1930s America

Unemployment:

• In 1929 there were 1.6 million unemployed = 3.2% of the entire workforce.
• In 1933 unemployment rose to 14 million from both factory and office jobs.
• Businesses had to cut wages and jobs and in 1933 nearly 1 in 4 men were unemployed.

Car Production:

• Car production fell by 80%, causing mass unemployment and closed factories.
• Toledo was one of the worst hit cities because their main workforce was car business.

Social Issues: Men would spend the whole day looking for work, causing huge queues.

Homelessness:

• People didn't have enough money to repay loans and mortgages so banks took their homes.
• They set up shantytowns of shacks, tents, and packing cases on the outskirts of big cities.
• They were called 'Hoovervilles' after President Herbet Hoover.

Farmers:

• People in cities couldn't buy produce from farmers and prices fell low.
• Farmers couldn't afford to harvest their crops: wheat and fruit were allowed to rot.
• Farm animals were killed instead of being taken to market.
• More and more farmers went bankrupt.

Hunger:

• People went hungry as crops were left to rot and farm animals were killed.
• Many people were forced to eat on garbage, and were seriously starving.

Black People:

• Black people lost their jobs and homes first.
• They were seen as having no chance of getting a job.
• They were even further down the picking order from employers.

Industries:

• American agriculture specifically depended on export trade beacuse of a tariff war.
• It had the effect of freezing out American firms, which destroyed business trade.
• Many countries came off the gold standard, which linked the exchange rate with the gold.

Homelessness:

• In 1932, 250,000 Americans lost their homes and ended up on the streets.
• Some deliberately got arrested to spend the night in jail.
• Many moved to Hoovervilles.

Unemployment:

• By 1933, unemployment reached 25%.
• In the north, more factories and businesses closed product completely.
• In Charleston in 1931, 70% of black people were unemployed. In Memphis it was 75%.
• Thousands of Americans travelled as 'hobos' trying to find work.

Low food Prices:

• Hoover created the Farm Board, who bought surplus farm produce to keep prices up.
• This had little effect because the Board didn't have enough money.

Homelessness: Hoover didn't believe it was the government job to provide relief.

Unemployment: Provided $423 million for building programme to provide jobs (Hoover Dam).

Businesses: The Reconstruction Finance Corps provided $1500million loans to businesses.

Low Wages: Hoover encouraged employers to make voluntary agreements to keep wages up.

Less Exports:

• The Hawley Smoot Act in 1930 increased cutoms duties by 50%, hoping people would buy.
• Most people couldn't afford goods, and foriegn countries retaliated by taxing American goods.

Less Confidence: Hoover offered no real solution to falling demand for goods.

Bonus Army:

• At the end of WW1, the government promised that soldiers would recieve a 'bonus' pension.
• In 1932, war veterans wanted to have the bonus paid up front instead of 1945.
• In 1932, up to 20,000 veterans went to Washington to protest to the government.
• They set up a Hooverville outside the White House.
• Congress voted against paying the pensions, and Hoover brought the army to clear the camp.

Charities:

• The government did not give the homeless help.
• Towns and cities had to set up their own relief programmes.
• They provided temporary homes, food, clothes and even jobs.
• Many people saw Hoover as the cause of all the Depression.

Failures:

• Hoover believed in rugged individualism and laissez-faire politics.
• Smoot Hawley Tariff ruined America's exports.
• Attacked the Bonus Army.
• Only 'hoped' that America would 'turn the corner'.
• Blamed by most Americans for the Depression.

Attempts:

• Cut taxes.
• $4bn for building projects- Hoover Dam.
• Emergency Relief Act- $300million for unemployed.
• Reconstruction Finance Corps- $1.5bn loans for businesses.

Roosevelt advantages:

• Promised to take an active role in the Depression:
• Introduce Government schemes for more jobs / measures to revive industry and agriculture.
• Relief for poor and unemployed / Protection for workers against employers.
• Experienced in politics / First politician to take his campaign right around the country.

Hoover advantages:

• Experienced in politics / Made up his own money compared to Roosevelt born under wealth.

Election Result:

• Roosvelt - 22.8 million votes / 42 states
• Hoover  - 15.8 million votes  / 6 states.

Brain Trust:

• Roosevelt spent the time between his election and inauguration working to end the Depression
• He worked out a programme with a panel of experts such as economist J.M.Keynes.

Hundred Days (8 March - 16 June 1933).

• The New Deal required massive state involvement in the economy.
• Congress granted him emergency powers, and during the 100 days, 13 new laws were made.

Alphabet Agencies Aims:

• Relief- relieve extreme poverty, feed the starving and stop people losing homes or farms.
• Recovery- revive the economy by getting industry going and people working again.
• Reform- make the US a better place for ordinary people by bringing in measures such as unemployment insurance and old-age pensions.

Fireside Chats:

• Roosevelt used the radio to reach a large audience of millions of Americans to talk to them.
• He explained in simple terms what he was doing to stop the Depression, restoring confidence

Emergency Banking Act (March 1933):

• Roosvelt introduced an Emergency Banking Act which closed banks for 4 days.
• Government officials inspected the banks, and only those with proper management were open
• They were also given loans by the government.
• Savers kept accounts open and customers started to put it back into their accounts.

Glass-Steagall Act (June 1933):

• This stopped banks speculating with customers' money.
• Government ensured banks clearly seperated into either savings or investment banks.
• This improved the honesty and stabiltity of the US banking system, restoring confidence.

Farm Credit Administration (Relief): made loans to a fifth of all farmers so they wouldn't lose farms

Agricultural Adjustment Agency (Recovery):

• Increase farmers' income by paying farmers to make less food by taking land or reducing livestock.
• This increased prices and farmers' income increased.
• The government also bought and killed 6 million piglets in 1933, some tinned and given to poor.
• However, the AAA helped farmers but not tenants or sharecroppers.

Civilian Conservation Corps (Recovery):

• The CCC provided jobs to single men under 25.
• They lived in government camps in countryside and cleaned land, planted trees, created forests, and made reservoirs.
• In return they recieved food, clothing shelter and most of their wages ($1 a day) sent home.
• Between 1933 and 1942, 3 million men took part in the CCC scheme.

Civilian Works Administration (Relief):

• The CWA was designed to provide as many jobs as possible in the short term.
• During the winter of 1933-34, 4 million people were given jobs.
• They worked on projects such as building and improving roads, schools and airports.

Public Works Administration (Recovery):

• PWA was set up in 1933 to organise large-scale work schemes for the public.
• $7bn was spent employing skilled men to build dams, bridges, sewage systems and houses.
• Between 1933-1939 the PWA built 70% of America's schools and 35% of America's hospitals.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (Relief):

• FERA was given $500 million to help thousands of Americans who were homeless.
• Most of the money was used to increase the number of soup kitchens and to provide clothing.

Home Owners Loan Corporation (Relief): loaned money to over 1 million people to stop them losing their homes.

National Recovery Administration (Reform/Recovery):

• Aims were to invite and persuade employers and businessesmen to follow codes fixing prices.
• Agreed to fair conditions of work- minimum wage maximum hours, stopping child labour.
• Businesses that signed the NRA code cold use the Blue Eagle emblem.
• Codes were drawn up for each industry which owners and businessmen were pushed to sign.
• Workers were also given the right to join trade unions.

Tennessee Valley Authority:

• TVA was set up to develop the Tennessee Valley, an area which cut through 7 states.
• It was poverty stricken with soil erosion and flooding.
• The TVA organised the building of 33 dams to control the Tennessee River, improve soil quality
• A new 650 mile underway lnking major river systems gave easy accesss to the area.
• Power stations were built to provide cheap electricity for farmers and domestic consumers.
• The TVA became the biggest producer of electricity in America, attracting businesses.
• It successfully attempted to revive agriculture and industry in a single programme.
• Thousands of jobs were created, land improved and health and welfare facilities provided.

Works Progress Administration (Recovery):

• Set up in 1935 aiming to give work to 2 million people each year.
• They built roads, bridges, schools, tunnels sewers and trees.
• 7% of the budget was used to create projects for artists, writers, actors and musicians.

Social Security Act (Reform):

• Set up in 1935 which proposed to give a state-pension to everyone over 65.
• It also proposed to support handicapped people and mothers with dependent children.
• It also proposed an unemployment insurance scheme to be provided by individual states.

Wagner Act (Reform): set up by Robert Wagner in 1935 to support trade unions.

Resettlement Administration (Reform/Recovery):

• Set up in 1935 to help farmworkers who were evcited by the AAA scheme, and helped 500,000
• It was updated to Farm Security Administartion in 1937 to give loans to tenants and sharecroppers.

Background:

• The judges of the Supreme Court in the 1930s were mainly Republicans.
• They attempted to block the New Deal, thinking it undermined the American Constitution.

Event:

• In 1935 the Supreme Court ruled that the NIRA was unconstitutional.
• In 1936 it declared that AAA meausres were unconstitutional due to devolution of states.
• Roosevelt was furious, and wanted the majority old judges to retire, but couldn't force them.
• After hs re-election in 1936, he asked Congress to give him power to appoint 6 new judges.

Response:

• Roosevelt's attempt to 'pack the court' with judges caused alarm across America.
• Even Democrats thought this would give too much power to the President
• There was overwhelming opposition from Congress and his plan was rejected.
• The judges were shaken and some retired voluntarily, and the new judges accepted the NRA
• The Wagner Act and Social Security Act were ruled to be constitutional.

Republicans:

• They thought Roosevelt was behaving like a dictator and compared him to Hitler or Stalin.
• They said the TVA and NRA schemes were just the communist economic planning of Russia.
• They thought the Social Security Act would undermine the American 'way of life'.
• They also objected to the huge cost of the New Deal.

Business:

• Business leaders didn't like government interfernce in their affairs.
• They were angry about Roosevelt's support for trade unions and the campaign to raise wages
• They objected to schemes like TVA because they thought it competed unfairly with private
• In 1934 a group of business leaders formed the Liberty League.

Rich:

• Many wealthy Americans resented having to pay higher taxes for the work of New Deal

Huey Long:

• He was the Governer of Louisiana, a poor southern state.
• At first he supported the New Deal, but started attacking it in 1934.
• He proposed a 'Share our Wealth' scheme, wanting all personal fortunes above £5m confiscated and shared out.
• He said every American family should be give $40-50,000 with the confiscated money.
• He also promised a minimum wage, houses for war veterans, pensions and free education.

Dr Francis Townsend:

• He proposed an idea to give everyone over the age of 60 a pension of $200 a month, only if they spent the money within the month and gave up their jobs.
• He thought it would create jobs for young people, create demand and help the old.

Father Couglin:

• He broadcasted his ideas on radio to 40 million Americans on Sunday evenings.
• He failing to tackle the problems of the poor, setting up National Union for Social Justice.

Positives of New Deal: Effective for relief / Economy started to recover / Increased Confidence

Negatives of New Deal:

• 6 million unemployed / Lot of Spending / 10 million unemployed 1939 / 25% less businesses

Impact of WW2:

• Most Americans wanted to stay neutral but Roosevelt increased spending on defence.
• Roosevelt gave Britain 50 old destroyers, and the US could use British bases in Africa.
• In March 1941 Roosevelt got Congress to support the Lend-Lease programme.
• Allowed USA to supply vast amounts of war material to Britain.
• In December 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbour and forced USA into the war.
• Between 1939-41, the US economy started to recover from the 1937-38 Depression due to the stimulus of war materials being ordered.
•  1942 Onwards, unemployment fell to nearly zero with 12 million men joining the armed forces.