Hoover & The Depression Flashcards
What happened to the Industry during the depression?
Industry has lost both its domestic and foreign markets. Banks were not lending money for businesses to expand. 1930 Hawley-Smoot Act, increased tariffs by 50% on imported manufactured items - foreign countries responded and did the same.
Cut taxes by 130 million dollars, but in 1932 they were increased to help balance the budget. He also introduced the reconstruction finance corporation in 1932, which provided 1,500 million dollars in loans to businesses, banks and insurance companies.
Industrial production continued to decrease (45% 1929-1932). Housing construction fell by 92% 1929-1932
What happened to workers during the depression?
Unemployment had reached 1.6 million.
US had no social security system. Hoover encouraged voluntary agreements between employers and the workforce to keep wages steady.
President’s Organisation on Unemployment Relief (POUR) set up in 1931 to coordinate local welfare agencies without spending government money. POUR was ended in June 1932 because coordination from the government was not what these relief organisations needed, they needed money.
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam cost 49 million dollars, and employed a lot of people but this was on far too small a scale to make a national difference.
1.6 million unemployed in 1929 to 14 million in 1933.
In 1931, 100 died in New York of starvation. 2 million homeless people.
Veteran march…
Bonus Army march in 1932 was when the World War 1 veterans demanded early payment of their 1,000 dollar bonuses, which were due in 1945. Veterans with their wives and children set up a camp in Washington. Hoover accused them of being communists and armed troops, tanks and tear gas were used to disperse them causing the death of two babies and the injury of many children.
How were farmers helped?
Hoover set up the Federal Farm Board to provide loans to farmers and to buy surplus food to keep prices up.
The Hawley-Smoot Act was also intended to help farmers.
The FFB did not have enough money to keep buying surpluses so their impact was limited.
Wheat prices decreased from 103 cents per ton in 1929 to 38 cents per ton in 1933. Hoover Dam provided farmers in Arizona and Nevada with a regular supply of water and hydroelectric power.
40% of farms were mortgaged to banks. Dust Bowl of 20 million hectares of land also damaged farming.
