CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The Great Depression and the

New Deal, 1929–1940

PART ONE:Introduction

Chapter Focus Questions

What were the causes and consequences of the Great Depression?

What characterized the politics of hard times? Who was Franklin D. Roosevelt and what were

the two New Deals? How did the federal sphere expand in the West? What characterized American cultural life

during the 1930s? What were the legacies and limits of New Deal

reform?

PART TWO:

Sit-Down Strike at Flint:Automobile Workers

Organize a New Union

Sit-Down Strike at Flint

Flint/GM strike. Depression hard. GM resists UAW. Strikers seized plants. Community support. GM gave in. UAW recognized.

PART THREE:

Hard Times

The Bull Market and the Crash

Stock prices rose. Easy credit. Market peaked, eased down. Worth 1/2. Margin buyers pay cash. Depression unseen. Chart: The Stock Market 1921–1932

Underlying Weakness

Crash not cause. Economic flaws seen Industrial growth Up, wages static. Rich-poor gap widened.

Mass Unemployment Manufacturers spend less Workers laid off. Bank runs No consumer demand 33% idle in ‘33. Social male role overturned. Chart: Unemployment, 1929–1945

Hoover’s Failure Relief sources overwhelmed. Hoover vetoed aid. Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Banks saved, but no growth.

Protest and the Election of 1932

Map: The Election of 1932 Bonus Army. FDR wins.

PART FOUR:

FDR and the First New Deal

FDR the Man FDR privileged. Polio. 2-term governor:

reformer “brain trust”

Restoring Confidence Four-day “bank holiday.” Fireside chats. Congress passed bank laws.

The Hundred Days

“Hundred days” session. Revive industry. Revive agriculture. Emergency relief.

PART FIVE:

Left Turn and the Second New Deal

Roosevelt’s Critics Socialistic. Too timid including:

Upton Sinclair. Francis Townsend. Huey Long.

Strikes demonstrations

The Second Hundred Days

FDR shifted leftward.

Labor’s Upsurge: Rise of the CIO

Committee for Industrial Organization . John Lewis organizes. Flint GM success led to victories. Reinvigorated labor movement.

The New Deal Coalition at High Tide

FDR reelected 1936. His supporters included:

traditional white southern Democrats big-city political machines trade unionists depression-hit farmers ethnic voters

PART SIX:

The New Deal in the South and

West

Southern Farming and Landholding

1930, Southern land ownership. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration. Subsidies helped owners/hurt workers. Migration.

The Dust Bowl

Map: The Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl.

The Government and the Dust Bowl

Soil Conservation Service. AAA. “Okies.” Aggressive deportation.

Water Policy Map: The New Deal and Water Water projects.

urban growth , agricultural expansion massive irrigation.

Flood control. Low-cost electricity. Consequence:

a few farmers rich. Mexicans got low wages.

Environment declined..

A New Deal for Indians Harmful practices reformed. Indian Reorganization Act. Some tribes rejected IRA. Bureau of Indian Affairs:

restore tribal rights. Restore cultural rights.

PART SEVEN:

Depression-Era Culture

A New Deal for the Arts

American culture. New Deal’s Federal Project No. 1:

artists and intellectuals. The Federal Writers Project theatrical performances orchestra tours new compositions new art

The Documentary Impulse “Documentary impulse”. Farm Security Administration

photographers. John Steinbeck portrayed Okies.

Waiting for Lefty Marxist analysis influenced writers. Communists’ “popular front”.

Film in the 1930s Movies an enjoyable escape. Hollywood social issues. Walt Disney’s cartoons. Frank Capra’s comedies.

Radio in the 1930sHousehold Radios 1930

With RadioNo Radio

Radio in the 1930sHousehold Radios 1940

With RadioNo Radio

Radio in the 1930s Vaudeville, minstrel comedy shows. Soap operas. Network news.

The Swing Era

Radio popularized jazz. Benny Goodman. Popularized African-American music. Swing era.

PART EIGHT:

The Limits of Reform

Court Packing

1937, New Deal in retreat. SCOTUS overturned key New Deal

programs. FDR asked for judges. New Dealers feared FDRs motives. FDR gets judges—at a cost.

The Women’s Network

New Deal affected women. Women gain influence. Eleanor Roosevelt. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins. Women gain roles in society.

A New Deal for Minorities?

No new deal for minorities. Lower wages for black. Blacks unprotected. FDR banned WPA discrimination . 1936, black voters supported Democrats. Little help to Mexicans and Mexican

Americans.

The Roosevelt Recession 1937, FDR federal deficit too large. Spending cut. Severe recession. Increased unemployment. Weakened New Deal support. 1938 elections increased GOP. Further reforms nearly impossible.