World Wars and the Depression Grade Recovery Lesson

World Wars and the Depression Summative Review

WWI U.S. Involvement

The US stayed out of the war at first. President Woodrow Wilson thought that the US should remain neutral and that isolationism was the best option for the country.

However, the US did have a little involvement. US merchant ships were sending food to devastated areas in Europe and helping block supplies from reaching Germany.

Lusitania

•Things changed when Germany began using its submarines to sink ships in the Atlantic Ocean.

•In May 1915, a German U-boat sank the British passenger liner Lusitania.

1,198 people died, including 128 Americans.

•This angered many Americans and it went against the American belief of freedom of seas.

Zimmermann Telegram

The Zimmermann Telegram was a secret message (telegram) from the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico. If the U.S. decided to enter World War I against Germany, Mexico would be rewarded the states of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. This telegram would be the final cause for the U.S. to enter WWI.

World War I Georgia Contributions

Many military bases in Georgia played key roles in preparing men for war. GA had more military training camps than any other state.

Fort McPherson near Atlanta, was the oldest and dated back to 1889. Over 10,000 wounded soldiers were treated at Fort McPherson. Fort Benning near Columbus was opened in 1917 to train thousands of troops. Fort Oglethorpe held German merchant sailors as prisoners.

Georgia Contributions

Close to 100,000 of Georgia’s citizens enlisted in the armed forces. In addition, Over 10,000 wounded soldiers were treated at Fort McPherson. Fort Benning near Columbus was opened in 1917 to train thousands of troops. Fort Oglethorpe held German merchant sailors as prisoners.

Georgia Contributions

Georgian's could also support the war efforts through purchasing war bonds and growing victory gardens.

Multiple Select

Which 2 events led to America's involvement in World War I? (pick 2):

• the sinking of the Lusitania

• Zimmerman Telegram

• assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

• bombing of Pearl Harbor

Multiple Choice

Georgia actively participated in World War I. Which of the following was NOT a contribution made by the state of Georgia to the war effort?

• Provided multiple training camps for soldiers

• Close to 100,000 of Georgia’s citizens enlisted in the armed forces.

• Many women grew victory gardens

• Georgia housed several prisoner of war camps

Great Depression

•A severe drought soon followed the boll weevil catastrophe from 1924 to 1927.

•Without enough rain, farmers could not grow as much as they normally did.

•With the damage caused by the boll weevil and the droughts, Georgia began to suffer from a depression long before the rest of the United States.

Boll Weevil

The boll weevil is a six–legged insect that came from Mexico and crossed the Rio Grande into Texas in 1892 and began moving east, infesting the entire Cotton Belt by 1919. The first boll weevil appeared in Georgia in 1915 in Thomasville, Georgia. Cotton production declined steadily for another 60 years, forcing Georgia to diversify its economy. The boll weevil was finally chemically eradicated in Georgia in 1990.

Multiple Choice

The Boll Weevil is

• severe worldwide economic depression

• an insect that lays its eggs in the boll (seed pod) of a cotton plant

• a period of time when a region receives less than normal rainfall

• a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices

Multiple Choice

What two factors led to Georgia’s depression in the 1920s?

• Boll weevil and a severe drought

• WWI and the Great Flood of 1927

• Stock Market crash and the Boll weevil

• WWI and drought

Multiple Choice

How did the Boll Weevil impact Georgia's economy?

• it forced Georgia to diversify its economy

• it led to a reduction in purchasing

• more people moved to farms

• it made electricity more affordable for rural areas

New Deal Programs

•The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan to use government programs to help the nation recover from the Depression.

•He began by pumping money into the economy and he sent federal money to states to help the needy.

•Roosevelt, along with his advisors, came up with many programs that would help to get the nation back on its feet. 

Agricultural Adjustment Act

Overproduction of farms was the main reason farmers could not get out of debt. The Agricultural Adjustment Act was enacted in 1933 and paid farmers to stop producing certain crops in order to raise farm prices. Also, this encouraged Georgia’s farmers to stop relying solely on cotton, and to plant peanuts, corn, tobacco, and other crops.

Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) gave jobs to men between the ages of 18 to 25. This New Deal program created new jobs for young men in order to build parks, sewer systems, bridges, etc. They also built roads, planted forests, and worked on irrigation and national park projects in GA. By 1941, more than 2 million men had worked for the CCC.

Social Security Act

The Social Security Act was passed in 1935 and was designed to assist the unemployed and elderly workers; it originally served as insurance for employees that lost their jobs during the Great Depression. Social Security is the only New Deal program still around today.

Rural Electrification Administration

Roosevelt also set up the Rural Electrification Administration in 1935. 97% of Georgia’s farms were without electricity so the REA offered low-interest loans to companies to build power lines in rural areas. Most of Georgia’s farms had power within the first 15 years of this program.

Eugene Talmadge

Talmadge served as Georgia’s governor through much of the Great Depression.

•Talmadge believed that the federal government should stay out of state matters and refused to back most of Roosevelt’s policies. He often used relief funds from the federal government to build roads. He also argued that the New Deal programs helped both blacks and white equally, something he was strongly against.

Multiple Choice

*Civilian Conservation Corps

*Agricultural Adjustment Act

*Social Security Act

*Rural Electrification Administration

All of the above New Deal programs were intended to

• provide relief, recovery, and reform for the American economy

• combat the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

• end the devastating effects of the Dust Bowl.

• provide political challenges to Roosevelt's leadership and New Deal programs.

Multiple Choice

What were the New Deal programs intended to do?

• Reduce segregation and racism in the south

• Reform the state and national government.

• Relieve the suffering of the unemployed.

• Improve national trade policies and taxes.

Multiple Choice

A New Deal program for unemployed, unmarried men to build bridges, plant trees to control flooding, and build parks.

• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

• Social Security Act

• Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

Multiple Choice

New Deal program that restricted agricultural production by paying farmers to grow less crops; helped to fix the issues of over production of farming products.

• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

• Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

• Social Security Act

Multiple Choice

New Deal program that helped to bring electric power to rural (country) areas that had not previously received electricity.

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

• Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

• Social Security Act

Multiple Choice

New Deal program designed to assist the unemployed and elderly workers; originally served as insurance for employees that lost their jobs during the Great Depression.

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

• Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

• Social Security Act

Multiple Choice

Governor of Georgia during much of the Great Depression, he was opposed to FDR's new deal programs and often used relief funds from the federal government to build roads.

• Eurith Rivers

• Eugene Talmadge

• Ellis Arnall

• Richard Russell

Warm Springs, Georgia

Franklin Roosevelt visited Warm Springs, Georgia over 40 times from 1913-1945. He had a disease called polio, and visited Warm Springs for therapy to help ease the crippling effects of polio.

World War II

•When WWII broke out in Europe in 1939, the US followed a policy of neutrality, which meant that they wouldn’t join either the Axis or Allied powers. Many people in the US believed that the war was Europe’s problem, not America’s.

•As Germany, Japan, and Italy continued to be victorious and take over nation after nation, the U.S. continued to watch from the sidelines. 

Lend Lease Act

•Even though the US remained neutral in terms of fighting, President Roosevelt and Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in 1941.

•This allowed the US to lend or lease weapons, supplies, and equipment to any country whose defense was critical to US security.

•This act gave the Allies more than $50 billion in supplies in exchange for US military base rights in the countries. 

Carl Vinson

Carl Vinson served on the House Naval Affairs Committee where he won the nickname, “the father of the two-ocean navy.” He had argued that the US must strengthen its navy if it hoped to remain secure. Vinson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his service and had a U.S. nuclear powered aircraft carrier named after him. 

Richard Russell

Russell was one of the first politicians to argue that the US needed military bases in foreign territories to secure international security. Russell was also influential in bringing or maintaining 15 military bases in the state, along with many other research facilities, including the Centers for Disease Control, and federal funding of other projects throughout the state. Through legislation, he helped bring jobs and other economic opportunities.

Bell Aircraft

In 1942, the Bell Aircraft company arrived in Marietta and began to produce B-29 bombers. During the war, nearly 30,000 workers were employed at the plant, causing Marietta to quickly grow and prosper. Bell paid excellent wages, and its workers (including women and African Americans) built over 660 bombers while the plant was open.

Liberty Ships

•Georgia became the home of the Liberty Ship, a large, square-hulled ship designed to carry supplies to troops (grain, trucks, mail, etc.).

•These ships were used to transport troops and supplies to both the European and Pacific fronts. 

Shipyards

One of Georgia’s great military accomplishments was its two major shipyards. Savannah and Brunswick, both deep-sea ports, provided ideal naval yards for the construction of war ships. The Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation was in Savannah and constructed over 80 ships, and the J.A. Jones shipyard in Brunswick turned out almost 100 ships. 

Multiple Choice

Why did Franklin Roosevelt spend so much time in Georgia?

• Roosevelt had originally been a farmer and he loved farm life.

• Roosevelt was a native of Augusta and traveled widely across that state.

• Roosevelt's wife was native of Calhoun and visited relatives.

• Roosevelt used warm mineral waters of Warm Springs to ease his polio.

Multiple Choice

What was the significance of the Lend-Lease Act at the beginning of World War II?

• It was the United States' declaration to enter the war officially.

• It created a great growth in U.S. agricultural production to combat the dust bowl.

• It encouraged the local governments to expand the power grid across rural areas.

• It allowed the United States to stay neutral in the war while sending supplies to support the Allied troops.

Multiple Choice

Which best describes the impact Richard Russell Jr. had on Georgia?

• he orchestrated the Lend-Lease program with Great Britain, France, and Russia for Georgia’s citizens

• through legislation, he helped bring jobs, military bases, and other economic opportunities to Georgia

• during his time as Senator he made things difficult for farmers and ultimately shut down many farms

• during his many visits to Warm Springs, Georgia, he brought national attention and money to the town

Multiple Choice

In what ways were the shipyards and the Bell Bomber Plant not only beneficial to the war effort but also to the people of Georgia?

• Bell Bomber Plant helped thousands of workers to purchase land.

• Bell Bomber Plant helped families throughout the war.

• Bell Bomber Plant hired thousands of workers to produce B-29 bombers.

• Bell Bomber Plant paid for shipyards to be built.

Multiple Choice

How were Savannah and Brunswick significant to the war effort in the 1940s?

• The shipyards at these ports were instrumental in building Liberty Ships for WWII

• Scientists in these two cities worked together to develop advanced bombs.

• Coast Guardsmen from these coastal towns helped defend the Atlantic from U-Boat attacks.

• Privateers from these coastal towns supported the American war effort.

Multiple Choice

Recognized as "the father of the two-ocean navy," served twenty-five consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served in the U.S. Congress longer than anyone in history.

• Richard Russel

• Carl Vinson

• Eugene Talmadge

• Franklin D. Roosevelt

Multiple Choice

In referring to his active involvement with military advancements, Carl Vinson once said,

“I devoutly hope that the casting of every gun and the building of every ship will be done with a prayer for the peace of America. I have at heart no sectional nor political interest, but only the Republic’s safety.”

Which statement BEST describes the meaning of Carl Vinson’s statement?

• Peace is better than war

• War may be necessary to protect our country

• The United States needs a strong military to defend itself

• The United States needs to manufacture guns and build ships to keep up with other nations