Wed, Feb 28th Notes; 5th Period

First of all, we have a new blog assignment up, due by this coming sunday. Secondly, here are the notes:

CHAPTER 26: THE GREAT DEPRESSION

*Causes

• Stock Market speculation came in the form of buying credit by paying only 10% of the purchase price, encouraging inflamatory stock prices. This is called "buying on margin"
  When confidence collapsed, creditors demanded that loans be repaid
• The Federal Reserve Board made it harder to obtain credit. It decreased the amount of money in circulation and increased interest rates, plunging a credit-starved economy deeper into depression.
• Wealth was unevenly distributed. From 1918-1924 the share of natl. income that went to the wealthiest 20% rose by 10% while the share going to the poorest 60% fell by 13%.
• The Hawley-Smoot tariff raised taxes in both agricultural and industrial products to an all-time high. Angry foreign governments levied retaliatory tariffs and international trade collapsed as a result.

*Hoover Attempts to Solve Economic Depression

• He first turned to voluntary cooperation. He encouraged the organization of farmers, industrialists, and bankers to share information, bolster one another's spirits, and devise policies to aid economic recovery.

*Hoover Realizes That His Plan Isn't Working

• When he realized that his attempts weren't working, he took on more aggressive policies.
• He took out a one-year moratorium on loan payments to American banks from European banks.
• He also made the Glass-Stegall Act of 1932 through Congress to help American banks meet the demands of European depistors who wished to convert paper dollar into gold.
• He set up the RFC to make loans available to ailing banks and to corporations willing to build low-cost housing, bridges, etc.
• His policies did not focus on the individual.

*Hoover was Uncomfortable

• Hoover was uncomfortable with the idea that the government had to be responsible to restore the economy. He was especially reluctant to provide relief to the homeless and unemployed.
• An ironic situation arose when he refused to help feed farmers byt funded food for their livestock.

*Bonus Army

• WWI veterans had receved a $1000 bonus certificate that would mature in 1945, but wanted immediate payment. They headed to Washington D.C. to make their case. They made their camp by the Anacostia (sp?) River.
• The House of Representatives agreed with their wishes, but the Senate declined.
• Hoover refused to meet with the vets.
• After the refusal, he sent the national army under General Doug MacArthur and General George Patton to attack the camp. They set tents and shack afire, and routed the veternas.

*1932: Hooved and Republicans voted out of office.

*Roosevelt Takes Office

• He came into office with the economy in shables.

...This is as far as we got.

We also watched two short videos. The first was of Hoover and his lack of help for those who most needed assistance during the depression. It spoke of Hoovervilles, the Bonus Army, and the condition of the destitute. There were two million homeless looking for work. Between 1929 and 1932, almost 4,000 farms were closed. Drought and overproduction of crops created dust into the East Coast (even NYC). Andrew Mellon and Hoover both believed that the economy would recover itself. Hoover chose a very conservative approach, building the Hooverdam and giving $2 billion in emergency financing to businesses, hoping that the profit would "trickle" down to the poor. Ther was more, but we more or less covered this with G.'s own notes afterwards, so I'll skip that.
The second video was about FDR. His tactics were different from Hoover's lack of interaction with the public. He toured. At the Pittsburg rally, he called for a balanced budget (which he would completely go against), and was also against the bonus government. It's important to know that he spoke of a conservative approach much like Hoover, but his ideas changed as he went into office. I think the info on this video will be pretty important on our timed writes and DBQs, since just about everyone makes this type of mistake.

That's all!