America 1930s Flashcards
1932 Presidential Election : Rooselvelt’s promises
1) New Deal
2) Solve the banking crisis
3) Control surpluses
4) increase employment
1932 election : Hoovers promises
- Tariffs continue
- Stopping immigration
- Pay Bonus army
- Repeal prohibition
Roosevelt’s 100 days
Closed nations banks to be reviewed by gov officials
Put people on gov payroll
Built and developed infrastructure
Fireside chats
Brains trust
1934 dock workers strike
Dock workers went on strike and closed the ports.
Nothing opened
More than 1800 strikes for union recognition
Strikers murdered
Economic recovery stalled
Huey Long
Radical politician
Wanted to help the poor in return for absolute power
Promised to give to the poor what they took from the rich
Assassinated in 1935 Sep
Tennessee Valley Authority (R)
Worked in 7 states
Built dams, ended floods redirected electricity and guided families out of poverty
Reconstruction Finance Company (RFC) (H)
Helped banks, stopped them going bankrupt
Effects of Great Depression
- Drought at the same time Many farms reduced to dust (25,000 miles of farmland) - bowls = no food
- 1931 - 238 people admitted to hospital due to starvation
- 23,000 committed suicide in 1932
- Bonus Army marched in Washington as they weren’t payed their pensions on time however they were treated with violence and ignored by the govt.
- 16 million people (25% of American workforce) were unemployed by 1933
- 100,000 Americans fled to the Soviet Union for work and communist party gained popularity
- 1932 election = Roosevelt the New York governor (Democrat) won by the greatest electoral landslide (42/48) states
Hoovers Successes when dealing with the depression
- Built Hoover Dam ($4000) = jobs for the unemployed and persuaded business owners not to cut wages
- 1932 Emegency Relief Act = $300 million to the unemployed
- Raised tariffs to protect American industries
- Introduced tax cuts in 1930 and 1931 - $160 million
- Reconstruction Finance Company = helped banks and stopped them going bankrupt
- Helped farmers by buying surplus food
Hoovers Unsuccessful attempts at dealing with the Depression
- Criticised for not paying the Bonus Army
- Tariffs damaged international trade
- Left his actions too late due to Laissez Faire attitude
- Thought that the poor should be helped by the charities : it wasn’t the responsibility of the government and many cities and states left bankrupt as they had to fund their own voluntary orgs
Emergency Banking Act
- March 1933
- All banks closed and had to remain closed until the banks had checked them over
- 5000 banks were reopened under govt guidance
Fireside Chats
- FDR used the radio to communicate to the public about what he was doing and reassure them during the New Deal
- About 60 million tuned in every Sunday
Executive Power
- Something FDR was given by Congress to allow him to introduce measures more quickly
- However it also labelled him as a dictator
FDR’s - ‘Relief, Recover, Reform’
Relief - relieving extreme poverty, feeding the starving and providing shelter for the homeless
Recovery - reviving the economy by getting industry going and people working
Reform - increasing the responsibilities of govt. by helping those in need in society such as the sick, disabled and old
CCC - Civilian Conservation Corps
- Aimed at unemployed young men - worked on environmental projects and national parks for 6 months.
- Money went to the men’s families - 2.5 million men were helped
- It was successful but people such as women and Black men were excluded
PWA - Public Works Administration
- Used govt money to build schools, roads, dams, bridges and airports = vital once the US recovered
- Short term benefits = created millions of jobs
HOLC - Home Owners Loan Corporation
- Took over mortgages of many middle - income Americans who struggled to pay their mortgages so that the banks wouldn’t repostes their homes
- Rescued around 20% of American homeowners
- > 80% repaid the HOLC mortgage
Success of the New Deal
- Provides millions of jobs
- Stabilises the banks = less money lost
- Restored faith in the American government
- Projects like TVA brought work and improved the standard of life in deprived parts of USA, schools, roads and power station
- Indian Reorganisation Act 1934 : provided money to help native Americans buy and improve land
Failures of the New Deal
- Didn’t benefit women e.g. CCC
- Still 6 million unemployed in 1941only fully ended when USA entered WW2
- Failed to solve the underlying economic issues
- Divided the USA : Roosevelt and friends were seen as Communist and undermining American values
WW2 - Lend Lease (How it helped the depression)
USA loaned war materials (arms, food, medicine) to allies - USSR, China, France Britain and other nations against Japan and Germany
- 50.1 billion dollars worth of equipment was shipped
- Majority of contracts for materials were placed in US firms = boosted economy
WW2 - Wartime production : Willing Industrialists
Industrialists on his side = FDR could effectively raise taxes and spend money in order to win the war
WW2 - Extra Workers (How ir helped the Depression)
- 14 million worked in factories
- General Motors took extra 0.75 million workers during the war
- approx 4 million workers migrated from south to north or Pacific Coast (significantly African Americans)
- Nearly 0.75 million African Americans worked in war industry
WW2 - Women
Before war : 12 million working women
During war : 300,000 women joined armed forces
Another 7 million joined the workforce
Opposition to New Deal
Supreme Court - Majority Republicans : against FDR and his ideas for the economy - said they were unconstitutional
Roosevelt threatened to create 6 judges to outvote the Republicans to get his laws approved
Republicans - complained the New Deal was doing too much
And believed the govt shouldn’t intervene with businesses and they viewed him as a dictator due to his Executive Power
Radical Politicians - Huey Long : wanted to limit personal wealth to max $3 million called ‘share our wealth
Because govt. taxes weren’t shared among all Americans
