The document summarizes key economic and political events in Georgia during the 1920s-1940s period. It discusses how the boll weevil devastated Georgia's cotton crop in the 1920s, contributing to a "mini-depression" prior to the Great Depression. Droughts in the 1920s-1930s further damaged agriculture. During the Great Depression, New Deal programs like the CCC and rural electrification helped many Georgians, though Governor Talmadge opposed much of the New Deal. The document also outlines factors that led to the Great Depression nationally and how New Deal programs continued to impact Georgia.

1. Reading Packet
AfterWorldWar I, Americanscelebratedthe victorythroughoutthe nation.Inthisera,knownasthe
“Roaring20s” many Americanslistenedtojazz,dancedthe Charleston,andinvestedandhititbiginthe
stock market.However,thesegoodtimeswere nothappeningformostGeorgians.Primarilyarural
state,Georgia,wassufferingthoughone of the worstdroughtsinitshistory.Additionally,atinyinsect
calledthe boll weevil wasdevastatingGeorgia’smostimportantcrop:cotton.While Georgiawas
sufferingthrougha“mini-depression”duringthe 1920s, afterthe stock marketcrash of 1929,
American’sGreatDepressionhitthe nationhardthroughoutthe nextdecade.Georgia,alreadysuffering
fromthe effectsof the droughtandboll weevil,experiencedmore hardtimesduringthe Great
Depression.In1933, part-time GeorgiaresidentFranklinRooseveltbecame president.President
Rooseveltandhis“braintrust”developedseveral “New Deal”programsthatdirectlyaffectedGeorgia.
However,Georgia’sgovernor,Eugene Talmadgewasagainstthe interference of the federal government
instate policiesandfoughtagainstthe New Deal programs.Interestingly,bothRooseveltandTalmadge,
thoughon opposite endsof the political spectrum, were popularamongstGeorgians andthe votersof
the state helpedelectthemintheirrespectivepositionsforfourterms.
The Boll Weevil
The boll weevil isaninsectwhose larvafeedsonthe cottonplant.While the pestisthoughttohave
originatedinCentral America,bythe 1890s it had made itsway intoMexicoandthenon to Texas.By
1915 it hadmigratedto Georgiaand drasticallyreducedthe states’cottoncrop.Accordingtothe New
GeorgiaEncyclopedia,due tothe destructioncausedbythe boll weevil,Georgiacottonfarmerswent
fromproducing“5.2 millionacresof cottonin1914 to 2.6 millionacresin1923.” The boll weevil hada
huge impacton Georgia’seconomyandrural population.Due tothe lossof cotton acreage,alongwith
the recruitmentof northerncompanies,millionsof African-Americansmovedtonortherncities.In
addition,manysharecroppersandtenantfarmers,bothblackandwhite leftthe farmsandmovedto
Georgiacitiessuchas Atlantaand Macon. Additionally,the destructionof the cottoncrop forced
Georgianstodiversifytheireconomy.Cottonceasedtobe Georgia’sprimaryagricultural product.In
fact, by1983, Georgiaonlyproduced115,000 acres of cotton.Also,withthe populationmovementinto
the cities,Georgia’smanufacturingcontinuedtodevelop,though slowedgreatlybythe Great
Depression.
Drought
In additiontothe damage causedbythe boll weevil,Georgiafarmerssufferedthroughanothernatural
disasterinthe 1920’s and 1930’s: drought.The worstdroughtsinGeorgiahistorywere from1924-1927
and 1930-1935. These droughtsseverelyimpactedGeorgiafarmers’abilitytoproduce agricultural
products.Withthe damage causedby the boll weevil andthe droughts,Georgiabegantosufferfroma
depressionlongbefore the restof the UnitedStates.
Economic Factors that Resulted in the Great Depression
As withthe recenteconomicrecession,the GreatDepression wasnotcausedbyone factor, butmany.
Though,Georgia,a predominantlyrural state,wasalreadysufferingfromadepressiondue tothe boll
weevil anddrought,the economicboomexperiencedbythe restof the UnitedStatesendedwiththe
Stock MarketCrash of 1929. Inthisdownturn,stock-holderslostover40billiondollars,andbusinesses

2. were neverable torecoverfromthese lossesthroughoutthe 1930s. However,aseriesof otherfactors
ledto the continuationof aworld-widedepressionforalmostadecade.Some of the othereconomic
factors thatledto the Great Depressionwere:BankFailures:Duringthe 1920s and 1930s there wasno
insurance protectingdeposits.If enoughof the bankscustomerstriedtowithdraw theirmoney,the
bankwouldeventuallyrunout.Thiswascalleda bankfailure.Afterthe stockmarketcrashthisactually
happenedandmanybanksfailedinthe early1930s. In turn manypeople losttheirlifesavings.Those
banksthat managedto stayin businesswere hesitantaboutmakingloans,thusslowingdownthe
purchasingpowerof bigbusinessandthe individual buyer.ReductioninPurchasing:Inwhatbecame a
viciouscycle,afterthe stockmarketcrash, anddue to othereconomicfears,the average consumer
stoppedpurchasinggoods.Whenpeople stoppedbuyingproducts,companiesinturnloweredtheir
productionrates.Withlowerproductionrates,manyconsumerslosttheirjobsand hadno moneyto
spend.Withan unemploymentrate of 25%, thisfurtherlessenedthe purchasingpowerof the average
consumer.Overproductionof AgricultureProducts:Before the majordroughtsthathitthe Midwest
causingthe Dust Bowl,manyfarmersover-produced.Inthe 1920s Midwesternfarmersproducedrecord
numbersof agricultural products.However,thisover-productionledtoatremendousdropinthe price
of agricultural productsanddramaticallylimitedthe profitmarginsof farmers.Duringaperiodof time
where millionswerestarving,farmersdestroyedmuchneededfoodorstoppedgrowingcropsall
togetherinorderattemptto raise the price of agricultural products.A major droughthitthe Midwestin
the 1930s drivingthousandsof farmersfromtheir homesandaddedtothe millionsof Americans
alreadyoutof work.
Eugene Talmadge
In hisgubernatorial electioncampaignsof the 1930’s Eugene Talmadge,wearingredsuspendersand
roundedglasses,promisedGeorgia’srural votersthattheyhadthree friendsinthe world“the Sears
RoebuckCompany,Godalmighty,andEugene HermanTalmadge of SugarHill,Georgia.”Though
extremelypopularinGeorgia,historiansdebatewhetherhispoliciesasgovernordidmore harmthan
goodfor a state ravagedbythe Depression.Eugene Talmadge(1884-1946) was born inForsythCounty,
Georgiaon hisparents’farm.He attendedthe Universityof Georgiaandearnedalaw degree in1907. In
1920 and 1922 he unsuccessfullycampaignedforthe GeorgiaGeneral Assembly.However,in1926, he
wonhisfirstelectionasCommissionerof Agriculture,apositionhe helduntil 1930. Inhisrole as
Agriculture Commissionerhe wasable to cementhisstandingwithrural Georgiavotersbypresenting
himself asanadvocate for the farmerand common man inthe Departmentof Agriculture’swidelyread
newspapercalledthe MarketBulletin.Thoughinvolvedinapolitical scandal concerningthe
misappropriationof fundsinthe early1930s, he ran for the office of governorin1932. Due to hisrural
supportand the powerof the county unitsystem, he waselectedin1932 and again in1934. Inhis
campaign,Talmadge promisedGeorgiavotershe wouldbalance the state’sbudget,lowerthe utility
rate,reduce the price of auto tags,and reorganize the state highwayboard.Talmadge liveduptohis
promises,thoughhismeanswere questionable.Accordingtothe New GeorgiaEncyclopedia“Whenthe
legislaturerefusedtolowerthe price of automobile tagshe didsoby executiveorder.Whenthe Public
Service Commission, abodyelectedbythe voters,refusedtolowerutilityrates,he appointedanew
board to getit done.Whenthe highwayboardresistedhiseffortstocontrol it,he declaredmartial law
and appointedmore cooperative memberstothe board.”Talmadge alsomade decisionsthathurtthe
state.He foughtagainstRoosevelt’sNewDeal policies,especiallythosethataidedAfrican-Americans,
and opposedRoosevelt’sre-nominationin1936. Due to a GeorgiaConstitutional Amendmentbarring

3. Talmadge frombeingreelectedin1936, he made twounsuccessful campaignsforthe U.S.Senate.
However,in1940, he was reelectedandmade adecisionthatgreatlydamagedtothe state’suniversity
system.Hissuccessinforcingthe UniversitySystemBoardof Regentstoremove twofacultymembersof
the Universityof Georgiafor“underminingthe state’sracial statusquo”(supportingintegration) ledto
the SouthernAssociationof College andSchoolstoremove the state’saccreditationof all whitecolleges.
Thisledto Talmadge’sdefeatinthe nextgubernatorial election.Talmadge wasdownbutnotout.In the
1946 election,rural GeorgianshelpedtoreelectTalmadge,whowasrunningona segregationist
platform,fora fourthterm.However,Talmadge diedbefore takingoffice.AfterTalmadge’sdeath,the
GeorgiaGeneral AssemblyselectedhissonHermanasgovernor,thoughhe hadnot run forgovernorin
the election.
The New Deal
ThoughGeorgiavoterssupportedGovernorEugene Talmadge,acriticof the New Deal,inseveral
electionsGeorgiansalsooverwhelminglysupportedPresidentFranklinRooseveltandhisNew Deal
programsthroughoutthe Great Depression.The New Deal Programsprovidedaidandsupporttomany
poor Georgians.Thoughthese programsdidnotendthe Great Depression,theyhelpedmanypoor
Georgianscope duringthe difficulteconomictimes.
The Civilian Conservation Corps
One of the NewDeal programsthat had a major impacton the state was the CivilianConservation
Corps(CCC).The purpose of the program was to hire unemployedyoungmentoworkon publicservice
projects.Some of these projectsincludederosioncontrol,floodprevention,andpublicparks.Menwho
volunteeredforthisservice signedsix monthcontractsandwere providedroomandboard.In addition,
theyalsoreceived$30 a month,$25 of whichhad to be sentback to theirfamilies.Of all of the New
Deal programsthiswas probablythe mostsuccessful andpopular.Overthe nine yearsitwasin
existence,over3millionyoungmenworkedinthe programandplanted millionsof tree throughoutthe
country.However,once the U.S.enteredWorldWar II,these menchangedoutof theirCCC uniforms
and intomilitaryones.In1942 the CCC was disbanded.InGeorgiathe CCChada lastingimpact.
Accordingto the NewGeorgiaEncyclopediaover“78,000 Georgianswere employedbythe CCC”and
these menplantedover22 milliontreesandbuiltorimprovedseveral state parks.These parksare still
usedtoday,includinghistoricbattle fieldssuchasChickamaugaand Kennesaw Mountain,and“forest
parks” suchas A.H. StephensandHardLabor Creek.
Rural Electrification
It is oftensaidthatwhile Rooseveltwasstayingathishome “the Little White House”inWarmSprings,
GA, he was shockedatthe costof hiselectricbill.According tothe story,Rooseveltclaimedthathe paid
lessat hislarge home inNewYork thanhe didforhis small home inGeorgia.Whetherthisstoryistrue
or not, Roosevelthadaninterestinbringingelectricitytoall partsof the country.In 1935 the Rural
ElectricAdministrationwasestablishedtodojustthat.Though manymembersof Congressandstate
governors,suchas Talmadge,foughtagainstthisprogram, fearingitwouldleadtosocialism, many
farmersbenefitedfromit.Accordingtothe New Deal Network,by1939 there wasa 25% increase inthe
numberof rural householdsthathadelectricity,andfora reasonable price.If theycouldaffordit,many
farmersboughtappliancesthatusedelectricitywhichhelpedstimulate the economy.Since Georgiawas
a rural state duringthistime period,manyGeorgiansalsobenefitedfromthe program.

4. The AAA/Social Security
Two additional NewDeal programshadalastingeffectonGeorgians.The firstwasthe Agricultural
AdjustmentAct(AAA).The basicpremise of the AAA wasthatsince somany farmerscontinuedtogrow
crops such as cottonand tobacco duringthe Depression,drivingthe pricesof these productsdown,the
federal governmentofferedtopayfarmersnot to grow those crops.This causedthe price of agriculture
productsto rise whichhelpedfamersmake more moneyandeliminate surplusproduction.
Yet, inmanycases,this policydidmore harmthan goodfor sharecroppersandtenantfarmers.Though
the governmenttoldthe landownerthatthe paymentsshouldbe distributedtothose wholivedand
workedthe land,manylandownerssimplykeptthe moneyforthemselves.The governmentcouldnot
enforce thisrule and,as a result,manyof the people whoneededthisaidneverreceivedit.Often,since
the sharecropperor tenantfarmercouldnotwork the land,theywere simplyremoved.Thiswasone of
the factors that ledtourbanizationandthe endof sharecroppingandtenantfarminginthe state.
The lastprogram that hada lastingeffectonGeorgiawasthe Social SecurityAdministration(SSA).Until
1935, those whowere toooldor unable towork were dependentonthe charityof others.The Social
SecurityAdministrationoffersbenefitsforthose over65, those whoare disabled,orthose whoare the
survivorsof a beneficiarywhohasdied.Thisprogramisone of the longestrunningof the New Deal,and
todaymost Georgiansare connectedtothe SSA eitherthroughpayingsocial securitytaxesorreceiving
social securitybenefits.