thought
of as religious but was not; ruled like a dictator- "The Great
Engineer."
Stock
Market unravel- Hoover made lower interest rates » people bought more
on credit
Bonus
March brought him down- war veterans wanted to collect their bonuses
early; Mosely wanted to put they into Hawaiian concentration camps;
newspapers created false perception of overpaid, unruly soldier--
really, they had no pensions.
Glasford
ordered the troops into DC, though some resisted; police came, killed
many; Hoover ordered troops in upon hearing about it at lunch; he
claimed the BEF (the bonus marchers) were Communists; General McArthur
brought tanks, infantry, and General Patton to DC. The troops
charged the marchers and were impaled or beaten They then gassed
the entire crowd; McArthur disobeyed Hoover and invaded the BEF camp
across the river (later fired for insubordination) and incurred >100
casualties.
Hoover
discredited the BEF- he said they did not consist of veterans but rather
of communists. In reality, the organization was 94% veterans; the
BEF were taken away by trains and slowly joined the homeless population
of America.
Civilian
Conservation Corps (for young men only)- designed to reduce crime rate
by putting young unruly men in a military environment.
FERA
(Federal Emergency Relief Administration)- set up to give people work,
build parks, bridges, etc.
CWA-
paid by government to rake leaves (make work during the Depression)
HOLC
and AAA- saved homes from foreclosure (AAA was oriented toward farmers;
HOLC toward houses)
Huey
Long (Louisiana governor) wanted to take rich people's cash and give
$5,000 to everyone in the United States » he was shot.
Dr.
Townsend wanted to give $200 to everyone older than 60.
WPA-
produce projects in cities.
NRA
was declared unconstitutional
AAA
paid farmers not to grow food, thus keeping more demand in the market
and strengthening the economy.
Dustbowl-
1936- Kansas had 60 consecutive days of 100°+ temperatures followed by
high winds ("black blizzards")- Deere invented the steel plow,
causing people to kill buffalo, dug up soil and wind created the black
blizzards.
Thirty-five
million acres of land blew away in 1934
(4-16)
New
Deal- FDR's first 100 days.
Relief-
feed hungry, preventing home, farm and business loss.
Recovery-
restoring prosperity to business and farms
Reform-
remedy actions that resulted in the problems.
FDR's
Mission: "...to balance between agriculture and industry...between
wage earner, the employer, and the consumer..."
New
Deal Acts:
Fireside
Chats- radio addresses
Emergency
Banking Act
Economy
Act- 25% government budget cut, 15% government salary cut; money went
into RFC (Reconstruction Finance Corporation)
CCC
(Civilian Conservation Corps)- provided work for young males far away
from cities
Emergency
Farm Mortgage Act and Homeowners' Refinancing Act helped people hold
onto their property
Agricultural
Adjustment Act (AAA) » parity prices to raise farm prices to 1909-1914
levels (before WWI)- paid to reduce output- hurt sharecroppers
Soil
Conservation Act- paid people not to grow soil-depleting crops- given
money to grow clover to enrich and bind the soil
Support
prices- government estimated minimum price for a crop and then made up
the difference if the farmer was unable to get that price
Farm
Mortgage & Closure Moratorium- stopped banks from foreclosing on
farmers
Reciprocal
Trade Agreement- allowed the President to reduce tariff by 50% if other
countries would abide by it
Surplus
Commodities Corporation- government purchases farm surplus, given to
needy
REA-
Rural Electrification Administration- only 8% of all farmers had power »
provide electricity to farmers
Shelter
Belts- drought resistant trees to break wind in Midwest
dustbowls.
Business-
NIRA (Blue Eagle)- National Industrial Recovery Association- grouped
auto competitors to draw up codes of fair competition- ended price
cutting (which drove other businesses out and resulted in monopolies)-
expected to ban child labor, reduce working hours (to employ more
people) » failed- no enforcement » US Supreme Court ruled
unconstitutional- violated separation of powers (Congress gave some of
its authority to President to run NIRA).
Wagner
Act- form unions without business interference » established NLRB
(National Labor Relations Board- enforced labor regulations) » union
growth; John Lewis established CIO (Congress of Industrial
Organizations)- for unskilled workers » Flint, Michigan- 1st sit-down
strike- organized by UAW (United Auto Workers)
Fair
Labor & Standards Act- established 40-hour workweeks, and forced
overtime for any work beyond that.
Bank
Act of 1933- FDIC established
Truth
and Securities Act- stocks must be registered before sold
Security
& Exchange Commission (SFC)- regulated stock brokers and stocks
1933-
US goes off the gold standard- dollar value goes down 59%
Emergency
Railroad Transportation Act- power over railroads given to ICC
Motor
Carriers Act- gave ICC power over buses & trucking.
Civil
Aeronautics Authority- gave ICC power over airlines.
Tennessee
Valley Authority (TVA), found in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi,
North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia- poorest area of the country- 3%
farmers » built 16 dams; provided for soil conservation, reformation,
contour farming (to preserve soil).
"Dole"-
people receiving relief (welfare)- embarrassing- shameful
CWA
(Civil Works Administration)- provided jobs for 3 months @ $0.60/hour -
about 4 million people participated; CCC paid $30/month but $22 went to
families; PWA (Public Works Administration)- for large projects- 2
government jobs for every 5 private ones.
(4-17)
Social
Security- 1935- assistance to disabled people + pensions (>65)
Court
Packing Plan- Supreme Court is too old; needed a new judge for each old
one greater than 70- This act failed.
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