1930's Lecture Notes

Recording 34
Leading up to the Great Depression: the US was in a recession after WWI- industry was reeling from cancellation of war contracts, shortage of consumer goods, high inflation
Wanted to put the war behind us ASAP- felt a booming business sector was the right approach
Led to the un-hampering of business activity, leading to thirty six hundred worker strikes viewed as socialist plots aimed to plunge the American economy, dealt with very harshly- "Red Scare"
Reverses all of the pro-labor strides
"Return to Normalcy" with Harding means return to labor in early 19th century
Viewed as being to burdensome on economy
Voters reject progressive reformers in favor of Republican presidents embracing laissez-faire
America returns to idea of no foreign entanglements- isolationist policies
Americans further this isolationism by economic isolationism in high tariffs- Hawley Smoot tariff, etc.
Business interests: given special consideration by all institutions of government

Recording 36
Election of 1928
Coolidge becomes president after Harding dies,  wins again in 24, declines to run in 28
Hoover was in charge of dep. of commerce, running against democrat Al Smith
educated as a mining engineer, became wealthy by his own merits
Supporting associationalism- individual initiative within a corporative framework, likes government and private sector to work together while still per suing laissez-faire policies
This approach served him well in business methods and as secretary of commerce
Al Smith: was Catholic, so faced prejudice. Tammany Hall democrat, associated with corruption and political machines and bosses. He's a "wet"- wants to end prohibition
This makes Hoover into an easy winner. Voters show approval of republican policies by electing Hoover by a landslide and instituting an overwhelmingly Republican congress.
No one thinks that the economic depression is coming.
Lack of diversification, income gap, overproduction, buying on margin, easy credit, breakdown of world trade (partly due to high tariffs), and trouble of older industries - railroad, steel, etc.- are all leading up to the collapse of the economy, all accelerating the impact of the GMC
Great Market Crash begins when investors get nervous and sell stocks, then volume of selling increases, one day the market took a huge plunge but they closed early, halting it for now- the next tuesday, it crashed again. Value of stocks went down as selling increased.
Hoover tries to assure them that the economy is sound, but to no avail- causes banks and businesses to fail
There's no insurance at the banks, so banks run out of money and close their doors.
Hoover hated the idea of direct relief due to "Rugged Individualism" idea of self-dependence.
Tent cities pop up- "Hoovervilles"- and thousands lose their jobs, malnutrition and disease increase, etc.
1932: 95 people die of starvation in New York City

Recording 37:
Hoover refused Muscle Shoals Bill that would have provided electricity to the Tennessee River area- rejected on grounds that it would compete with private businesses.
Urged state and local authorities to take hold of situation
Hoover met with business and labor leaders to avoid layoffs and strikes, signed the Anti-Injunction Act outlawing anti-union/yellow dog contracts, prevented federal courts from issuing injunctions
Financed Boulder, Hoover, and Grand Coulee Dams
1932: Reconstruction Finance Corp. This makes half a billion dollars in pump-priming loans- went all to corporations to "trickle down" - it never actually trickled down
This is prototype to New Deal
Hawley Smoot Tariff of 1930: tries to get farmers tariff relief, but legislature allowed special interest groups to manipulate taxes to be higher than lower
Hampered in his attempts to alleviate distress by increasingly hostile congress that tried to shift all blame on Hoover.
Midterm elections: liberals are everywhere
Final straw: 1932 Bonus Army. Thousands of veterans camped out in shanty town to lobby for bonus promised to get to them by the 1930's
Hoover left with responsibility of disbanding the veterans- some refused to move and Hoover brought in the army, who used bayonets, tear gas, burning down of tents, etc. Infants were victimized and injured because of it
1932 election: Hoover runs for reelection, but obviously didn't do well at all
Hoover: "The Worst is Past", "Prosperity is Just Around the Corner"
FDR: "New Deal for the Forgotten Man", "Happy Days are Here Again"
Beginning of the New Deal Coalition

Recording 38
1933 Inaugural Address: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
FDR's first action: Bank Holiday
The Three R's: Relief, Recovery, and Reform
First 100 days: major pieces of legislation passed with Democratic Congress
Gained popularity with Fireside Chats on the radio- outstanding orator.
Eleanor Roosevelt: Kicked butt
FDR characterized as bold, energetic, optimistic, tenacious
"Broad Executive Power" made many weary of how much power Roosevelt wanted to have
Banks get a break and relief during holiday, but this sets public on edge- passage of Emergency Banking Relief Act to reassure the people that these reforms will be good for them
Goals of New Deal Legislation from 1933 to 1935: Relief, Recovery, Reform
Congress gives President power unparalleled in US history
This flurry of activity was physiologically what the US needed, and things began moving again
Lasting legacy: reinstate a progressive stamp of national progress and to tamper with laissez-faire enough to control the booms and busts of free market capitalism

Recording 39
FDR manages all the money
Glass-Steagall Act created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to help trust the banks again
Creating jobs: "priming the pump".
 Civilian Conservation Corp. employed 3 million young men, gave men hope and dignity, and helped conserve forests
Federal Emergency Relief Act gave 3 billion dollars to states to be used as welfare- has CWA as a sub-organization of strictly temporary jobs- designed solely just for relief
Federal Relief Administration had relief and recovery aim
AAA: to benefit famers, created to maintain farm income by reducing supply in the market to reduce overproduction by paying farmers to decrease their acreage. Government bought surpluses and destroyed them so prices could come up. Payed for by food taxes on slaughterhouses, etc.
Butler v. US ruled this unconstitutional
Home Owners' Loan Corp helped end foreclosure and closing of banks
Civil Works Administration helped too

Recording 40
Critics of the New Deal: Father Charles Coughlin, Huey Long, and Dr. Francis Townsend
Coughlin: priest from Michigan, began broadcasting his views on the radio in 1930, critical because he believed that the NRA and AAA benefitted only industry and well-off farmers, charged that Roosevelt was a liar due to not nationalizing the banks. Had the largest radio audience in history thus far- resorted to fascist rhetoric, eventually canceling his show in 1942
Huey Long promoted an idea of wealth redistribution "to make every man a king". Assassinated in 1935.
Townsend organized supporters in a plan to give $200 a month to senior citizens each month (more than the average worker's monthly wages) to stimulate the economy. He quiets down after the Social Security Act is passed in 1935.
Women and the New Deal: Eleanor Roosevelt, Francis Perkins, Mary Bethune
Eleanor: inspired and related to the American population
Francis Perkins: First female cabinet member
Mary Bethune: highest ranking black woman in government
Industry and labor: National Recovery Administration: was the most complex of the New Deal programs. 1933- correlate business and labor, called for self-restraint on both end.Expensive for industries, workers who already had a job found their income decrease- each group felt it was asked too much of
Goals: help labor, industry, and the unemployed- later declared unconstitutional in the Chicken case
Public Works Administration: headed  by Herald Icks, pursued thousands of public work projects; success proved government was better as a contractor for labor rather than a mediator between business and labor- included hiring artists, actors, tree planting, ditch digging, etc.
21rst Amendment passed: end of prohibition in 1933.
Mood of the country was still desperate, and that programs had not gone far enough

Recording 41
2nd New Deal: Problems: strikes and dead NRA in 1934. Solution: Wagner Act (1935) that will create a national labor relations board to foster unions and protect the right of collective bargaining; Fair Labor Standards Act 1938: requires all industries involved in interstate commerce to establish max hours for weeks  (40 hour week) and minimum wage.
Congress of Industrial Organization set up by John Lewis to bring in skilled and unskilled workers
Tennessee Valley Authority: electricity project to stop price gauge that companies have been exhibiting and wanted to bring electricity to rural areas; more than 20 dams were built to prevent flooding and provide power, as well as employing thousands of workers, eliminate erosion, etc. Notable success, despite companies attempts to discredit the achievement
Federal Housing Admin, 1934: make small loads to home owners for improvements or finishing construction, supplemented by US Housing Authority. Many families got out of shanty towns.
Social Security Act, 1935: funded by mandated contributions, from 10 to 85$ per month
SEC put all investors on a level playing field and dismantled insider trading
FDR got mad at supreme court, devised Court Packing Scheme- asked congress to add a judge of this choosing for every judge over 70 years old.
He hugely overreached- perceived as attempt to disrupt checks and balances
Twilight of the New Deal
Roosevelt backs of federal employment programs, leading to the Roosevelt Recession, wiping out most gains since 1933.
Begins employing deficit spending/Keynesian Economics: spend money you don't have to help economy, then regain this later through higher taxes
Leads to counter-faction to New Deal Coalition- Conservative Conservation that can successfully block New Deal legislation
New Deal or Raw Deal?