1930s America Flashcards
What was the Wall Street crash?
American economy crashed
When was the Wall Street crash?
October 1929
By 1933, how many people were unemployed because of the crash?
14 million
How much did the average wage fall by?
60%
Production dropped by 40% between what years?
1929-1933
Through 1931, how many died of malnutrition?
45
How many Americans had lost everything one year later?
4 million
How much did farmers income fall by? Between what years?
7 billion between 1929 and 1932
Why did farmers migrate from southern states to west coast?
Over farming and drought turned adds into dust bowl
How many farmers migrated?
2.5million
What was Hoovers response?
Didn’t admit problem until 1932
He didn’t help at first as he was republican and believed in laissez faire policy
What act did Hoover set up and what did it do?
Emergency relief act, provided $300 million to states to help unemployed
What did Hoover increase?
Public works spending
How much did Hoover offer to major building projects in construction industries to provide new jobs?
$4,000 million
When did the Hoover dam construction begin? How many workers did it hire?
1931
21,000
Why did Hoover cutting taxes not make much of an impact?
Majority were unemployed and had no money so cutting taxes didn’t help much as they didn’t have money to spend anyway
What did he encourage business owners not to do?
Cut wages
What was the Halwey-Smoot tariff?
Hoover put 40% tax on imports in attempt to protect American goods but other countries retaliated which led to low exports which led to over production
How much did USA international trade decrease between 1929-1932 and why?
$10 million to $3 million, because Hoover increased international tariffs on oversea goods
What did Hoover do that led to overproduction?
Bought food at above market prices which led to farmers overproducing
What was the famous phrase used by USA public about Hoover?
In Hoover we trusted now we are busted
What happened at the bonus army event?
20,000 veterans peacefully camped in Washington asking for war time bonus from WW1 early
Hoover refused to meet, got general MacArthur to deal with them
He used tear gas, police and burned their camps even though Hoover said no violence
MacArthur claimed they were communists with no evidence
Hoover refused to admit he failed to control MacArthur
Public disliked Hoover even more