The Great Depression and the New Deal

The Great Depression was a period of severe economic

contraction that encompassed the years of the 1930s. 
It was the longest period of continuous high
unemployment rates and low economic activity in the
1900s. 
Jobs were scarce, factories and banks were forced to
close, and poor weather conditions caused poor crop
yields for several years. 
In states like Oklahoma, the impact of these weather
conditions was particularly bad. 
The lesson below describes a few important events and
people from Oklahoma from the 1930s.
The Dust Bowl
The "Dust Bowl" refers to a period of severe
drought and poor weather conditions that
hit the mid-section of the country in the
1930s. 
During this time, dust storms caused major
ecological and agricultural damage to the
Great Plains and areas of the Midwest. 
Severe drought coupled with decades of
extensive farming without crop rotation or
other techniques to prevent soil erosion
killed the natural grasses that normally
kept the soil in place and trapped
moisture even during periods of drought
and high winds. 
As a result, the topsoil dried and turned to
dust. 
This dust was carried away by heavy winds
leaving barren, infertile soil in its place.
 Okies
During the 1930s, people from Oklahoma were forced to migrate because of
the drought and poor farming and economic conditions associated with the
Dust Bowl. 
Many of these people, referred to as "Okies," had family who had moved to
California in the years before the Great Depression hit. 
These friends and family members spoke highly about the abundance of
opportunity to be found in California, and many Okies believed these
opportunities could still be a reality even during the Depression. 
The conditions faced in Oklahoma were dire for many people. 
The experiences of these people inspired artists and musicians across the
nation. 
The Grapes of Wrath was a Pulitzer Prize winning novel written by John
Steinbeck that focuses on a poor family from Oklahoma who are forced to
migrate.
The term Okie, though used by many people to describe those who moved
from Oklahoma, was made famous by Steinbeck's book.
 Will Rogers
Will Rogers was born in Indian
Territory (present-day Oklahoma)
in 1879. 
His early life included working on the
ranch where he was born and
traveling to different areas of the
world working as a cowboy. 
He eventually developed a career as
an entertainer. 
He acted in Vaudeville, a theatrical
genre of variety entertainment,
and eventually became a top paid
movie star in Hollywood. 
Rogers was a part of over 71 films
and was loved by the American
people.
Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie was a singer-song
writer and folk musician who
wrote many songs about his
experiences during the Dust
Bowl, a large-scale drought
that hit to central part of the
United States during the Great
Depression. 
His most famous song was
perhaps "This Land is Your
Land," which is still a famous
folk song. 
Guthrie's music influenced many
other musicians including Bob
Dylan and Ramblin' Jack Elliot.
 Bob Wills
Bob Wills was a western swing
band leader and musician
who's shows at Cain's
Ballroom and on the radio
uplifted dancers with vibrant
music.
His music allowed people to
escape the realities of the
Dust Bowl. 
Will's music influenced many
other musicians including
Buck Owens and Merle
Haggard.
The New Deal
The New Deal was a
series of programs
started between
1933 and 1937 by
President Franklin
D. Roosevelt to help
the economy of the
United States
recover from the
Great Depression. 
Though they were not
as successful as
many hoped they
would be, they did
help the economy
slowly start to
recover.
 Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The people of the United States were
feeling hopeless in 1933 when
Roosevelt became president. 
He told Americans that they did not
have to be afraid because things
would change. At his inauguration,
he said, “The only thing we have
to fear is fear itself.”
He called Congress into a special
session to work on passing laws to
help ease the Great
Depression. This session lasted
from March 9 to June 16. It is
known as “The First Hundred
Days.” During this time, Roosevelt
attempted to create several New
Deal programs with the help of
Congress. 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Supreme Court, however, ruled
many of these programs
unconstitutional. 
Roosevelt tried to remedy this in
1937 by proposing a bill that would
expand the number of justices in
the Supreme Court. The bill would
allow the president to appoint a
new justice for every justice that
was at least 70 years old. Instead
of nine justices, the bill would have
allowed up to fifteen. 
Many Americans reacted harshly to
the proposal, calling it the "court
packing bill," and it was never
passed.
 Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt was the wife of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
and perhaps the most active
First Lady in history. 
She championed women's activism
and was a member of several
organizations that sought to
bring peace and equality to all. 
She made great strides to bring
social equality to women
through her work with the
Presidential Commission on the
Status of Women, which was an
organization that advised the
U.S. president on issues
concerning women.
Eleanor Roosevelt
During the 1930s, one of
her notable
achievements was the
establishment of the
International Rescue
Committee, a
program to help
refugees and victims
of persecution from
other countries find a
safe haven in the
United States. 
She also worked for
increased women's
rights, workers'
rights, and minority
rights, including
desegregation.
 Brain Trust
Adolf Berle, Raymond
Moley, and Rexford
Tugwell formed the core
of small group of advisers
to Franklin D. Roosevelt in
the early 1930s. 
All law professionals from
Columbia Law School,
they supported reforms
that resulted in much of
the legislation that was
associated with the New
Deal.
Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins was
Roosevelt’s Secretary of
Labor. 
She was the first woman
to serve in a Cabinet
position. 
She helped create several
of the New Deal
reforms, especially
those that improved
working conditions.
 Huey Long
Huey Long was the governor of
Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and a
U.S. Senator for Louisiana from
1932 to 1935. 
His support for Franklin Roosevelt and
the New Deal wavered on and off
during his time in office. 
He claimed the program was not
doing enough to aid the economy
of the United States, and he felt a
re-distribution of the wealth in
society was the only way to
actually solve the country's
problems. To this end, Long
decided to create the Share Our
Wealth Society, which called for a
massive restructuring of the tax
system.
Agricultural Adjustment Administration

This agency paid farmers to

grow fewer crops in an
attempt to keep the prices
of crops higher. 
The plan would help the
farms make more money,
but some people were
angry that there was less
food and cotton. 
The agency was dissolved
after the U.S. Supreme
Court declared that it was
unconstitutional.
 Civilian Conservation Corps
This program hired
young men from
needy families to work
on conservation
projects. 
They planted trees and
built parks and dams. 
It gave many young
men a job in a time of
high unemployment.
Emergency Banking Relief Act
In March 1933, the
Emergency Banking
Relief Act declared a
four-day "banking
holiday" during which
all banks were closed. 
This was done to stop
the banking crisis that
was taking place and
to prevent more banks
from failing.
 Fair Labor Standards Act
This was a law that
helped workers get
fair treatment at
work. 
It created a minimum
wage and forty-hour
work week. 
It also made child labor
illegal in the U.S.
Public Works Administration
This program gave jobs
to a large number of
unemployed people. 
Workers built thousands
of schools,
courthouses, bridges,
and other public
works.
 Tennessee Valley Authority
This program built
dams to help the
poor residents of
the Tennessee
River Valley.
The dams helped
residents by
providing flood
control and electric
power.
Wagner Act
This law, also called the
National Labor
Relations Act, allowed
workers to form
unions. 
Unions can help workers
band together and
request better working
conditions or better
pay.
 Securities and Exchange Commission

This commission was

made to regulate the
stock market and
restrict margin buying
so that the stock
market would not
have another crash
like the one that
started the
Depression. 
It still operates today.
Social Security Act
This act provides
government pensions
to elderly, retired
Americans and to
disabled citizens who
are unable to work. 
Social Security is also
still part of American
life.
 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

The Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation (FDIC) was
created to provide insurance
to people who deposit money
in a bank. 
After the stock market crash of
1929, many Americans
hurried to take their money
out of the bank. 
So many people withdrew their
money that the banks went
broke before everyone else
could get their money out. 
With the FDIC, a person's
money is insured in case a
bank runs out of money.