194 lines
9.9 KiB
Plaintext
194 lines
9.9 KiB
Plaintext
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßÛßßßßßÛÛÜ ÜÜßßßßÜÜÜÜ ÜÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÛßß ßÛÛ
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ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛ ÜÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜ ßÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜÛÛÝ Ûß
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ßßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÞÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßßÛÜÞÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÞß
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Mo.iMP ÜÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ßÛß
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ß ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛ ßÛÛÛÛÛ Ü ÛÝÛÛÛÛÛ Ü
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ÜÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ßÛÜ ßÛÛÛÜÜ ÜÜÛÛÛß ÞÛ ÞÛÛÛÝ ÜÜÛÛ
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ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÜÜÜß ÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÛÛÛß
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ßÛÜ ÜÛÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÜÜ ßßÜÛÛßß ßÛÛÜ ßßßÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ßßßßß ßßÛÛß ßßßßß ßßßßßßßßßßßßß
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ARRoGANT CoURiERS WiTH ESSaYS
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Grade Level: Type of Work Subject/Topic is on:
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[ ]6-8 [ ]Class Notes [Essay on the Depression ]
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[x]9-10 [ ]Cliff Notes [of the 1930's and how ]
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[ ]11-12 [x]Essay/Report [it was unique. ]
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[ ]College [ ]Misc [ ]
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Dizzed: 09/94 # of Words:1311 School: ? State: ?
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>Chop Here>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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Depression of the 1930s
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The economic depression that beset the United States and other
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countries in the 1930s was unique in its magnitude and its
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consequences. At the depth of the depression, in 1933, one
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American worker in every four was out of a job. In other
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countries unemployment ranged between 15 percent and 25 percent
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of the labor force. The great industrial slump continued
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throughout the 1930s, shaking the foundations of Western
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capitalism and the society based upon it.
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Economic Aspects
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President Calvin COOLIDGE had said during the long prosperity
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of the 1920s that "The business of America is business."
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Despite the seeming business prosperity of the 1920s, however,
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there were serious economic weak spots, a chief one being a
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depression in the agricultural sector. also depressed were such
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industries as coal mining, railroads, and textiles. Throughout
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the 1920s, U. S. banks had failed--an average of 600 per
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year--as had thousands of other business firms. By 1928 the
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construction boom was over. The spectacular rise in prices on
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the STOCK MARKET from 1924 to 1929 bore little relation to
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actual economic conditions. In fact, the boom in the stock
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market and in real estate, along with the expansion in credit
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(created, in part, by low-paid workers buying on credit) and
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high profits for a few industries, concealed basic problems.
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Thus the U. S. stock market crash that occurred in October
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1929, with huge losses, was not the fundamental cause of the
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Great Depression, although the crash sparked, and certainly
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marked the beginning of, the most traumatic economic period of
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modern times.
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By 1930, the slump was apparent, but few people expected it to
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continue; previous financial PANICS and depressions had
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reversed in a year or two. The usual forces of economic
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expansion had vanished, however. Technology had eliminated more
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industrial jobs than it had created; the supply of goods
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continued to exceed demand; the world market system was
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basically unsound. The high tariffs of the Smoot-Hawley Act
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(1930) exacerbated the downturn. As business failures increased
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and unemployment soared--and as people with dwindling incomes
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nonetheless had to pay their creditors--it was apparent that
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the United States was in the grip of economic breakdown. Most
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European countries were hit even harder, because they had not
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yet fully recovered from the ravages of World War I.)
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The deepening depression essentially coincided with the term
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in office (1929-33) of President Herbert HOOVER. The stark
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statistics scarcely convey the distress of the millions of
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people who lost jobs, savings, and homes. From 1930 to 1933
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industrial stocks lost 80% of their value. In the four years
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from 1929 to 1932 approximately 11,000 U. S. banks failed (44%
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of the 1929 total), and about $2 billion in deposits
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evaporated. The gross national product (GNP), which for years
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had grown at an average annual rate of 3.5%, declined at a rate
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of over 10% annually, on average, from 1929 to 1932.
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Agricultural distress was intense: farm prices fell by 53% from
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1929 to 1932.
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President Hoover opposed government intervention to ease the
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mounting economic distress. His one major action, creation
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(1932) of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to lend money
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to ailing corporations, was seen as inadequate. Hoover lost the
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1932 election to Franklin D. ROOSEVELT.
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The New Deal
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The depression brought a deflation not only of incomes but of
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hope. In his first inaugural address (March 1933), President
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Franklin D. ROOSEVELT declared that "the only thing we have to
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fear is fear itself." But though his NEW DEAL grappled with
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economic problems throughout his first two terms, it had no
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consistent policy.
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At first Roosevelt tried to stimulate the economy through the
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NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION, charged with establishing
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minimum wages and codes of fair competition in every industry.
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It was based on the idea of spreading work and reducing unfair
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competitive practices by means of cooperation in industry, so
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as to stabilize production and prevent the price slashing that
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had begun after 1929. This approach was abandoned after the
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Supreme Court declared the NRA unconstitutional in SCHECTER
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POULTRY CORPORATION V. UNITED STATES (1935).
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Roosevelt's second administration gave more emphasis to public
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works and other government expenditures as a means of
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stimulating the economy, but it did not pursue this approach
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vigorously enough to achieve full economic recovery. At the end
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of the 1930s, unemployment was estimated at 17.2%.
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Other innovations of the Roosevelt administrations had
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long-lasting effects, both economically and politically. To aid
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people who could find no work, the New Deal extended federal
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relief on a vast scale. The CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS took
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young men off the streets and sent them out to plant forests
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and drain swamps. The government refinanced about one-fifth of
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farm mortgages through the FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION and about
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one-sixth of home mortgages through the Home Owners Loan
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Corporation. The WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION employed an
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average of over 2 million people in occupations ranging from
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laborers to musicians and writers. The PUBLIC WORKS
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ADMINISTRATION spent about $4 billion on the construction of
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highways and public buildings in the years 1933-39.
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The depression years saw a burst of union organizing, aided by
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the NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT of 1935. New industrial unions
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came into existence through the efforts of organizers led by
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John L. LEWIS, Walter REUTHER, Philip MURRAY, and others; in
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1937 they won contracts in the steel and auto industries. Total
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union membership rose from about 3 million in 1932 to over 10
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million in 1941.
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Political and Cultural Effects
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The expanded role of the federal government came to be accepted
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by most Americans by the end of the 1930s. Even Republicans who
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had bitterly opposed the New Deal shifted their stance. Wendell
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WILLKIE, the Republican presidential nominee in 1940, declared
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that he could not oppose reforms such as the regulation of the
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securities markets and the utility holding companies, the legal
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recognition of unions, or Social Security and unemployment
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allowances. What bothered him and other opponents of the New
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Deal, however, was the extension of the federal bureaucracy.
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The depression caused much questioning of inherited economic
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and political ideas. Sen. Huey P. Long (see LONG family) of
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Louisiana found a national following for his "Share the Wealth"
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program. The socialist writer Upton SINCLAIR was nearly elected
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governor of California in 1934 with a similar program for
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redistributing the state's wealth. Many writers and other
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intellectuals swung even further left, concluding that
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capitalism was on its way out; they were drawn to the Communist
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party by what they supposed to be the accomplishments of the
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USSR.
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In other countries the depression had even more profound
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effects. As world trade fell off, countries turned to
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nationalist economic policies that only exacerbated their
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difficulties. In politics the depression strengthened the
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extremes of right and left, helping Adolf HITLER to power in
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Germany and swelling left-wing movements in other European
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countries. The depression was thus a time of massive insecurity
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among peoples and governments, contributing to the tensions
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that produced World War II. Ironically, however, the massive
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military expenditures for that war provided the economic
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stimulus that finally ended the depression in the United States
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and elsewhere.
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Bibliography: Bernstein, Irving, A Caring Society: The New
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Deal, the Worker and the Great Depression (1985); Boardman, Fon
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W., Jr., The Thirties: America and the Great Depression (1967);
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Davis, Joseph S., The World Between the Wars, 1919-39: An
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Economist's View (1974); Galbraith, John K., The Great Crash,
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3d ed. (1972; repr. 1980); Garraty, John A., The Great
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Depression (1986); Kindleberger, Charles P., The World in
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Depression, 1929-1939 (1975; repr. 1983); Markowitz, Gerald,
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and Rosner, David, eds., Slaves of the Depression (1987);
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Mitchell, Broadus, Depression Decade, 1931-1941 (1977);
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Rothbard, Murray N., America's Great Depression (1975; repr.
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1983); Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr., The Age of Roosevelt, 2
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vols. (1959); Swados, Harvey, ed., The American Writer and the
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Great Depression (1966); Wecter, Dixon, Age of the Great
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Depression, 1929-1941 (1971).
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