History - Great Depression & New Deal
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- Banking Holiday
- Closed for 4 days
- Herbert Hoover
- President 1929-1933
- New Deal Legacy
- Maintained capitalism, restored hope, government tried to help.
- FDR's campaign
- Wealthy, upbeat personality, campaign song "Happy Days are Here Again". "Second class intellect, first class temperament" (Holmes said). "The country needs, and unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. Above all, try something"
- Great crash on Wall Street
- October 1929, symbolizes beginning of Great Depression. Signs of economic weakness since 1927, ignored
- Emergency Banking Act
- March 9, ended banking crisis and restored some measure of confidence to banks. Banks could not reopen until inspection by Treasury Department representative
- Presidential Candidates in 1932
- Republican Hoover (59 electoral votes), Democrat FD Roosevelt (472 electoral votes)
- 1936 Election
- FDR elected by overwhelming majority. 523 of 531 electoral votes. 1st time a president was inaugurated in January
- Father Charles Coughlin
- Critic of FDR, 5 mil listeners a week, then became a supporter of Hitler
- WPA
- Works Progress Administration - successful work program, built sidewalks, other non-physical programs available too.
- Speculation on stock market
- October 1929 - value of stocks declined by 37%. By 1933, value of stock market down by almost 90%
- Securities & Exchange Commission***
- Stock market regulation, also, not tied to gold standard anymore
- Hoover's reaction to Depression
- 1. Economy will right itself 2. He did do more than any previous president in economic crisis, his philosophy retrained him from doing enough 3. 1932 Reconstruction Finance Corporation 4. Sped up work on federal construction projects
- NLRB
- National Labor Relations Act. Legalized labor unions, guaranteed right to join union and "good faith" bargaining.
- Roosevelt's three-pronged strategy
- 1. Resolve banking crisis and provide short-term relief for the jobless. 2. Promote industrial recovery through increased federal spending. 3. Raise depressed commodity prices by paying farmers to reduce production (to guarantee better income)
- WWII
- marks end of Depression. Starts in Asia
- Banking Act
- June 16. Separated commercial from investment banksing (recently overturned), established FDIC*** (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp) which guarantees deposits.
- Bonus Expeditionary Force (Bonus Army)
- Traveled from Seattle to march on Washington DC to demand payment of WW1 veteran bonus bill passed under Coolidge. 20K eventually showed up and camped in vacant public buildings. Largest Hooverville built. March everyday to capital, Hoover provided food and blankets to them left over from WW1. Concerned they would be violent. Douglas Macarthur ordered to remove them from PA Ave. (eisenhower and patton also). Called in tanks and destroyed the Hooverville. US Army fighting against unarmed WW1 vets.
- Second New Deal
- More legislation, starting in Summer 1935. Social Security***, National Labor Relations Act (NLRB***), Revenue Act of 1935 (Wealth Tax Act***),Works Progression Administration
- Buying on the margin
- Pay 10% down, sell later and make profit due to prices rising. Dow Jones went from 450 to 45 within 4 years.
- Huey Long of LA
- Critic of FDR, Corrupt governor of LA and later senator. "Kingfish" Share the Wealth program, guarantee income, tiered tax structure
- Government policies causing Depression
- 1. High tariffs discouraged foreign trade, 2. Mellon's tax policies led to oversaving by consumers, 3. Lax enforcement of anti-trust laws encouraged high prices, 4. Maintaining gold standard let to tightening of available currency at time when currency should've been expanded.
- Francis E. Townsend
- Critic of FDR, Government pensions, anyone over 60 should get pensions
- 5 Causes of the Great Depression
- 1. Durable goods inventory exceeded demand (production slowed = layoffs.) 2. Rate of consumer spending slowed (saved more than spent) 3 Employment declining. 4. Speculation on stock market. 5. Government policies
- Court Packing Plan 1937
- Add more justices because supreme court was attacking new deal legislation. Problem is it hurt checks and balances, and because old people in congress were mad that old people justices were being attacked. However, swing vote in Supreme Court started voting for FDR's programs, and the Court Packing plan was not longer necessary
- Agricultural Adjustment Act
- May 12, AAA paid people not to grow crops, guaranteed income to farmers
- Fair Labor Standards Act - 1938***
- Minimum wage and overtime, last major piece of New Deal legislation
- Supreme Court
- AAA and NIRA both unconstitutional, 7 total found unconstitutional
- Tennesee Valley Authority Act ***
- May 18, Provided electricity, crop rotation, etc. (Populists opposed due to government utility service)
- Federal Emergency Relief Act
- May 12, $ to states
- National Industrial Recovery Act
- June 16 - NIRA - help business, each industry wrote blanket codes, minimum wage, works weeks, conditions, leaders from larger companies dominated code writing so smaller companies couldn't meet demands
- Condition of banks and employment when FDR become president
- 80% of nation's banks closed, 25% unemployment (3-5% normal)
- The Hundred Days
- Legislative Period after FDR took office. March 9 - June 16.
- 1932 RFC (Reconstruction Finance Corporation)
- $500 million in loans to big business, hoping that would trickle down to everyone. Was too little too late.
- Civilian Conservation Corps
- March 31, CCC, Federal Job Programs to put young single men to work.