1visions of america, a history of the united states chapter a new deal for america the great...
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1 Visions of America, A History of the United States
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A New Deal for AmericaThe Great Depression, 1929–1940
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1 Visions of America, A History of the United States
A New Deal for America
What emotions does Walker Evans’s portrait of the “forgotten man” arouse?
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THE GREAT DEPRESSION, 1929-1940
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A New Deal for America
I. The Early Days of the Depression
II. A New President and a New Deal
III. Recovering from the Depression
IV. A New Deal for Farmers
V. Reforms to Ensure Social Justice
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THE GREAT DEPRESSION, 1929–1940
The Early Days of the Depression
A. Herbert Hoover
B. Economic Weaknesses in a Time of Prosperity
C. The Stock Market Crash of 1929
D. Hoover’s Response to the Depression
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Herbert Hoover
What qualities made Hoover a popular president when he was first elected?
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Economic Weaknesses in a Time of Prosperity
What were the causes of the Great Depression?
Why did farmers fail to prosper in the 1920s?
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The Stock Market Crash of 1929
What factors led to the stock market crash in 1929?
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The Stock Market Crash of 1929
Stock Market Crash of 1929 – A ten-day period beginning on October 20, 1929, when the value of stocks plummeted as panicked investors sold off their stock in droves. This moment is usually considered the official start of the Depression.
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Hoover’s Response to the Depression
How did Hoover respond to the initial economic crisis?
What innovative solutions did Hoover propose as the economic crisis continued?
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Hoover’s Response to the Depression
Great Depression – The most devastating and longest economic crisis in American history; lasted from 1929 to 1939
Bonus March – A two-month-long demonstration by forty thousand impoverished World War I veterans in Washington, D.C. that ended violently when the army expelled the protesters
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Choices and Consequences
• Many veterans had little food or money
• Demanded early payment of $500 bonus
• Set up “Hoovervilles” and protested
EVICTING THE BONUS MARCHERS
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Choices regarding Bonus Marchers
Choices and ConsequencesEVICTING THE BONUS MARCHERS
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Pay the bonus immediately
Use force to suppress it
Reject claim, treat veterans as
harmless citizens
Choices and Consequences
Decision and Consequences
• Hoover chose to evict the veterans
• Many were injured and several killed
• Many Americans turned against Hoover
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EVICTING THE BONUS MARCHERS
Why was Hoover’s choice to evict the bonus marchers significant?
Choices and Consequences
Continuing Controversies
•Was the government right to use force to evict the Bonus Marchers?
EVICTING THE BONUS MARCHERS
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A New President and a New Deal
A. FDR: The Politician
B. Managing Appearances
C. The Temper of the Poor: Passivity and Anger
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FDR: The Politician
How did the competing social philosophies of Hoover and FDR differ?
What role did Eleanor Roosevelt play during her husband’s administration?
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FDR: The Politician
New Deal – An avalanche of legislation from 1933 to 1938 intended to promote economic recovery, reform American capitalism, and offer security to ordinary Americans
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Managing Appearances
How and why did FDR manage his political image?
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The Temper of the Poor: Passivity and Anger
What groups of people did the New Deal help? What new role did the New Deal establish for the federal government in their lives?
What competing responses did the poor offer to the ongoing Depression?
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Revamping Banking and Financial Institutions
How did FDR reform the nation’s banking and financial institutions?
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Recovering from the Depression
A. Revamping Banking and Financial Institutions
B. Father Charles Coughlin
C. Helping Industry and People
D. Putting People to Work
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Father Charles Coughlin
What conflicting visions prompted the right and the left to criticize the New Deal?
Why did New Deal banking reforms and relief programs generate criticism?
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Helping Industry and People
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Putting People to Work
Who benefited from the wide range of New Deal work-relief programs?
What competing visions arose over New Deal work-relief programs?
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A New Deal for Farmers
A. Handling the Farm Crisis
B. Hitting the Road
C. Repatriating Mexican Immigrants
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Handling the Farm Crisis
How did the government publicize the plight of farmers and Dust Bowl refugees in the thirties? Why did these images become an enduring symbol of Depression-era suffering?
How did FDR tackle the problems of rural America?
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Handling the Farm Crisis
Dust Bowl – Drought and soil erosion that caused massive dust storms across southern and plains states throughout the thirties
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Hitting the Road
How did displaced farmers act to improve their own lives?
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Hitting the Road
“Migrant Mother” – Dorothea Lange’s 1936 photograph of a destitute woman, which became an iconic portrait of Depression-era suffering
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Repatriating Mexican Immigrants
What happened to Mexican immigrants during the Depression?
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• What was the purpose and impact of Dorothea Lange’s migrant farmer photographs?
Images as History“MIGRANT MOTHER,” AN AMERICAN ICON
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Images as History“MIGRANT MOTHER,” AN AMERICAN ICON
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Subsequent photos focused on despair of family rather than general poverty and framed the image to avoid troublesome questions.
Father not in sight: Looking for work or abandoned family?
Presence of older daughter: Why is she not working?
Open luggage could suggest lack of discipline.
Images as History
Government photographers depicted migrants as heroic victims and never showed them smiling, angry, or responsible for their misery.
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“MIGRANT MOTHER,” AN AMERICAN ICON
As adults, the daughters depicted in these images believed they underscored the importance of individual initiative, to make sure they “never had to live like that again.”
Reforms to Ensure Social Justice
A. The Challenge from Huey Long: “Share Our Wealth”
B. Social Security
C. Supporting Unions
D. The Resurgence of Labor
E. A New Deal for African Americans
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The Challenge from Huey Long: “Share Our Wealth”
How did critics from the left shape the social justice programs of FDR’s second administration?
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The Challenge from Huey Long: “Share Our Wealth”
“Share Our Wealth” – Louisiana Senator Huey Long’s plan that would redistribute money from the rich to the poor
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Social Security
Who was considered part of the “deserving poor” in the new Social Security system?
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Social Security
“Deserving Poor” – Needy Americans who were legitimately entitled to public support, a category open to differing interpretations
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Competing Visions
Senator Huey Long outlined proposal to redistribute wealth.
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SHARING THE WEALTH
What competing images of the poor do Long and this Indiana woman offer?
In letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, an Indiana woman protested that government-distributed relief robs honest men to help “good-for-nothing” loafers.
Supporting Unions
What factors account for labor protests in the thirties, a time when one might expect workers to be grateful for any job on any terms?
How did government support of unions change during the 1930s?
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The Resurgence of Labor
Why were the CIO’s innovative organizing and strike tactics effective?
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The Resurgence of Labor
American Federation of Labor (AFL) – A craft-based organization that accepted only skilled workers, like carpenters or cigar makers, who practiced a trade
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) – A new type of labor organization that organized workers within an entire industry rather than by their trade orientation
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The Resurgence of Labor
Sit-Down Strike – Workers occupy a factory to paralyze production lines and prevent strikebreakers or management from entering the building
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A New Deal for African Americans
Why did many African Americans switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party in the 1930s?
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A New Deal for African Americans
New Deal Coalition – A political partnership formed in the mid-thirties among liberals, trade unionists, Catholics, and northern blacks that redrew the nation’s political map
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The Supreme Court Weighs In
What role did the Supreme Court play during the New Deal?
Why did the New Deal end in 1938?
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• George Gallop’s public opinion polls focused on statistical sampling rather than volume of responses.
Envisioning EvidenceINTERPRETING PUBLIC OPINION POLLS
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Envisioning EvidenceINTERPRETING PUBLIC OPINION POLLS
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Chapter Review Questions
1. What groups of people did the New Deal help and why?
2. Why did images of breadlines and migrant farmers become enduring symbols of Depression-era suffering?
3. Why were there labor protests in the thirties, a time when one might expect workers simply to be grateful for any job on any terms?
4. What conflicting visions prompted the right and left to criticize the New Deal?
5. What new roles did the New Deal establish for the federal government in American society?
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