from WOMEN MUST LEARN TO PLAY THE GAME AS MEN Do 1928

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884—1962) married Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1905. As First Lady, she was an outspoken advocate for full equality for women and for civil rights for African Americans. After her husband’s death in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt continued to campaign for many causes and is remembered as one of the 20th century’s most influential women. In this 1928 essay she focuses on the issue of women’s equality and proposes the path women must take in order to achieve true and equal political power with men. THINK THROUGH HISTORY: IdentifyingProblems According to Roosevelt, what are the problems women must overcome in order to achieve equal political status with men?

Women have been voting for ten years. But have they achieved actual political equality with men? No. They go through the gesture of going to the polls; their votes are solicited by politicians; and they possess the external aspect of equal rights. But it is mostly a gesture without real power. With some outstanding exceptions, women who have gone into politics are refused serious consideration by the men leaders. Generally they are treated most courteously, to be sure, but what they want, what they have to say, is regarded as of little weight. In fact, they have no actual influence or say at all in the consequential councils of their parties. In small things they are listened to; but when it comes to asking for important things they generally find they are up against a blank wall. This is true of local committees, State committees, and the national organizations of both major political parties. From all over the United States, women of both camps have come to me, and their experiences are practically the same. When meetings are to be held at which momentous matters are to be decided, the women members often are not asked. When they are notified of formal meetings where important matters are to be ratified, they generally find all these things have been planned and prepared, without consultation with them, in secret confabs of the men beforehand. If they have objections to proposed policies or candidates, they are adroitly overruled. They are not allowed to run for office to any appreciable extent and if they propose candidates of their own sex, reasons are usually found for their elimination which, while diplomatic and polite, are just pretexts nevertheless.

1 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM WOMEN MusT LEARN TO PLAY THE GAME AS MEN Do

In those circles which decide the affairs of national politics, women have no voice or power whatever. Politically, as a sex, women are generally “frozen out” from any intrinsic share of influence in their parties. The machinery of party politics has always been in the hands of men, and still

is... . The fact is that generally women are not taken seriously. With certain exceptions, men still as a class dismiss their consequence and value in politics, cherishing the old-fashioned concept that their place is in the home. While women’s votes are a factor to be counted upon, and figure largely in any impending campaign, the individual women who figure in party councils are regarded by their male confreres as having no real power back of them. And they haven’t.... Of course there are women all over the United States who have been elected to high and important offices. There are three women in Congress; there have been two woman governors; and women sit in various State legislatures and hold State offices. In New York City one could cite several who have not only been elected but who have conducted themselves in office with ability and distinction. But does that indicate any equal recognition of share in political power? Infinitely more examples come to mind of women who were either denied a nomination or who were offered it only when inevitable defeat stared the party leaders in the face.... How many excuses haven’t I heard for not giving nominations to women! “Oh, she wouldn’t like the kind of work she’d have to do!” Or, “You know she wouldn’t like the people she’d have to associate with—that’s not ajob for a nice, refined woman.” Or more usually: “You see, there is so little patronage nowadays. We must give every appointment the most careful consideration. We’ve got to consider the good of the party.” “The good of the party” eliminates women! To many women who fought so long and so valiantly for suffrage, what has happened has been most discouraging. For one reason or another, most of the leaders who carried the early fight to success have dropped out of politics. This has been in many ways unfortunate. Among them were women with gifts of real leadership. They were exceptional and high types of women, idealists concerned in carrying a cause to victory, with no idea of personal advancement or gain. In fact, attaining the vote was only part of a program for equal rights— an external gesture toward economic independence, and social and spiritual equality with men.... How, then, can we bring the men leaders to concede participation in party affairs, adequate representation and real political equality? Our means is to elect, accept and back women political bosses. To organize as women, but within the parties, in districts, counties and States just as men organize, and to pick efficient leaders—say two or three in each State—whom we will support and by whose decisions we will abide. With the power of unified women voters behind them, such women bosses would be in a position to talk in terms of “business” with the men leaders; their voices would be heard, because their authority and the elective power they could command

2 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM WOMEN MUST LEARN TO PLAY THE GAME AS MEN Do

would have to be recognized. Women are today ignored largely because they have no banded unity under representative leaders and spokesmen capable of dealing with the bosses controlling groups of men whose votes they can “deliver.” These men bosses have the power of coordinated voters behind them. Our helplessness is that of an incoherent anarchy.

Perhaps the word “boss” may shock sensitive ears. To many it will conjure all that is unhealthy and corrupt in our political machinery. Yet when I speak of women bosses, I mean bosses actually in the sense that men are bosses. The term boss does not necessarily infer what it once did... .As things are today, the boss is a leader, often an enlightened, high-minded leader, who retains little of the qualities imputed by the old use of this obnoxious word..., If women believe they have a right and duty in political life today, they must learn to talk the language of men. They must not only master the phraseology, but also understand the machinery which men have built up through years of practical experience. Against the men bosses there must be women bosses who can talk as equals, with the backing of a coherent organization of women voters behind them. Voters who are only voters, whether men or women, are only the followers of leaders. The important thing is the choosing of leaders.... I should not want the average woman, or the exceptional woman for that matter, who for one reason or another could not do a public job well, to take one at present. For just now a woman must do better than a man, for whatever she does in the public eye reflects on the whole cause of women. There are women in the United States I would gladly see run for any office. But if we cannot have the best I should prefer to wait and prepare a little longer until women are more ready to make a fine contribution to public life in any office they might hold.... Remember, women have voted just ten years. They have held responsible positions in big business enterprises only since the war, to any great extent. The men at the head of big business or controlling politics are for the most part middle-aged men. Their wives grew up in an era when no public question was discussed in a popular manner, when men talked politics over their wine or cigars, and pulled their waistcoats down, on joining the ladies, to talk music, or the play or the latest scandal. Can you blame them if the adjustment to modern conditions is somewhat difficult? Certain women profess to be horrified at the thought of women bosses bartering and dickering in the hard game of politics with men. But many more women realize that we are living in a material world, and that politics cannot be played from the clouds. To sum up, women must learn to play the game as men do. If they go into politics, they must stick to their jobs, respect the time and work of others, master a knowledge of history and human nature, learn diplomacy, subordinate their likes and dislikes of the moment and choose leaders to act for them and to whom they will be loyal. They can keep their ideals; but they must face facts and deal with them practically.

3 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM WOMEN MUST LEARN TO PLAY THE GAME AS MEN Do

Source: “Women Must Learn to Play the Game As Men Do” by Eleanor Roosevelt, in The Red Book Magazine, April 1928. Reprinted in What IHope to Leave Behind, edited by Allida M. Black (Brooklyn: Carison Publishing, 1995), pp. 195—200.

4 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. The of useful selling upon floated values destroyed be or general progress has business time the national answer What THINK are stay lost Thursday, page investors In million Fundamental The At business American the Americans placed the stock some grossly $10 out and this ad the are goods government business late are them. or public shares was of responsibilities. business in billion, THROUGH energy price some of time lost

market. ON upon sunk by of October 1920s, © management, this distorted the the business and placed conditions McDougal paramount $3 regarding it of of market. of situation or what country. arguments conditions they bankrupting is billion services, stock stocks. obsession. the In financial the should

especially MINDING in 24, the the is today owe arguments Littell amount the HISTORY: changing going The 1929, in in past views the in importance What Progress the act and the New against one the Inc. of the speculation is next Not

nature BUSINESS wise deplorable few on at thousands business paying advancement of the might security of day. United is York any for in hands money day, only more years the such stock is use Wall the and On time not FormingandSupportingOpinions more in 1929 too business Times Black has of States itself—the serious market. regulations? regulation 1 was speculation on our Monday, conditions market that that measured of Street. credit, much as it profitably an investors economic of rampant though Tuesday, made

urging YOUR or changes such average community industrial is attention Prosperity any There began the that of creation October business exaggerated by of Refer inexperienced in other expanding security the and in devote hands this the economic life. panicking day securities is to the securities no of science, to unravel businesses. volume country speculative and on and does 28, men

United OWN the reason parts in trading to Wall a the buying exchange employment emphasis wrong their not waste has prosperity large stockholders of the and industry? of investors is following States, why Street. depend the or become not securities own efficiency complex stunned part and a kind security ad business made lot of should with On in of What and to to of of a full- your the or 4 ON MINDING YOUR OwN BUSINESS

labor—in the end determine conditions in the security market. These things are the chief concern of everybody. Upon them alone the general welfare depends. In face of violent vituperation and political pressure, the Federal Reserve System has done the nation a great service by resolutely and steadfastly conserving the credit resources of our banking structure so that the universal and permanent interests of American business as a whole shall be protected. Security trading is a large, legitimate and necessary business, but it is only a part, and a relatively small part, of the vast aggregate of American economic activity. There are many others much larger, much more important, and quite as exciting—such as mining the world’s coal, making its iron and steel, manufacturing its clothing, raising its food, transporting and distributing the goods it needs. These are the basis of business here and everywhere. Without them the stock market is merely a game of tiddledywinks, and security prices are simply statistical sawdust. If business will mind its own business, the security market will take care of itself.

Source: “On Minding Your Own Business,” from the New York Times, October 28, 1929. Copyright © 1929 by the New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission of the New York Times.

2 The Americans © McDougalLittellInc.

42

unprecedented

curious

ly

er

riors

individuals

ly

ticker

aimlessly

a

anguished,

audible

Stock

financial press

stand.

Treasui

P.

on of

city

the

through

the

The

7:084

what

nearly

hopelessly

ketable.

between

began

live

no

onto

all

dazed.

and out

rf

rather

mixed

pushing

Name

impelled

view

Morgan]

Broad

one

UNIT

The

over

In

buying

word

close.

Section

of

It

By

active

last

at

then

photographers

was

and

changed

the he

Exchange

Traffic

P.M.,

the

came

two

the

in

of

to

corner the

in

The

large

crowd—agonized animal

noon

the

an

Within

district

quotation

market

outdoors

6,

Building,

and

sales.

floor

their

of ft1l

the

really

their

the

In

the

strange

around

and

terriring.

Exclnmge

issues,

orders

to four swamped

hours

start.

incredible

across

CHAPTER

the country

bottom

with

the

two,

blocks,

was

1

national Wall great

visit

margin

Street

faces

of

from

volume

tourists,

effort

roar

way

Less

hours,

happening.

a

market

and by

opened

meantime,

It

late;

the

a

puslecl

like

few

to

three,

the eleven

the way

because

was

streets

opposite

speed

the sagged

crowds

through

that

simply

Morgan’s active the

a

which

meet

account,

outside, that

and

New

of

PRIMARY

and

Stock

to

The

and

clerk;

nightmare. by

moments

Steel,

torrent

way.

catastrophe;

scene

22

eight

that

not

of

crush.

20,000

seeking

make

collapse

previous

five,

rises

steady

2:30

newsreel

from ensued

o’clock

and

securities the

from

York

where

it.

streets

little

stocks

printed

easily

they had

fell

On

Exchange

on

news

By

Wall

sold-out

and

Telephone,

Morgan’s,

of

the

Quotations

and

became

think

big of

from

it

deliveries ferocity

[the

active

then

Times

to

out

1:30

the

their

the

gathered

speculators,

by was

4th

the

seffing

feared

one-half

SOURCE

throng

flashed

after

for

the Street

the

of became

were

banks

even

day,

25,000

on

of

gazing men

headquarters

steps

about

runners,

the

streets

which the

ticker

on

a

147

the

ruin;

traders,

prices

days

Stock

deluge reporter

the

and

disaster

the

louder,

that

though

the

a

ten

crammed

no

orders

floor

to

had ticker

and

of to

took

of

of

minutes

crowd

first

through

of

shares,

at

minutes

market.

the

unmar

tape

there

face

at ‘ervice

is

inquisitive stock

one

was

left

idle of

get

points

representa

the

Exchange

the

little

the

lived

The

walking

plainly Anaconda,

frantical

the

broke.

of

half

up

morbid

the

chain

tape

Elliott

some

spreads.

poured

a

men

knew

until

the

being

and

the

of

Sub

corner

were

market

clos

their

exte

came

of

late.

the

with

was

hour,

From

after

was

of

J.

V.

Stock

events

Bell

crashed

witnessed

2.

fmni

The

1.

Research

and

Happen

revenge

was

insensate

had

plices

next

to

merely

ket,”

age,

seem

devastating,

wealth

short

rooms

then

that

ble

months with

desks;

business

ings

lights

less.

the

traded

On

differences After

then

again.

same

to

look

RCA

First,

the

on

James

Twentieth

wrong,

Agonizing

a

floors

H.

compare

The

they

few

actual

followed

in

October

where

thousands

the

Far

substantial

days

unreal.

Market October

to broker.

at

blazed

discuss

W

(New

of

the

saw

lost

Black

stocks or

many

find

upon

on

Find

they

firsthand

hours’

Woodress,

levels

ticker,

the

thing

would

desperate

before

the

Baldwin into

General of

before

weaiy

trading

the

in

everything

all

York:

margin

so

out

Century

banks

business

between

various

were

out

Seeking

Thursday,

cases

those

those

the And

in

19,

with

today the

24,

the

their scenes

where

that

far

floor

Options

wild

hopelessly

order

of

prices

the

cash the

1938).

and

about

Date

1987, runners

had

1929

crash. 1929.

the

esis., night,

beyond

then,

them

to

and

Motors,

classmates

and

was to

who

hopes

days.

clerks

task

(New

windows

churning

of

next

brokers.

Shepard

were

panic

have

balance

they

to

discover

section

luxuriated

their

this

Crash

but

Voices

of

the

Reprinted

pnce

became

As

the

Black

wreaking

slept.

stock

ironic

save

of

had

and

had

The

York:

began.

several

fell

smashed

crash were, their you

and

might

swamped,

enacted ample

Exchange.

triing

stock

and

after

stocks

[rain

thought

Stone,

often

been

a

with of

of

There

Monda prices of

exhausted

But

left

market

the

Dutton,

twist,

bookkeepers read

that

little

wildest

despair

completely

and

the

today’s

in the

in

in

the They

have

market

stocks, Aiiiericas

a

to

over.

time

similarities within

sold

Richard

p’ce’s

eds..

fired.

all

wild

addition,

delusions

they

in

in

his

from

clear

tall

market

plummeted.

traders

as

Black

crash.

to

fell

seemed

night

1962),

the

a

sold

in

fainted

“at

to

like

Every

fears,

W’

newspaper

collapse

master

and

office

had

such

on

crashed

a

1987 hours

of

the

one

rest

customers

B.

Pa,st,

the

Thursday. Sate

few

out

Then

as

long, meaning

the

90—94.

would

who

the

struggled

pitiless

in

not

Moms

of

as

and wi’eck

as

move

like not

mar up.

(lay’s

build

at

and

vol.

It and

debt

it.

behind

mar

to

so

their

a

the

the

an By

3.

few

lift

0

( F

G) C, 0)

E a) C’) Ca -J C,) 0 0 0)

a) ‘ci

C 6

C,)

a) C,, a) a) > CHILDHOOD DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION 1930s

Cesar Chavez

During the Great Depression of the 1930s thousands of farmers (and their families) were left bankrupt, jobless, and then homeless. California became the most popular destination for those seeking employment as migrant farm workers. One of these uprooted families was the Chavez family, who left Arizona for California in 1934. In this excerpt, Cesar Chavez (1927—1993), the founder of the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), the first union of migratory workers in the country, recalls some of the challenges he and his family faced as Mexican-American migrant workers. THINK THROUGH HISTORY: RecognizingBias What factors would you consider in evaluating this document as historical evidence?

Oh, I remember having to move out of our house. My father had brought in a team of horses and wagon. We had always lived in that house, and we couldn’t understand why we were moving out. When we got to the other house, it was a worse house, a poor house. That must have been around 1934. I was about six years old. It’s known as the North Gila Valley, about fifty miles north of Yuma. My dad was being turned out of this small plot of land. He had inherited this from his father, who had homesteaded it. I saw my two, three other uncles also moving out. And for the same reason. The bank had foreclosed on the loan. If the local bank approved, the Government would guarantee the loan and small farmers like my father would continue in business. It so happened the president of the bank was the guy who most wanted our land. We were surrounded by him: he owned all the land around us. Of course, he wouldn’t pass the loan.,.. We had been poor, but we knew every night there was a bed there, and that this was our room. There was a kitchen. It was sort of a settled life, and we had chickens and hogs, eggs and all those things. But that all of a sudden changed. When you’re small, you can’t figure these things out. You know something’s not right and you don’t like it, but you don’t question it and you don’t let that get you down. You sort of just continue to move.... When we moved to California, we would work after school. Sometimes we wouldn’t go. “Following the crops,” we missed much school. Trying to get

1 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. CHILDHOOD DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION enough money to stay alive the following winter, the whole family picking apricots, walnuts, prunes. We were pretty new, we had never been migratory workers. We were taken advantage of quite a bit by the labor contractor and the crew pusher [a man who specializes in contracting people to do cheap labor].... Labor strikes were everywhere. We were one of the strikingest families, I guess. My dad didn’t like the conditions, and he began to agitate. Some families would follow, and we’d go elsewhere. Sometimes we’d come back. We couldn’t find a job elsewhere, so we’d come back. Sort of beg for a job. Employers would know and they would make it very humiliating... One of the experiences I had. We went through Indio, California. Along the highway there were signs in most of the small restaurants that said “White Trade Only.” My dad read English, but he didn’t really know the meaning. He went in to get some coffee—a pot that he had, to get some coffee for my mother. He asked us not to come in, but we followed him anyway. And this young waitress said, “We don’t serve Mexicans. Get out of here.” I was there, and I saw it and heard it. She paid no more attention. I’m sure for the rest of her life she never thought of it again. But every time we thought of it, it hurt us. So we got back in the car and we had a difficult time trying—in fact, we never got the coffee.... We’d go to school two days sometimes, a week, two weeks, three weeks at most. This is when we were migrating. We’d come back to our winter base, and if we were lucky, we’d get in a good solid all of January, February, March, April, May. So we had five months out of a possible nine months. We started counting how many schools we’d been to and we counted thirty-seven. Elementary schools. From first to eighth grade. Thirty-seven. We never got a transfer. Friday we didn’t tell the teacher or anything. We’d just go home. And they accepted this. I remember one teacher—I wondered why she was asking so many questions. (In those days anybody asked questions, you became suspicious. Either a cop or a social worker.) She was a young teacher, and she just wanted to know why we were behind. One day she drove into the camp. That was quite an event, because we never had a teacher come over. Never. So it was, you know, a very meaningful day for us. This I remember. Some people put this out of their minds and forget it. I don’t want to forget it. I don’t want it to take the best of me, but I want to be there because this is what happened. This is the truth, you know. History.

Source: Hard Times by Studs Terkel. Copyright © 1970 by Studs Terkel. Reprinted by permission of Donadio & Ashworth, Inc.

2 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. The THINK and enough How one” How other this Popular 1930s We And And But At We But And I’ve And In I Americans was having Depression-era Then When And They I Oh, Chorus: eighteen would does the says file eat economic all when the been thank touched

everyone BEANS, I’ve now to born songs county THROUGH those congregate another them in worst almost the I this find I © you seen something know hungry, one our I’m wake McDougal the long ninety-one, author songwriter—and often beans, work till almost characterize depressions barn growing work by many I’ve is Lord day drive I’ll up ago happy, I one song see I’ve capture seen each of faced at Littell in have is bacon, is to a HISTORY: for every this me them dawning, dawning, the panic, done been eat old, by

is BACON, morning so one Inc. another other crazy!

song A his morning nineteen or an the did American— it and in cold,

more POPULAR attitude? I seems. panics anonymous left my emotions will not

frustrations: Anonymous feel gravy, mess dreams. a

Summarizing 1930s mess necessarily thirty-one. own. about lifelong in 1 “the the of of of his beans. songwriter. United beans.

a SONG worst as

impression AND present particular bring this I’ve States, writer happiness situation While seen time,

on GRAVY the implies, most. is there crisis as nineteen and and is Those his having evident had satisfaction. of future? the thirty- been lucky ajob in BEANS, BACON, AND GRAVY

We have Hooverized on butter, And for milk we’ve only water, And I haven’t seen a steak in many a day. As for pies, cakes, and jellies, We substitute sow-bellies For which we work the county road each day.

If there ever comes a time When I have more than a dime, They will have to put me under lock and key, For they’ve had me broke so long I can only sing this song Of the workers and their misery.

Source: Songs of Work and Freedom, edited by Edith Fowke and Joe Glazer (New York, 1960).

2 The Americans © McDougalLittellInc. Name Date

PRIMARY SOURCE Attack on the Bonus Army

The government planned to pay World War I veterans bonuses in 1945; however, in 1932 tens of thousands of veterans and their families descended on Section 3 Washington to demand immediate payment President Hoover eventually ordered the (iS. Army to drive the Bonus Army from the capital. As you read this excerpt from reporter Lee McCardell’s eyewitness account, consider whether the veterans were treated fairly.

WASHINGTON, July 29—The bomis army was piillel tear—gasbombs from their belts, and hurled retreating today—in all directions. them into the midst of the mob, The fight bad i)egun, as far as the Regular Army Some of the veterans grabbed the bombs and was concerned, late yesterday afternoon. The threw them back at the inluitrv. The explo(hngtins troops had been called out after a veteran of the whizzed around the smooth asphalt like devil Bonus Army had been shot and killed by a chasers, pfutt—pfutt—pfutt.And a gentle southerly Washington policeman (luring a skirmish to drive wind wafted the gas in the faces of the soldiers and members of the Bonus Army out of a vacant house the spectators across the street. on Pennsylvania Avenue, two blocks from the Cavalrymen and infantrymen jerked gas masks Capitol. out of their haversacks. The spectators. blinded and The soldiers numbered between seven hundred choking with the unexpected gas attack, broke and and eight hundred men. There was a squadron of fled. Movie photographers who had parked their the Third Cavaliy from Fort Mver, a battalion of sound trucks so as to catch a panorama of the skir the Twelfth Infantry from Fort Washington, and a mish ground away doggedh tears streaming down platoon of tanks (five) from Fort Meade. Most of their faces. the police in Washington seemed to be trailing The police tied handkerchiefs around their . after the soldiers, and traffic was tied up in 115 flices. knots. “Ya—a—a—ah!’jeered the veterans. The cavalry clattered down Pennsylvania But more gas bombs fhl belnnd them. The vet

G) Avenue with drawn sabers > erans were caught in the back draft. They began to a) The infantry U, came marching along with Fixed retreat. But before the quit their shacks they set a) bayonets. them on fire. U, The dry wood and rubbish from ‘C ci) AllWashington smelled a fight, and all which the huts were fashioned burned quickly.The Washington turned out to see it. flames shot high. Clouds of dirty’brown smoke ci Streets were jammed with automobiles. blanketed the avenue. C Sidewalks,windows, doorsteps were crowded a) from Lee MeCardell, BaltimoreEcening Sun, July 29, 1932. with people trying what was -J to see happening. Reprintedin Richard 13.Morris and James Wooh’ess. eds., “Yellow!Yellow!” Vuices Auneri(’a vol.:3. ci) from ; Past, The Twentieth Cci iturv 0 From around the ramshackle shelters which (New York: Dmmtton,1962. 9497. 0 they bad built on a vacant lot fronting on cci 0) Pennsylvania Avenue, just al)ove the Capitol. the 0) Discussion bedraggled veterans jeere(l. Questions © The c•’ifr’jnen stretched out in extended order 1. According to McCardell, what sparked the Fight U) C and rode spectators back on the si(lewalks.The betxveen Bonus Army veterans and the soldiersP C.) 2. How (lid the soldiers dnve the veterans from the a) infantry started across the lot, bayonets fixed. E Veterans in the rear ranks of a mob that faced capital? a) 3. Do you think the veterans were treated fairly? ‘C the infantry pushed forward. Those in front pushed I- back. The crowd stuck. An order went down the 7Why or why not? Cite evidence from your text line of infantrvnien. The soldiers stepped back, book to support your opimuon.

The Great Depression Begins 45 from B.E.F.: THE WHOLE STORY OF THE BONUS ARMY 1932

W. W. Waters

Included in the millions of Americans who suffered hardships during the Great Depression of the 1930s were 3.5 million World War I veterans who held certificates for payment of a “bonus” for their service during the war. The bonus was due to be paid in 1945. In this excerpt from his autobiography, former army sergeant W. W. Waters explains the conditions that led him to organize the “Bonus Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.)” to march to Washington, D.C., in order to pressure President Hoover and Congress for early payment of their promised bonus. THINK THROUGH HISTORY: Forming andSupportingOpinions Do you think the actions of the Bonus Expeditionary Force were justified? Why or why not?

Many groups of citizens have marched on Washington at one time or another for various purposes but never until June and July, 1932, when the “Bonus Expeditionary Forces” camped in the capital did such a movement include so many followers. Sixty thousand to eighty thousand American ex-service men in all were in that “army” at various times. I have decided to set down the facts concerning the B.E.F. for many reasons. The B.E.F. began as a group of men demanding the pre-payment of their adjusted service certificates voted by Congress in 1924. It soon became for a vast number of men a means of protest against the economic conditions in our country in 1932, a safety valve for dissatisfaction. It was not recognized as that at this time. It will be remembered as that in American history. The spontaneity which marked its rise and the great popular appeal which brought twenty thousand men to Washington in the first two weeks were something new in American life. Coming three thousand miles overland with a few hundred of these men as their leader and soon commanding thousands of them, I can tell of the motives and desires which led men to initiate the Bonus March.... The final eviction of the B.E.F. (Bonus Expeditionary Forces) led to one of the most disgraceful episodes in recent American history. The full truth about the steps that led to that eviction and about the event itself must be on record,

1 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM BE.F.: THE WHOLESTORYOF THEBONUSARMY

There was murder done on “Black Thursday,” July 28th. The methods of eviction on that day revealed a stupidity and a cupidity among Washington politicians that is almost unbelievable. The event itself disclosed to thousands of American citizens who had never before thought particularly about it that the men whom they elect to represent them too often forget who it was that put them in power. This story is told with no malice or bitterness toward any one but I evade nothing that is necessary to the truthful recording of this chapter of recent history. This book is not an attack on any political party. I purposely withheld publication until after the elections to prevent any one from supposing such motives. I have refused and I shall refuse all offers to let any special group profit by my experiences. I sold out to no one. I was broke when I began the Bonus March. I was broke and in debt when I finished with it.... My own background is typical of the sort of American who joined the B.E.F. I was born in Oregon, of old American stock, in 1898 and was reared in Idaho. In 1916, restless, with no further “West” to conquer, Ijoined the National Guard and went to the Mexican border as a private.. .and sent overseas in the winter of 1917. We entered active service at the front in July, 1918. Armistice Day found us still on the firing line. After that we were ordered into Germany as a part of the Army of Occupation. We returned to the United States in June, 1919, and I was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. Shortly after my return to civil life my health failed. I spent several months in a hospital... for which, by the way, the Government was not asked to pay. Then, like millions more, I attempted to take up the threads of my life where I had dropped them some three years before. Like many others of my age, I had no occupation or profession to resume. Everything had to be commenced for the first time, and it was a discouraging problem. In the next few years I made numerous serious attempts to get going in some profitable business or position, as a garage mechanic, an automobile salesman, a farmhand, a bakery helper. Each new venture was begun with the same high enthusiasm. Each one ended as an equally dismal failure. In 1925,1 hitch-hiked into the State of Washington and there got ajob in the harvest fields. I even used a new name, “Bill Kincaid,” the first name to flash into my mind when asked, as if to break the more decisively with the past. Under that name I met and married the girl who is now my wife.... I found ajob in a cannery near Portland, Oregon, worked up to be assistant superintendent and for once I seemed to have escaped from the failure that had followed me in the past. I lost that job in December, 1930, due to the depression, and went to Portland in search of employment.... My wife and I had a thousand dollars saved and I felt that we would get along somehow until work was obtained. Our savings vanished and the hope of work with them during the winter of

2 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM B.E.F.: THE WHOLE STORY OF THE BONUS ARMY

1931-1932. In the meantime our personal belongings, one by one, found their way to the pawn shops and by March, 1932, we were not only penniless but had nothing left except a very scanty wardrobe. There were many days that winter when we experienced actual hunger while earnestly trying to find any job that would provide just the necessities of life. In my ceaseless beating about the city I found family after family in the same general condition or worse. I saw men half clad, in threadbare clothing, pacing the streets in soleless shoes. On their faces was the same look, part of hope, part of bewilderment, as they searched for a chance to earn a few dollars at honest work. I talked with hundreds of these men and found that, with few exceptions, they wanted not charity but work that would enable them to live and to regain their self-respect. .1 found that a large percentage of these men in Portland were, like myself, ex-service men. They had fought, so they had been told a few years before, “to save the nation”; they had fought, it now seemed, only in order to have a place in which to starve. Among these men there was profound discontent with conditions. There was a ravaging desire to change them but a complete and leaden ignorance of the way to do it. Yet, among these men, hungry, desperate, downcast, there was little or no talk of the need for violent action. It was every man for himself. One can merge one’s individuality in the mass when active, even in wartime when death taps at the shoulders of men, one by one; but starving makes a man think of himself first and foremost. Yet these men were just as loyal to the nation as they had ever been. They were just as patriotic, just as law-abiding as their more fortunate neighbors who had jobs. In other nations similar conditions might lead to revolution. Among these men the very thought, let alone the desire, was never in their minds. These men did think and talk a great deal about the so-called Bonus. The name “Bonus” is unfortunate. It is not a gift, as that word implies. It is a payment of money to compensate those men who served in the Army for the difference in pay between that of service men and non-service men in 1918. The bill, asking payment in full of the adjusted compensation for wartime service, was introduced by Representative Patman of Texas and, during the early winter of 1931, was pending in Congress. The majority of veterans were hoping that it would pass. These men had fallen far down into the valley of despair. Some push was necessary to start them out and up over the hill. Jobs would have provided the best sort of impetus but there were no jobs. The Bonus, a lump sum of money, could act in the same fashion. Debts could be met, doctors’ bills paid, a fast fraying credit renewed, and one man could look another in the eye once more. It mattered not that the Bonus was not due, legally, until 1945. What man, having a promise to pay at a later date would not ask his debtor for it in advance if he believed that the debtor could afford the money and if his own need was

3 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM B.E.F.: THE WHOLESTORYOFTHEBONUSARMY not only great but critical? These men felt that the Government had the money. Newspapers, which can always be picked out of trash cans in the parks and public places, published stories of extensions of credit to foreign nations. Headlines told of loans to railroads and to large corporations. This is not the place to argue the justice or the fallacy of the demand for the immediate payment of the Bonus, The point, continually forgotten, is that the Bonus in these men’s minds became a substitute or a symbol for that long dreamt of new start, a job. These men had nothing to which to look forward except to the shiny shoulders of the man in front of them in the breadline. Whenever I asked these men which they would rather have, the Bonus or a job, the reply was nearly always the same: “A job, of course. But where’s a job coming from? I’ve looked every day for over a year and haven’t found one.” When asked what they would do with the Bonus, their answers were alike: “First, I’d buy the kids some clothes, then I’d pay the rent, then the grocery bill. And believe me, we’d have at least one good Sunday dinner.” Frequently one heard, “Well, I could at least pay my debts and then maybe my credit would hold up until I do get a job.” All this could not fail to impress me because it conformed exactly to my own condition and viewpoint.... Early in March, 1932, I had come to the conclusion that Congress was purposely playing football with the Bonus bill and had no intention of giving it favorable consideration regardless of the demand which ex-service men were voicing through the various veterans’ organizations. I knew that during 1931 and again during the recent months there had been pilgrimages to Washington by freight train, of small groups of ex-service men. I had heard of Coxey’s Army but I had never heard that it had gotten anything; its demands were too vague. A small Bonus March had gone to Washington from Portland in 1931. I had also read the Constitution of the United States which grants the right to American citizens to assemble and to petition Congress peacefully for a redress of grievances. Gradually the determination to go to Washington to lobby for the Bonus bill grew on me. The more I thought about it, the more it appealed. Other lobbies had moved to Washington, supported by money. We had no money, but perhaps a group, whose only support was in its numbers, might go to Congress and make some impression. I asked a member of the Portland assembly of the National Veterans’ Association to secure permission for me to address it. He told me I might come to the meeting on March 15th. This was to be my first speech before an organized body and I wrote it out and memorized it while pacing around the block at night, sometimes until dawn, Feeling all the sensations of stage fright, I told the several hundred veterans present that the tactics now being employed to bring about the payment of the Bonus would fail. “Writing letters to Congressmen,” “signing petitions, “—all these provided things which could be tucked away in a desk drawer and most

4 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM B.EF.: THE WHOLE STORY OF THE BONUS ARMY

conveniently forgotten. But several hundred men at the capital—I foresaw no greater number—might be more difficult to forget. Our only hope was in following the successful tactics of Big Business; when its representatives wanted something from Congress they went to it personally and said so. No tariff schedule was ever raised merely by having Pennsylvania manufacturers write letters to say they would like it so. The audience was interested, up to a point. I admitted that the only way to get to Washington was by freight train but added that the weather would soon be warm and that such a trip would not be overly difficult. I closed by saying that if not fewer than three hundred men were willing to organize under strict military discipline, we could probably attract a few hundred more men en route and have perhaps a thousand men in Washington.... At the end of April I noticed in the newspaper a statement that a meeting of unemployed ex-service men was to be held outdoors, to organize a march to Washington. At the meeting there were a hundred veterans. I was asked to speak.... I repeated at this next meeting what I had said in March. More gatherings followed and very slowly there was a distinct increase in enthusiasm. More and more veterans showed their willingness to make the journey, even though they believed it eventually futile. After all, there was little difference between hunger in Washington and hunger in Portland. Every man who addressed the slowly increasing crowds made it clear that such a march must be marked by proper organization, discipline and obedience to law and order, both en route and while in Washington. Then, in early May, the Bonus bill was shelved “for good” by the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives. It was this which brought the nucleus of the B.E.F. from an idea into a reality. The crowds started to increase at the daily meetings. Men signed up by the dozens and plans to get started were under way. From the beginning, and to the end, every man who wanted to join had to show evidence of his war service. Each man had to declare “to uphold the Constitution of the United States to the best of my ability and swear an unswerving allegiance to its flag.” Each man had to agree to be law-abiding and to submit to proper discipline as administered by elected officers. A final meeting was held on May 10th. A “Commander-in-Chief” was chosen who was to travel ahead by automobile, arranging for food and transportation. A “Field Marshal” with his assistants was appointed. The men were divided into companies of forty each, in charge of a “Captain” who, in turn, appointed his “Lieutenants” and “Sergeants.” I held the rank of “Assistant Field Marshal.” Our little army, at the final roll call, numbered two hundred and fifty men. After a few days en route it increased to nearly three hundred. Thus the first group of the B.E.F. arose. WALTER W. WATERS,

5 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM B.E.F.: THE WHOLE STORY OF THE BoNus ARMY

Commander, B.E.F.

Source: BE.F.: The Whole Story of the Bonus Army by W. W. Waters (New York: The John Day Company, 1933), pp. 1-17.

6 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. from A REPORT ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF FEDERAL TROOPS 1932

General Douglas MacArthur

In June 1932, economic hardships caused by the Great Depression led 15,000 World War I veterans to form as the Bonus Expeditionary Force and march on Washington. Their goal was a “bonus bill” providing $2.5 billion to immediately pay veterans a bonus originally slated for 1945. After the Senate blocked the bill, 10,000 veterans remained camped in Washington to publicize their plight. President Herbert Hoover called in the army to force their removal, and on July 28, General Douglas MacArthur (1880—1964) led an infantry battalion, a cavalry squadron, and a tank platoon in an attack that injured dozens of veterans and resulted in one death. Below is an excerpt of MacArthur’s official report. THINK THROUGH HISTORY: RecognizingBias Do you think this account is accurate and unbiased, or would you, as a historian, seek to corroborate (verify) this report with other accounts? Why or why not?

August 15, 1932 Dear Mr. Secretary,

On the afternoon of July 28, 1932, in response to your instructions, Federal troops entered the District of Columbia for the purpose of assisting civil officials in restoring order in certain sections of this city where considerable bodies of persons had successfully defied police authority and were then engaged in riotous activity. Within a few hours this mission was substantially accomplished and with no loss of life or serious casualty, after the arrival of the troops, among either the civilian or military elements involved. By July 30th all Federal troops were withdrawn to their proper stations and the local situation was under the complete control of the civil authorities. I am giving below a comprehensive account of this incident, to include the sequence of events leading up to the employment of Federal forces, the authority under which the troops acted, the principal troop movements involved, and the results accomplished. Attached as appendices are copies of official communications having an immediate bearing upon the incident: a

I The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM A REPORTON THEEMPLOYMENTOF FEDERALTROOPS

detailed report of Brigadier General Perry Miles, who was in direct command of the Federal troops; a photographic record of particular phases of the operation, and typical newspaper articles and editorials dealing with the affair. The purpose of this report is to make of permanent record in the War Department an accurate and complete description of a particular employment of Federal troops on a type of activity in which elements of the Army have often been engaged since the founding of the Republic.

GROWTH AND ACTIVITIES OF SO-CALLED BONUS ARMY During late May, 1932, large groups of practically destitute World War veterans, self-styled the “Bonus Army,” or “Bonus Marchers,” began arriving in the City of Washington with the announced intention of conducting an aggressive lobby in favor of the immediate payment of Veterans’ Adjusted Compensation Certificates, commonly called the bonus. With no normal means of support they established themselves, with the consent of local authorities, in vacant areas and abandoned buildings, principally governmentally-owned. Subsistence and supplies were obtained through donations from local and outside sources and for the large majority the only protection from the elements were rude huts constructed from scrap material. The largest of these encampments was named CAMP MARKS, situated on an alluvial flat on the left bank of the Anacostia River, northeast of the Boiling Field area. In the same vicinity was CAMP BARTLETT, on privately- owned ground. A portion of the Bonus Army took possession of an area southwest of the Capitol where demolition activities incident to the Federal Government’s building program had already begun. Smaller detachments were located in other parts of the city. The aggregate strength of the Bonus Army gradually increased until it reached an estimated maximum of some ten to twelve thousand persons, including in some cases families and dependents of the veterans. Speaking generally, all their early activities in the city were peaceably and lawfully conducted. They organized themselves under leaders of their own choosing, and these cooperated reasonably well with the civil authorities in the preservation of order. Manifestly, however, in a large body recruited as was this one, the inclusion of a lawless element was inevitable. As the Bonus Army’s increasing size gave to the members thereof a growing consciousness of their collective power and importance in the community, efforts to solve acute problems of existence often went beyond the limits of legality. Individual solicitation for material assistance was frequently couched in terms of demand rather than of request. In some cases merchants and others, when called upon for contributions, were confronted with covert threats which amounted to nothing less than a system of extortion or forced levy. But the principal and most weighty objection to the concentration of such a force in the District of

2 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM A REPORT ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF FEDERAL TROOPS

Columbia was occasioned by the deplorable conditions under which these people were compelled to live, entailing an ever-present danger of disease and epidemic. Until the end of the Congressional session the marchers used every possible influence to secure support for their project among members of Congress. Even after the proposal was decisively defeated in the Senate on June 17th, these efforts were continued, and recruits for their cause were sought throughout the United States. Meanwhile the sanitary conditions under which they lived, with the arrival of the summer heat and rains and the further crowding of the occupied areas rapidly grew from bad to worse. After it became apparent that Congress would not favorably consider the bonus project there was of course no longer any legitimate excuse for the marchers to continue endangering the health of the whole District population by the continued occupation of these areas. From another viewpoint also the concentration in one city of so many destitute persons normally residing in other sections of the country was exceedingly unwise and undesirable. The natural outlets through which they could benefit from the resources heretofore made available for the care of the needy by the charitable instincts of the American people were the local institutions of their respective communities. In their own communities they and their relative needs were known or could be investigated, and each could receive assistance accordingly. By coming to Washington they deprived themselves individually of this assistance, while collectively they presented to the charitable resources of the District a problem of insurmountable proportions. But though the necessity for the dispersion of the Bonus Marchers daily became more evident, its accomplishment was plainly to be accompanied by many difficulties because of the destitute circumstances of the great majority. In appreciation of this fact Congress, just preceding its adjournment on July 16th, provided funds for transporting them to their homes, and some fifty-five hundred took advantage of this provision of law. As this partial evacuation took place an influx of newcomers occurred, in many instances later arrivals being of radical tendencies and intent upon capitalizing the situation to embarrass the Government. Former leaders of the Bonus Army lost, to a considerable degree, the authority they had so far exercised over the mass, and the subversive element gradually gained in influence. During the whole period of its stay in the city the Bonus Marchers were assisted in various ways by the local police force. Help rendered included the collection of clothing, food, and utensils; permitting the use of vacant areas and abandoned buildings; providing some medical service, and securing the loan of tentage and rolling kitchens from the District National Guard. In this matter the efforts of the police were humanitarian and more than praiseworthy. In the light of later events, however, it is likely that a portion of the marchers interpreted

3 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM A REPORT ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF FEDERAL TROOPS

this attitude as an indication of timidity rather than of sympathy, and were ready to take advantage of this supposed weakness whenever it might become expedient to do so.

IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF RIOTS In late July the evacuation of certain of the occupied areas in the vicinity of the Capitol became necessary in order that the Government’s parking and building program might proceed. On July 21st the Bonus leaders were formally notified by the police of this situation and requested to make prompt arrangements for the removal of occupants from the affected areas. Although there still remained ample time for veterans to apply for Government transportation to their homes, these requests were largely ignored. Prolonged negotiations were productive of no real results. Since the projected operations were part of the program for unemployment relief they could not be indefinitely delayed, and finally the District Commissioners directed the police to clear these areas, using force if necessary. Accordingly, on the morning of July 28th a considerable body of police went to the encampment near Pennsylvania Avenue and 4 1/2 Street and compelled the trespassers to evacuate. Within a short time large groups of men arrived from other camps, apparently under some pre-arranged plan, and a struggle for the possession of the disputed territory ensued. The police were overwhelmingly outnumbered and were quickly involved in a serious riot. The mob, composed of veterans and others who had intermingled with them, was incited by radicals and hot-heads to a free use of bricks, clubs, and similar weapons. Several policemen were hurt, one most seriously, while another, in defending himself, was forced to shoot and kill one of the Bonus Marchers. In the pictorial supplement attached hereto are several photographs showing the desperate nature of these encounters.

OPERATIONS OF FEDERAL TROOPS The situation rapidly assumed such a threatening aspect that the District Commissioners reported to the President their inability longer to preserve law and order in the area affected and requested immediate assistance of Federal forces. They gave it as their opinion and that of the Superintendent of Police that if such help failed to materialize, considerable bloodshed would ensue.... The President promptly directed the Secretary of War to cooperate with the civil authorities in restoring law and order in the District of Columbia, The issue had now become a broader one than that of the simple expulsion of recalcitrant persons from an illegally occupied area in which they were physically interfering with essential Government activity. By their open and determined defiance of the Metropolitan police the members of this mob, recruited from all or most of the bonus camps in the city, had threatened the integrity of Federal

4 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM A REPORT ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF FEDERAL TROOPS

authority within the confines of the Federally-governed District of Columbia. The dispersion and expulsion from the District of the force became thus the only logical answer the Government could make to the mob’s action. At 2:55 P.M., July 28, 1932, the following order was handed me by the Secretary of War:

To: General Douglas MacArthur, Chief of Staff, United States Army. The President has just now informed me that the civil government of the District of Columbia has reported to him that it is unable to maintain law and order in the District. You will have United States troops proceed immediately to the scene of disorder. Cooperate fully with the District of Columbia police force which is now in charge. Surround the affected area and clear it without delay. Turn over all prisoners to the civil authorities. In your orders insist that any women and children who may be in the affected area be accorded every consideration and kindness. Use all humanity consistent with the due execution of this order. PATRICK J. HURLEY, Secretary of War. .Promptly at 4:30 P.M. the troops began moving east on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Cavalry and Tanks leading; the Infantry following in extended formation. The march to the Capitol area was made without incident. Upon arrival there, and while troops were taking up designated positions, repeated warnings to disperse were given to a large crowd of spectators on the north side of the Avenue. These people were in no sense law-breakers and their dispersion was desired only to safeguard innocent bystanders from accident incident to subsequent activity. These warnings were temporarily ignored, but later when it became necessary to release tear bombs against the rioters, the prevailing wind carried a light gas concentration into the crowd of spectators and the area was quickly cleared.

TROOP EMPLOYMENT The rioting elements were immediately ordered to evacuate the area south of the Avenue, which order they ignored. In line with my determination to give a reasonable time to any and all groups to disperse, no troop movement was initiated against them until 5:30 P.M. At that moment they were still apparently determined to hold their ground. It is to be remembered that for many weeks members of the Bonus Army had seen all their wishes and desires, as far as the local situation was concerned,

5 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM A REPORT ON THEEMPLOYMENTOF FEDERALTROOPS

acceded to by civil officials, and more recently they had successfully defied constituted authority and withstood police efforts to evict them. It is doubtful, therefore, that when the Regular troops were deployed in their front the rioters really believed that the eviction order was to be definitely enforced. At least it is a fact that as the troops started to move forward the mob showed a surly and obstinate temper and gave no immediate signs of retreating. As the soldiers approached more closely a few brickbats, stones, and clubs were thrown, and it became apparent that some hint must be given of the determination underlying the employment of Federal troops in this contingency. This hint was given through the medium of harmless tear gas bombs. A number of these were thrown by the soldiers among the foremost ranks of the rioters, and from that moment little organized defiance was encountered. Troop operations were strictly confined to evacuation of Governmentally- owned tracts. A short distance south of Pennsylvania Avenue was a bonus detachment reported by the police to be occupying leased property. These men were not molested. For the same reason no action was taken against a small group of bonus seekers on the 7th Street Wharves—a detachment brought to my attention by General Glassford in person. The program previously outlined for the day’s activities was carried out expeditiously, albeit with a leisureliness that permitted every member of the Bonus Army ample time to make his unhindered way, if he was so minded, out of the path of the troops. I was particularly desirous that the drift of the dispersed groups be toward the Anacostia encampment and away from the principal business and residence sections of the city. This was accomplished through appropriate dispositions and movements of the troops.

Source: The Bonus March: An Episode of the Great Depression by Roger Daniels (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Corporation, 1971), pp. 291—300.

6 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. from ACCEPTANCE SPEECH 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt

After the stock market crash of 1929 led to widespread economic and social despair, the governor of New York took unprecedented steps. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882—1945) became the first governor to provide unemployment relief, and under his leadership, New York was the first state to establish a relief agency in 1931. The next year, Roosevelt won the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. As a presidential candidate, he faced a bleak prospect: one-fourth of the labor force was unemployed. In this excerpt from his acceptance speech before the Democratic National Convention, Roosevelt promised “a new deal for the American people.” THINK THROUGH HISTORY: Analyzing Issues What does Roosevelt propose to do, and what does he say the American people must do in order to lift the country out of the Great Depression?

The appearance before a National Convention of its nominee for President, to be formally notified of his selection, is unprecedented and unusual, but these are unprecedented and unusual times. I have started out on the tasks that lie ahead by breaking the absurd traditions that the candidate should remain in professed ignorance of what has happened for weeks until he is formally notified of that event many weeks later. My friends, may this be the symbol of my intention to be honest and to avoid all hypocrisy or sham, to avoid all silly shutting of the eyes to the truth in this campaign. You have nominated me and I know it, and I am here to thank you for the honor.... Let us now and here highly resolve to resume the country’s interrupted march along the path of real progress, of real justice, of real equality for all of our citizens, great and small. Our indomitable leader in that interrupted march is no longer with us, but there still survives today his spirit. Many of his captains, thank God, are still with us, to give us wise counsel. Let us feel that in everything we do there still lives with us, if not the body, the great indomitable, unquenchable, progressive soul of our Commander-in-Chief, Woodrow Wilson. I have many things on which I want to make my position clear at the earliest possible moment in this campaign.... There are two ways of viewing the Government’s duty in matters affecting economic and social life. The first sees to it that a favored few are helped and hopes that some of their prosperity will leak through, sift through, to labor, to the farmer, to the small business man. That theory belongs to the party of Toryism, and I had hoped that most of the Tories left this country in 1776.

1 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

But it is not and never will be the theory of the Democratic Party. This is no time for fear, for reaction or for timidity. Here and now I invite those nominal Republicans who find that their conscience cannot be squared with the groping and the failure of their party leaders to join hands with us; here and now, in equal measure, I warn those nominal Democrats who squint at the future with their faces turned toward the past, and who feel no responsibility to the demands of the new time, that they are out of step with their Party. I cannot take up all the problems today. I want to touch on a few that are vital. Let us look a little at the recent history and the simple economics, the kind of economics that you and I and the average man and woman talk. In the years before 1929 we know that this country had completed a vast cycle of building and inflation; for ten years we expanded on the theory of repairing the wastes of the War, but actually expanding far beyond that, and also beyond our natural and normal growth. Now it is worth remembering, and the cold figures of finance prove it, that during that time there was little or no drop in the prices that the consumer had to pay, although those same figures proved that the cost of production fell very greatly; corporate profit resulting from this period was enormous; at the same time little of that profit was devoted to the reduction of prices. The consumer was forgotten. Very little of it went into increased wages; the worker was forgotten, and by no means an adequate proportion was even paid out in dividends—the stockholder was forgotten. And, incidentally, very little of it was taken by taxation to the beneficent Government of those years. What was the result? Enormous corporate surpluses piled up—the most stupendous in history. Where, under the spell of delirious speculation, did those surpluses go? Let us talk economics that the figures prove and that we can understand. Why, they went chiefly in two directions: first, into new and unnecessary plants which now stand stark and idle; and second, into the call- money market of Wall Street, either directly by the corporations, or indirectly through the banks. Those are the facts. Why blink at them? Then came the crash. You know the story. Surpluses invested in unnecessary plants became idle. Men lost their jobs; purchasing power dried up; banks became frightened and started calling loans. Those who had money were afraid to part with it. Credit contracted. Industry stopped. Commerce declined, and unemployment mounted, And there we are today.... Never in history have the interests of all the people been so united in a single economic problem.... My program.. is based upon this simple moral principle: the welfare and the soundness of a Nation depend first upon what the great mass of the people wish and need; and second, whether or not they are getting it. What do the people of America want more than anything else? To my mind, they want two things: work, with all the moral and spiritual values that go with it; and with work, a reasonable measure of security—security for themselves and for their wives and children. Work and security—these are more than words. They are more than facts. They are the spiritual values, the true goal

2 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

toward which our efforts of reconstruction should lead. These are the values that this program is intended to gain; these are the values we have failed to achieve by the leadership we now have. Our Republican leaders tell us economic laws—sacred, inviolable, unchangeable—cause panics which no one could prevent. But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings. Yes, when—not if—when we get the chance, the Federal Government will assume bold leadership in distress relief. For years Washington has alternated between putting its head in the sand and saying there is no large number of destitute people in our midst who need food and clothing, and then saying the States should take care of them, if there are. Instead of planning two and a half years ago to do what they are now trying to do, they kept putting it off from day to day, week to week, and month to month, until the conscience of America demanded action. I say that while primary responsibility for relief rests with localities now, as ever, yet the Federal Government has always had and still has a continuing responsibility for the broader public welfare. It will soon fulfill that responsibility. Out of every crisis, every tribulation, every disaster, mankind rises with some share of greater knowledge, of higher decency, of purer purpose. Today we shall have come through a period of loose thinking, descending morals, an era of selfishness, among individual men and women and among Nations. Blame not Governments alone for this. Blame ourselves in equal share. Let us be frank in acknowledgment of the truth that many amongst us have made obeisance to Mammon, that the profits of speculation, the easy road without toil, have lured us from the old barricades. To return to higher standards we must abandon the false prophets and seek new leaders of our own choosing. Never before in modern history have the essential differences between the two major American parties stood out in such striking contrast as they do today. Republican leaders not only have failed in material things, they have failed in national vision, because in disaster they have held out no hope, they have pointed out no path for the people below to climb back to places of security and of safety in our American life. Throughout the Nation, men and women, forgotten in the political philosophy of the Government of the last years look to us here for guidance and for more equitable opportunity to share in the distribution of national wealth. On the farms, in the large metropolitan areas, in the smaller cities and in the villages, millions of our citizens cherish the hope that their old standards of living and of thought have not gone forever. Those millions cannot and shall not hope in vain. I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. Let us all here assembled constitute ourselves prophets of a new order of competence and of courage. This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms. Give me your help, not to win votes alone, but to win in this crusade to restore America to its own people.

3 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. PROMAccEPTANcE SPEECH

Source: The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, vol. 1 (New York: Random House, 1938), pp. 647—659.

4 The Americans C McDougalUntil Inc. from FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS 1933

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The Great Depression of the 1930s devastated the American economy and left many feeling hopeless about a better future. In 1933, the year that Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882—1945) was sworn in as the 32nd president of the United States, 1,000 homes were foreclosed (reclaimed by banks because owners could not afford to make mortgage payments) each day, and one-fourth of the workforce was unemployed. Roosevelt used the occasion of his First Inaugural Address to introduce a plan to revitalize the economy through a combination of new legislation and new federal programs collectively referred to as the New Deal. THINK THROUGH HISTORY: Forming and Supporting Opinions What does Roosevelt mean when he states that he might, as president, “depart from the normal balance of public procedure,” and do you think such action is justified? Why or why not?

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my introduction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties, They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered 1 l’he Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS

because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.... Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.... If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we cannot merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife. With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems. Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations. 2 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROM FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS

It is to be hoped that the normal balance of Executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure. I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken Nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe. For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less. We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values: with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life. We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it. In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.

Source: The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D, Roosevelt, vol. 2 (New York: Random House, 1938), pp. 11-16.

3 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc.

44

fnmi

3.

2.

Discussion 1.

more

pneumonia.

mud.

doesn’t

loose,

think

of

went

close

couldn’t

streetlight and

everything.

about

snappy

dirt

inch

tiny

of

for

fierce.

us

What Dear

According

How

survive

Name

Dust

them

UNIT

As

A

There

a

One

When

Deb

shaking

Our

We

Section

a

we

For

Did

in

particles

clean

or

‘We

lot with

thick

before

many

for any

little

it

would

Family,

come

our

qualities Bowl

Sometimes

less

are as

keep

worked

Mulvev,

6,

morning.

of

faces

see is

over

some

the

have

gardens,

has

little

we

the

possible.

just

sit

ChAPTER

feeling

on

dirt

time,

teeth.

staved

glad

our

to

soil.

the

I

2

encounter?

difficulties

soon

von

the

a

open on

not

of

look

janitor

could

my

quite

Grace’s

of

in

wind

week

ed..

is

bedding,

all

or

house.

to

dirt

It’s

our

then doors

you

blowing

Questions

front We

describe

been

kitchen

early

we

home once

there

traits

like

go

afternoon. “Wi’

the it

Sometimes Kansas.

The PRIMARY

a

useless

even

will

dusty sift

22

we

and

lets

have

think

had

little

we

back

letter,

of

Had

door,

coal

much

I and

more.

following

1

that

will

do have

to right

stir

knew

carpets,

went U

they

have

see

the

floor.

no

ours

Grace’s

to

chairs

trouble

clean.

inside

Etenjtliiug

that

What

windows

you

to

miners’,

they be

it,

enough

swirling

what

wash

the

school house.

been

We

through

plant

carried

a

the

SOURCE

out

plowed,

hut

and

there

lots

tliink

you

frenzied

problems

outline. and letter

faced?

etc.

were and

prol)lelns

attitude

direction,

with during

everything

it’s

having

there

of

anything.

had

our

this

so

all

whirlwinds

i

But

see

helped

dirt

sit

suffering.

not the

was

we

able

but

our

shut

hair

a

week.

Mmiey

choking

fog

time

will

that

It

Letter

does

a

walls. dust

out

dangerous

troublesome

about

can

written

now

lull,

sure

chests.

to

dd

tight,

so

all

is

Grace

be

fog

just

of

of

have

she

see

It

storm?

gray

I

through

Peopl(’

we

(Greendale.

and

Two

If

of

no the

made

the

cleaning,

kept

let

in

settle

before

by

we with

attribute

around;

I

soil

do

and

relief

and

church

the

when

up

church

understand

(lust?

to different

a

Grace

on

spit

I’ll

not

me

survivor

beat

living March

from times.

wet

be

slowly

a

dirt.

her

stiff

the

we

coming.

little

until

tell

or

I

feel

anticipating

know

Wis.:

out

even

to

this

family

started

by against

house

\Ve

with

eat

blow

in

you

the

The

and times

24,

yesterday

in

we

funny

of

the

Reiman,

morning,

the

it the

whether

a couldn’t

it.

drought

dirt

the

what

and

a

good

get 1935

and

our

silently

and

dust

scoopful.

on

to

us

This

sun

it

Dust

Dust

and

was

rain.

return

the

noses unmercifully. has

make

the

all

it

1992),

is

many

may

and

dirt

was,

see

but

we

in

something

we

Bowl

we sills,

Date

quite over

been

comfort

If

the

we

Four

it

have

Fred

the

is I

shine

43.

I can

it

grind

have

it

as

The

all in

Great

an

get

was

Bowl

do

McCracken,

Plains?

Survivor

© Cd) ______

NAME CLASS DATE

(continued)

The “Forgotten Man The two letters that follow are examples of many letters written by “forgotten Americans to President Herbert Hoover and members of his administration. H Such letters from ordinary people (printed here with original spelling and A grammatical errors) provide a unique understanding of life during the Depression As you read the letters, think about how most American laborersprobably viewedtheir President and the economicbreakdownof the country. 22

Denver, Cob [November 1930]

Col. Arthur Woods, Dear Sir:

I am writing you as a laboring man to let you know what I think of the way this situation is being handled. Why don’t the big corporations dig down and donate a little? It’s always the poor devil that has to fork over. Of course some of the companys are donating a certain per cent of what the employes raise and that’s fine. It is what they all should do. Of course they couldn’t pay high dividends if they donated actual money and I suppose that’s what they are worrying about more than the un employed. If they would only open up their shops and factories and put these men to work that would give people money to spen and create a market, but no, the big bugs horde their money away and it’s never touched to help the under-dog. A working man puts away a little, sticks to his job and the first thing he knows he’s got to donate to releive a situation he did not create. The big moneyed men created it by juggling with the market. They preach to the small guy, get out and spend. Well, all our money put together wouldn’t come up to some capitalist’s bank-roll. So why not preach to the big guy to spend some of his millions? If they would only keep their shops and factories open none of us would have to give up part of our earnings. The first thing that should be done is stop immigration. let the other countries take care of their own un-employed. Of course the big corporations wouldn’t like this either for then they couldn’t get any cheap labor. It seems that the big companies should be preached to more than the little fellow as they control thousands of jobs. A few odd jobs won’t help the situation much with thousands of men out of jobs. People that are working are those that can spend money, which creates a market, which creates business, that makes times better. People out of work tighten up, spread gloom to others, thus scaring those that have money and of course then they tighten up too. I wish you success in your endeavor and hope that the situation will be relieved before the winter is over.

Yours for Better Times A Laboring Man Now is the time for all RICH MEN to come to the aid of their country.

© Prentice-Hall,Inc. Chapter 22 Primary Source Activity • 67 ______

NAME CLASS DATE

PRIMARY SOURCE ACTIVITY (continued) I

[Pottstown, Pa] October 30, 1930 A P [President Herbert Hoover The White House R Washington, D.C.] 22 Dear Sir:

I am persuaded to write to you, concerning aid to unemployment. I hope this movement will be speeded up so people in Pottstown will feel and know the results before Cold weather comes upon us, the struggling starving working class under nourished Men. women, and children. It really is alarming that this so called prosperous Nation that we must suffer on acct of a few men seeking power and rule and have

laws pass to suit themselves.. . . I am one of the men out of work but the rich dont care so long as they have full and plenty.

I hope relief will be coming soon and some action not Just paper talk. Oh the People have been so much belied that you cannot believe any thing only what you can see. I hope that Wall St will never have the power again to cause such a panic upon the people money tied up hoarded up Is a crime. I hope the guilty gang will be punished before they die. I say this whole panic was brought on by dishonest group which I hope will be punished....

[Anonymousl

Reprinted from DOWN AND OUT IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION: LETTERS FROM THE ‘FORGOTTEN MAN,” edited by Robert S. McElvaine. Copyright © 1983 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher.

I RESPONDING TO PRIMARY SOURCES

Imagine that you are a member of President Herbert Hoover’s White House staff. Yourjob is to answer the letters addressed to the President. Write your response to the “forgotten man.” In your letter, address the “laboring man’s” opinions about big business and his suggestions for relief and reform.

68 • Chapter 22 Primary Source Activity © Prentice-Hall,Inc. NAME CLASS DATE

Hard Times in Oklahoma

Studs Terkel, a writer and radio commentator, compiled Hard Times,An Oral History of the Great Depression by getting people from all walks of life to talk about their experiences during the Depression. Peggy Terry was living in Oklahoma City when she realized that “hard times” had struck her family. Here is how she remembers the Depression.

first noticed the difference when we’d But they had a truck of oranges parked in the I come home from school in the evening. alley. Somebody asked them who the oranges My mother’d send us to the soup line. were for, and they wouldn’t tell ‘em. So they said, Then we’d go across the street. One place had well, we’re gonna take those oranges. And they bread, large loaves of bread. Down the road just a did. My dad was one of the ones that got up on little piece was a big shed, and they gave milk. the truck. They called the police, and the police My sister and me would take two buckets each. chased us all away. But we got the oranges. And that’s what we lived off for the longest time. It’s different today. People are made to feel I can remember one time, the only thing in ashamed now if they don’t have anything. the house to eat was mustard. My sister and I put I think the rich were as contemptuous of the poor so much mustard on biscuits that we got sick. then as they are now. But among the people that I And we can’t stand mustard till today. knew, we all had an understanding that it wasn’t There was only one family around that ate our fault. It was something that had happened to good. Mr. Barr worked at the ice plant. Whenever the machinery. Most people blamed Hoover, and Mrs. Barr could, she’d feed the kids. But she they cussed him up one side and down the other couldn’t feed ‘em all,They had a big tree that had Our system doesn’t run by just one man, and fruit on it. She’d let us pick those. Sometimes it doesn’t fall by just one man, either. we’d pick and eat ‘em until we were sick. I remember it was fun. It was fun going to the

Her two daughters got to go to. . . college. soup line, ‘Cause we all went down the road, and When they’d talk about all the good things they we laughed and we played. The only thing we had at the college, she’d kind of hush ‘em up felt is that we were hungry and we were going to because there was always poor kids that didn’t get food. Nobody made us feel ashamed.... have anything to eat. I remember she always felt Today you’re made to feel that it’s your own bad because people in the neighborhood were fault. If you’re poor, it’s only because you’re lazy hungry. But there was a feeling of together. and you’re ignorant, and you don’t try to help When they had food to give to people, you’d yourself. You’re made to feel that if you get a

get a notice and you’d go down. . . . They were check from Welfare that the bank at Fort Knox is giving away potatoes and things like that. gonna go broke.

From HARD TIMES by Studs Terkel Copyright © 1970by Studs Terkel. Reprinted by permission of Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

QuEsTIoNs TO Discuss

1. The author appears to have been in unexpectedly high spirits for the condition in which she and her family found themselves. How would you explain this? 2. According to Terry, how have attitudes toward welfare recipients changed I ci) since the Depression? C) C C) 0

28 • Primary Source Activity Chapter 22 Survey Edition Chapter 12 Modern American History Edition NAME CLASS DATE

çàiqpAnING?nIMARvquRcEsj On Ending the Depression

The presidential campaign of 1932 was a contest not only between two men, but also between two contrasting views of government.

As you read the passages below, try to identify the arguments for and against a “new deal” for Americans.

RoosEvELT’s VIEw OF GovEMENT HoovER’s VIEW OF GovEiuMENT In a campaignaddresson October13, 1932, In a campaignspeechdeliveredat MadisonSquare Franklin Rooseveltexplainedhowhe viewedthe Gardenin New YorkCity on October31, 1932, dutiesand responsibilitiesofthefederalgovern PresidentHooverset forth his viewon thecausesof ment. Belowis an excerptfromthespeech. and curesfor theDepression.

The first principle I would lay down is that the We are told by the opposition that we must have primary duty rests on the community, through a change, that we must have a new deal. It is not local government and private agencies, to take the change that comes from normal development care of the relief of unemployment. But we then of national life to which I object but the proposal come to a situation where there are so many peo to alter the whole foundation of our national life ple out of work that local funds are insufficient. which [has] been [built] through generations of It seems clear to me that the organized society testing and struggle, and of the principles upon known as the State comes into the picture at this which we have [built] the nation.... point. In other words, the obligation of govern Our economic system has received abnormal ment is extended to the next higher unit. shocks during the past three years, which tem It took the present Republican administration porarily dislocated its normal functioning. These in Washington almost three years to recognize shocks have in a large sense come from without this principle. I have recounted to you in other our borders, but I say to you that our system of speeches, and it is a matter of general informa government has enabled us to take such strong tion, that for at least two years after the crash, the action as to prevent the disaster which would only efforts made by the national administration otherwise have come to our nation. It has enabled to cope with the distress of unemployment were us further to develop measures and programs to deny its existence. which are now demonstrating their ability to I have constantly reiterated my conviction bring about restoration and progress.

that the expenditures of cities, states, and the fed Our system is. . . founded on the conception eral government must be reduced in the interest that only through ordered liberty, through free of the nation as a whole. I believe that there are dom to the individual, and equal opportunity to many ways in which such reduction of expendi the individual will his initiative and enterprise be tures can take place, but I am utterly unwilling summoned to spur the march of progress. that economy should be practised at the expense It is in the further development of this coop of starving people. eration and a sense of its responsibility that we We must economize in other ways, but it should find solution for many of our complex shall never be said that the American people have problems, and not by the extension of govern refused to provide the necessities of life for those ment into our economic and social life. The great who, through no fault of their own, are unable to est function of government is to build up that feed, clothe, and house themselves. first 6 The cooperation, and its most resolute action should C obligation of government is the protection of the be to deny the extension of bureaucracy. I welfare and well-being, indeed the very existence, C-) of its citizens. C ci)

©

Chapter 22 Survey Edition Comparing Primary Sources • 29 Chapter 12 Modern American History Edition NAME CLASS DATE

(continued)

As you read the passages below,think about how each candidate might have refuted the other’s accusations.

RoosrvELT’s VIEW OF HOOVER HoovFR DEFFNDs HIS RECORD In anothercampaign speech, Roosevelt made the In the last days ofthe campaign, President 1-loover foliowing accusations about his opponent. tried to refute charges that he was a “see-nothing, do-nothing’ President. Finally, when facts could no longer be ignored and excuses had to be found, Washington discov We have fought an unending war against the ered that the depression came from abroad. effect of these calamities upon our people. This Not for partisan purposes, but in order to set is no time to recount the battles on a thousand forth history aright, that excuse ought to be quiet fronts. We have fought the good fight to protect ly considered. The records of the civilized Nations our people in a thousand cities from hunger of the world prove two facts: first, that the eco and cold. nomic structure of other Nations was affected by We have carried on an unceasing campaign our own tide of speculation, and the curtailment to protect the Nation from that unhealing class of our lending helped to bring on their distress: bitterness which arises from strikes and lockouts second, that the bubble burst first in the land of and industrial conflict. We have accomplished its origin—the United States. this through the willing agreement of employer The major collapse in other countries fol and labor, which placed humanity before money lowed. It was not simultaneous with ours. through the sacrifice of profits and dividends Moreover, further curtailment of our loans, plus before wages. the continual stagnation in trade caused by the We have defended millions from the tragic [Hawley-Smooti tariff, has continued the depres results of droughts. sion throughout international affairs. We have mobilized a vast expansion of public So I sum up the history of the present construction to make work for the unemployed. Administration in four sentences: We have battled to provide a supply of cred First, it encouraged speculation and over its to merchants and farmers and industries. production, through its false economic policies. We have fought to retard falling prices. Second, it attempted to minimize the crash We have struggled to save homes and farms and misled the people as to its gravity. from foreclosure of mortgages: battled to save Third, it erroneously charged the cause to millions of depositors and borrowers from the other Nations of the world. ruin caused by the failure of banks: fought to And finally, it refused to recognize and cor assure the safety of millions of policyholders rect the evils at home which had brought it forth: from failure of their insurance companies: and it delayed relief: it forgot reform. fought to save commerce and employment from

the failure of railways. . . . And, above all, we have fought to preserve the safety, the principles, and ideals of American life. We have [builtj the foundations of recovery.

ACTIVITY I

The year is 1932 and you are a radio commentator. Summarize for your listeriets the major differences between the candidates in the presidential election of 1932. Then state your opinion about the election. Whom would you support and why?

0) 0 ©

30 • Comparing Primary Sources Chapter 22 Survey Edition Chapter 12 Modern American History Edition 230 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American History, Volume 2 The Great Boom and the B Crash 231

the shelves of manufacturing companies and jobbers The Great Boom and and retailers were not overloaded, the shelves of the ultimate consumer and the shelves of the distribu From Only Testerday by groaning. Trouble was brew Frederick Lewis Allen; the Big Crash tors of securities were and Three Years Dawn by ing—not the same sort of trouble which had visited Jonathan Norton the country in 1921, but trouble none the less. Still, Leonard. (1928—1929) however, the cloud in the summer sky looked no The years immediately following World War I in bigger than a man’s hand, the United States would be remembered as the ‘Roaring How many Americans actually held stock on Ttven ties.” Things were booming. Most people were margin [money or collateral deposited with a broker earning more money than ever before, and they had to help insure the broker against loss on transactions seller of stocks] during many netv gadgets and products on which to spend undertaken for a buyer or fabulous summer of 1929 there seems to be no their money. People soon began to look for new ways the way of computing, but it is probably safe to put to participate in the great prosperity. Many invested the figure at more than a million. . . . The addi in stocks as a way to get rich quick. tional number of those who held common stock By mid-1929, investments in the stock market outright and followed the daily quotations with an were at an all-time high. Business and industry earn interest nearly as absorbed as that of the margin ings and profits skyrocketed. People became million trader was, of course, considerably larger. As one aires—at least on paper—overnight. There seemed walked up the aisle of the 5:27 local [train], or found to be no end to the excitement. But it could not last one’s seat in the trolley car, two out of three newspa forever. The beginning of the end came on Thursday, pers that one saw were open to the page of stock- October 24, 1929, when the stock market crashed. market quotations. Branch offices of the big Wall Branch offices of As you read the following excerpts from Frederick Street houses blossomed in every city and in numer the big Wall Lewis Allen’s description of the Great Boom and Jona ous suburban villages. In 1919 there had been five Street houses than Leonard’s account of the Big Crash thatfollowed, hundred such offices1 by October, 1928, there were blossomed in 1,1 92 and throughout most of 1929 they appeared try to determine the cause of the crash, every city . in increasing numbers. The broker found himself regarded with a new wonder and esteem. Ordinary people, less intimate with the mysteries of Wall Street Frederick Lewis Allen than he was supposed to be, hung upon his every the huge pyramid of capital rose. word. Let him but drop a hint of a possible split- GraduallyWhile supersalesmen of automobiles and ra up in General Industries Associates and his neighbor dios and a hundred other gadgets were loading the was off hot-foot the next morning to place a buying ultimate consumer with new and shining wares, order. supersalesmen of securities were selling him shares The rich man’s chauffeur drove with his ears of investment trusts which held stock in holding laid back to catch the news of an impending move companies which owned the stock of banks which in Bethlehem Steel1 he held fifty shares himself on had affiliates which in turn controlled holding com a twenty-point margin. The window-cleaner at the panies—and so on ad infinitum [without end]. Though broker’s office paused to watch the ticker, for he 232 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American Histosy,_Volume 2 The Great Boom and the Bq Crash 233

was thinking of converting his laboriously accumu to buy a large country house with her winnings in lated savings into a few shares of Simmons. Edwin Kennecott. Thousands speculated—and won, too— Lefèvre told of a broker’s valet who had made nearly without the slightest knowledge of the nature of a quarter of a million in the market, of a trained the company upon whose fortunes they were relying, nurse who cleaned up thirty thousand following the like the people who bought Seaboard Air Line under tips given her by grateful patients1 and of a Wyoming the impression that it was an aviation stock, Grocers, cattleman, thirty miles from the nearest railroad, motormen, plumbers, seamstresses, and speakeasy who bought or sold a thousand shares a day,—getting waiters were in the market, Even the revolting intel his market returns by radio and telephoning his or lectuals were there: loudly as they might lament ders to the nearest large town to be thnsmitted to the depressing effects of standardization and mass New York by telegram. An ex-actress in New York production upon American life, they found them fitted up her Park Avenue apartment as an office selves quite ready to reap the fruits thereof. Literary and surrounded herself with charts, graphs, and finan editors whose hopes were wrapped about American cial reports, playing the market by telephone on Cyanamid B lunched with poets who swore by Cities A desperate man tries to an increasing scale and with increasing abandon. Service, and as they left the table, stopped a moment sell his late—model car Across the dinner table one heard fantastic stories in the crowd at the broker’s branch office to catch for $ioo after losing all of sudden fortunes, a young banker had put every the latest quotations1 and the artist who had once his money in the stock dollar of his small capital into Niles-Bement-Pond been eloquent only about Gauguin laid aside his market crash. and now was fixed for life1 a widow had been able brushes to proclaim the merits of national Bellas Hess. The Big Bull market had become a national mania. In September the market reached its ultimate glittering peak.

Jonathan Leonard That Saturday and Sunday Wall Street hummed with week-day activity. The great buildings were ablaze with lights all night as sleepy clerks fought desper ately to get the accounts in shape for the Monday opening. Horrified brokers watched the selling orders accumulate. It wasn’t a flood, it was a deluge. Every body wanted to sell—the man with five shares and the man with ten thousand. Evidently the week-end cheer barrage had not hit its mark. Monday was a rout [retreat] for the banking pool, which was still supposed to be “on guard.” If it did any net buying at all, which is doubtful, the market paid little attention. Leading stocks broke through the support levels as soon as trading started and kept sinking all day. Periodically the news would 234 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American History, Volume 2 The Great Boom and the Bg Crash 235

circulate that the banks were about to turn the tide [mayor of New York], for example, asked the movie as they had done on Thursday, but it didn’t happen. houses to show only cheerful pictures. True Story A certain cynicism developed in the board rooms Magcizine, currently suffering from the delusions of

• . . the big as the day wore on. Obviously the big financial grandeur, ran full page advertisements in many papers financial interests had abandoned the market to its fate, proba urging all wage earners to buy luxuries on credit. interests had bly intending to pick ui5 the fragments cheap when That would fix things right up. McGraw-Hill Com the wreck hit the final bottom. Very well,” said pany, another abandoned the publishing house with boom-time the little man, “I shall do the same.” megalomania [delusions of grandeur], told the public market to its When the market finally closed, 9,212,800 to avert its eyes from the obscene spectacle in Wall fate. shares had been sold. The Times index of‘25 industrials Street, What they did not observe would not affect fell from 367.42 to 318.29. The whole list showed their state of mind and good times could continue alarming losses, and margin calls were on their way as before. to those speculators who had not already sold out. These noble but childish dabbles in mass psy That night Wall Street was lit up like a Christ chology failed as utterly as might have been ex mas tree. Restaurants, barber shops, and speakeasies pected. Even the more substantial contributions of were open and doing a roaring business. Messenger U.S. Steel and American Can in the shape of Si boys and runners raced through the streets whooping extra dividends had the same fate. Ordinarily such and singing at the tops of their lungs. Slum children action would have sent the respective stocks shooting invaded the district to play with balls of ticker tape. upward, but in the present mood of the public it Well-dressed gentlemen fell asleep in lunch counters. created not the slightest ripple of interest. Steel and All the downtown hotels, rooming houses, even flop- Can plunged down as steeply as if they had canceled houses [cheap hotels] were full of financial employees their dividends entirely. The next day, Tuesday, the who usually slept in the Bronx. It was probably Wall 29th of October, was the worst of all. In the first Street’s worst night. Not only had the day been half hour 3,259,800 shares were traded, almost a bad, but everybody down to the youngest office full day’s work for the laboring machinery of the boy had a pretty good idea of what was going to Exchange. The selling pressure was wholly without happen tomorrow. precedent. It was coming from everywhere. The wires The morning papers were black with the story to other cities were jammed with frantic orders to of the Monday smash. Except for rather feeble hopes sell. So were the cables, radio and telephones to that the great banks would step into the gap they Europe and the rest of the world. Buyers were few, had no heart for cheerful headlines. In the inside sometimes wholly absent. Often the specialists stood pages, however, the sunshine chorus continued baffled at their posts, sellers pressing around them as merry as ever. Bankers said that heavy buying and not a single buyer at any price. had been sighted on the horizon. Brokers were loud This was real panic. It was what the banks had with “technical” reasons why the decline could not prevented on Thursday, had slowed on Monday. continue. Now they were helpless. Reportedly they were trying It wasn’t only the financial bigwigs who spoke to force their associated corporations to toss their up. Even the outriders of the New Era felt that if buying power into the whirlpool, but they were everybody pretended to be happy, their phoney getting no results. Albert Conway, New York State smiles would blow the trouble away. jimmy Walker Superintendent of Insurance, took the dubious step I 236 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American History, Volume 2 Sketches from the Hispanzc Southwest (1920s) 237

of urging the companies under his jurisdiction to buy common stocks. II they did so, their buying Sketches from the was insufficient to halt the rout. From Tone the Bell Easy When the closing bell rang, the great bull mar Hispanic Southwest by Jovita Gonzalez. ket was dead and buried. 16,410,000 shares had changed hands. Leading stocks had lost as much (1920s) as 77% of their peak value. The Dow Jones index Mexican Americans who was off 40% since September 3. Not only the little Lfe was hard for the rural speculators, but the lordly, experienced big traders lived on the Texas-Mexico border in the early I 900s. had been wiped out by the violence or the crash While groups were fighting for the rights of women and the whole financial structure of the nation had and blacks, worrying about worldwide war, and en been shaken to its foundations. Many bankers and joying the benefits of growing industrialization, the brokers were doubtful about their own solvency, Spanish-speaking Hispanics led a life far removed for their accounting systems had broken down. The from these concerns. They had to work hard simply truth was buried beneath a mountain of scribbled to make a living in the harsh desert land of the paper which would require several days of solid work Southwest. to clear away. Writer Jovita Gonzalez grew up in this environ ment. Later, she tvrote about her childhood and the people who made up her close-knit community. As REVIEWING THE READING you read the following three stories from Gonzalez’ book, think about why these people meant so much 1. What caused the Great Boom in the stock market? to her, and the things they did to create such lasting bonds. 2. What did publisher McGraw-Hill suggest as a remedy for falling stock prices, ac Shelling Corn by Moonlight cording to Leonard? n August, down towards the Rio Grande, the rays 3. Using Your Historical Imagination. Peo I of the sun beat vertically upon the sandy ple from all walks of life made investments stretches of land, from which all tender vegetation in the stock market during the 1920s’ has been scorched, and the white, naked land glares Great Boom period. What do you think back at the sun1 the only palpitating [moving] things was the biggest mistake made by most discoverable between the two poles of heat are heat people? devils. The rattlesnakes are as deeply holed up and as quiet as in midwinter. In the thickets of brush the roadrunners, rusty lizards, mockingbirds, and all other living things pant. Whirlwinds dance across the stretches of prairie interspersed between the thickets of thorn. At six o’clock it is hotter than at midday. Seven o’clock, and then the sun, a ball of orange-pink, descends below the horizon at one 238 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American History, Volume 2 Sketches from the Hispanic Southwest 239

stride. The change is magical. A soft cooling breeze, “‘Who is there?’ he asked, looking out into a the pulmotor [breathing apparatus] of the Border night as dark as the mouth of a wolf. lands, springs up from the south. “‘just a lost hermit,’ answered a wailing voice. Down in the canada [brook between mountains], ‘Will you give a stranger a lodging for the night?’ which runs by the ranch, doves coo. Out beyond, “A figure wrapped in a black cape entered, and cattle are grazing and calves are frisking. In the cot as he entered, a tomblike darkness and coldness filled tonwood tree growing beside the dirt tank” near the room. the ranch house the redbird sings. Children shout “‘Will you take off your hat and cape?’ the and play. From the corrals come the voices of vaque host asked solicitously of his mysterious guest. ros [cowboys] singing and jesting. Blended with the “‘No—but—! shall—take off my head.’ And bleatings of goats and sheep are the whistles and saying this, the strange personage placed his head, hisses of the pastor (shepherd). The locusts complete a skull, upon the table nearby.” the chorus of evening noises. Darkness subdues them1 Then the pastor told of how he had seen spirits then, as the moon rises, an uncounted mob of mon in the shape of balls of fire floating through the grel curs set up a howling and barking at it that air. They were souls doing penance for their past coyotes out beyond mock. sins, As a relief to our fright, Don [a title of respect] It was on a night like this that the ranch folk Francisco suggested that Tio Julianito do one of gathered at the Big House to shell corn. All came: his original dances to the tune of Alejo’s fiddle. A Tio julianito, the pastor, with his brood of sunburned place was cleared on the canvas, and that started half-starved children ever eager for food1 Alejo the the evening’s merriment. fiddler, juanito the idiot, called the Innocent, because the Lord was keeping his mind in heaven, Pedro Pedro the Hunter the hunter, who had seen the world and spoke En Pedro was a wonderful person among all the people glish1 the vaqueros, and, on rare occasions, Tio Este of the ranch. Besides being the most renowned ban, the mail carrier. Even the women came, for hunter, he had seen the world, and conscious of on such occasions supper was served. his superiority, he strutted among the vaqueros and A big canvas was spread outside, in front of other ranch hands like an only rooster in a small the kitchen. In the center of this canvas, ears of barnyard. Besides, he spoke English, which he had corn were piled in pyramids for the shellers, who learned on one of his trips up North. Yes, Pedro sat about in a circle and with their bare hands shelled was a traveled man, he had been as far away as the grains off the cobs. Sugar Land and had worked in sugar-cane planta • . . we heard It was then, under the moonlit sky, that we tions. Many strange things he had seen in his travels. stories of heard stories of witches, buried treasures, and ghosts. He had seen how the convicts were worked on the witches, buried I remember one in particular that sent chills up and plantations and how they were whipped for the least treasures, and down my spine. offense. Yes, he, Pedro, had seen that with his own ghosts. “The night was dark, gloomy, the wind moaned eyes. over the treetops, and the coyotes howled all around. He did not stay in the Sugar Land country A knock was heard, the only occupant limped across long, the dampness was making him have chills. the room and opened the door. A blast of cold So he hired himself as a section hand. His auditors wind put out the candle. should have seen that big black monster, el Tren 240 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American Histoiy, Volume 2 Sketches from the Hispanic Southwest 241

Volador [the Flying Trainj. It roared and whistled ‘4 and belched fire and smoke it as Hew over the land. :4 He would have liked being a section hand on the railroad had it not been for the food—cornbread and salt pork. He had been told that if he ate salt pork, he would soon learn to speak English. Bahi What a lie! He had eaten it three times a day and had only learned to say ‘yes.” But being anxious to see a city, he came to Houston, As he walked through the downtown streets one Saturday evening, he saw some beautiful American ladies singing at a corner. And that made him homesick for the ranch. He stopped to listen, and the beautiful ladies talked to him and patted him on the back, They took him with them that night and let him sleep in a room above the garage. He could not understand them but they were very kind and taught him to play the drum, and every evening the ladies, after putting on a funny hat, took the guitars and he the drum, and they went to town. They sang beautifully, and he beat the drum in a way that must have caused the envy of the passers-by, and when he passed a plate, many down. In the teeth of one of these northers we left A water vendor peddles people put money in it. During the winter he learned Las Viboras ranch just before dawn, bound for the his wares by donkey English. But with the coming of spring he got home nearest railroad station, Hebbronville. The day cart in the lower Rio sick for the mesquitales [mesquite trees], the fragrant proved to be as dreary as the dawn, and I amused Grande valley of early smell of the huisache [desert flowers], the lowing of myself counting the stiff jack rabbits that crossed twentieth—century the cattle at sundown, and above all, for the mellow, our path. At a turn of the road the car almost collided Texas. rank smell of the corral, What would he not give with a forlorn-looking two-wheeled vehicle drawn for a good cup of black, strong ranch coffee, and a by the sorriest-looking nag I had ever seen. On piece of jerky broiled over the fire! And so one the high seat, perched like a bright-colored tropical night, with his belongings wrapped up in a blanket, bird, sat a figure wrapped up in a crazy quilt. On he left south by west for the land of his youth. seeing us he stopped, motioned us to do the same, And here he was again, a man who had seen the and in mumbled tones bade us good morning, asked world but who was happy to be at home. where we were going, what might be the news at the ranches, and finally, were we all right. He seemed The Mail Carrier to ask these questions for the sake of asking, not No people of the North feel cold more than do waiting for a reply to any one of them. At last, the Border people when the winter norther sweeps having paused in his catechism [series of questions] 242 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American History, Volume 2 Sketches from the Hispanic Southwest 243

long enough for some sort of reply to be given, he was all this compared with what Tb Esteban had put out one of his hands gingerly from under his to tell us? brilliant cape to wave us good-bye. Did we know Chon had left his wife because “That’s Tb Esteban, the mail carrier,” grand she did not wash her face often enough? And about father said, And that is how I met this employee Felipe’s hog eating all the soap his wife had made? of Uncle Sam, Six months later, suitcase and all, I Pablo’s setting hen, which had all white Leghorn rode with him twenty miles as a passenger, for the eggs, had hatched all black chickens. A strange event, sum of two dollars and fifty cents. That summer but not so strange if you remembered that Pablo’s we became intimate friends. He was tle weather sister-in-law had black chickens. And with such news beaten, brown-faced, black-eyed Cupid of the Com he entertained us until the roosters began to crow. munity. Often when some lovesick vaquero did not have a two-cent stamp to pay for the delivery of the love missive [letter], he personally delivered the letter. Not only did he carry letters, but he served REVIEWING THE READING as secretary to those who could not write. He pos 1. What things did the people in the stories sessed a wonderful memory and could recite ballads do that built lasting bonds between them? and love poems by the hour. If the amorous [roman 2. How did the people in the stories earn tic] outburst was in verse, his fee was double. He a living? was a sly old fellow and knew all the love affairs of the community. I am not so sure of his honorable- 3. Using Your Historical Imagination. Why ness as a mail carrier. I am afraid he sometimes opened do you think the people in “The Mail the love missives. Once as he handed a love letter Carrier” had so little concern for what to Serafina, our cook, he said in a mellifluous [sweet was going on in the rest of the country? and smooth] voice, “My dear Serafina, as the poet says, we are like two cooing doves.” Poor Serafina blushed even to the whites of her eyes. Later she showed me that very phrase in the letter. Tb Esteban knew not only all the love affairs but also all the scandal of the two counties through which he passed. And because of that, he was the welcome guest of every ranch house. He made grand father’s house his headquarters and could always have a bed with the ranch hands. He needed little encour agement to begin talking. He usually sat on a low stool, cleared his throat, and went through all the other preliminaries of a long-winded speaker. Ah, how we enjoyed his news! What did he care for what the papers said? They told of wars in Europe, of the Kaiser’s surrender [the surrender of German armed forces at the end of World War I]. But what Eycwitnesses 244 and Others: Readings in American History, Volume 2 A Black Tc,xans School Days 245

“And what about them books you’re gonna be A Black Texan’s needing later on? Who’s gonna pay for them?” she From NoQuittin’Sense by grumbled. I didn’t say nothing. I sure did want to the Reverend C. C. School Days (1920s) go to school. But now wasn’t the time to say it. White and Ada “Po’, is we?” snorted Mama. Morehead Holland. In 1 852 IVlassachusetts became the first state to require Mama had stopped working for the Smith family students between the ages of 6 and 1 6 to attend in Shelbyville. She wasn’t doing housework now be school. By 1918 school attendance was required in cause we were trying to make a crop on the shares every state, In those days, African American children and we all had to work in the field. But once when were not allowed to attend the same schools as white it come a rainy spell she went back over there and children, and in many states, especially in the South, worked a week so’s Mr. Smith would let her have very little effort was made to ensure that African slates and pencils and a dinner bucket for us out American children attended school at all. Thefollowing of his store. selection is excerpted from a book School didn’t start till the middle of the winter. written by the They Reverend C. C. White, a just had four months a year. Had two in the black man who grew up winter and two in the in Texas. As you read from summer. They tried to have White’s account of his school when it wasn’t the right childhood in time for the children Texas during the early 19005, and to be working in the fields. I could hardly wait for about his chance to go to school, think about the it to begin. obstacles he had to overcome to obtain even an elemen Mama worked every night now, carding, spin tary education, ning, knitting, and sewing—to have clothes for us to wear to school. I was always there watching, hat fall a man we’d never seen before come to and one day she said, “Charley, if you’re bound to Tour house. He was riding a mule. He talked be under foot, you might as well help.” So she taught to Mama about how us children ought to go to me to card cotton. After while I learned to spin,

school. He said, “The government’s spending a lot too. . of money trying to fix schools for these children Mama knitted us some socks. We didn’t have and you ought to let them go. Why, it costs thirty no shoes, but when it got real cold we could put dollars a month just to pay the teacher.” on our socks and tie a piece of old tow sack or Mama said, “Yes, but the government ain’t something around our feet. I liked to watch Mama gonna buy the slates and slate pencils, is they?” knit. She could make them little needles just go— The man said, “Well, are you so poor you can’t clickety, clickety, click. buy your children a slate and pencil?” Liza and me was up early the first day of school. Mama drawed her little bitty self up as tall as Mama had made us bring the washtub in the night she could and stuck her face up at that man and before, and put warm water in it, and take us a said just as nasty as she knowed how, “The ones bath. Now we put on our new clothes and Mama that’s old enough’ll be there when school starts.” fixed us some corn bread and cane syrup and a couple And she whirled around and marched back in the pieces of fried fatback to put in our dinner pail As house. Liza stayed to give the man our names, but we walked to school other children come along, I followed Mama. too, and several of us went together. Part of the 246 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American History, Volume 2 A Black Ttwanr School Days 247

way we walked along the road, but we went through write them on our slates. He made us do that every the woods, too, across fences and along trails. A day, and after we got so we could write them pretty squirrel jumped out of our way and run up on a good he started making us learn them by heart, limb and shook his tail at us And one of them forwards and backwards. I got to where I knowed great big black woodpeckers, that’s as big as a cow what every one of them was when he pointed to and has a red topknot, was pounding on a big old it, but seemed like I just couldn’t say them in the oak tree. Liza said, ‘There’s a Old Lord Cod over right order. The teacher thought I wasn’t trying. there, trying to chop down that tree.” He said I couldn’t start learning to read till I got When we got almost underneath him, he took through with the ABC’s. But he did start me doing off saying “Kuk, kuk, kuk, kuk, kuk.” a little arithmetic. Everybody was laughing and having fun. I sure Some of the other children had been to school was glad Liza and me was there. before and they already knew their ABC’s so he I knowed where the school was. I’d seen it was teaching them to read, and spell. He’d put a when we’d been to visit Aunt Big Lucy. She was a word on the board and they’d have to tell him what big fat woman that was one of Mama’s friends, and it was. Then he’d wipe it off and tell them to spell us children liked to go there because she always it. Sometimes they couldn’t, I just loved to watch had more to eat than we did. You always got some them. I got so I knowed a lot of words, just to thing good to eat at Aunt Big Lucy’s. And the school look at them, and I could spell some of them, was just across the road from her house. too. The schoolhouse was a old log building, just I made up my mind I was gonna learn them one room. It had one door and one window, and ABC’s somehow. It was hard. Couldn’t nobody at in the end was a big fireplace that was made out home help me. Mama couldn’t read. And Liza didn’t of sticks and mud, like the fireplaces in the houses know as much as I did. She wasn’t much interested we’d lived in. That’s the kind of chimneys and fire in learning. places they used then, They called them “stock and I practiced reading in the evenings, too. I’d cat” chimneys. They made a framework of sticks put pine knots in the fireplace, to make it blaze up and daubed it good with balls of mud they called so I’d have light to see by. We didn’t have no light “cats” except the fireplace. Mama sewed by light from the There was a blackboard at school. And in one corner the teacher had a barrel where he kept lots In the common school of switches, of all sizes. He used big ones on the districts of the rural big kids and little ones on the little-uns. We didn’t South, blacks, whites, have no desks. We set on anything we could get. and Hispanics (when There was some benches. The boys set on one side I present) usually at of the room and the girls on the other. We put tended separate schools. our dinner buckets down in one corner. There was Sometimes boys and a old wooden water bucket there, with a couple of girls had separate en gourds that we drunk out of. trances. The teacher wrote the ABC’s on the board and made us say them over after him. Then we had to 248 Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American Histo,y, Volume 2 A Black Texañ School Days 249

fireplace. Sometimes I’d write words in the ashes She called me and said when I got through with a stick, like ‘cat,” or ‘dog,” or “house,” and try eating breakfast to come there she wanted to talk to teach Mama to read a little. But I never did get to me. I went and leaned against the wall at the very far with that. She tried to act interested, but foot of her bed, all pleased with myself because I’d she’d always be so tired, or some grownup would had Frank help me and we’d got in lots of wood come in and she’d have to talk to them. and water while Liza cooked breakfast, so Liza Uncle Ossie bought me a pair of shoes to wear wouldn’t have nothing much to do but take care to school. When he bought shoes for his own chil of Mama till we got home. I figured we’d already dren he bought Frank and Liza and me some, too. done what she was going to tell me to do. I sure This was my second pair of shoes, first ones since wasn’t ready for what come. the little red boots. Now I had a new book and She said, “Charley, it looks like you’re gonna new shoes, too. I thought I was rich. have to quit school and go to work.” School started out real good [his second year]. I pushed my hands hard against the wall behind The teacher The teacher said he could tell I’d been studying me, and tried not to let her see how my insides said he could because I read better than the others. Going through was churning up and down. te een the woods on the way home that evening, seemed She said, “Mr. Tom Barlow talked to me the studying like I was so full of myself I didn’t know what to other day about getting you to work for him, but I do.! run, and jumped, and kicked, and felt all bouncy, said no, I wanted you to go to school. Now I can’t like a ball. I punched Frank so many times, just work, so I guess you’ll have to. You can do it. You’re playing, that he finally went crying home and told a big boy now. You’re ten years old.” Mama, and she said, “Charley, I’m warning you, if O-o-o-oh, I hated to quit school. And just now you don’t behave yourself I’m gonna wear you out. when everything was going so good. But I’d a done I don’t feel like putting up with no foolishness.” anything for Mama, of course. So I went to work That night, after I went to bed, I got to thinking for old man Barlow. about school, and remembering some of the stories I’d heard the others reading out of the third reader. I Maybe if I worked real hard at learning I could REVIEWING THE READING get promoted to the third grade by next year. Boy I 1. What obstacles did Charley have to over Mama really would be proud of me then. come in order to do well in school? Why Before we left for school the next morning we did he have to quit school at the age of got in plenty wood and water. Mama hadn’t been ten? feeling too good, and she’d had trouble stooping to pick up anything. But we didn’t think much about 2. What made Charley’s mother agree to it. Mama had had rheumatiz off and on about as allow him to attend school? long as we could remember. It didn’t stop her. It 3. Using Your Historical Imagination. Al just made her fuss at us more. though the public school Charley at But on the third day of school that year Mama tended was free, his family had to make couldn’t get out the bed. I know she tried, but she many sacrifices so that he could attend. just couldn’t make it, Everybody said it was the rheu What sacrifices did Charley’s mother make? matiz, and I suppose it was. ‘a4 Eyewitnesses and Others: Rsadings in American Histoy, Volume 2 250 Lie in the Breadlines 251

from the first month’s salary for a fee were quickly Life in the dissolved in the face of the cold fact that any position L must be paid From “No Men Wanted” Breadlines (1930) for in Full and in advance. I learned by Karl Monroe, The from one young man that he had paid $10 for a Nation, August 6, 1930. job at which he had worked only four days, receiving The Roaring Twenties, and the belief that there was $13.50, or a net profit of $3.50 for his four days of no end to the spiraling growth in business and industry, work. He and other victims told me, apparently from came to an abrupt and devastating end with the experience, that many of the agencies make a regular crash of the stock market in October 1929. In just practice of sending men to jobs for which they are a few short days millionaires became poor, and people obviously unfitted, so that the same job might be who had invested their life savings in the market sold several times. Many of the men, I learned, real found themselves penniless. Within a few months, ized this, but were willing to “take a gypping” in businesses failed, unemployment soared, and people order to earn a few dollars. My Funds were getting low, and rather than from all walks of life were forced into the streets, spend any more of the bit of cash I still had I • • . homeless, hungry, and with no hope of finding a resolved I resolved to ride the subways for the night. Not only did I way to earn a living. People looked to soup kitchens, to ride the find this fairly easy, but I found that hundreds of subways for the breadlines, and lodging houses for food and shelter. others were doing it. Experts at the game—men night. In the following excerpts from a magazine article who lived a hand-to-mouth existence by panhandling written in 1930, journalist Karl Monroe describes and petty racketeering—told me that the most satis the agony felt by many during these hard times. As factory system was to ride the B.M.T. trains which you read his account of life in the breadlines, try’ to run from Times Square to Coney Island, swinging imagine the hopelessness Monroe must have felt. around a loop and returning. The trip consumes nearly two hours if a local train is taken. A good corner seat gives the rider a change to get a fair ith assets of perhaps twenty dollars and some nap, and the thing can be repeated endlessly, When nine years’ experience as a reporter in New morning came I went to the Grand Central Terminal, England I came to New York to find a job. The where I washed for a nickel. round of newspaper offices and news bureaus netted Sleeping in the parks, I found, was much less me a series of polite but firm statements to the effect satisfactory than the comfort offered by the rapid- that “there’s nothing open just now, but you might transit companies. Tired, hungry, and cold, I leave your name and address.” After two weeks of stretched out on the bench, and despite the lack this I set myself to what I believed would be the of downy mattress and comforter eventually fell much easier task of securing a clerical place, or even asleep, The soles of my feet were swollen with blis something like ushering in a theater, “hopping the ters, because my shoes had not been removed in bells” at a hotel, or running an elevator in an office at least seventy-two hours and I had tramped the building. sidewalks for three days. Suddenly I was awakened Innocently enough, I followed the crowd to by a patrolman who had swung his night stick sharply the agencies in Sixth Avenue. Visions of being sent against the soles of my Feet, sending an indescribable to a position where a percentage would be taken electric pain through my hunger-racked body. Eyewitnesses 252 and Others: Readings in American Hiftory, Volume 2 Life in the Breadlines 253

of younger healthier men. There were also a number of middle-aged men who had long since given up the idea of finding work. Having started honestly enough in a sincere effort to get placed, they had met disappointment so consistently that their ambi

tion was broken. . . . Such men never think of the future in terms of more than one or two days. Perhaps more to be pitied than this class is the young family whose ambition has been stilled. There are many men who still hope despite months of failure. Of a dozen men in the park of nights, at least eight will tell you that they have something in mind for the following day, and they Cooks serve a meal to For three nights I slept in an institution on actually convince themselves. A few nights later a some of the more than Twenty-third Street maintained for the benefit of casual search will reveal the same men, still with 200 jobless and home released prisoners, who were given food and lodging ‘something in mind for tomorrow.” For most of them less men housed in a until they found work. Along with others, I was that tomorrow is many months ahead, Perhaps it New York City church given a hearty breakfast in the morning and a good will never come. In the meantime, they read, under during the Great meal at six at night, but none but jail-birds were the arc lights in the park, in second-hand newspapers, Depression. aided in finding work. When I entered the place, predictions that business will be normal again within on recommendation of a social-service agency, 1 had sixty days. walked the streets for two days and nights, and my first real pleasure came when I found I could wash with hot water and soap. At the end of the three REVIEWING THE READING days the superintendent told me I must leave, explain 1. Why did Monroe come to New York? ing that the institution was maintained solely for What was he told by the newspaper offices ex-prisoners. and news bureaus he visited Finally, I stood in the bread line in Twenty- 2. How did Monroe try to solve the problem fifth Street. . . . To my surprise, I found in the of line all types of men—the majority being skilled having no place to sleep? craftsmen unable to find work. One of them told 3. Using Your Historical Imagination. Peo me he had been a civil engineer and had earned ple from all walks of life found themselves $8,000 a year. Since losing his job almost a year unemployed and homeless in the 1930s. ago, he had drifted from bad to worse, occasionally Which group of people—young, old, pro picking up odd jobs, until he had sunk to the bread fessional, skilled, unskilled, and so on— line. The professional bums usually found at such do you think would find it the most diffi a place were conspicuously lacking. True, there were cult to cope with the circumstances? Ex several unemployables—men in the sixties, who plain your answer. stood no chance in competition with the thousands