Download From Treaties to Statehood

The Great Depression
and World War II
Essential Question
How did the people of Washington respond to the
economic, social, and political challenges of the Great
Depression and World War II?
From Boom to Bust
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The 1920s was a time of prosperity (wealth) and
change.
Herbert Hoover was elected president and
announced the future was bright with hope. But
this all changed on October 29, 1929.
This was the largest selling day in the history of the
New York Stock Exchange. Many people were
selling their stocks and few were buying.
Suddenly the price of stocks dropped and many
people lost everything they had overnight.
This began a time period in history known as the
Great Depression.
During this time, banks lost peoples’ money, many
factories closed, and thousands of people lost their
jobs.
Many people went hungry during the Great
Depression and began living in the streets.
The Dust Bowl
Stretches Westward
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In 1928, one of the most severe droughts in our
nation’s history came to the Great Plains states.
This turned forests into a fire waiting to happen.
In 1936, the Forest Service reported 450,000 acres
of national forest in the Northwest had been
destroyed by fire.
Many farmers suffered during this time because
they couldn’t get a good price for their crops.
These crops began to rot.
Many farmers and family fled the Great Plains
states. They migrated west in search of work and a
better life.
Voters Blame Hoover
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The Great Depression was the worst and longest
economic downturn in the nation’s history.
Many people blamed President Herbert Hoover.
No one was helping the many people suffering.
When it was time to elect a president, Americans
rejected Hoover and elected Frankin D. Roosevelt.
A New President
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Franklin D. Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for
the American people.
FDR’s New Deal created jobs that put people back
to work. The programs were identified by their
abbreviations and referred to as “alphabet soup.”
Although the Pacific Northwest had a very small
population and lots of natural resources, it needed
federal help, too.
The Grand Coulee Dam
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The biggest New Deal project in Washington was
the Grand Coulee Dam.
A severe drought and high unemployment during
the Great Depression prompted FDR to approve
the project.
More than 12,000 workers were hired to help build
the dam.
The dam is one of the largest concrete structures
in the world.
Even though the dam created thousands of jobs for
the unemployed, it forced thousands of people
from their homes to make way for the dam.
Victory for Labor
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The New Deal created many jobs, but many
workers still suffered.
Wages were low, hours were long, and the
conditions were dangerous.
Much-needed labor reforms came with the
passage of the National Labor Relations Act.
The new law protected workers who joined unions
and organized strikes.
The new law boosted union membership but also
fueled union rivalries.
Native Americans
Get a New Deal
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In 1887, the Dawes Act was passed to help
Americanize Indians.
FDR’s Indian Reorganization Act repealed the
Dawes Act and encouraged tribal culture and tribal
government.
Because many Washington Indians had married
outside of their tribes and worked outside of the
reservation, they did not immediately benefit from
the Indian Reorganization Act.
The Worst Was Over
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By 1939, the worst of the Great Depression was
over.
Businesses started to open and many people were
able to work again.
People were able to purchase goods and could
afford food for their families.
World War II began and the war ended what was
left of the Great Depression.
Another World War
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In Germany, a man named Adolf Hitler was
determined to conquer Europe.
Hitler wanted to rid Germany of people he
considered inferior, especially Jewish people.
Hitler ordered millions of Jews and others to
concentration camps where many were put to
death. This mass murder was called the Holocaust.
World War II began when Hitler’s army invaded
Poland.
Italy and Japan joined Germany. They were called
the Axis Powers.
The Axis Powers fought against the Allies—
England, France, and the Soviet Union.
The United States joined the Allies when the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941.
Wartime Economic Boom
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The war brought economic prosperity to the United
States. There were war-related jobs for everyone.
Aluminum production became the state’s great
new war industry.
The Kaiser Shipbuilding Company supplied the
U.S. military with aircraft carriers.
Washington’s Boeing plants built thousands of
bombers used in the air war against Germany and
Japan.
Building the Atom Bomb
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The United States began the secret Manhattan
Project to develop the atom bomb before the
Germans could do it.
Hanford, Washington, was the site of one of the
secret project’s research facilities.
Most of the workers in Hanford didn’t know what
they were building.
The world discovered the secrets of Hanford when
America dropped the atomic bombs on Japan to
end the war.
Relocation of
Japanese-Americans
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Pearl Harbor’s attack was such a surprise that
many people thought Japanese-Americans might
be helping Japan.
The government ordered all persons of Japanese
ancestry living on the West Coast to relocate to
special camps.
Many Japanese-Americans lost their homes and
businesses as a result.
They spent the war surrounded by barbed wire and
armed guards.
Gordon Hirabayashi was one of the few JapaneseAmericans to challenge relocation.
Congress issued a formal apology to JapaneseAmericans in 1988.
The War Ends
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President Roosevelt died suddenly in April 1945
from a stroke.
Less than a month later, Germany surrendered,
ending the war in Europe, but war in the Pacific
was still raging.
The new president, Harry S. Truman, weighed his
options for ending the war with Japan.
Truman decided to drop an atomic bomb on
Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb killed thousands and
flattened the city.
When Japan refused to surrender, Truman decided
to drop a second bomb. The second bomb
devastated the city of Nagasaki.
Japan had no choice but to surrender. The war
was finally over.
War Brings Social Change
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The war transformed Seattle into an industrial center
and brought a lot of new people to the state, including
African Americans and Mexicans.
Many white people resented the invasion of
newcomers.
The Bracero Program allowed Mexican men to work in
the United States during the war as temporary farm
laborers.
The role of women changed forever as a result of both
world wars.
Women took over at home and in the workplace. They
helped in all branches of the military. Some even
worked as spies!
The number of women in the labor force grew 110
percent during the war years.
After the war, a woman’s place was no longer just in
the home. Women began to challenge their traditional
roles.