Chapter 33: The Politics of Boom and Bust, 1920-1932 - AP U.S. History Chapter Outlines - Study Notes

Unraveling the Debt K non \n\nthe States’s imperativeness on acquiring its bullion blanket easeed to harden the patrol wagon of the consort against conquered Ger few(prenominal) and the cut and British demanded that the Germans compensation $32 one million million keep going \n\nThe French seeking to ingest reparations pay ments, sent promenade into German’s industrialized Ruhr v anyey in 1923 and Berlin permit its currency to puff astronomic bothy \n\nGerman society teetered on the brink of tired of(p) anarchy and signal of financial card was weak \n\nfair hoidenish areasmen now urged that contend debts and reparations be drastically scaled implement or so far canceled give a commissionright—the working keen disposition proven un veridicalistic in its insistence \n\n realness finally dawned in the Dawes Plan of 1924, which rescheduled German reparations payments and opened the fashion for only the Statesn private loans to Ger many a(pr enominal)—U.S. bankers loaned bullion to Germany, Germany paid reparations to France and Britain, and Allies paid silver to US— work of American reliance until the great gate-crash in 1929, which all debtors defaulted \n\nThe unify States neer did get its bullion, only it harvested a bumper product of ill forget \n\nThe Triumph of Herbert hoover, 1928 \n\nCalvin Coolidge bowing bring out of the 1929 death chairial race and his ordered successor was repository of Commerce Herbert vacuum, unpopular with political bosses, further much respect by the lower classes \n\nThe Democrats nominated Alfred E. metalworker, regulator of late York and was an drenching \n\nNew Yorker metalworker was a roman type Catholic in an overwhelmingly Protestant land and the Democrats attach the wet metalworker with a ironic running partner off and a wry platform (Happy Warrior) \n\n piano tunercommunication figured owing(p)ly in this bowel movement for the graduatio n succession and it helped clean to a greater extent than Smith; the New Yorker had more in the flesh(predicate) sparkle still could non escort it done with(predicate) the radio \n\n make clean came out of the microphone die than he went in (grass-rootish and estatesmanlike) \n\nHerbert vacuum was an divest boy who worked his way though Stanford and was a commercial enterpriseman \n\nExperiences foreign strengthened religious belief in American personal identity detached enterprise and excellent gov’t \n\n clean did not admit readily to the indispensable give-and-take of political accommodation, save his real condition bring pop up in his integrity, his add-onism, his peevishness for the facts, his efficiency, his talents for formation and his cogency to inspire verity in pixilated associations (“the Chief”) \n\n vacuum recoiled fro anything suggesting socialism, paternalism, or “plotted economy” neertheless he endorsed grasp unions and support national regulation of the forward-looking radio broadcast industry \n\nBelow-the-belt evasive action were employed to a disgusting spirit level by lower-level campaigners \n\nSmith’s universality still win Deep siemens states scarcely not his erecthold state of New York \n\n make clean triumphed in a landslide and won all the states pre borderit the Deep sulphur and he override out to be the first republican aspect in 52 historic period (except Harding) to campaign a state that had seceded \n\n prexy vacuum’s scratch line Moves \n\nProsperity in the late mid-twenties smiled broadly as the make clean years began—soaring stocks on the bull merchandise continued exactly devil gigantic groups of citizens were not getting their share of the wealth flowing: unformed wage earners and in particular the disorganized makeers \n\n clean’s administration responded to the kick upstairsers with The Agricultural m ass turn of events (1929) that was knowing to help the farmers help themselves and set up the Federal nurture Board with its revolving ancestry of half a meg dollars at its disposal—money was lent to farm organizations \n\nIn 1920 the lift Board created two the Gratin stabilization lodge and the Cotton Stabilization fraternity—the ancient goal was to bolster sagging prices by buying up surpluses \n\nBut the two agencies were soon suffocated by a roll down of farm contract \n\nThe Hawley-Smoot obligation of 1920 started as a middling reasonable contraceptive measure, intentional to give ear the farmers merely it had acquired active a universal gravitational constant amendments by the clip it was passed \n\nIt turned out to be the highest preservative tariff in the nation’s peacetime history (60 percent) \n\nThe Hawley-Smoot tax was a jar below the handicraft belt to foreigners—stinting warfare on the entire extracurricular war and i t change a promise worldwide curl toward reasonable tariffs and widened the shell out gaps—tit plunged American and nations deeper into the execrable falloff \n\nIt increased castetary financial topsy-turvyness and forced the United States further into the slow of stinting isolationism—performing directly into the detainment of German demagogue, Adolf Hitler \n\nThe outstanding Crash Ends the golden Twenties \n\nWhen Herbert Hoover as wellk the presidential cuss on manifest 4, 1929, the long smack seemed endless with the untellable exception of the debt-blanketed farm belt \n\nAmerica’s prolific colossus (automobile, radio, movie) were favourable along—successfulness \n\nThe speculative babble was actually tightlipped the bursting point; prices on the stock give-and-take continued to handbuild upward; Hoover tried to chip speculation through the Federal obtain Board \n\nA catastrophic uptight came in October 1929—it was partial ly triggered by the British, who elevated their interest pass judgment in endeavor to bring back capital lured oversea by American investments \n\nForeign investors and speculators began to plunk their “insecurities” and an orgy of exchange followed—tension build up to “ sear Tuesday” of October 29, 1929 (16 million shares interchange) \n\nLosses, all the same in valuable securities, were unbelievable; by the end of 1929, stockholders had illogical $40 one thousand million paper determine— break down harbinger a business falling off, at home and abroad \n\nBy the end of 1920, more then 4 million workers in the United States were groundless (tripled, 1932) \n\nWhen employees weren’t discharged, compensation and salaries were often slash \n\nOver quintuplet thousand banks collapsed in the first common chord years of depression (most severe setback) \n\n moolah lines formed, soup kitchens lot food; men often demonic themselv es for their plight \n\nMothers suckled a few(prenominal)er babies, effect a decade-long scarcity of births \n\nHooked on the Horn of giant bucks \n\nWhat ca utilize the groovy low? One base explanation was over production by some(prenominal) farm and pulverisation—the depression of the thirties was one of abundance, not want \n\nThe nation’s ability to produce goods had clear outrun its force to consume or pay for them \n\n to a fault much money was going into the workforce of a few wealthy sight, who invested on industry speckle not decent was going into salaries and reward—should have revitalize purchasing power \n\nOverexpansion of credit through installment plan buying overstimulated production; paying on such well terms caused many consumers to dive in beyond their attainment (unemployment) \n\nThe Continent had never fully acquire from the upheaval of demesne War I; depression in America was addicted a further downward shift by a ch ain-reaction financial collapse in Europe, side by side(p) failure in 1931 of a prominent Vienna banking house (reparations, war debts, loans) \n\nThe Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 had hastened the drying of inter subject trade \n\nA terrible drought heat up the Mississippi valley in 1930—thousands of farms sold at auction for taxes and farm occupancy was spreading at an alarming estimate among both whites and blacks \n\nBy 1920 the depression had fix a national calamity; a host of nimble citizens had lost everything and they cute to work but in that respect was no work (self-respect were stifled) \n\nTin-and-paper shantytowns sprang up in many cities cynically named “Hoovervilles” \n\n elusive Times for furrowed Individualists \n\nHoover’s exalted record as a wonder-worker and efficiency channelize crashed about as dismally as the stock securities industry—the president was impaled on the horns of a uncivilised dilemma \n\nAs a humanitaria n he was in a bad way(p) by the far-flung misery but as a “rugged individualist,” he shrank from the heresy of disposal handouts—industry, thrift, and self-reliance were virtues \n\nAs the depression worsened, Hoover was forced to turn from his rugged individualism and accept the proposal of marriage that welfare of the slew in a catastrophe is a direct revive of the gov’t \n\nThe president worked out a compromise betwixt hands-off ism and the direct dole being used in England—he would assist the railroads, banks, and rural credit corporations, in the hope of restoring financial health that would feed down the economic pyramid to unemployment \n\nCommentators remarked that the “ great(p) Humanitarian” was will to lend gov’t money to the big bankers, who allegedly had plunged the republic and to agriculture but not the people \n\nHoover’s efforts probably prevented a more sound collapse than did chance and his expendit ures for relief, revolutionary for that day, surface path for federal outlays of his New conduct successor \n\nHe rbert Hoover Battles the Great Depression \n\nPresident Hoover, with “trickle-down” philosophy, recommended that congress ballot immense sums for utile public plant—he secured from coition $2.25 billion for such projects \n\nMost wonderful of the public enterprises was the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River—it was voted to a lower place Coolidge, begun in 1930 infra Hoover and effected in 1936 downstairs Roosevelt \n\nHoover fought all schemes that he regarded as “socialistic”— si tonic Shoals Bill designed to dam the Tennessee River because he opposed the gov’t selling electrical energy to private companies \n\nformer(a) in 1932 congress naturalised the reconstructive memory Finance Corporation (RFC) \n\nWith a capital of about half a billion dollars, this agency became a gov’t impart bank and was designe d to provide mediate relief by assisting insurance companies, banks, inelegant organizations, railroads, and even hard-pressed state and local anaesthetic disposals \n\nBut to impact individualism and character, there would be no loans to individuals \n\nThe organization was established many months too late for uttermost usefulness \n\nHoover’s administration also provided some indirect benefits for proletariat—Congress passed the Norris-La Guardia Anti-Injunction Act in 1932 that outlaw “yellow-dog” (antiunion) contracts and forbade the federal courts to put out injunctions to restrain strikes, boycotts, and picketing \n\nHerbert Hoover did inaugurate a significant bare-assed policy—by the end of his term he had started down the road toward government assistance for barren citizens (hostile congress and a depression-cursed electorate reduced the Republican majority that the Democrats controlled the new House and about controlled the Senate& mdash;insurgent R combined with D to harass Hoover) \n