APUSH Chapter 23: the Great Depression – Flashcards

Prosperity of the American economy had relied on just a few industries (construction & automobiles) In the late 1920's those industries began to decline. There were newer industries emerging to pick up the slack of the failing industries (petroleum, chemicals, plastics) but they weren't developed enough to compensate for the decline of the other industries.

Demand was not keeping up with supply. Half of America was too poor to buy goods the economy was producing. Factories were producing more goods than consumers could purchase. Because there was a decline in demand, industries started laying off workers. (also because technology could replace jobs)

Farmers were in debt and many of them had their land mortgaged. The crop prices were too low to allow them to pay off what they owed. Many of the small banks in the 1920s had consumers who relied on loans. Banks of the 20s were investing recklessly in the stock market or making unwise loans.

European demand for American goods began to decline. Partly because European industry & agriculture were more productive and partly because European nations were having trouble financially and they couldn't afford to buy goods from overseas. Also because their economies were destroyed from WWI.

Construction & automobile.

Demand was not keeping up with supply and factories were producing more goods than people could afford.

Farmers were in debt and many of them had their land mortgaged. The crop prices were too low to allow them to pay off what they owed. Many of the small banks in the 1920s had consumers who relied on loans. Banks of the 20s were investing recklessly in the stock market or making unwise loans.

European demand for American goods began to decline. After the war, all the nations allied with the US owed money to the banks, but it was too much money for them considering their economies had been destroyed by the war. American banks began making large loans to European governments to pay off their earlier loans so that they could then pay back America. So debts and reparations were being paid only by piling up new and greater debts. American protective tariffs made it hard for Europeans to sell their goods in America.

The banking system collapsed because banks were either going bankrupt or closing before they hit bankruptcy. The depression could have possibly been avoided if the FRS had been more responsible. But the board of the FRS was too worried about their own economic situation they raised interest rates in 1931 which contracted the money supply even further.

"Cities were becoming paralyzed by unemployment" Cleveland - unemployment rate of 50% Akron - unemployment rate of 60% Toledo - unemployment rate of 80% No one was prepared for the scale and duration of joblessness

It affected all other nations who had been allied with America in WWI.

They weren't very effective. They served only a small number of people in need of help. They were unequipped to handle the demands. In many places relief simply collapsed. Private charities attempted to supplement the public relief efforts but the problem was beyond their capabilities. State governments felt pressure to expand their own assistance to the unemployed but tax revenues were declining along with everything else.

When the depression began most of them were still farmers living in the south. When the depression hit most of them were left with no income at all and they left their land. Many moved to southern cities but whites believed they had first claim to all work and started taking black peoples jobs. Whites in many southern cities demanded that all blacks be laid off from their jobs. Some whites even used violence to drive blacks away from their jobs.

hey had a similar experience to blacks during the depression. White Anglos in the South demanded jobs held by hispanics. Some Mexicans were even forced to leave the country. Most relief programs excluded MExicans from their rolls or offered them benefits far below those available to whites. They generally did not have access to American schools and most hospitals refused them admission.

Faced discrimination just like the blacks and hispanics had. Even educated Asians had always found it difficult to move into mainstream professions. They too, often lost jobs to white Americans desperate for work. Those who moved outside of the Asian community could rarely find jobs above the entry level.

The depression strengthened the belief that a woman's proper place was in the home. There was a belief that no woman should accept a job if her husband was employed, but that didn't stop them from doing so. Many women of the time worked simply because their families needed the money. By the end of the depression 20% more women were working than had been doing so at the beginning. Opportunities for women declined. The nonprofessional jobs that women typically help were less likely to disappear than the predominantly male jobs in industry.

They didn't buy unneeded things like they had in the 20s. Women typically sewed clothes, and families relied on growing their own food instead of buying it. Many took up home businesses. The overall strength of the family was "eroded"

It actually kept it the same. Although some blamed their government for their tough situation, many americans blamed themselves for their joblessness and were still driven to succeed and get themselves out of the situation they were in.

A lot of authors started to write about the hard times; social studies.

Almost every family has a radio. It was a communital thing; friends and family would gather to listen to the radio together. Comedy skits were performed on it.

They focused on success stories to give hope to the American people who were going through hard times.

Late 1930s more literature more optimistic of society b/c of rise of Popular Front coalition led by American Communist Party- supported Franklin Roosevelt and New Deal, mobilized intellectuals toward social criticism Intellectual detachment of 1920s targeted by Popular Front- mobilized some men into Lincoln Brigade to fight in Spanish Civil War against the fascists

The communist party was very respected at the time.

His first response was to try and restore the public's confidence in the economy. In attempt to do so he gathered leaders of business labor & agriculture to the White House. He pushed for them to adopt a program of voluntary cooperation for recovery. He tried to persuade them of not to lay off workers but to give them higher wages & better hours. However, the economic conditions deteriorated and the voluntary cooperation idea was ineffective.

After his voluntary cooperation plan failed he used the government spending to help fight the harshness of the depression. Even increasing the spending by 423 million into federal public work programs wasn't enough to fix the economy's problems. Eventually conditions worsened & Hoover was less willing to increase spending. It then became a problem if the budget was balanced and in 1932 he even proposed a tax to help the government avoid deficit.

The incident served as the "final blow" to Hoover's political standing. It proved to the American people that he was unsympathetic to their stressful situations.

He was positive. He was able to present himself as a more energetic and imaginative leader than Hoover. Even though Roosevelt had qualities Americans were looking for in a leader, Hoover's unpopularity alone won FDR the presidency.

Roosevelt refused to agree to any of them