APUSH: Great Depression and New Deal (no images)

Weber

AP TOPIC # 20

The Great Depression and the New Deal – Causes of the Great Depression – The Hoover administration’s response – Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal – Labor and union recognition – The New Deal coalition and its critics from

the Right and the Left – Surviving hard times: American society

during the Great Depression

Great Depression Art Project One of the best ways to learn something

is to develop empathy. One of the best ways to empathize is through art.

You will be completing an art project about the Great Depression.

The projects are due on Tuesday.As you watch the slide show of images

from the depression, write down words which capture the feeling and think about the mood of your own art project.

Essential QuestionsWhat happens to average working people

during an economic depression?How does the Federal Reserve work and

how does it affect our lives?How did the New Deal expand the role of

government during the 1930s (WPA, Social Security, Labor Relations Board, Tennessee Valley Authority)?

What did workers do to fight for their rights? How did labor unions grow in response to the depression (AFL, CIO, United Farm Workers)?

Causes of the Great Depression• The uneven distribution of wealth (gap

between rich and poor) • Over-speculation • Over-production• Farming crises• Consumer credit• 1929 financial panic/stock market crash• 1929 Federal Reserve failed to secure

adequate money supply.• Dust storms in the Midwestern states (Dust

Bowl)

Effects of the Great Depression

• American loss of self-worth.• Poor farmers from Oklahoma and other

Midwestern states migrated to California looking for work.• Unemployment rate of 25% when FDR was

elected. • Poverty, hunger, food shortage,

unemployment• New Deal programs to try and fix economy

and expanded role for federal government.

Herbert Hoover’s Policies

Asked business sector to put in place voluntary controls.

Established the “Emergency Committee for Employment” to coordinate volunteer relief efforts.

Set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the National Credit Corporation.

Authorized 2 billion to state and local governments.

Alienated voters by calling for an increase in taxes.

(Just like what a vacuum does: his policies sucked)

Key Terms

1. Technology2. Federal Reserve3. Causes of the Great Depression4. Herbert Hoover5. Franklin Delano Roosevelt6. Dust Bowl7. Agriculture8. Dust Bowl Migrants9. New Deal10. Works Progress Administration

11. Social Security 12. National Labor Relations Board13. Tennessee Valley Authority14. California Central Valley Project 15. Bonneville Dam16. AFL/CIO17. United Farm Workers

Writing a letter to the President

• Use the information you gathered from the textbook chapter to write a letter to President elect Obama instructing him on what worked and what to avoid in trying to fix an economic crises.

• Show your understanding of New Deal policies and of the criticisms of the New Deal.

• Your letter must explain the following terms…

Your letter must explain and address the following key terms

1. First hundred days; stabilizing banks2. Federal Emergency Relief Administration3. Public Works Programs (CWA)4. Regulating the Economy (National Recovery

Administration or NRA)5. Assisting Homeowners and Farmers (AAA and TVA)6. The Second New Deal (WPA, Wagner Act, National

Labor Relations Board, Social Security)7. New Deal’s Critics (Women, African Americans,

Political critics, Modern-day critics)

Letter to the President-Elect[Based on notes from Ch. 21]

Dear President Obama,

We are writing to express our deep concern over the current financial crises. As juniors, we have been studying the Great Depression and the New Deal and have come to see many parallels between the past situation and the present.

Studying Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” programs, has inspired us to contact you and let you know what we think worked well as well as what, in our humble opinion, did not work so well.

As you are undoubtedly aware, the Tennessee Valley Authority, for example, created much needed jobs as well as recreation and a renewed sense of purpose for people in one of the poorest and most underdeveloped regions of the country. The hydroelectric project generated a tremendous amount of electricity and stimulated the economy once again.

Our country is in need of the modern Tennessee Valley Authority project. We are hoping you will take this country in the direction of energy independence by investing in renewable energy and create those “Green Jobs.” Creating jobs would not only reduce unemployment but also make good on your campaign promises and inspirational message of hope and change.