spread of the depression

Question 1

what was the GDP in 1933?

Answer 1

$54 billion

Question 2

what was the smoot hawley tariff 1930?

Answer 2

taxes of 40% were placed on agricultural and industrial goods

Question 3

what was the importance of the Emergency Relief and Construction Act 1932

Answer 3

This was the FIRST MAJOR LEGISLATION to offer relief from the Depression where Hoover gave his support to this in response to growing calls for direct relief.

Question 4

how many were unemployed in 1929?

Answer 4

3%

Question 5

how much did unemployment increase in 1933

Answer 5

25%

up to 17m people were out of work and suffering

Question 6

how many banks failed between 1929-32?

Answer 6

10,000

Question 7

what was the economic impacts of the depression

Answer 7

problems with credit and banking
unemployment
older industries

Question 8

what were social effects of the depression

Answer 8

strain on family life
many of the unemployed became hoboes
insufficient relief

Question 9

outline the situation of rural poverty

Answer 9

many farmers haf there farms foreclosed as rthey couldnt keep up with mortgage payments

Question 10

How did Hoover’s experiences influence his attitudes towards relief?

Answer 10

Hoover was a self-made success. He believed in hard work, not in free government handouts. He believed this would lead to a class of people who were overly dependant on government. This became his belief in self-help.

Question 11

The Agricultural Marketing Act 1929

context

Answer 11

Agriculture had not experienced the boom of the 1920s, and rural poverty was amongst the worst in the USA

Due to drop in demand after WW1, overproduction and reduction in prices led to huge wastage and 66% of farmers operating at a loss long before the financial crisis. By 1926, 17.4 farms per 1,000 were foreclosed. These problems were only exacerbated after 1929.

Question 12

The Agricultural Marketing Act 1929

What did Hoover do?

Answer 12

1929 Agricultural Marketing Act set up the Federal farm board with $500 million to deal with overproduction. They were to buy, store and eventually dispose of farm surpluses.

Question 13

The Agricultural Marketing Act 1929

impact

Answer 13

the Board was praying above market price for the produce, therefore wasting taxpayers’ money.These artificially high prices could not be sustained in the long turn,

This in turn encouraged farmers to keep producing as the Board would buy their produce, so Overproduction still happened.

Question 14

The Hawley-Smoot tariff

context

Answer 14

Context: Fordney-McCumber Tariff had already raised tariffs to protect American interests - European countries then raised tariffs further.

Question 15

The Hawley-Smoot tariff

raised tariffs to what %

Answer 15

Highest tariff in American history with average duties of 40% on industrial and agricultural items.

Question 16

The Hawley-Smoot tariff
impact
international trade fell by

Answer 16

Most European countries abandoned free trade - even fewer American goods were then exported (No potential to get rid of surpluses)

In 1931, the value of international trade fell by $1.2 billion.

Question 17

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation

- context

Answer 17

The stock market crash led to panic, more than 10,000 banks had failed

This slowed the whole economy down as people lost their entire savings, and therefore their ability to buy and repay any loans.

Question 18

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation

- What did Hoover do?

Answer 18

Jan 1932 with authority to lend up to $2 billion to rescue banks and other financial institutions

Question 19

problem with the RFC

Answer 19

BUT 50% of the money went to 7% of the borrowers - who were the biggest banks.

Question 20

The Emergency Relief
Construction Act
summer 1932
context: why was this so important

Answer 20

The need and demand for direct relief became so great, that Hoover gave support to this public works programme. First major legislation to offer direct relief in the Depression

Question 21

The Emergency Relief
Construction Act
What did Hoover do?

Answer 21

Authorised the RFC to lend up to $1.5 billion to finance public works therefore creating temporary employment.

Question 22

outline how hoovers background and beliefs impact on government measures

Answer 22

Hoover was a self-made man. He believed in humanitarian aid and charity, but stuck to the traditional conservative view of limited government intervention. Although he did intervene more than any previous President, the measures he took were inadequate to deal with the scale of the Depression, and in some cases made things worse.

Question 23

I Workers and hoboes

Answer 23

By 1932, estimated 1 million migrant (itinerant) workers.

Homelessness and Hoovervilles: Many lost their homes as a result of becoming unemployed and moved to the outskirts of urban areas. Shanty towns, sometimes homing thousands of people, grew as a result. Hoover was blamed for the lack of relief and support.

Question 24

summarise the impact of the depression on farmers

Answer 24

Farmers: Many failed on mortgage payments, sharecroppers failed to pay rent, and many were evicted. Food went to waste as farmers could not afford to harvest it.

Question 25

summarise the impact of the depression on Ethnic minorities

Answer 25

Black Americans were 4 - 6 times more likely to lose their jobs than white people.

Most sharecroppers were black Americans in the rural South.

Native Americans were already living in poverty on their reservations due to the Dawes Severalty Act 1887.

Around 400,000 Hispanic Americans were deported to Latin America despite living in the USA their whole lives.

Question 26

summarise the impact of the depression on women

Answer 26

More likely to lose jobs than men.
48 states banned the employment of married women.
In 1931, there were 3.8 million one parent families headed by women and only 19,280 in receipt of any aid.