The New Deal. Life, Causes, and Effects

Transcription

1 Today s Questions 2. What were 3 problems many Americans faced that required a New Deal? 3. How did the New Deal work? 4. Why did banks fail & close during the Great Depression?

2 The New Deal Life, Causes, and Effects

3 Everyone was emotionally affected. We developed a fear of the future which was very difficult to overcome. Even though I eventually went into some fairly good jobs, there was still this constant dread: everything would be cut out from under you and you wouldn't know what to do. Ward James, quoted in Hard Times

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5 Life in America Unemployment Men felt a loss of status Women Americans thought women were taking jobs away from men Married women were usually fired Poverty forced some to work as servants

6 Life in America Teenagers Term created in 1930s to keep young people in school longer and out of the work force Boys worked after school or dropped out Late ,000 teens roaming country Snuck onto freight trains Begged for food Lived in squatter camps along railroad tracks

7 Life in America Homelessness Hoovervilles Under bridges and underpasses people [were] living in old, rusted out car bodies.there were people living in shacks made of orange crates. One family with a whole lot of kids were living in a piano box.

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11 Life in America The Dust Bowl 150,000-square-mile of farms in KS, OK, TX, CO, and NM damaged by dust Overgrazing of livestock and overplowing of fields Rain and improved farming methods finally helped Farmers and their families moved west (specifically CA) to find work

12 Life in America Soup and Breadlines

13 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Elected 1932 Gave Americans hope Inaugural address he said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself Willing to try new things and change how the government worked

14 FDR s First Steps Bank holiday Temporary shutdown of all banks Only banks that were in good shape would be allowed to reopen Fireside chats Radio broadcasts where FDR explained policies in warm, friendly style to the American people Safer to keep money in bank than under the mattress People deposited more money the next day than they withdrew

15 The New Deal FDR s programs to fight the depression Intended to ease suffering and prevent such a severe depression from happening again Used borrowed money to fund government programs (deficit spending) Three Rs Relief for hungry and jobless Recovery for agriculture and industry Reforms to change the way economy worked (banks and wages)

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17 The New Deal Social Security Act Created to help elderly Lost their savings Bank failures Crash of 1929 Lost homes Begging for food Workers and employers made payments into a special fund from which they would draw a pension after they retired Also helped other groups Laid-off workers Disabled workers Needy families with dependent children

18 New Deal Programs Today Agriculture price supports paid farmers to raise crops for domestic use rather than export. Must agree to limit space devoted to certain crops Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures bank deposits up to $100,000 and replaces deposits of individuals if banks closes Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) watches stock market to ensure companies follow fair practices for trading stocks

19 Effects of the New Deal

20 Effects of the New Deal FDR s leadership and concern for poor helped Americans keep their faith in democracy Changes in government Relief payments School lunches Provided pensions People came to see the federal government as the protector of their welfare, not the state or local governments People who survived depression feared losing money and property again

21 Effects of the New Deal African Americans Became Democrats to support FDR s programs that help the poor No new civil rights legislation because FDR needed southern congressmen to support his programs If I come out for the antilynching bill now, [the Southeners] will block every bill I ask congress to pass to keep America from collapsing FDR Remained loyal to FDR because he was trying to help the poor

22 Effects of the New Deal THE NEW DEAL DID NOT END THE DEPRESSION WWII ended the Depression The government needed guns, tanks, ships, airplanes, etc Defense industry hired many people who then had more money to spend