IBDP: HoA Review

Any 3 Qs in 2 ½ Hours Remember, it’s 35% of your IB Hist HL composite score!

Strategy: Attacking the Paper 3

Use the 5 minute review period to pick the 3 questions you will answer You can pick

any 3 questions

to answer You should concentrate on the Cold War!

50 minutes per essay Use the first 5 minutes to

outline

answer your Use only 45 minutes per essay to write!

Strategy: FOCUS on this content

The Great Depression and the Americas (1929-1939) We will be reviewing the Great Depression Political developments in the Americas after the Second World War (1945-79) The Cold War and the Americas (1945-81) These we reviewed vis-a-vie the Presidential Administrations

Strategy: Choosing your questions

You should concentrate on the

post-World War II

/

Cold War

questions Presidential administrations from

FDR to Reagan

Be sure to distinguish between

domestic

and

foreign

policies of those administrations For 20 th Century Topics (Paper 2), we focused on foreign policies For HoA (Paper 3), your answers should focus on domestic policies

Great Depression (1929-39)

You

should know

what happened in the US and one country in Latin America Questions may ask you to

compare / contrast

either the

social, political, or economic impact

of the Great Depression in

two different countries in the region

Or, questions may ask you to focus on a condition, such as:

Examine the view that the Great Depression was caused primarily by political rather than by economic factors

Great Depression (1929-39)

What became known as the Great Depression was a severe and persistent worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and ended in 1941 Economic interconnectedness on nations in a world of increasing trade and investment across oceans resulted in economic distress that included causes beyond the borders of any individual country

Great Depression (1929-39)

Separate your analysis of the Great Depression distinctly by either the Hoover (1929-1933) or the FD Roosevelt (1933 1945) administrations Hoover happened to be president at the time of the Wall Street crash of 1929 He believed in minimum government involvement, letting business “do business”

Great Depression (1929-39)

BUT … first things first … lets set the scene It is difficult to separate the economic and political causes of the Great Depression Divide the GD into 4 phases, and examine the causes by phase

Phase 1

– leading up to & including the crash

Phase 2

– late 1929 to 1933 as the US moved from ‘panic’ to deep depression

Phase 3 Phase 4

– 1933 to 1937 as a period of recovery – 1937 to 1941 as the US enters WWII

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 1 – What caused the crash ?!?

1920s were a time of economic boom Coolidge was pres from 1921-1929 – he was

very pro-business

& this was the era of the

Titans of Wall Street

Wall Street was riding high … the big bankers were buying on margin & making huge profits But the small investors were usually left holding stocks after the big sell-offs …

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 1 – What caused the crash ?!?

Because there was little regulation over banking practices (Coolidge was very laissez-faire), banks began to make unsafe extensions of credit to fuel consumption (autos, appliances, houses) and ‘main street’ became seriously indebted Overproduction fueled deflation, people began to make less $, demand decreased, sales declined … but the banks were still riding high because of

consumer purchasing on credit

and

buying stocks on margin BUT, as main street couldn’t make their pmts, neither could the banks on their stock purchases

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 1 – What caused the crash ?!?

SO, stocks began to fall and the market took wild swings … experienced one crash … appeared to stabilize … then CRASHED!!!

1. Growth of income disparity – by 1929, almost ½ of families in the US lived at subsistence or below!

2. Overproduction of housing & auto industries, combined with growing disparity in purchasing power, led to lower wages & layoffs 3. Growing economic instability abroad – especially in EUR – led to decline in overseas markets

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 1 – What caused the crash ?!?

What did Hoover do ???

He initially

did not

try to stimulate the economy, rather did the opposite 1. He supported the Fed’s decision to decrease the money supply 2. He reduced gov’t spending 3. He signed the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act (June 1930) establishing a high tariff That, in turn, caused other nations to retaliate

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 2 – From panic to deep depression, 1931-33

There was very little relief for citizens Hoover believed businesses & the community would step up to help, but didn’t realize these organizations simply lacked funds to help !!

Stigmatized the poor, attributing their poorness to personal failure Despite the shame that accompanied asking for help, increasing numbers asked the government for assistance – to little avail

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 2 – From panic to deep depression, 1931-33

Shanty towns, known as Hoovervilles, sprung up as more families lost their homes Coupled with the deepening depression was a decade-long drought that began in 1930 (the Dust Bowl) The 1930s set all minority groups back – African Americans, Hispanics, women – whatever economic gains they had previously made were lost

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 2 – From panic to deep depression, 1931-33

By 1932, 75% of black people were unemployed compared to the general figure of 25% unemployment Also discriminated against in access to relief programs, leaving many black families malnourished and homeless As a result of worsening economic & social conditions, about ½ million blacks moved to northern cities to find work during the GD

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 2 – From panic to deep depression, 1931-33

Hispanic Americans, Latinos, were also discriminated against regardless on their citizenship status Often, due to large job-loss rates, Latinos would move to inner cities (barrios) – as city populations swelled, local officials would try to force them out by raiding the barrios and rounding everyone up, including US citizens Because of blatant discriminatory practices, it’s estimated close to ½ million Latinos moved to Mexico during the GD

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 2 – From panic to deep depression,

1931-33

The effects on women were a bit different During WWI, women had made gains working outside the home Biggest change during the GD was in the working status of married women Number of married women working increased 50% during the 1930s During the same period, number of single women working increased 10%

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 2 – From panic to deep depression,

1931-33

Stratified between poor married women and middle-class married women Poor married women worked for subsistence Middle-class married women worked to maintain “an appropriate lifestyle” driven by consumerism from the roaring 20s Through the wages of working women that millions of households clung to middle-class lifestyles, or at least had roofs and regular meals

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 2 – From panic to deep depression,

1931-33

For some women (particularly minority), they entered

survivalist entrepreneurship

– in response to exclusion from the labor market a person is forced to form his/her own business to provide for him/herself and family For black women, mostly boarding homes and beauty parlors

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 3 – Recovery, 1933-37

FDR and the first New Deal In his first few months, he acted to reform the economic system, stimulate industry, and develop a sense of confidence in the American people FDR’s public persona was as important as his gov’t programs!

His warmth & use of media, esp the radio Contrasted greatly w his aloof predecessor He and the New Deal Democrats created a new understanding of the role of gov’t in people’s lives

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 3 – Recovery, 1933-37

FDR and the first New Deal Two days after taking office, FDR proclaimed a banking holiday and closed the banks for the next four days Passed the Emergency Banking Act Stabilized large banks, gave the FED add’l powers, took $ off gold std, mandated federal inspection of banks before they reopened The Economy Act – tried to balance the federal budget by cutting salaries, reducing pensions

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 3 – Recovery, 1933-37

FDR and the first New Deal

Fireside Chats

– FDR gave very informal radio addresses to explain to the American people how the new laws would work and what they could expect in the upcoming days Gave 36 over the 13 yrs of his presidency

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 3 – Recovery, 1933-37

FDR and the New Deal, part 2 Focused on

recovery

During 1933, FDR delivered 4 fireside chats to discuss important concepts The May 1933 address the New Deal Programs

Alphabet Agencies

– the many agencies formed by legislation and executive action Agric Adj Agency (

AAA

), Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act created the

FDIC

, Nat’l Industry Recovery Act created the Nat’l Recovery Adm (

NRA

) that oversaw businesses

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 3 – Recovery, 1933-37

FDR and the New Deal, part 3 Focused on

relief

Federal Emergency Relief Agency (

FERA

) to create new jobs through loans to states Part of

FERA

was the Civil Works Adm (

CWA

) to accelerate job creation through building roads, repairing schools, installing sewers

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 3 – Recovery, 1933-37

Also, the TVA, CCC, PWA, SEC, FCC, FHA, Civil Aeronautics Auth (became FAA) FDR and the New Deal, part 3 Many of his programs also focused on

reforming

and oversight All told, 1933 and 1934 brought 17 new agencies to gov’t Supreme Court declared many of his new programs as unconstitutional He tried to pack the court after his landslide vicotry in November 1936, and the court was much ‘nicer’ to him

Great Depression (1929-39)

Phase 4 – Road to WWII, 1937-41

There was a mini-setback in a recession that began in May of 1937 Economy had recovered to levels not seen since 1930 by then (bottomed out 1933) GDP had been up 80%, declined a bit over 6% from May 1936 to June 1938 (not consecutive) FDR had tried to slow gov’t spending on programs, FED had tightened money supply (reforms) Entry into WWII (increase federal spending on ‘war machine’) got us out of GD

Great Depression (1929-39)

Were FDR’s policies successful

?

Historians criticize FDR for not providing enough stimulus to the economy removing gov’t spending before recovery was complete FDR failed to enact major reforms, hence allowed for successive major recessions FDR’s response was pragmatic and not ideological (not

true

reform), perhaps his approach was even too conservative!

Great Depression (1929-39)

Were FDR’s policies successful

?

The numbers are mixed Economy recovered over the decade and returned to pre GD levels However, unemployment did not return to 1929 levels until war production Reforms encountered significant opposition Success was limited when considering they were intended to avoid second GD Relief was strong as people were put to work However, benefits to minorities were uneven at best