History: USA Flashcards
what were the roaring 20s-the jazz age?
-The republicans were in charge for the whole of the 20s
- herbert hoover had advocated for a laissez-faire
-In 1928 the value of stocks did not rise as much as expected causing “experts” to panic and begin selling their shares early.
-by autumn 1929 there was massive panic in the stock market (the wall street crash)
how did the wall street crash happen?
-soldiers coming back from war in the 20s—>more employment—>more wages—-> more money for the people (cycle of prosperity)
-people use their left over money to invest, even the working class, into the stock market
-due to this, price of stocks are bigger than the company and stock prices increase
- middle class taking out loans to gain stocks
-people putting their houses, businesses and farms up for collateral ( if stock market crashes and they can’t pay their money back they will lose what they have put up for collateral)
-due to this hoover closed stock market (laissez faire)
-black Thursday: market opens, people panic and sell their shares, stocks go down by 11% in first day, ppl lose million and go into debt
- black thursday: $12 million shares drop
black tuesday: $16 million shares drop
what happened due to the wall street crash?
-start of great depression
- people lose everything, $1=10cents
-mass unemployment
-1928-1929
the great depression in cities:
-factories close down- increase in unemployment
-1/3 of workforce unemployed
-ppl lost jobs along with their homes
-some built alternative homes “Hoovervilles” with many sleeping on streets
-some drifted across the country as hobos
-black people were first to be sacked, black unemployment was 50% by 1933
great depression in countryside:
-bankruptcy among farmers grew as they were unable to sell their produce
-produce was left to rot in the ground
- poor farming methods had exhausted the soil in the drought (“dust bowl”) in Oklahoma, colorado and kansas
-“okies” and “arkies” some of the million that left to find work in the west cost
great depression in families:
-marriages fell from 1.2 million to 980,000
-the birth rate also fell
- suicide rate rose dramatically 12.6 suicides per 1000 ppl to 17.4
- schools were closed down for 10 months —> lack of education—>less likely to be employed
-not enough money to pay teachers
what were hoovervilles like?
-far away from city
-dirty—> high disease
-fire problems due to wooden houses
-crowded with no sewage systems —> increase in health problems
- most famous hooverville in central park
-existed in major cities
herbert hoover
-Hooverville named after him—> he was blamed
-hoover blanket (newspaper) what they would sleep under
-hoover flag (pockets inside out to show they had no money to prevent robbery)
-hoover wagon (cars with horses pulling them) no money for oil
Herbert hoover - a republican president
-third republican president
- a party/ country that was fiercely “laissez faire”
-believed in rugged individualism
-famous speech made by republicans promising “a chicken in every pot, a car in every garage”
laissez faire meaning?
the belief that the government should leave the economy alone to sort itself out
rugged individualism meaning?
belief that an individual was responsible for their own prosperity and should expect no help from anyone, even the government as it increased laziness
the bonus marchers
-1917 american join ww1 and are in need of 1 million soldiers
- to encourage men to join, they were given a certificate in which they could show after the war and were to be given a large amount of money
- 10,000 march on washing demanding their money ($2 million)
-hoover declined their request and 5000 ex army veterans stay to protest
- hoover brings in army to remove them, firing gas grenades into hoovervilles and protests in washington
-a baby is killed due to this
-hoover is nicknamed baby killer
-this took place 3 months before the next presidential election and set a bad impression as in ww1 it was known that many died due to gas attacks
what did hoover do before 1932 to help the depression?
- criticised for doing too little to help those affected by the depression and allowing economic situation to worsen
- he kept faith with republican ideas
-passed Hawley smoot traffic act protecting US farmers by increasing import duties on foreign goods
-other countries refused to trade with USA due to this
what did hoover do during 1932 to help the depression?
-accepted his policies weren’t working as unemployment rose
- emergency relief act: $300 million in relief to the unemployed
what happened in the 1932 presidential election?
-election between hoover and roosevelt
- biggest landslide in US history —> 23m votes to Roosevelt, 16m to hoover
-this was due to unpopularity of hoover after bonus marchers and no new ideas
- roosevelt promised a “new deal” and brings optimism to politics
- inspiration figure after his fight against polio
