8(4). The New Deal

The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on the '3 Rs': Relief, Recovery, and Reform: Relief for the unemployed and poor; Recovery of the economy to normal levels; and Reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.

A. Economic Policies

The Economy Act was passed on March 14, 1933. The act proposed to balance the "regular" (non-emergency) federal budget by cutting the salaries of government employees and cutting pensions to veterans by fifteen percent. On March 9, Roosevelt sent to Congress the Emergency Banking Act, drafted in large part by Hoover's top advisors. The act was passed and signed into law the same day. It provided for a system of reopening sound banks under Treasury supervision, with federal loans available if needed. Three-quarters of the banks in the Federal Reserve System reopened within the next three days.

B. Expanded Role of the Federal Reserve

One of the major causes of the Great Depression was how the US Federal Reserve caused a shrinking of the money supply after the stock market crashes which greatly exacerbated the economic situation.

7(4). The Great Depression

The Great Depression was the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s.

 

A. Federal Reserve

A contributing factor to the Recession of 1937 was a tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve. They doubled reserve requirements between August 1936 and May 1937 leading to a contraction in the money supply.

B. Natural Disasters

The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American farmlands in the 1930s. The disaster was caused by severe drought combined with farming methods that did not include crop rotation, fallow fields, cover crops, soil terracing and wind-breaking trees to prevent wind erosion. This severely impacted the country's food supply and economy.

C. Effect on Population

13 million people became unemployed. In 1932, 34 million people belonged to families with no regular full-time wage earner. Nine million savings accounts had been wiped out between 1930 and 1933. 273,000 families had been evicted from their homes in 1932. There were two million homeless people migrating around the country. Over 60% of Americans were categorized as poor by the federal government in 1933.

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6(4). Mass Production: Media, Radio, etc.

New technology led to the spread of culture and media in the interwar years. The first significant technology was the radio in the late nineteenth century, although the first transmission to a large audience was not until 1920. This allowed many people to listen to the same thing at the same time. By the 1930's, millions of radios had been sold to citizens of all countries. Another new technology was the invention of cinema which allowed people to watch movies.

Phantom of the Opera (1925)

full movie

5(4). Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a renewal and flourishing of black literary and musical culture during the years after World War I in the Harlem section of New York City.

Louis Armstrong Mini Bio (Source)

4(4). 19th Amendment

The amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution.

3(4). 18th Amendment

The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. This was the beginning of the Prohibition.

2(4). Attacks on Civil Liberties

The Espionage Act of 1917

 The Espionage Act is a United States federal law that was passed on June 15, 1917, after the U.S. entered into World War I. It has been amended multiple times.
It originally prohibited any attempt to interfere with military operations, to support U.S. enemies during wartime, to promote insubordination in the military, or to interfere with military recruitment..

The Sedition Act of 1918

 The Sedition Act was an Act of the United States Congress that extended the Espionage Act of 1917 to cover a broader range of offenses, such as speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government bonds. It was repealed December 13, 1920.