US History 2: Hoover Administration + Great Depression Part Three

What did Herbert Hoover believe during the Great Depression?

federal government should not interfere with the economy, argued that American families steeled their determination, continued to work hard, practiced self-reliance, US would pull out of the recession

shantytowns filled with the homeless and

hoover villes

Hoover's inflexible conservatism ultimately prevented him from facing the _______________. What happened to the European demand for American exports?

impending economic crisis, dropped, farmers were more and more in debt, Americans continuing to live extravagant life-styles (on credit)

made the Depression extremely severe, americans owned money, middle class shrunk into nonresistance, few Americans had vast amounts of wealth while the rest lived barely above the poverty level

income inequality

What was the worst possible year for the entire Great Depression?

1932- 1933

The pattern of inaction made Herbert Hoover one of the most ________ men in America. "has Herbert hoover died?"

despised

What was Herbert Hoover's response to the Great Depression?

downplayed the crash, slump would be temporary, would clean up corruption, clean up bad business practices

October 29,1929

Black Tuesday

Hoover's inability to recognize the severity of the crisis or potential for disaster only worsened the _________. Many historians believed that Hoover could have dampened the effects of the Depression had he only regulated the finance sector of the economy and provided direct relief to the unemployed and homeless.

Depression.

What was Herbert Hoover's great misfortune when he took presidency? What was Hoover considered?

Great Depression, smart, well-traveled, enormously capable, activist, humanitarian , guiding spirit of progressivism, faith in rational/informed public policy

Who did the poverty and despair of his countrymen affect?

Hoover

raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to record levels

Smoot Hawley Tariff

According to the text, what role should the federal government play in the recovery? What role should individuals and/or local governments play?

The role that federal government should play in the recovery is to aid the people when they need the most help. The federal government should be balancing things like the government. The local governments should play attention to social affairs but mainly focus on balancing issues.

According to the text, what specific policies did Hoover propose to end the Great Depression?

The specific policies that Hoover did to propose to end the Great Depression is strengthening the forces of recovery, strengthening confidence, and the balancing of the Federal Government.

did not help the situation, many banks were little better than the previous banks, rural banks in the West/South were not good, federal gov. did not regulate the banks, and Americans had nowhere to turn to lodge complaints against bad banks. majority of people had no idea what happened to their money after they handed it over to the bankers.

bad banking practices

many bankers capitalized on the bull market to buy stocks on margin with customers savings. money vanished when the market crashed and millions of families lost their entire savings, banks failed during the first months of the Depression- produced an even greater panic and rush to withdraw private savings

bad banking practices

What did Hoover believe about sound volunteerism?

best remedy for economic distress (rather than adopt strong federal regulatory/fiscal measures, called for more studies and for an organized but voluntary response on part of the private sector)

What did Herbert Hoover won the presidency on- what was the platform?

big business, against big government

marched on DC in summer of 1932, set up giant filthy Hooverville in front of the Capitol and were determined not to leave until the government paid them. Hoover eventually ordered General Douglas MacArthur (of WWII fame) to forcibly remove the Bonus Army

bonus army

middle- aged WWI veterans were among the hardest hit. Congress had agreed to pay veterans a bonus stipend to be collected in 1945. depression worsened and more of the veterans demanded their bonuses early. congress refused to pay so more than 20K of the vets formed the army and marched on Washington DC.

bonus army

In general, what happened to people's ability to buy goods and serves in 1933 compared with 1928?

cannot spend as much on luxuries, good/services have to be split,all people were affected, big impact on people (increased- food/housing) (Decreased: clothing/transportion) (lowered standard of living)

What did the 1929 stock market crash act as?

catalyst for the Great Depression

shifted from heavy industrial production to mass manufacturing. most of America's wealth come from iron/steel/coal, manufacturing customer goods such as automobiles/radios/other gods formed the basis of the economy. more and more people began purchasing goods on credit (pay items later), economic bubble burst, creditors had to absorb the cost of millions in bad loans that debtors couldn't repay, cost of millions in bad loans that debtors couldn't repay, policymakers found it difficult to end the Depressioon's circle, Americans could not buy goods until they had jobs, but no factories wanted to give people jobs because they could not sell goods to a population that had no $.

changing economy

What were the causes of the Great Depression?

changing economy, buying on margin, overproduction in factories, overproduction on farms, bad banking practices, income inequality, old war debts

aftermath of WW1 in Europe played a significant role in the downward spiral of the global economy in the late 1920s. according to treaty of versailles, germany owed France and England impossible sums in war reparations and in turn owed millions of dollars to the US. starting in germany, a wave of Depression spread through Europe as each country became unable to pay off its debt, as a result, the Great Depression affected the rest of the industrialized world

old war debts

overproduction in manufacturing contributed to the economic collapse. factories produced more and more consumer goods in an effort to match demand during the 20s. output soared as more companies utilized new machines to increase production, but workers' wages remained relatively stagnant throughout the decade. price of goods plummeted when factories began producing more goods than people demanded

overproduction in factories

farmers faced overproduction crisis, increasing debt forced many of them to plant more and more profitable cash crops such as wheat each year. wheat depletes soil's nutrients and renders it unsuitable for planting over time, but impoverished farmers could not afford to plant any other crop. harvesting more wheat depressed prices/forced them to plant even more the next year- perpetuated the cycle

overproduction on farms

Americans had also purchased millions of dollars in stick on credit. investors could purchase a share of a company's stock and then use the projected earnings of that stock to buy even ore. Many people abused the system to invest huge sums of imaginary money that existed only on paper

overproduction on margin

What did the Crash of 1929 cause?

panic that rapidly developed into a depression the likes of which Americans had never experienced, millions lost their jobs/homes as most factories laid off workers in the cities to cut production and expenses

What did more people start to do in 1929?

pull their money out of Wall Street

What was Herbert Hoover applauded for when he first took presidency?

versatile ability, sterling character, progressive leanings