Chapter 15 Section 3

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Chapter 15Section 3

• Hoovers
• Policies

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Opposing Direct Relief

• President Hoover believed the way to economic
  recovery was through rugged individualism- the
  idea that success comes from individual effort
  and not from government assistance
• Americans began to demand the federal government
  proved relief for the needy
• Despite the pleas, Hoover rejected the idea of
  direct government aid. He felt it would inflate
  the budget and reduce self-respect of the people
  receiving the aid
• He also refused to support a bill that would
  create a Federal Emergency Relief Board it was
  not passed because of his lack of support

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Encouraging Voluntarism

• Hoover believed that voluntary efforts were
  preferable to governmental aid
• In 1930 he created the Presidents Committee for
  Unemployment Relief (PCUR)
• All the PCUR really did was urge people to
  private relief agencies and pass out pamphlets
  because they were poorly funded.
• During the entire Hoover administration they were
  only given 157,000
• Conditions of the depression only worsened

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Stimulating the Economy

• Although Hoover opposed direct relief, he did
  support governmental intervention in the economy
• Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon,
  thought government should let business got out of
  the depression on its own
• Rejecting Mellons advice, Hoover requested that
  Congress and state governments funded several
  public works programs.
• The construction of the Hoover Dam, the building
  of more than 800 public buildings and 37,000mi of
  highway, unfortunately had little impact on the
  depression

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Coping with the Farm Crisis

• Hoover had Congress pass the Agricultural
  Marketing Act, which established the Federal Farm
  Board and gave them a budget of 500 million
• The FFB offered loans and financed the creation
  of farmers cooperatives
• When crop prices continued to fall, Hoover
  instructed the FFB to buy up the surplus produce,
  store them, and sell them when the prices went
  back up
• Farmers refused to limit production and in
  reaction to the low prices, planted more crops
• In 1931 the FFB stopped buying surplus crops
  having already spent 180 million

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The Reconstruction Finance Corporation

• Hoover also tried to stimulate the economy by
  creating the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
  (RFC) in 1932
• The RFC was allowed to lend up to 2 billion of
  taxpayer to stabilize banks, insurance
  companies, railroad companies and other
  institutions
• Although it did help many large corporations the
  economy still continued to decline because the
  RFC was created after the depression was in full
  swing
• Also did not trickle down to the ordinary
  citizens-the ones who needed it most

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Radical Protests

• By 1932, Herbert Hoover was probably the most
  hated man in America
• The Communist and Socialist Parties in the U.S.
  blamed capitalism for the depression and staged
  many mass protests
• A.J. Muste gathered the jobless into Unemployed
  Leagues to demand work
• The Communist Party also helped to expose racial
  injustice, when they funded a defense for 9
  African American teens charge with a very
  questionable rape, and protested the inevitable
  verdict. All the men were out of jail eventually

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On 25th March, 1931, Victoria Price (19) and Ruby
Bates (17) claimed they were gang-raped by 12
black men on a Memphis bound train. Nine black
youths on the train were arrested and charged
with the crime. Twelve days later the trial took
place at Scottsboro, Alabama. Their defense
attorney was an alcoholic, who was drunk
throughout the trial. The prosecutor on the other
hand, told the jury, "Guilty or not, let's get
rid of these n_at_!". After three days all nine
men were found guilty eight, including two aged
14, were sentenced to death and the youngest man,
who was only thirteen, was given life
imprisonment. Two famous writers, Theodore
Dreiser and Lincoln Steffens, publicized the case
by writing articles on how the men had been
falsely convicted. The Communist Party supplied
legal defense for the defendants and organized
mass demonstrations against the verdict. In
November, 1932, the United States Supreme Court
ordered a second trial on the grounds that the
men had been inadequately defended in court.
Although Ruby Bates testified at the second
trial that the rape story had been invented by
Victoria Price and the crime had not taken place,
the men were once again found guilty. A third
trial ended with the same result but a fourth in
January, 1936, resulted in four of the men being
acquitted. Four more were released in the 1940s
but the last prisoner, Andy Wright, had to wait
until 9th June, 1950, before achieving his
freedom. This was nineteen years and two months
after his arrest in Alabama. The nine men were
finally pardoned in October, 1976. Only one of
the men, Clarence Norris, who had spent 15 years
in prison for the crime, was still alive. He
commented when he heard the news "I only wish
the other eight boys could be here today. Their
lives were ruined by this thing, too." In April
1977 the Alabama House Judiciary Committee
rejected a proposal to pay Norris 10,000 in
compensation for his time spent in prison.  
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Lawyer Samuel Leibowitz with Heywood Patterson in
trial.
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The Bonus Army

• The largest protest was staged in May 1932 when
  more than 10,000 WWI veterans and their families
  came to Washington D.C. to support a veterans
  bonus bill
• The bill would have granted veterans early
  payment of their pension bonuses owed to them for
  their service in the war
• These protesters were soon labeled the Bonus Army
  
• When the bill was rejected, some 2,000 veterans
  stayed to protest further. In a clash with
  authorities 2 veterans and 2 policemen were
  killed
• President Hoover called in General Douglas
  MacArthur, who came in with tanks, machine guns
  and tear gas.
• Hundreds were injured and three died including a
  11 week old baby
• Those who didnt already hate Hoover, did now

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The Election of 1932

• Oddly enough, the Republican Party chose Hoover
  to run again
• The Democratic Party chose Franklin D. Roosevelt
• FDRs wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, was one of his
  most important political assets
• Roosevelt promised to put the political and
  economic system at the service of the people
• Not only did FDR win the election but the
  Democrats won decisive majorities in both houses
  of Congress
• Knowing his policies would be passed with the new
  Democratic Senate, Franklin D. Roosevelt offered
  the American public a new deal

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Review Questions

• This is the idea that success comes from
  individual effort
• Was the Federal Emergency Relief Board passed?
• This man thought government should let business
  got out of the depression on its own
• What did Hoover request that Congress and state
  governments funded?
• This man gathered the jobless into Unemployed
  Leagues to demand work
• Roosevelt promised to put the political and
  economic system at the service of who?

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