Hardship and Suffering During the Depression

1. What were some of Hoover's key convictions about government?        
Hoover's key convictions about government were that the government had an almost mediating function.  The government were supposed to help establish cooperation between groups who were competing and the different interests in society.  He also believed that the government could not force cooperation.  He also believed that people did not need money from the government, like direct relief or welfare, to succeed and that if they tried they could succeed on their own ("rugged individualism").  He thought the government could help if there was a serious problem, however it would hurt the motivation of people.  Those were Hoover's convictions.



2. What did President Herbert Hoover say and do in response to the Great Depression?       
President Herbert Hoover responded to the Great Depression slowly.  After the market crashed, he urged a group key leaders in business, labor, and banking to make solutions.  These solutions would be like not laying people off or going on strikes.  Another action was to form a organization to help private charities help the poor.  He also had entities negotiate with each other and large banks loaned money to smaller banks, the Nation Credit Corporation.  He also helped create the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, which allowed farmers and homeowners to keep their property by letting farmers refinance and lowering mortgage rates.  The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was also backed by Hoover and this allowed two billion dollars to be dispersed between banks, railroads, life insurance companies, and other large companies.  This money was supposed to "trickle down" to the poor.  Hoover also did not support the Patman Bill, which would give money to veterans of WWI immediately, and disbanded the group of veterans behind it, the Bonus Army.   Those were the actions of Herbert Hoover.


3. Why do you think people blamed Hoover for the nation's difficulties?       
People blamed Hoover for the nation's difficulties. One reason was because he was in office when the whole thing happened, so he was the one who was to blame because he did fix the problem, even if he had really just walked in on it.  Also, people blamed Hoover for not helping the poor directly.  Many thought his trickle down approach just left people starving and that they needed to be taken care of more quickly.  Helping the rich made it look as if Hoover did not care about the poor.  Another reason is that many of Hoovers efforts to try and have groups cooperate did work and neither did his group of leaders. Since he did not act quickly, was the one in charge when the economy crashed, he did not help the poor, and many of his policies, Americans blamed Hoover.

4. How did Hoover's belief in "rugged individualism" shape his policies during the Great Depression.

Think About:

• what his belief implies about his view of people

• how that translates into the role of government

• Hoover’s policies (How effective were they?)       
Hoover's belief about rugged individualism shaped his policies during the Great Depression.  He thought that rugged individualism meant that people could succeed by themselves.  Handouts would weaken their "moral fiber", so the people would not be able to succeed by themselves anymore if the government just gave out money to individuals.  So rugged individualism made Hoover oppose direct relief.  This shaped his policies and actions because he would not give money directly to the poor, but tried to find other ways to help.  He had the government help private charities who would help the poor.  Having Hoover's rugged individualism against direct relief, he also helped create the Reconstruction Finance Cooperation, which gave money to large businesses, railroads, and banks in hopes that it would trickle down to the poor.  Since this did not work very well, Hoover's policies were clearly affected by his belief about rugged individualism.  His trickle down policy did not allow him to help the poor because he beliefs did not allow him to actually give the poor money.  Clearly Hoover's belief about rugged individualism shaped his policies.



5. What did the Bonus Army want and how did Hoover respond?      
The Bonus Army was a group of veterans from World War I who were promised life insurance and money in 1945.  They wanted these in 1932, when they needed them.  Although Hoover allowed them to protest peacefully and helped set up a shantytown for them, he thought they were"communists and persons with criminal records" and did not support the Patman Bill they were behind.  Hoover disbanded the Bonus Army by using soldiers and gas in June.

6. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt heard about the attack on the Bonus Army, why was he so certain that he would defeat Hoover?

Think About:

• the American public’s impression of Hoover (See your answer to No. 3)

• Hoover’s actions to alleviate the Great Depression (see your answer to No. 4)

• how people judged Hoover after the attack.       

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt heard about the attack on the Bonus Army, he was he would defeat Hoover because the American public viewed Hoover very negatively.  Before the attack, the people did not feel that Hoover was acting quickly enough.  They also believed that he did not care about the poor because he did not offer them direct relief.  Hoover's beliefs about rugged individualism did not allow him to give the poor direct relief because he thought that would wreck the motivations of Americans.  When there were people starving, this did not seem like a valid argument to the American people.  So these actions led people to believe that Hoover did not care about Americans and the attack on the Bonus Army strengthened these feelings.

The attack on the Bonus Army looked awful to Americans.  Hoover was attacking poor, starving Americans who had just fought for America.  Sending soldiers after them seemed like an attack on Americans as a whole.  With this strengthening the negative feelings of Americans toward Hoover, Roosevelt was sure that he defeat Hoover after the attack on the Bonus Army.

Hardship and Suffering During the Depression

As you read about how people coped with hard times, use the headings below to summarize the Great Depression’s effects on various aspects of American life.

Employment
The unemployment rate increased during the Great Depression.  Many banks and business closed and those that were still open had to fire many of their workers.  So the unemployment rate in the country was twenty five percent and it was worse among minorities, like it was over fifty percent for African Americans.

Housing
Housing was affected by the Great Depression.  Many people were evicted from their homes and had to live on the streets, in parks, or sewer pipes.  Some also lived in little towns of shacks made out of junk such as old cars or boxes called shantytowns.

Farming
Farming, overall, was hurt by the Great Depression.  Although farmers were able to grow crops to feed their families, the prices of crops were very low so farmers went into debt and lost their land.  Also, the Dust Bowl was a drought that killed the crops in many areas, so farmers were hurt even more.  Many started tenant farming, but farming overall was still hurt.


Race relations
The race relations were awful during the Great Depression.  With whites out of work, they now were trying to get any job they could, even is it was a lower position like one usually held by an African American. Then half of the African American population being out of work, they also wanted these jobs.  This competition resulted in an increase in violence towards the African Americans from whites.  Also, the whites in America were so desperate for jobs that they went after other groups that were "taking up jobs".  So many Americans called for people of Mexican descent, even if they were born in America,  to be deported and, after a while, many Mexicans were sent back to Mexico.  The government even played a part in this.  Clearly, race relations were awful partially because of the Great Depression.

Family life
Family life was hurt and helped by the Great Depression.  Not having extra or enough money put a strain and stress on families.  Then some fathers who had been out of work and frustrated with their situations left their families.  Also, some teenagers left their families in order to find work or take the burden of feeding them from their parents.  However, many Americans found strength in the unity of their families.  How the families stuck together helped them survive the miserable time.


Physical health
Physical health declined during the Great Depression.  Many people were starving.  The children often suffered from malnutrition, which led to diseases such as rickets.  There were also those riding the railroads. Many were beaten for trespassing by guards and other were shut in ice cars.  Then some had to sleep standing up or suffered injuries just from being around the trains.  Around 51,818 were either killed or injured from riding the rails.  Clearly, physical health suffered during the great Depression.

Emotional health

The emotional health of people during the Great Depression was hit very hard.  Men out of work of months and years lost hope while women were ashamed of the poverty they lived in.  There was also a great stress on families due to money issues.  These times also demoralized people and more people were depressed, which added to a higher suicide rate and more people being taken to mental hospitals. People also had to give up on their dreams, like college families, because they could not afford such things.

As much as the emotional health of everyone suffered, it also was helped.  People were kinder to others and more helpful to the poor.  They were also more sympathetic.  So emotional health was almost helped as well.

Explain or define each of the following:

 Dust bowl
The Dust Bowl was the drought that went on for many years and took place mostly in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado.  This, combined, with strong winds, led to dust being blown around and covering everything.  This killed many and made it difficult for farmers to grow crops.  Therefore, it became known as the Dust Bowl.

Shantytown
Shantytowns were made up of shacks grouped together and built out of junk, such as old cars or boxes.  People who had been evicted built and lived in these shacks.

Direct Relief

Direct relief is given to the poor by the government and consists of food or money.

Causes of the Great Depression

1. What industrial weakness signaled a declining economy in the 1920s?    
The industrial weakness that signaled a declining economy in the 1920s was that not many houses were being built.  This added to the decline in the lumber industry, which was already declining along with the mining industry because of the war being over and new forms of energy being introduced.  Also, the decrease in houses being built led to furniture not being made, so that industry suffered as well as the automobile, textile, and rail road industries.  However, the decrease in the building of houses was the indicator of the declining economy.

2. What did the experience of farmers and consumers at this time suggest about the health of the economy?    
The experiences of farmers and consumers at this time suggest that the economy was not doing well.  For the farmers, the annual income dropped by 60% because the war had ended, so there was less of a demand.  However, the farmers will still producing the same amount, so the high supply and low demand led to a huge drop in prices.  Therefore, farmers were making less and could not pay back the money they had borrowed so that they could produce more during the war.  There suffering shows that the economy was not doing well.
The experiences of consumers also shows that economy was not doing well.  Consumers were not able to buy as much because salaries were not increasing, so they did not have very much money to spend, but prices were.  The consumers not buying items is an indication of this as well as an indication that teh economy was snot doing well.


3. How did speculation and margin buying cause stock prices to rise?    
Speculation and margin buying caused stock prices to rise by not giving an accurate estimate of a company's worth.  This is because buying stocks was very easy because, with speculation, one could just buy bonds and stocks while hoping for an easy and quick profit.  Then when this speculation was done by margin buying, so only a small amount of money used to pay for the stock was their own and the rest was borrowed.  This led to increases in amount of stocks bought, so companies appeared to be worth more than they actually were, so stocks cost more.

4. What happened to ordinary workers during the Great Depression?    
Ordinary workers during the Great Depression suffered.  It is clear that many people lost their jobs when many businesses failed because the unemployment increased by 11 million people.  Even those who were able to keep their jobs suffered because there wages and hours were cut.  Also, everyone suffered when the banks closed because many were not able to ever get their money out of the banks again.  Clearly ordinary workers suffered during the Great Depression.

5. How did the Great Depression affect the world economy?    
The Great Depression affected the world economy. This is because the countries of Europe were already having issues while they tried to recover from World War I.  Then, when the Great Depression hit America, the Hawley-Smoot Tariff was put in place and this was meant to make foreign good expensive so Americans would buy American goods.  This hurt Europe because European goods were not being bought by Americans and also because Europe's ability to purchase American goods.  So the introduction of this tariff, brought on by the Great Depression, affected other countries.

Define: 

a. Price-Supports:   
Price-supports are when the government promises to by extra items, crops under the McNary-Haugen bill, at a set price.  The government then sells them on the level of the world market.

b. Credit:   
When an item is not paid for immediately, but a promise is made by the buyer to pay for it slowly, like in the form of money every month.

c. Dow Jones Industrial Average:    
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is found when there are thirty large companies that represent the stock market and the average that they make or lose is derived.  This is the Dow Jones Industrial Average and it is used by many to find out how the stock market and economy are doing.

d. Speculation:   
Speculation is when people just try and make money quickly by taking a risk and buying a bond or stock.  This is quick, but a risk.

e. Buying on Margin:    
Buying on Margin is when one buys stock, but only pays for it with a small amount of their own money and borrows the rest of the money needed to pay for it.

f. Black Tuesday:    
On Black Tuesday the market was starting to crash, so people sold their stocks before their prices could go any lower.  This led to a larger crash and 16.4 million stocks being dumped that day.

g. Hawley-Smoot Tariff:   
This was a very high tariff, tax on imported goods, put in place in 1930 that was supposed to increase the consumption of American goods. However, this also ended up not letting Europeans buy American goods and not letting America export goods.  Therefore, the companies that exported goods either failed or had to fire many employees.

Schenck v US (Free Speech)

1. What was Justice Holmes’ main argument  in the Court’s opinion in Schenck? Do you agree with the Court’s opinion?   
   Justice Holmes' main argument in the Court's opinion in Schenck was based around the ideas that there were different laws in wartime and when there was peace.  The idea of protecting freedom of speech was made during a time of peace, but some speech could be quite dangerous.  He gives the example of a person in a theatre calling "Fire" and, since that causes panic, it is dangerous and not protected by the law.  Justice Holmes' states that Schenck's leaflets were just as dangerous during wartime, so they were not protected as they might be during times of peace.

   The Court was only slightly wrong in this ruling.  The Court is right that there are certain actions relating to speech that are dangerous, like yelling "Fire" in a theatre.  In a time of war, certain actions would be more dangerous than they would be during times of peace.  However, to arrest people because they were expressing their beliefs is harsh, especially if there is no provable incidents where the leaflets actually hurt someone. So the Court was right in its beliefs that such expressions could be dangerous, but wrong to believe that they could actually punish a person for expressing there beliefs in a country where freedom of speech is an amendment.

2. Do you think some limits on the freedom of speech are necessary? Explain. (Use your own opinion and support it using information from the reading.)     

   Limits on freedom of speech could be beneficial, but trying to limit a right of citizens that is protected by an amendment would be impossible.  Saying that someone who yells out "Fire" in a theatre and causing a panic that put people in danger is protected by the First Amendment sounds ridiculous.  The could be carried over to more serious situations.  If one person said something in a time of war that caused a panic that then hurt people it would nice to be able to say that they would not be protected.  However, to punish one for something that they had "the freedom of speech" to say would be difficult.  Measuring how influential one person's words are is very difficult.  What would probably end up happening is that the party in charge would punish anyone who stated an opposing opinion to there own.  Such a situation was reflected when many members of the Socialist Party in America were arrested as well as others who supported communism during World War II.  In this case 2,000 people were arrested.  If carried out for a longer period of time, there would only be one opinion left and a dictatorship could begin.  Clearly, as beneficial as a limit of free speech might be and how it might protect people, it is too probable that the entire thing would just lead to one party controlling everything and persecuting other opinions.

3. List three examples of the "historical impact" of the Schenck decision. 
  The Schenck decision had many historical impacts and many of them were questions about free speech in the future.

• Freedom of speech of children in school was questioned (like during the Vietnam War)
• Questions about whether or not destroying the American flag should be legal
• It created questions about whether symbols were covered by freedom of speech (like armbands against the Vietnam War)