Zinn Assignment:

Question: According to Howard Zinn, how did the Great Depression and the New Deal affect the following groups:

Individuals (Urban & Rural): Employees are laid off and wages are cut causing mass unemployment and poverty. Industrial production falls by 50% Millions of tons of food readily available but selling it produced no profit because no one has money to buy it. Warehouses filled with unbought clothing. Many homes evicted- Hoovervilles- poor communities where people lived on garbage dumps FARMERS: Land becomes unable to be cultivated- DUST BOWL- Spirit of rebellion grows o England, Arkansas (1931)- Drought ruins hundreds of farms farmers march on the business section of the town *while armed* demanding food for their families by either correspondence or force o Agricultural Adjustment Administration- attempt by Roosevelt to organize agriculture BUT it favored larger farmers URBAN: Workers are laid off cannot buy food to feed themselves and their families- SAME SPIRIT OF REBELLION o NY 1933: Hundreds of jobless people surrounded a restaurant in Union Square demanding food o NYC- Bread lines owned by people like William Randolph Hearst- serving hot soup and bread Veterans: Veterans from WWI without work were promised money later but needed it sooner due to the depression- Bonus Army marches on Washington Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) gives jobs to the unemployed- helps consumers w/ lower electric rates Many desperate people do not wait for government intervention- SELF HELP o Unemployed Councils formed- organized democratically to protest evictions and defend unemployed protestors legally Social Security Act: provides retirement benefits & unemployed insurance o Excluded farmers, domestic workers, and old people & no health insurance

Government: Inaction of Herbert Hoover during hard times causes Roosevelts success in 1932 election New Deal o Reorganize capitalism to overcome crisis & stabilize economy; hinder rebellion(organization of tenants & unemployed self-help movements/general strikes) o NATIONAL RECOVERY ACT (NRA)- Take control of the economy through a series of codes agreed on by management, labor, and the govt. fixing prices & wages, limiting competitionaccording to Zinn: dominated by big businesses and served their needs Did help unemployed workers where organized labor was strong o Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)- Organize agriculture o Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)- Unusual entrance of government into business- govt. owned network of dams and hydroelectric plants to control floods and produce electric power in the Tennessee Valley- gives jobs to the unemployed and provides consumers w/ lower electric rates o Gives jobs, food baskets, and relief to workers- eliminates idea of workers solving their own problems o Wagner-Connery Bill (1934)- provides for union representation- board to settle problems and handle grievances to eliminate labor outbursts o National Labor Relations Board- moderate labor rebellion by channeling energy into elections to minimize strikes & build respectable organizations o Social Security Act- gives assurance to some but not all o Gives federal money to art- Federal Theatre Project, Federal Writers Project, Federal Art Project- murals painted on public buildings, plays put on for working-class audiences who had never seen plays, books & pamphlets published Roosevelt failed to fight for Civil Rights! Wont offend southern white politicians because he needed their political support.