U.S. Research: the Depression 1930 S

U.S. Research: The Depression 1930’s

Directions: Use 3-5 minutes to double check this subject’s Power School for your class grade and work listings verifying that all work is caught up. Read and heed embedded messages. Next, research your part of the following topics and figure out answers to the questions. Write your questions and detailed answers on lined paper or your notebook paper. These questions and related answers are required to be handed in, once the class discussion is completed. You are expected to use the time completely, be through and become knowledgeable. Write down any puzzles you have related to the material on your paper and bring them up during the class discussion. Warning: If you are found to be using your research time for other things, it will hurt your learning and grade. If you think or claim to be done, you are not! Once your assigned part is ready, then help others on your team or study the test resources from Mr. Spitzer’s web page for the upcoming test. No games, non-topic talk or other activities allowed during research time. The class will research as much as time allows before team sharing and whole class discussion. Since there is always more to learn, Mr. Spitzer encourages you to look into this topic more on your own time. Your class work grade includes: 1. Entire use of time while researching. 2. Answer questions & pay attention during team sharing. 3. Paying attention & participate during class discussion. 4. Turning in your readable questions & notes. Team members who do not do their share, provide hasty sloppy answers, disrupt others and use time ineffectively in the four grade aspects will be removed from the team and required to write out and turn in all answers on their own for the grade.

Topics to Research

1920s signs of economic trouble The Stock Market Crash Spread of the Great Depression Hoover and the depression 1932 Election New Deal Relief – direct, work, youth New Deal Recovery Measures – Farm New Deal Recovery Measures – banking, building, transportation New Deal Recovery Measures – industry and labor New Deal Reforms Opposition to the New Deal Labor unrest End of the New Deal 1940 Election

Questions to be able to discuss 1. What do economists say are the major causes of the Great Depression? Explain each. 2. Describe the 1929 Stock Market bubble then Crash. In the case of Crash, start with October 24 and explain events until early 1930. 3. Explain how the Great Depression spread across the nation and affected all levels of society from 1929-1932. 4. What measures did Herbert Hoover take to combat the depression? How did the measures taken by Hoover to combat the depression reflect his philosophy of government and its role in economic affairs? 5. Describe the candidates and stands by each in the 1932 presidential election. Describe Franklin Roosevelt’s victory. 6. Describe the New Deal Relief programs of direct relief, work relief and work for youth purpose, type of help, actions take and results: Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and National Youth Administration (NYA). 7. Describe the New Deal Recovery programs purpose, type of help, actions taken and results: Farm Credit Administration (FCA), Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 and Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) and the later Farm Security Administration (FSA), plus the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. 8. Describe the New Deal Recovery programs for banking, building, and transportation, purpose, type of help, actions taken and results: March 6, 1933 Bank Holiday, Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), Public Works Administration (PWA), Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), Federal Housing Administration (FHA). 9. Describe the New Deal Recovery programs for industry and labor, purpose, type of help, actions taken and results: National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), National Recovery Administration (NRA), National Labor Board (NLB and later NLRB), and Wagner Act. 10. Describe the New Deal Reform programs purpose, type of help, actions taken and results: Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Social Security Act, Rural Electrification Administration (REA), Wheeler-Rayburn Act, and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). 11. Explain the argument of the critics of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal legislation. Who were the critics? 12. Explain the support of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal legislation. Who were the supporters? 13. Why did Roosevelt say that certain members of the Supreme Court thought in terms of the “horse and buggy” era? How did he propose to remedy this situation? How would his proposal have affected the balance of powers among the branches of the federal government? 14. Why did the A.F. of L. and CIO stage strikes in 1936 and after? Detail the November 1936 events of the sit-down strike in Flint Michigan at the General Motors plant. 15. What were the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938? 16. Describe the other New Deal programs purpose, type of help, actions taken and results: Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 and The Hatch Act. 17. Why was New Deal administration funding being cut in 1939 and after? 18. Describe the presidential election campaign of 1940. Who were the candidates and what were the issues? 19. What are historian Burton Folsom, Jr.’s reasons for saying FDR’s economic legacy has damaged America?

Critical Thinking 20. Do you think the New Deal plans for farm recovery supported the principles of capitalism? Explain 21. In his first Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” What did he mean? 22. In an interdependent, complex, industrialized society such as that of the United States, who do you think should be responsible for the poor, the unemployed, the handicapped and the aged? 23. Compare Hoover’s “trickle-down” theory with Roosevelt’s “pump priming” theory. Which theory was more effective in helping to remedy the ills of the depression? Why? 24. In what ways did President Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal break with the past? 25. Using the Great Depression as a basis for comparison, how do you think the United States would react to such a severe economic crisis today?