The Great Depression
For a historian, there is a lot that’s great about the Great Depression. We love change over time, and what’s better than the Republican Party going from 58% of the vote in the presidential election to less than 40% in 1932? We love connecting religion to the moment, and what better examples than “Brother Can You Spare a Dime,” “Detroit Blues,” or “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries”? We love the nitty-gritty of everyday experiences, and what’s better than the letters to Franklin Roosevelt detailing the hard times of the era? One African American, for instance, wrote to the President complaining, “If there is a such thing as a God, he must be a white person, according to the conditions we colored people are in and if there is such a thing as heaven there must be signs [saying] we cater to white only.” This man had tried the WPA for a job, but had been rejected. He looked to Germany with hope: “You hear of so many people low-rate Hitler and tell how mean he is treating the people. The colored people right here in the United States are treated just as bad, if not worse. Hitler has not done anything to the colored people – it’s the people right here in the United States who are keeping us out of work and keeping us down.” Of course, Hitler wasn’t kind to blacks at all, but the writer was speaking to his frustration and devastation. The economy was so bad and white supremacy was so powerful that he was convinced that even God must be white.For my lecture on the Great Depression, I really try to show the greatness of the period – meaning historical greatness. I want my students to see that the Great Depression made modern America. It moved the Bible Belt to the southern California Sun Belt. It destroyed the Republican Party for what it was. It created a new approach to interactions with Native Americans through the Indian New Deal. It led not only to the increased size of the federal government, but also a completely new approach to it. The marks of the New Deal are all over San Diego State University’s campus, and it’s fun to have students think about the benches they sit on as Great Depression artifacts. Although perhaps America’s most aristocratic president – at least by lineage – Franklin Roosevelt came to embody the hopes of common women and men. Why today do we look to the president for every problem, complaint, and struggle? This was a Great Depression and New Deal creation.
What’s typically missing from my lecture are the structural drawbacks from the Great Depression and New Deal. If I really want to connect to my students, then I’ll need to somehow, someway interact with the Fox-News-ization of approaches to the New Deal that render it an intense evil. The roots and intentions of Social Security may be helpful here. Does anyone know of a way to connect this material with current political debates – without making the classroom a forum for partisanship?!?
Later in the week, I’m going to discuss how the documents from Major Problems work to address the questions “what was so great about the Great Depression” and “what was so depressing about the Great Depression”? And then I’m going to see if my students can address the problem of a strong, executive government. What does it mean for a government formed with the preponderance of power vested in Congress function where the President is seen as the beginning and end-all-be-all of the nation?
The document that I am going to discuss is document 3 from chapter 8 of Major Problems entitled “A Journalist Investigates the Charges Against the Scottsboro Boys, 1931.”
This document is interesting to me because it outlines the possibility that the nine African American young men that were accused of raping two young white women may have never committed the crime. The journalist outlines that the two girls “made no charges against the Negroes, until after they were taken into custody; that their charges were made after they had found out the spirit of the armed men….” The journalist explains that there is no way to decisively prove this, but that from the interviews that she had with the two girls, that it was definitely a possibility. Amidst the accusations that were made against the Scottsboro Boys, the journalist explains that from the doctor’s testimony, neither of the girls “showed any signs of rough handling on their bodies.” With the Depression effecting Americans across the country, accusations were made against these young African American men without the proper evidence to accuse them of anything.
A question that I have is: was there an interest in the case throughout the nation almost right after the accusations were made or did interest in the case not come until later?
Thanks,
Devin W
What did he limit children immensely popular Wild West, Russell Freedman illuminates the lives of American children who suffer the economic and social changes during the Great Depression.
The document I am going to discuss is doctument 3 from chapter 8. “President Herbert Hoover Applauds Limited Government, 1931”
The reason i decided to discuss this article, is because it really persuaded me and got me thinking about both sides of the arguement. When I was reading about the same subject in Hist, I was completley against Hoovers decision to keep the Federal Government so detached from the nation and its issues. Hoover excpected voluntary groups such as the Red Cross and the Unemployed Citizens League to step up and help each other through out the Great Depression. These groups alone could help but could not provide the massive amount of relief that was needed to fix the problems of the Great Depression. I felt as if the Federal Government needed to be much more hands on.
Although I still feel the same way, reading this document gravitated me somewhat towards Hoovers opinion. I believe that this document would be persuasive and uplifting during the Great Depression because it talks about how the individuals can be incontrol of their own destiny if they choose to deal with their own issues, which is something that everyone was desperatly wanting. I believe that Hoover makes a good point when he explains that if the individuals and communities turn over their issues to the Federal Government that the Government would become more centralized and individuals would loose their voice, which is not what America is about.
So to an extent I agree with what Hoover is saying in the document, but i definetly feel that at some point the Governemt needed to step in and help America get out of the hole they were stuck in
The document I am discussing is the 4th document in Chapter eight (The Depression, The New Deal, and Franklin D. Roosevelt) of Major Problems entitled “Business Leader Henry Ford Advocates Self-Help, 1932.”
This document is interesting to me because it relates to today’s society. With unemployment rates high I feel that this document could be printed today with a couple minor changes and have an effect. Henry Ford said, “We nowadays think of work as something that others find for us to do, call for us to do, and pay us to do.” I think society still thinks the same way today. Instead, people should stop depending on employers and find work for themselves. Today’s circumstances are a little different because people don’t just go out and cultivate a plot of land but the idea is still the same to find work for your self. If more people did that there would be a positive step towards the restoration of normal business activity. As a result, there would be an increase in the flow of goods and employment, which is what society wants and needs.
I wonder if this document or a document very similar to this were published today to all Americans, would it have an impact or no? Did this document have an impact in 1932?
Dana, great question. Oftentimes, it is so hard to trace the “impact” of a document. In our world today, we could perhaps look at Barbara Ehrenreich’s _Nickel and Dimed_ and see what reviews it got, who used it for book clubs, was it mentioned or referenced by political leaders. That may tell us popularity, but not necessarily influence or impact. How would you know or where would you look to see the impact of Ford’s article? Any ideas?
The article I chose to write about in Chapter Eight (The Depression, The New Deal, and Franklin D. Roosevelt) of Major Problems is titled “President Franklin D. Roosevelt Says Government Must Act, 1933.
The reason I found this article interesting is because it follows the article about Hoover, and it contrasts the ideals of Hoover and the problems associated with his outlook on government involvement in the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s belief was that the government needed to act immediately and effectively in order to resolve the problems that were brought on by the Great Depression. He believed that the Federal Government needed to provide unemployed citizens with jobs and believed that this would help initiate change in the economy and lead to a possible improvement during the depression. He also wanted to focus all of the government’s attention on internal issues rather than global trade and “international economic readjustment.”
One of the interesting things he stressed was being a “good neighbor,” meaning to respect oneself and others. These things along with making his power a more “broad Executive power,” he had the ability to better aid the country towards economic recovery.
I think this document exemplifies the dominance of Democratic ideals during the Depression because of the criticism of Hoover’s ideals, and the extreme support of Roosevelt’s views on government involvement.
Although I’m a huge fan of FDR’s revolutionary change with the government’s role of the people, I would like to discuss an article during the last year of Hoover’s presidency. The article I am referring to is “Business Leader Henry Ford Advocates Self-Help, 1932” in chapter 8 of Major Problems.
I think Henry Ford made some great points for people struggling to acquire jobs, find a home, or even eat. He first exclaims that he was once an employee and “When not employed by others, I employed myself.” He’s basically telling the jobless man or woman to make use of themselves even if there is no one available to hire you at the moment. His other powerful advice was using the help of others to form a community that helps each other out in a time of need. He gave an example of “Employed men,[…], could rent farms and operate them with several unemployed families.” I think Ford’s speech was great advice in that critical time period before Roosevelt gave his speech that would raise the hopes of millions of Americans.
I would like to discuss document 9 from chapter 8 in Major Problems. The title for this document is “John Steinbeck Portrays the Outcast Poor in The Grapes of Wrath, 1939.”
I read The Grapes of Wrath two years ago in high school, but didn’t analyze much of the context. However, when reading an excerpt from this book again, I found one fascinating thing that caught my attention quickly. It was about how poverty could make people to be rude and brutal to one another. The West was seen as an opportunistic and promising land, but it eventually became a place that could break people’s hearts into pieces. Owners took advantage of their plentiful workers by paying them low wages. “Okie” was a term of insult when Californians saw immigrants as a threat to their job source. Instead of embracing one another to step forward, poverty brought separation to the American people. Therefore, I linked this to our current economic recession, in which both big political parties in America are in conflict as never before. I wonder if that is what poverty does to people? Or is it what people do to be in poverty?
I decided to choose document 6 in chapter 8, titling: “President Franklin D. Roosevelt Says Government Must ACt, 1933.”
I chose this particular document because during the Great Depression there was absolutely no government control and the people were left with no leadership to fend on their own. In my opinion after reading HIST, I think that President Hoover shyed away from the actual problems at hand by trying to enfore limited government. Even though too much government involvement can be considered as communism, during the time of the great depression their was absolutely no government involvement whatsoever. In this case their needed to be a lot of government interaction and involvement because the people needed to be told what to do.
I think that Roosevelt did an excellent job of doing his duty as president and taking control of the situation (once he was in power) and showing the country that he is going to make a change. I think what he also made visible to the country was that he was aware of the situation and that something drastic was necessary. ” Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.” I think this is exactly what the people of America needed to hear, that someone was going to do something to help and ensure that nothing of the sorts would occur again.
Haley Palmer
The article I would like to discuss is document 5 entitled “The Nation Asks, “Is It to Be Murder, Mr. Hoover?” 1932″
I find it disturbing how President Hoover, the man elected by the people to run the country seemingly neglected his duties to the citizens of the United States. Rather than have the government intervene and help people come out of the depression, he relied on a passive stance and decided that it’d be best to have volunteers help out during the crisis. Although President Hoover did allocate some funds of relief, it was not going to be sufficient considering the the magnitude of economic turmoil taking place in the United States. What made this even more troubling was the President Hoover felt that these funds should only be used as “a last extremity.” When every state is suffering from unemployment and hunger (with thousands of families being sent away from charitable or food lines), is that not severe enough? What was it going to take for President Hoover to realize that something needed to be done?
My question is, was President Hoover that opposing to use the government to provide some relief to American citizens? Or did he actually believe that American citizens can pull each other out of the depression merely by volunteering efforts?
The article I will be discussing is FDR: Architect of Ineffectual Big Government in Major Problems. This article defends Roosevelt stating why he was a good president and should not be blamed for the economic depression. Commager, a proclaimed historian, uses four points to defend the New Deal. He says, “first, the 1920’s were an economic disaster; second, the New Deal programs were a corrective to the 1920’s, and a step in the right direction; third, Roosevelt (and the New Deal) were very popular; and fourth, Roosevelt was a good administrator and moral leader.” With this being said, there is a lot of evidence that shows that Roosevelt was a successful president. This article was interesting to me because when I first learned about the Great Depression in high school I thought it was mainly the presidents fault and he was to blame for it. After reading this article it has made me realize that a lot happened to cause the Great Depression, and although the president influences a lot of what happens in our country he was not all too blame.
The question I have about this article is why do so many Americans blame the president for every bad thing that is going on in our country?
Zoe C
The document I am going to discuss is in Chapter 8 article 1 titled, “Song of the Depression: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” This song basically shows just how depressing the Great Depression was. This songwriter is singing about how he was building a dream and how he basically put together this country. He built railroads and towers and now he is just looking for a job and just asking if anyone can spare a dime. He tells about how he always had job, but now he is waiting in the bread lines just to get food.
I think this document did a good job in getting the attention of the audience. He really gets to the audiences emotional side. Just listening to this song could make someone understand what was happening and just how hard the economy was. Music always goes with the times, if its depressing they have songs like this; if its a happy time then they have music that is upbeat.
This also makes me wonder how people took this song back in the 1930’s when it came out. Would they sit there and listen to it and just think about their lives? How many people could relate to this song? and what about the people who weren’t drastically affected by the Great Depression, what do you think they thought about this song? All interesting questions to just think about and to answer most I feel like you would have to be living in that time period.
-Nadin T.
The document I will be discussing is from chapter 8. It is called “The Nation Asks, ‘Is It to Be Murder Mr. Hoover?’” in 1932. In this document the editors from the magazine The Nation, criticize President Hoover’s lack of action in solving the crisis that is the Great Depression.
The editors, first of all, accused the president of murder of the people from his own country. And this murder is the killing by starvation. According to earlier documents in this chapter, Hoover’s philosophy of limited government and the belief that the federal government should not directly aid the people, turns and backfires on him caused the death of many people by starvation. The editors also criticize him of living in the high life of commodity and question his country of residence in a satirical attempt to see if Hoover is actually aware of the suffering of those in complete destitution. They also criticize his futile attempt to solve the crisis by giving 300 million, which is not enough, for direct relief. Throughout the whole document, the editors also inferred through their constant criticism that they want to provoke Hoover into doing something radical to help all the people in need.
In some way I feel sorry for Hoover, but just barely. The reason I think is because he moved into the White House so confident and relaxed, believing the economy would do its thing and continue to prosper. Meanwhile he will just lay back and watch the wealth of the nation accumulate. This was not the case in his presidency, and he failed because he stubbornly believed that limited government and free enterprise would fix the problem.
The document I will be discussing is in chapter 8 (The Depression, the New Deal, and Franklin D. Roosevelt) in Major Problems entitled “Song of the Depression: ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?’”
The lyrics of this song are a perfect example of why the Great Depression was so depressing. They tell a story of a man who went from “building a dream” to struggling to survive. He worked so much and so hard building railroads and towers and received close to nothing. He has done wonderful, impressive things and at the end of the day he is begging for money. That is what was most frustrating about the Great Depression, the people that were out of work were hard pressed to find anything to do for money. And even the fortunate people that did have jobs and in this man’s case were doing and building great things did not get paid enough to be able to support themselves and their families. It was a lose lose situation for the people of that time. And the people felt that the government was’t doing anything to help them. They had no hope for their futures, and many of their prides were gone due to the scraping and begging for money, like the man in the song.
The article that I am going to discuss is document 1 from chapter 8 of Major Problems entitled “Song of the Depression: ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?’ 1931.”
After reading this document, i was interested in how the writer incorporated certain syntax to take the perspective of fellow American workers who fought in War World I. The men were portrayed as the ones whom build the nation up but when depression hit, they found themselves jobless. The song includes phrases to symbolize different jobs such as farmers (“earth to plow”) to soldiers (“guns to bear”). The most depressing thing about this was the Depression created a individuals to lose their jobs and hope.
The one question i have about this document is since they had a high rate of unemployment during the Depression, were the wealthy with secured jobs affected at all?
Thanks,
Brian Lieu
The document I am going to be discussing is, “President Franklin D. Roosevelt Says Government Must Act, 1933”
I chose to write about this article because after writing about the Great Depression I have been drawn to learn more about it. During the Great Depression people couldn’t look to the government for answers because they had none, the government was powerless and no clue what to do. But this article shows how Roosevelt took a control and made people believe that there was hope, “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..” Roosevelt did a great job of getting the people to believe life would get better. He was adamant about implementing immediate government intervention. The Nation needed to have someone to look to and get support from for them to realize that there was still hope.
The article that stood out to me was “FDR: Advocate for the American People” because of a specific quote that David M. Kennedy noted by FDR. The quote opens with, “Our civilization cannot endure unless we, as individuals, realize our responsibility to and dependence on the rest of the world. For it is literally true that the ‘self-supporting’ man or woman has become extinct as the man of the stone age.” This quote nearly entirely explains the depths of the Great Depression in just a few sentences. Our president, at this time, has essentially gave up hope on the ability for an individual to be independent, and by saying “self-supporting” is a stone-age is pretty much saying it will never be attained again. It’s saying that our nation must become more reliant on each other, which goes against the goals of people today. Today people want to be financially independent and want job security that would not be in the hands of other people.
And I guess since we’re all asking questions, what would people do if Obama said we were never again to be “self reliant”? Would people agree based on this economy? Or would they bash him 10x more?
The document I am discussing is from chapter 8 “The Nation Asks, “Is It to Be Murder, Mr. Hoover?” 1932.”
In this document the author is talking about all the mistakes that Hoover has made by letting the nation fall into the Great Depression and how he is doing nothing to stop it. They believed Hoover was responsible for “every death by starvation today-and there are men, woman, and children perishing daily because of plain lack of food and undernourishment.” Hoover was almost a public enemy in the United States and I feel like although he made many mistakes that led to the decline in America he dose not deserve to be called a murder. It was never his intention to let the economy self-destruct. Hoover was just in the wrong position at the wrong time, unprepared and unable to handle what was going on around him. The blame should not be completely put on his shoulders; he had advisers to make sure things like this do not happen. Where were they?
Kelsey Rodocker
I will be discussing the fifth article in chapter 8 titled “The Nation Asks, ‘Is It to Be Murder, Mr. Hoover?’, 1932”. The first line in this article states, “Is it to be mass murder, Herbert Hoover? Murder by starvation, murder by disease, murder by killing all hope – and the soul?”. I feel this is extremely powerful for it sets the tone of the article and I could really see the poor moral people had at this time. It seems as Hoover was the reason for large amounts of starvation and a main reason for the demoralization of the American population. This was a time where the nation needed a strong President to lead them in the right direction, and Hoover just was not that. Every sense of this article left me with the idea that Hoover was to blame for the hole the nation got itself dug in. It also seemed as though Hoover “talked the talk” but never “walked the walk” when it came to his ideals and statements. This article made me wonder had another president or FDR be president first, would the situation have gotten better faster? Or even this worse at all?
The document I found interesting in this section was document number 3: A Journalist Investigates the Charges Against the Scottsboro Boys, 1931. I found this interesting because I have written a paper about this before. This whole case stirs me up every time. I am always astounded at how grossly erroneous the justice system acted. I hate that those boys lives were ruined because of lies two little girls said. I get upset at how blinded by their racism people were to let the kids to to jail for nothing. As a person who truly believes in the justice system and believes it can and will work right when everyone works the way they should, reading about this case is always a hard pill to swallow.
-G. Aldaba
The document I wanted to talk about was the song, “Brother, Can You Spare A Dome?, 1931.” It had really struck out to me because of the massive collapse of a national economy that could not sustain its people. From being well-off to flat broke overnight, it wouldn’t be surprising if we had learned about people rioting the streets. The recession lasted a couple years and it leaves me wondering how people survived, and how many died due to starvation. The song pointed out that even though the President had made efforts to correct the issue by giving the public mandated jobs, it wasn’t enough as they were temporary and had only benefitted those that invested, such as new buildings and railroads.