History 2301E Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Bonus Army, Distribution Of Wealth, Living Wage
2 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
January 23, 2018
Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression
➢ Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933
o Secretary of Commerce, 1921-1929
➢ The great Depression
o Explanations and Impact
➢ Hoover’s response
o The Bonus Army March, 1932
Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933
- Background
o Orphan
▪ Born in California into a poor white middle class family
▪ Parents both killed in an accident
o Poverty
▪ Was raised by family members, a difficult childhood
▪ Knows what it is like to be poor
o School
▪ Loved school and learning
▪ Got scholarships to go to good schools and universities
o Career
▪ An element of luck, focused on geological engineering
▪ Used skills from school to become a millionaire by the time he was 25
• Very fast rags to riches
o Public life
▪ After he made several million, he turned to a public life
▪ Quits job and gets involved in charity organizations
▪ Was famous for beng one of the chief officers in the international Red
Cross
• Helped get Americans stranded in Europe back home, food
shipments to starving ally countries
▪ Gets name recognition
- Secretary of Commerce, 1921-1929
o The Associative State
▪ His philosophy
▪ Have to due away with government regulations
▪ About getting the economy to move forward: The country works best for
everybody when business, labour, governments and consumers work
together for the common good
• When business pays labourers a living wage
• When workers don’t demand outrageous works
• When consumers are willing to pay for well made goods
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• When government works to help everyone come together
o 1927 Mississippi flood
▪ Was the face of the government during the flood
▪ Got aid to individuals who lost homes and their livelihood
o Was there for the 1920s, got credit for the economic boom
- Nominating speech, 1928
o Got the republican nomination
o Claimed to eradicate poverty – because everyone is working for the common
good
▪ Country believed they were on the path to total riches
- Al Smith, Democrat
o Hoover’s opponent
o The first Catholic to run for president in the U.S.
o South still willing not to vote for Republican because Lincoln freed slaves
▪ So they vote republican, even though they hate Catholics as much as they
hate Catholics
The Causes of the Great Depression
- Wealth distribution and the saturation of purchasing power
o Majority of Americans were making more money – an economic boom did
happen
▪ Not equally distributed among the rich and the poor
▪ The gap between rich and poor continued to grow in the 1920s
o By the 1920s, economic growth is based on consumer culture
▪ Selling things like sewing machines, cars and refrigerators
• Only so many things that a family needs, can only consume so
much
o The working class, trying to buy goods is doing it on credit
▪ When the banks call back their loans, they have nothing
- Sick industries
o Agriculture sector had been in the great depression since 1920, by 1929 there is 3
million Americans completely out of work
- International context
If reaching saturation on consumer goods domestically, they tried to sell goods abroad
But the international system was even more screwed up because of WW1
o Debts
▪ Most of the countries, especially allies, owed money to the U.S
• Wasn’t the govt that lent money but were banks
o Private banks that wanted their money back
▪ Peace treaty was punitive – Germany has to pay billions in reparations to
the ally countries
• Allies cannot pay their debts until they get reparations
• Economic trading system is a disaster in Europe
o Tariffs in place by European countries
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Herbert hoover, 1929-1933: secretary of commerce, 1921-1929. The great depression: explanations and impact. Hoover"s response: the bonus army march, 1932. Cross: helped get americans stranded in europe back home, food shipments to starving ally countries, gets name recognition. Nominating speech, 1928: got the republican nomination, claimed to eradicate poverty because everyone is working for the common good, country believed they were on the path to total riches. Sick industries: agriculture sector had been in the great depression since 1920, by 1929 there is 3 million americans completely out of work. If reaching saturation on consumer goods domestically, they tried to sell goods abroad. Stock market is completely based on psychology: thursday october 24, 1929. Car, houses/mortgages: sent letters and if you didn"t have the money in cash, they came and took your car, home, furniture, etc, added to the stress of the economic crises.
