CH 14

A. Herbert

Hoover (1929-1933, R)

1. Background
self-made millionaire
rugged individualism
continued laissez-faire
2. Foreign Affairs
a. 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria
LON did nothing

b. Hawley-Smoot Tariff 60%

Mellon pulled the whistle,

Hoover rang the bell,
Wall Street gave the signal
And the country went to hell

3. Domestic Affairs
a. low profits in mining & farming
4. Stock Market
a. Speculation taking a risk for a quick profit
b. Buying on margin buying stocks w/small down
payment
c. Black Tuesday (Oct.29, 1929) speculative bubble
burst

 B. Causes

of Great Depression

1. overproduction of goods
2. overuse of credit
3. technological unemployment
4. decline in intl trade
5. economic collapse in Europe
Hastened by the Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930)

 A. Effects

of Depression

1. banks & businesses collapsed

2. high unemployment 30%
3. Shantytowns (Hoovervilles)
4. Soup kitchens & breadlines

Two or three blocks along

Times Square, youd see
these men, silent, shuffling
along in a line. Getting this
handout of coffee and
doughnuts, dealt out from
great trucks. . . . Id see that
flat, opaque, expressionless
look which spelled, for me,
human disaster. Men . . .
who had responsible
positions. Who had lost their
jobs, lost their homes, lost
their families . . . They were
destroyed men.
- quoted in Hard Times

 B. Dust

Bowl (1930s in Midwest)

1. Causes: over-farming, drought

 2. Effects:
1. farmers devastated; Okies left
2. Dorothea Lange photographs
3. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

 C. Effects

of Depression on Families

1. hoboes wandered the rails

2. child malnutrition
3. marriage & children postponed
4. suicides increased

 A. Rugged

Individualism

1. NO direct relief ($ and food)

2. trickle down theory
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
(RFC) loans to banks & businesses
3. Public Works programs
Boulder Dam irrigation, electricity,
flood control, jobs
4. Federal Home Loan Bank Act

 B. Bonus

Army (1932)

1. 20,000 WWI veterans demanded benefits, but

denied by Congress
2. tear gas used to disperse rioting crowd
3. three mos. before pres. election