The Great Depression and New Deal 1929-1939- Rural Protesto Looked at cities as cities of evil: crime, atheism, commies, saloonso 1920 Sacco and Vanzet Foreign born viewed with hostility Arrested for murder and payroll robbery Convicted for ideals and differences, not evidence- “Those anarchist bastards” – Judge Both died in electric chair August 1927 Fate of these men shows intolerance of differenceso 18th amendment Congress adopted prohibition of sale and consumption of alcohol 1920 Volstead Act: banned beverages that contained >.5% alcohol Anti-Saloon League: Rural against saloons and totalitarian people Did reduce drinking, alcohol dropped in rural and working classes- Became too expensive Wealthy drinking became fashionable act of civil disobedience Repealed 1933o The Ku Klux Klan Rebirth in Georgia Thanksgiving 1915 by Colonel Simmons Started as fraternal group, became hate group- Only native, whites allowed Grows slowly in WW1 and Mushroomed after Sought men worried about changing society Targeted blacks, aliens (Italians and Russians), and Jews and Catholics Punish blacks, immigrants and women who don’t know their place Beat, flog or murder those who threaten self-image Klan enters politics, remarkable strength in Texas- Offers peace for whites from changing environment 1920’s membership near 5 million Drops even faster: violent activities offend nation’s conscience Grand Dragon Stephenson tortured, raped and murdered school teacher Madge Oberholtzer, He received life sentenceo Nativism – All American superiority and fear of those different Most successful outlet in immigration legislations 1917 literacy test reduces number of immigrants War also slowed down immigration: 1900-14 1 mil/year, 1918 110k/year After Armistice Congress concerned about immigration increase- 1921 Emergency Immigration Acto Reduce immigration from Europe to 3% nationals in US in 1910- 1924 National Origins Quota Acto Limit immigration from Europe to 150k/yearo Allocates most slots to Britain, Ireland, Germany, Scandanaviao Ban entirely all Asian immigrants New legislation did not stop Mexican labor – working farms, shit whites wonto Fundamentalist Challenge The Scopes Trial – Christians refused to teach evolution in public schools- William Jennings Bryan on crusade against Evolution- Chief witness against John Scopes, he taught evolution and it was illegal in Tennessee- Clarence Darrow – compose articulate, defending Scopes- Scopes found guilty despite Darrow’s eloquence and had small fine Fragmenting Christian America- Middle + Upper class went into genteel Christianity that combines evolution and Christianity, support good works Renaissance in the Cities- Rev. Norris builds 4k seat sanctuary in Fort Worth, Texas- Fundamentalism strong it city and countryside- Politics of the 1920’so Presidents Harding, Cooligdge and Hoover, “Normalcy” 1920 Warren G. Harding becomes president Sabotaged by corrupt officials- Teapot Dome scandal – Oil Co. gives bribes to secretary of interior Fall- Fall helped secure Teapot Dome in Wyoming along with other leases 1923 Coolidge becomes president after Harding’s Heart Attack- Famous for “Business of America is Business”- He was to preside benignly and not govern nation He is reelected in 1924- Coolidge known as “Do-Nothing President” 1928 Herbert Hoover wins election- Epitomizes American self-made man, orphan to famous engineer- Idea of business and government as partners to help all Americans achieved greatest prosperity in 1920’s, but economy was fragile- The Great Depressiono Review: Consumer Revolution and the fragility of prosperity 1927 – slight recession, sales reduced and homes stopped being built Federal Reserve Board lowered discount rate to stimulate economy- Most investment went to stock market not industry- New speculation about stock market Investors ignored declining figures in production- Believed could live off stock market- Investors began speculating on credit 1929 Speculative Frenzy- Everyone was invested it seemed 29 Oct. 1929 Black Tuesday- Prices faltered and investors began to sell- Speculators panicked and prices fell more- Banks lost heavy in the market – forced to cut back lending- Factories began cutng back production and laying off workers- Many plants closed entirely- Downward spiral continues for 4 years By 1932 unemployment rates at 25% Steel production reduced by 88%o Causes of the Great Depression Overproduction: Factories produced more goods than American could buy Global Depression Agricultural Decline: since end of WW1 Corporate mismanagement and excessive speculation Uneven distribution of wealth: too much went into investors not workerso Depression No respecter of race or class Africans lost jobs and Mexicans deported in droves Working class survived better than most due to surviving in poverty Middle class hit hard, loses homes Many became mobile looking for work Kept on move to avoid vagrancy, created “hobo jungles”- Appeared along major railway routes- Migrants found place to eat, sleep and visit- Hoover Solutions Hoover believes in voluntary not government efforts to help people Relies on cooperation with leaders of industry Tells industry to keep high prices and wages – business could not take high wage Calls on private charities and local governments to help those in need- Resources quickly exhausted Has to make government measures after depression deepens 1929 Federal Farm Board- Bought up surplus crops and loan money to assist farms 1932 Reconstruction Finance Corporation- Loan money to banks and financial institutions to save from bankruptcy Public image suffers with the 1932 Bonus Army- A group of 43k marchers including WW1 veterans- Soldiers were given service certificates for serving in waro Redeem in 1945 for bonus money- Marched for early cash pay for certificates Hoover sent Gen. MacArthur to remove the veterans- MacArthur’s troops blinded veterans with tear gas and burning shacks Rush on the banks to withdraw money- Causes bank failures to rise and national bank structure near collapse- FDR’s New Dealo Democrat FDR won 1932 election Agile mind, likable, good politician