Background of Pres. Hoover and the 1928 election:
Hoover born in West Branch, Iowa
Both parents died before age 10
Lived in Oregon with Aunt and Uncle
Graduated Sanford in Geology
First job was Mine Engineer
Known as Humanitarian because of his help in WWI
Harding and Coolidge Secretary of State
Then hoover ran for president
Runs against Catholic Democrat Al Smith
Hoover voted in because of the previous Republican presidents
Hoover's fight against the Great Depression:
Was blamed for not doing anything to help the country
Philosophy was to keep out of deficit spending. Staying out of debt
Federal Farm Board tried to help farmers
Norris-La Guardia Act- Got rid of yellow dog contracts.
Yellow Dog contract- Employer asked employee to pledge not to join a union
Dam Projects- Supposed to pay for itself (self-liquidating)
Hoover Moratorium- halted pay for one year from countries that owed from WWI Germany stopped paying France, Great Britain and France stopped paying US back
Mexican immigrants were encouraged/forced to go back to Mexico
Revenue Act of 1932: Increased taxes greatly on the wealthy especially so the gov't had $$
Hawley-Smoot tariff: Raised tariffs to record levels
RFC(Reconstruction Finance Corporation 1932)- Gave loans to banks, state and local gov'ts and businesses to create jobs/projects for people
Checks were handed out to the public which Hoover didn't like
Gave states loans for emergency relief needs
Started under Hoover
Not as successful as Hoover had hoped
Dissolved in 1946 after WWII
FDR's New Deal Programs:
Born into a very wealthy family
Was Assistant Secretary of the Navy during WWI
Ran for Vice President
Contracted Polio
Only Handicapped President to date
Easily beat Hoover for President
Won because people blamed Hoover
Only President to be elected 4 terms
Impact Great Depression had on people's lives:
Families lost a lot of their income
Some had to move to "Hoovervilles" in outskirts of cities because they didn't have money for a home
People had to stand in line for a long time only for bread
Women were too embarrassed to stand in line
Soup kitchens
Crime went way up
60% of people were below the poverty line
A lot of people went day to day. Make enough money in a day for dinner
People hopped on trains and went from town to town
Selling apples to scrape by
People were having less kids
Entertainment became very popular- People went to forget about their problems for a while
Men leaving Wives. A lot of families broke apart
Young and unemployed people:
Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC)- 18-25 yr old men whose fathers were on relief
-Worked 40 hrs a week and were paid $30 a month with $25 going back to family
-Members lived in camps, wore uniforms, and lived under military discipline
-Planted trees, fought forest fires, helped constructing military bases during WWII
-Slogan of CCC was "we can take it!"
-Funding stopped in 1942
National Youth Administration(NYA)- Highschool and college youth that needed help to stay in school
-established in 1935
-Elanor Roosevelt pushed this heavily
-served 327,000 youth who were paid $6-40 a month for "work study" projects at their school
-155,000 youth from relief families were paid $10-25 a month
Federal Emergency Relief Act(FERA)- set up welfare system for unemployed people
-distributed more than $20 million in direct aid to unemployed people
-3 primary objectives
Public Works Administration(PWA)- funded a lot of construction projects to make jobs
-FDR called it 'priming the pump'
-established in 1933
-was responsible for 70% oft the new schools and 33% of the hospitals built between 1933-1939
Civil Works Administration(CWA)- provided construction jobs
-focused on paying higher wages
-cancelled after a year and $800,000,000
WPA- provided jobs for construction workers, artists, musicians
-built roads, bridges, schools, hospitals
-built Golden Gate Bridge
-built Camp David (President's vacation home)
Farmers:
Agricultural Adjustment Act(AAA)- paid farmers to plant less
-established in 1933
-were paid to destroy supply to bring prices up
-paid to not plant
-destroyed crops, killed hogs, plowed planted crops
-ultimately was successful, but declared unconstitutional because of how they taxed certain groups of people
-second AAA passed in 1938
-gave money to farmers to buy tractors
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act-
-Paid farmers to reduce production and reduce erosion
-soil dropped 65% after three years of the Act
Rural Electrification Administration(REA)- started process of providing electricity for farms and other rural areas
Farm Security Administration(FSA)- gave money to small farmers to purchase farms
-wanted to document struggles farmers had
Homeowners:
Home Owner's Loan Corporation(HOLC)- refinanced homes to prevent foreclosure
-extended loans
-made monthly rates smaller
Federal Housing Administration(FHA)- insured loans for building and buying homes
-provided better, safer homes
United States Housing Authority(USHA)- gave loans to state governments to build homes for lower income families
-became part of National Housing Agency
Social Security Administration(SSA)- provides retirement, disability and survivors' benefits
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