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An intense period of artistic experimentation, as new forms and methods were explored, trans-formative cultural institutions were founded, and artists self-consciously sought to reach broader layers of the public.

The rise of social unrest during the Depression heightened the political concerns of artistic works, while New Deal programs gave artists both federal recognition and the funding and space to work out new cultural forms.

Technological advancements, like the popularization of the radio, changed how accessible culture was and to whom.

For the first time in American history, art was deemed worthy of public support, and New Deal federal dollars enabled an explosion of artistic endeavors, from painting to music to theater to architecture.

New Deal Arts Funding

As part of the public relief programs of the New Deal, artists, musicians, actors, and writers were employed by the federal government in an array of projects designed to create jobs.

The Depression years also saw Washington's emergence in national films, as the major Hollywood studios set and filmed many major 1930s films in the State's mountains and waterfronts.

Symphonic music suffered during the Great Depression.

Bands playing popular music in clubs and dancehalls also struggled in the early 1930s, but with the end of prohibition in 1933, going to clubs became very popular for those who could afford it.

As Jazz evolved into Swing Jazz, dancing became the rage. Jackson Street, the heart of Seattle’s black community, was also the heart of the region’s Jazz scene.

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Latin American countries relied heavily on the USA and Western countries on foreign trade and investment because of neo-colonialism. Neo-colonialism: when developed countries control aspects (economies) of other countries. By buying their imports and selling them manufactured goods

Brazil

Dominated by coffee production

Government introduced valorization when cofee prices fell

They would buy coffee beans until the market price rose again

National Coffee Council - to control the production and marketing of coffee

Ordered cutbacks in planting coffee trees

Encouraged burning coffee

Production of rubber declined because South-East Asian producers were more efficient

Diversification

Vargas, Brazil’s President tried to encourage the agricultural sector to diversify

Biggest expansion: livestock raising and cotton production

Industrialization and economic development = nationalism

Reduction in the amount of imports becuase Brazil couldn’t afford it

Brazil began to produce goods for domestic consumption instead for exports

Textile production increased

Brazil gave long-term loans with low interest rates

Hitherto undeveloped natural resources

Limited on foreign exploitation of national resources

The Five Year Plan

Introduced with a focus on expansion of the railway network and steamships and the development of hydroelectric power.

Harness the power of the rivers

Oil

The National Petroleum Company (CNP) discovered oil in 1938

Argentina

Crisis in the beef industry

Pre-war: Argentina dominated exports for chilled-beef trade

War time: demand fell and demand for cheap beef rose

Tariffs and debt

1923 tariff extended protection to various raw materials like cotton to diversify the agricultural sector.

The national debt increased significantly

Oil

Created a 5000-hectare reserve to protect the oil from foreign involvement

A new managerial and supervisory board for the state oil industry set up to develop the oil industry and exclude foreigners

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Cause of the GP

In Canada, there was an over-reliance on staple exports such as wheat, industries began to overproduce and supply exceeded demand. Stock markets were involved in the same unstable practices as in the USA and the effects of the Wall Street crash soon spread over the border, leading into depression.

Over-reliance on Staples for Export

Wheat production in Canada had peaked at 567 million bushels in 1928, by 1934 it was down to 276 million bushels.In 1929,  prices in bushels eventually fell from $1.66 per Bushel to 33 cents in 1932.

Canada suffered from the same overproduction that had happened in the United States. With overproduction many working organizations had to cut off and lay off workers because products were not sold.

Stock Market Crash

As soon U.S stock market fell, the collapse quickly spread to that of Toronto.  Toronto’s stock market became affected for months: on October 4th 1929, the market recorded losses of $200 million. During the course of 1929, Canadian stocks lost $5 billion. In addition by mid - 1930, the value of the stocks in the major 50 companies had fallen by 50%.

Effects of the Great Depression

Canada was hit hard by the Great Depression because Canada relied too much on exports and trade, which decreased the demand on products. For example, in the 1930’s, automobiles sales had fallen 25% of the 1929 levels. With the collapse of automobile sales, millions of Canadians lost their jobs: unemployment rose to 27% by 1932. In addition, two main railroad companies alone laid off about 65,000 employees. As a result, an increase from 116,000 unemployed Canadians in 1929 to 826,000 by 1933.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for the presidential elections against Hoover and it resulted in a win in 1932.

Franklin D. Roosevelt won 22.8 million votes, with Hoover polling only 15.8 million

In some ways the 2 candidates seemed to have similar policies: the programmes featured gov. support for ailing businesses and job-creation schemes. Although voters did not know what would Roosevelt do, they believed that he would do something; His campaign gave the Americans hope when compared to Hoover’s campaign

In the first 100 days of Roosevelt's presidency, The New Deal was created to deal with the crisis the government faced.

Banking reforms:

The Emergency Banking Relief Act passed on March 9, 1933.

Primary goal was to protect the larger banks from being dragged down by the weakness of the smaller ones. By doing this it gave more chances for the banking system to stabilize.

After 3 days, three quarters of the banks in the Federal Reserve system reopened, and $1 billion flowed back into them within a month. The great depression wasn’t over but the immediate banking crisis was.

Solving the problems of farming:

The Credit Act of June 1933: reorganized all the agencies dealing with agricultural credit into one organization to make it easier to coordinate

The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act June 1933- made loans available to farmers who were in danger of having farms repossessed.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA): Most important feature was its provision for reducing crop production to end agricultural surpluses and stop the downward spiral of farm prices. The gov. would tell the farmers individually how much they should plant and pay them subsidies  for leaving some of their land inactive. Prices for farm commodities did rise after 1933, and gross income increased by half in the first 3 yrs. of the new deal. The agricultural economy emerged stable and more prosperous than it had been years before.

Tackling unemployment:

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC):Established March 31, 1933. Provided work on environmental projects for young men aged 18-25.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA): Est. May 1933. Made grants of federal money to state and local governments to provide emergency, short term relief to the unemployed.

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The boom years of the 1920s: After 1921, the US experienced high levels of economic growth characterized by the rapid expansion of the automobile industry and industries that supplied parts of cars, growth in housing, a range of new consumer goods and electrical items & increase in services and the financial sector. In Oct 1929, investors began to sell. Instead of buying, therefore, the value of shares fell. The consequences were high unemployment rates, businesses were destroyed and banks weren’t able to give depositors their money back.

Role of the global economy: “The expansion of the global economy in the late 19th century, with developments in transport, technology, and credit, meant that the world was more united by economic activity. This left individual nations more vulnerable to international events beyond their control.”

Nature of the capitalist system: “The nature of the capitalist system - with its cycle of growth (‘boom’) followed by loss and stagnation (‘bust’) - was to blame. The countries that shared in this economic system were dependent on each other for their successes. This meant that the primary producers, particularly Latin American countries, were drawn into the economic disaster when the Depression began in the USA. The Latin American demand for US goods dried up, the economic decline became worse.”

Overproduction: “The crisis of overproduction is viewed, in the long term, as having been caused by the opening of the prairies in the USA and the greater exploitation of natural resources worldwide. Other commentators made a similar point about overproduction of all sorts of goods, both industrial and agricultural.”

Globalization: “World trade grew substantially in 1870, it accounted for 9.2 percent of total trade: by 1914, the figure was 13.5 percent, an increase of almost 50 percent. Central to this increase were changes in transport infrastructure. Internal railways allowed goods to be transported to ports faster and cheaper. There were also faster and more regular steamships, new refrigeration methods and improved ports. Together, these developments made domestic and international transportation quicker and cheaper."

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Being the worst economic downfall in the world, the Great Depression did not miss anyone when it came to negatively impacting the economic lives of many. Due to the racism and discrimination still stagnant in the air, after some African Americans retained their land and established farms in the 1920s, African Americans suffered the most during the Great Depression than any other group.

“Last Hired, First Fired” was a common phrase when it came to the employment of African Americans. African Americans were the first to be cut from hours or the first to get fired, resulting in the highest unemployment rate of the group during the 30s. They did not have anything to fall back on due to the lack of education that they weren’t offered in the previous decades.

The unemployment rate of the African American group doubled and almost tripled those of the white population. Prior to the GD, African Americans worked in unskilled jobs and this affected them greatly later on. Once the stock market crash of 1929 occurred, these jobs were no longer sought for and were replaced by much better-skilled whites in need of employment. The African American unemployment rate rose to approximately 50 percent. As a result, many African Americans joined the Great Migration and moved from the rural South to the urban North.

The Great Depression triggered the African American group to protest for better economic, social, and political opportunities. Protests and boycotts, such as the Chicago Whip, pushed for more jobs for African Americans and it resulted in the employment of 2,000 African Americans. “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” was a slogan used to encourage African Americans not to buy from locations that did not support their cause nor respect their rights as human beings. The fight done in the 30s started the Civil Rights Movement. Organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women and Southern Negro Youth Congress helped African Americans advocate for their social and political rights.

There was also a change in the political allegiance towards the Republican Party, this allegiance started with Abraham Lincoln. African Americans were tired of the inactivity from Coolidge and Hoover, so they confided in the words of Roosevelt to not advocate for a federal anti-lynching law or ban the poll tax that prevented African Americans from voting. There was a new found loyalty to the Democratic Party.

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Middle-upper class families maintained their social status and income by adding an extra wage earner. The number of women in the workforce grew, despite there being a high unemployment rate overall. Women worked as secretaries, teachers, telephone operators, and nurses.

Even though there was this concept of “sex-typed” work, women had jobs and earned a place in the workforce. The men’s employment rate declined while the women’s employment rose. In many cases, women had their pay scales lowered or were paid less than their male counter-part.

Once FDR stepped into power and implemented his New Deal, laws made it illegal for more than one person in a family to have a job within the federal civil service. New Deal jobs placed women into traditional housekeeping roles. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) established camps where young women were taught household skills and were placed in family households in order to aid those in need of household help.

In many instances, these programs were managed with traditional racial stereotypes in mind as most of their workers were African American women.  Women of minority groups had a hard time finding jobs due to racism and misogyny.

Along with FDR, his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt inspired many women to participate in programs of the New Deal.