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The Great Depression and the New Deal
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture and
should be reviewed.
Video Clips
In many of the cyberlectures, I have added
video clips from a variety of sources. I believe that video often is
very effective to bring a topic to life.
In some cases, especially the History
Channel, you will have to tolerate a 30 second advertisement. I
apologize for the inconvenience.
By the 1920's, the corporate industrial
economy had grown for more than a half century. Along with its
strengths, serious weaknesses developed. Few Americans noticed the
emerging problems as the pursuit of wealth blinded many. The
consumer culture of the 1920's and a business oriented government
promoted the pursuit of not only money but of debt as well. When
mass purchasing power could no longer sustain prosperity, the
economy collapsed. The greatest depression in history dawned and
unlike his predecessors, Herbert Hoover attempted to take
governmental action--however, it was too little to stem the tide of
misery.
The Great Depression
was caused by a variety of factors:
Farming had been depressed throughout
the 1920's due to worldwide overproduction
Unemployment in the late 1920's in
railroad, coal and textile industries
Frantic over speculation in real estate
and the stock market
Excessive use of credit by consumers
and businesses
Depressed farm economy
Unequal distribution of income as
approximately 40% of all families had an income under $1,500 per
year which put them below the poverty level. At the same time,
America's 24,000 wealthiest families had a total income THREE
TIMES as large as the total income of the 6,000,000 poorest
families!!!!
A weak banking structure (20% closed
wiping out millions of savings accounts), miscalculation by the
Federal Reserve Board and a faltering international economy.
The human toll of the collapse of the
American economy, with twenty-five percent of the work force
unemployed, was seen in soup lines and bread lines throughout the
United States. Banks failed, companies closed, one hundred thousand
business went bankrupt, houses and farms were lost through
foreclosure and many people became homeless and destitute.
Malnutrition increased as did death from starvation. Although my
grandfather worked less hours for lower wages, the Gfg464lvs family paid
their mortgage by renting rooms in their home and growing a large
garden. They had always been relatively poor, did not purchase on
credit or have money in the stock market--once again, they were
survivors as were most Americans. An ecological disaster, the
Dust Bowl,
transformed 1,500 miles of prairie farmland into desert--view
this video clip from the History Channel
Dust Bowl.
Millions were forced to relocate, many becoming wandering, homeless
migrant workers--often despised in the towns they entered seeking
work. Mexican-Americans, African-Americans and other groups suffered
up to 50% unemployment. Meet some of the urban and rural survivors
as portrayed in
Dorothea Lange's Photographs.
It is important for you to realize that these people lived in an
American society that had not yet "invented": public welfare
programs, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, no free lunches in
school, few private pension programs, few unemployment benefit
programs. There was no formal socio-economic safety net.
In 1932, an inspirational and somehow
confident
Franklin D. Roosevelt
swept into office with an
urgent mandate to cope with this depression emergency. A man
stricken with polio and confined to a wheelchair was now to lead us
during one of our darkest hours--with some assistance from his wife
Eleanor,
who is often considered the most active and effective first lady
(sorry Hillary). An excellent speaker, an inspirational leader and a
man of action who believed in political solutions to political
problems. The primary strategies of FDR's
"New Deal"
included:
Use of the commerce and elastic clauses
of the Constitution to take direct action by passing relief,
recovery and reform measures that involved the federal
government to a greater degree than any time in our history.
Stimulate the economy, lower
unemployment and promote the "general welfare" by lowering taxes
and dramatically increasing government spending (deficit
spending)
Increasing the regulatory role of the
federal government over banks, businesses and the stock exchange
Passing the 21st Amendment --view
this video clip from the History Channel.
The textbook is very effective in
addressing the various programs and strategies of the New
Deal--including the 3 R's,: Relief, Reform and Recovery. However,
you might find it interesting to review editorial cartoons
portraying various perspectives of Mr. Roosevelt and his New Deal.
His bank holiday and frantic Hundred Days
of legislation lifted spirits and created a host of new governmental
agencies to provide relief to the unemployed, promote
economic/social recovery and permanently reform the
financial/governmental systems providing the foundation of American
capitalism. FDR utilized the
Fireside Chat
to reach out and communicate with the people throughout the
country--view this video clip of his first radio broadcast.
Roosevelt's programs put millions of the unemployed back to work
through federal action. As popular demagogues like Huey Long and
Father Charles Coughlin increased their appeal to the suffering
population, FDR developed and implemented sweeping programs to
reorganize and reform American industry, labor and agriculture. The
Social Security Act, Wagner Act, TVA, AAA, FHA, FDIC, WPA, PWA and a
host of other
"alphabet" programs/agencies
(another great lecture from Professor Schultz) brought far reaching
changes primarily benefiting the economically disadvantaged.
Unfortunately, Native Americans (although finally granted United
States citizenship in 1924), African-Americans, Mexican-Americans
and Women experienced limited improvement in there social or
economic situations. However, in one of the most dramatic electorate
reversals of the 20th Century, these groups left the party of
Lincoln (Republicans) and embraced FDR and the Democrats.
Conservatives and Demagogues (Father
Coughlin Dr. Townsend and Huey Long --listen to his
Share The
Wealth Speech) furiously denounced the New Deal for a
variety of reasons, but Roosevelt formed a powerful coalition of
urbanites, labor, "new immigrants", African-Americans and the South
that swept him to victory in 1936.
Roosevelt's court
packing plan
fortunately failed, but the Court finally began approving New
Deal Legislation as deaths and retirements enabled FDR to appoint
five new justices. The later New Deal encountered mounting
conservative opposition and the stubborn persistence of
unemployment. Although the New Deal was highly controversial, and
never actually succeeded in achieving recovery (thank you Adolf!),
it saved America from extreme right-wing or left-wing dictatorships
(the American Nazi
Party was
very popular in the 1930's), created economic stabilizers to
compensate for future swings in the economy (like right now!!!),
designed the modern role of the presidency, and established a
limited welfare state for the "public good". In retrospect, a
significant issue to ponder is whether the New Deal was a
revolutionary break with the past role of the federal government or
an evolutionary outgrowth of earlier progressive movements. What do
you think?
Visit a site
dedicated to the cultural issues of the 1930's!
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography of
America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
,
an exceptional video instructional series for high school and
college students produced by WGBH Boston in cooperation with the
Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records
Administration. These thirty minute lectures incorporate first
person narratives, photographs, film footage and documents related
to various historical time periods. Combined with my introductory
comments, the required textbooks and our discussions, I believe you
will acquire a more in-depth and enjoyable encounter with history.
Please note the requirements and possible download limitations—which
is why this is not a requirement. Please follow the directions below
and give it a try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs of your
choice online with a broadband connection whenever you see this
icon.  There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program and go
to the individual program description listing and click on the icon.
Free sign up required for first-time users. To hear the sound
and view video, you should have Windows Media Player, DSL, a
cable modem, or a LAN connection to a T1 line or greater, and have
Javascript enabled. For more information, please visit our
broadband FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and
access the
presentation: FDR and The Depression.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview,
numerous Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents
and my favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites
Related to the Specific Topics--CHOOSE A CHAPTER
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
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