Hoover's response to the Depression (T2)

Question 1

What was Hoover’s belief of voluntarism?

Answer 1

The notion that business and state government should solve the Great Depression through their own voluntary efforts. Hoover encouraged business and state governments to carry on as if no Depression.

Question 2

How did Hoover’s experiences influence his attitudes towards relief?

Answer 2

• Hoover was a self-made success.
• He believed in hard work, not in free government handouts.
• He believed this would lead to a class of people who were overly dependant on government.
• This became his belief in self-help.

Question 3

What did Hoover do to try to tackle problems in agriculture?

Answer 3

1929 Agricultural Marketing Act set up the Federal farm board with $500 million to deal with overproduction. They were to buy, store and eventually dispose of farm surpluses

Question 4

Why did the agricultural methods not work?

Answer 4

Overproduction still happened, and the board just wasted lots of money paying high prices for the goods

Question 5

What was the Smoot-Hawley tariff, and how did it have a negative effect?

Answer 5

Put tariffs up to 40%, led to European countries abandoning free trade and fewer US goods were exported

Between 1929-1930 value of international trade fell by $500 million, the following year $1.2 billion

Question 6

What did Hoover do to European war debts and why did this have a negative effect?

Answer 6

Repudiated them. He did not act quickly enough to stop the collapse of European economies, so they could no longer pay back their debts.

Question 7

What did Hoover do for unemployment relief?

Answer 7

Gave $500 million, inadequate amount to help agencies provide relief.
He would not abandon self help

Question 8

What was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and why was it ineffective?

Answer 8

January 1932, most radical measure. $2 billion to rescue banks. Most of the money went to help big banks, failed to stop small banks closing, and ignored the fact that so many individual Americans were in distress

Question 9

What was the Bonus Army? And how did Hoover react to them?

Answer 9

War veterans who had been promised money for their service. The veterans wanted the money earlier than 1945, so marched on Washington. Hoover ordered their removal from the Hooverville they were camped in. this led to violence.

Question 10

Why were people struggling to receive aid, even if there were relief bodies?

Answer 10

The relief bodies were running out of funds

Question 11

Why were relief bodies running out of funds?

Answer 11

Charities suffered a decline in funds during the Depression - when the funds were most needed

Question 12

How did unemployment affect states individually?

Answer 12

Less people were working, therefore they received less in taxes

Question 13

How did states receiving less taxes affect the people of that state?

Answer 13

They had to cut spending on their services, where they should be expanding the services

Question 14

Give an example of the spending cuts due to less taxes

Answer 14

In Arkansas schools were closed for 10 months in the year

Teachers in Chicago were unpaid during the winter of 1932-1933

Question 15

How much of the necessary funds could charities supply in 1932?

Answer 15

Only 6%

Question 16

In 1931 and 1932 how much was relief cut by in most states?

Answer 16

by half - this was when it was needed most as well

Question 17

Give an example of the relief being cut in 1931 and 1932

Answer 17

Michigan reduced funds from $2 million in 1931 to $832,000 in 1932

Question 18

What was the result of the relief cuts in 1931 and 1932?

Answer 18

Many people went hungry or were starving

Question 19

What % of the population did fortune magazine estimate were receiving no income?

Answer 19

28% of the total population receiving no income

Question 20

The estimate that fortune magazine made for the amount of the population with no income did not include what?

Answer 20

The 11 million farm workers, many of who were in acute difficulties

Question 21

What happened to many of the farmer’s mortgages?

Answer 21

They were foreclosed when farmers could no longer pay them anymore

Question 22

What happened at many of the auctions where the foreclosed farms were being sold?

Answer 22

They attracted lots of violence as farmers were not happy about their treatment

Question 23

How would farmers sometimes get their farms back?

Answer 23

Farmers would agree to only bid a few cents and then return the farm to its former owner

Question 24

What did two state governors say in the face of the intimidation from the farmers?

Answer 24

The payments on the mortgages could be postponed until circumstances improved

Question 25

What was so tragic about all the people who were going hungry in the US?

Answer 25

The fact that it was one of the riches food-producing countries in the world

Question 26

Why couldn't farmers sell their crops for a profit?

Answer 26

Farm prices were so low that food could not be harvested for a profit

Question 27

Give an example of where the low prices of food affected the production of food.

Answer 27

In Montana , the wheat was rotting in the fields as there would be no profit made from harvesting them

Question 28

What happened to meat prices during this time?

Answer 28

They weren't sufficient to warrant transporting animals to market

Question 29

Give an example of the low meat prices affecting the production of food.

Answer 29

In Oregon, sheep were being slaughtered and left to the buzzards to eat

Question 30

Give an example of the people in America starving

Answer 30

Women in Chicago had to scour rubbish dumps for anything edible as they had so little money and there was a huge lack of food

Question 31

What were the total relief funds in Chicago?

Answer 31

$100,000 per day Only $2.40 per adult and $1.50 per child per week

Question 32

In 1931 how many single parent families lead by a woman were there?

Answer 32

3.8 million

Question 33

How many single parent families headed by a woman received aid?

Answer 33

Just under 20,000

Question 34

In popular history what are the Depression years usually viewed as?

Answer 34

An age of outlaw gangs who robbed banks throughout the south and midwest

Question 35

Who was particularly blamed for the farmers struggles?

Answer 35

Banks for: - Foreclosing on farm mortgages - Refusing to lend money to see farmers through hard times

Question 36

What were outlaws usually seen as?

Answer 36

Robin Hood figures

Question 37

What is wrong with outlaws being seen as Robin Hood figures?

Answer 37

There is little evidence to suggest any shared their ill-gotten gains with the poor and dispossessed

Question 38

Give an example of a gang during this time

Answer 38

- The Clyde Barrow gang - -> They preferred to steal from general stores and gas stations - -> because their proprietors were often better off than the farmers facing the depression

Question 39

Who did the Clyde Barrow gang prey on?

Answer 39

- General stores and gas stations The very people who may misguidedly have applauded them

Question 40

Name 2 outlaws

Answer 40

Clyde Barrow and John Dillinger

Question 41

How did gang leaders tend to start their careers?

Answer 41

They began being small-time crooks and then graduated ti more ambitious projects

Question 42

Who was Dillinger?

Answer 42

He was a Navy deserter - he was sentenced to 10-20 years imprisonment for his first offence

Question 43

What was Dillinger's first offence?

Answer 43

He robbed a grocery store with an accomplice after escaping with $50

Question 44

During his time in prison, what did Dillinger do?

Answer 44

He learned from other inmates how to plan perfect robberies

Question 45

When was Dillinger released from prison?

Answer 45

May 1933

Question 46

How many bank robberies was Dillinger responsible for once he'd left prison?

Answer 46

24

Question 47

What was Dillinger well known as?

Answer 47

'Public Enemy Number One'

Question 48

What was Pretty Boy Floyd (an outlaw) first incarcerated for?

Answer 48

The theft of $3.50 from a post office

Question 49

Why did outlaws tend to rob gas stations rather than banks/

Answer 49

They were easier to rob, however they earned less money robbing these

Question 50

What sort of lives did people tend to think that outlaws lived?

Answer 50

Admirers thought they lived very glamorous lives - but the opposite was the case

Question 51

How did outlaws really live?

Answer 51

They were always on the run - the FBI were usually chasing them

Question 52

How much did Dillinger have on his head at most?

Answer 52

$10,000

Question 53

How was the money stolen in raids by gangs usually used?

Answer 53

Spent on protection and bribes Clyde Barrow gang stole $28 (clerk was killed) and spent most on bribes

Question 54

How did Pretty boy Floyd die?

Answer 54

He was shot to death in an apple orchard

Question 55

How did Bonnie and Clyde die?

Answer 55

In a Louisiana ambush in May 1934

Question 56

How did Dillinger die?

Answer 56

He was most famously caught in an FBI trap outside a Chicago cinema in July 1934

Question 57

Did many outlaws escape justice?

Answer 57

No - most faced long stretches in prison

Question 58

When was Hoover president?

Answer 58

March 1929-1933

Question 59

What were Hoover’s two core beliefs? How did these shape his policy in reaction to the Depression?

Answer 59

- Self-help and voluntarism - He would not led Federal government give out free aid, as he did not want people to rely of the government to fix things

Question 60

Give 3 ways Hoover didn't do enough

Answer 60

- The Agricultural Marketing Act - Gave $500 million in unemployment relief - The Reconstruction Finance commission

Question 61

How did The Agricultural Marketing Act show that Hoover did not do enough?

Answer 61

$500 million to deal with overproduction. They were to buy, store and eventually dispose of farm surpluses. Did not stop overproduction

Question 62

How was Hoover giving $500 million in unemployment relief not enough?

Answer 62

It was an inadequate amount to help agencies provide relief

Question 63

How did The Reconstruction Finance commission show that Hoover did not do enough?

Answer 63

Most radical measure $2 billion to rescue banks - Most of the money went to help big banks, failed to stop small banks closing, and ignored the fact that so many individual Americans were in distress