Hoover Administration

What is the main problem with the US government helping Standard Oil to get a contract with the Sheikdom of Bahrain?

• There is no problem

• There is no problem as long as Standard Oil is an American Company

• It is not the purpose of the government to help a private corporation obtain favor with a foreign nation

• By helping Standard Oil it sets up the expectation that the government of the US will help every company looking to do business with a foreign nation

President Hoover is often remembered in history as an infective president, which is a little unfair. What did he try to do in June of 1929 to help Americans?

• Did nothing to help Americans in 1929 or any other year

• He helped to provide sustainable income to farmers using a number of interventions such as the Federal Farm Board and the purchase of surplus goods

• He helped Standard Oil reach a deal with the Sheikdom of Bahrain

• He helped the stock market to double in value in less than three years

Six weeks earlier in September the stock market looked solid. What happened on October 24, 1929?

• Nothing of importance happened on October 24, 1929

• Black Thursday happened

• The stock market proved to be a lot less stabled than previously thought; some 13 million shares are sold at a loss to their owners desperate to cash out their investments

• Black Tuesday happened

Prohibition, also known as the Volstead Act of 1919 and 18^th amendment to the US Constitution, had unintentionally created powerful gangs managing the transport and sell of alcoholic beverages. What happened in February 10, 1930?

• Nothing of importance happened on February 10, 1930

• The Census reported a population of almost 123 million people

• Hoover signs the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

• A major bust of 158 people involved in the running of illegal business of alcohol distribution

We see again that educated presidents may not really understand economics and that by trying to help a group the consequences of that help will lead to much bigger problems than the ones that they were trying to solve. What exactly happened with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act?

• Nothing bad happened, it worked out as is was expected

• By trying to help national companies and forcing an expensive tax on imported goods that competed with them this Act caused other nations to do the same and placing heavy taxes on American goods going into those countries

• With taxes being levied on imported goods the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act only sped up the spread of the Great Depression to countries around the world

• The Veterans Administration (VA) was inaugurated

Almost a year later after Black Thursday what begins to happen on September 1, 1930?

• Banks begin to fail

• The economy is recovering ending the Great Depression of 1929

• The Hoover Dam begins construction outside of Las Vegas, Nevada

• Hoover refuses to run for office in 1931

Hoover continues try to help the American people, but it proves too little, too late. What does he do on December 2, 1930

• He did nothing for the American people in December 1930

• He asked congress for 116 million dollars for jobs for 4.5 million unemployed Americans

• He closes the Bank of the United States to help save money being taken out too fast by its depositors

• He gives additional aid to farmers and war veterans

Social Issues continue to plague the United States. What happened on March 25, 1931 and how was it resolved four years later?

• The Scottsboro Boys were arrested and in 1935 they were executed for the rape of a White woman in Alabama

• The Scottsboro Boys were arrested and in 1935 their conviction was overturned by the United States Supreme Court for the rape of a White woman in Alabama

• The Scottsboro Boys were lynched and in 1935 nine KKK members were found guilty of the murders

• Alabama had a state law written to keep Black people from voting in their primary elections, four years later the United States Supreme Court found the Alabama law unconstitutional

International events continue to draw the United States into conflicts and alliances. What happened on the 20 of June of 1931 that inched world towards another Great War?

• The United States joins forces with Japan to invade China and divide it into equal parts between for Japan and the US

• The United States joins forces with China to invade Japan and divide it into equal parts between for China and the US

• Japan creates a situation in China for an excuse to invade the Chinese territory of Manchuria

• China creates a situation in Japan for an excuse to invade the Japanese territory of Manchuria

Organize crime continues to run the streets of American cities like Chicago. The growth of gangsters like Al Capone was in large part due to what situation in the US during the 1920s?

• The millions of unemployed and their desperate need to borrow money

• The millions of people unemployed in need for any kind of work

• Prohibition of alcohol and the desire of people to have a drink

• Drugs such as Marijuana and methamphetamines popular with the poor in places like Chicago