Chapter 3 The Great Depression World War II

Chapter 3 The Great Depression & World War II (1929 – 1945) U. S. HISTORY SCOTTS HILL HIGH SCHOOL COACH STROUP

The Great Depression Economic Cycle I. a) b) c) d) e) Downturns occur when a shock to the economic system, such as a natural disaster, a war, or sudden rise in taxes or interest rates. When the demand curve shifts, demand falls for all goods and services, it is not so easy for all producers to lower their prices. Producers can lower supply by cutting production. Producing less, they don’t need workers, & then unemployment increases, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declines. When the GDP declines for six months or more then your economy is in a recession.

The Great Depression e) f) g) The recession continues until prices across country fall, so that demand & then production increases. When it increases, its known as a upturn, or recovery, in the economy. If it doesn’t recover, and proceeds for a long time and the decrease in GDP is severe, the downturn is called a depression.

The Great Depression II. The Effects of the Great Depression a) b) c) d) e) By 1932, 24% of all American workers (12 million), unemployed. Some parts of the country, such as Harlem, New York, as high as 50%. Those who did work, did so for less hours and wages, unemployment rate averaged 18% throughout the decade. ½ of all Americans felt the effects of the Great Depression. Many had no work for several years, in effort to safe every penny, people turned off home electricity, lived on eggs, sold apples, left homes to live with relatives or sought shelter in abandoned cars & cardboard boxes.

Great Depression f) g) h) i) j) k) With no money people could not afford housing, shantytowns were common. Shantytowns were place where people lived in tents and shacks. Many would blame President Hoover for these conditions, and soon would become known as “Hoovervilles”. Child would quit schools for the lack of supplies and cloths. Many children suffered malnutrition, and diseases as typhoid and diphtheria, illnesses associated with poverty. People realized that banks were in a crisis, and quickly withdrew there funds.

The Great Depression l) m) n) o) p) q) These “runs” on the banks almost completely destoryed the U. S. banking system. 2/5 of the nations banks failed between 1929 & 1933. Farmers had little compared to city dwellers. Farmers were unable to make payments on land, buildings, equipment. They would eventually default on their loans, losing everything that lead to being homless. Between 1929 & 1933, ¾ of all rural banks closed, compounding farmers’ problems.

The Great Depression III. Bonus Army a) b) c) d) In 1932, thousands of unemployed WWI veterans known as the Bonus Army occupied empty buildings in Washington D. C. They built a shantytown in nearby Maryland to protest the gov’t failure to pay them “bonus” money immediately. Because of the Depression, veterans were suffering economic hardships and needed their money sooner than the pay date of 1945. Bonus Army’s temporary homes were eventually stormed by federal troops, causing casualties and the dispersal of the Bonus Army veterans.

The Great Depression IV. Religious Revivalism a) b) c) d) e) While the economy was tanking, a wave of religious revivalism swept parts of the South in the 1920’s. In 1925, Tennessee passed statute that prohibited teaching theories contrary to the Biblical concept of creation. This would include theories of evolution by scientist Charles Darwin. In the same year, John Scopes , (high school biology teacher), charged with teaching Darwinism in a public school. Clarence Darrow agued that Tennessee’s law violated the separation of church and state by taking a distinct religious position, impeding academic freedom in the process.

The Great Depression f) g) h) i) j) Former Populist leader & presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan aided that prosecution by acting as an expert on the Bible. Prosecution eventually won the trail. Darrow’s interrogation of Bryan’s literal interpretation of the Bible subjected Bryan's religious beliefs to criticism and ridicule. Scopes was later released by the state Supreme Court on a technicality. The law banning theories other than creationism was not repealed until 1967.

The Great Depression V. Presidential Election of 1932 a) b) c) d) e) f) Herbert Hoover was challenged by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Roosevelt was the governor of New York. Democrats blamed the Great Depression on Hoover and the policies of the Republicans. Roosevelt’s victory was a landslide. Won by almost 20% of the popular vote, and held 472 electoral votes over Hoover’s 59. Soon after taking office, Roosevelt told the country, “This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. ”

The Great Depression g) h) i) j) Roosevelt vowed to “put the people to work”. In a nation where its people had seen on bank close after another, Roosevelt promised, “strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments…an end to speculation with other people’s money and…provision for adequate but sound currency. ” Roosevelt assured the country, “The people of the U. S. have not failed. In their need they would have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. ” That “action” would take place as the “New Deal”.