OCR Specification focus:
‘By 1932, women, African Americans, Native Americans and workers faced hardship and exclusion.’
By 1932, America’s diverse social groups had endured profound challenges and inequalities. Economic collapse and entrenched discrimination shaped their status, limiting rights and opportunities.
Economic Crisis and Social Context by 1932
The Great Depression (1929 onwards) was the most severe economic crisis in US history, devastating livelihoods and widening social inequality. Industrial production halved, unemployment soared to nearly 25%, and poverty became widespread.
U.S. unemployment rates, 1910–1960, with the Great Depression years shaded. The graph shows unemployment surging to its historical peak around 1932–33 before falling later in the decade. Data sources include Christina Romer (pre-1940 estimates) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Source
Economic collapse intensified existing racial and gender inequalities, leaving African Americans, Native Americans, women, and workers particularly vulnerable. Federal responses were limited under President Herbert Hoover, whose commitment to laissez-faire economics meant minimal intervention before Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal (from 1933).
African Americans by 1932
Social and Political Status
African Americans, nearly 10% of the US population, remained marginalised and disenfranchised, particularly in the Jim Crow South, where segregation and discrimination were entrenched by de jure (legal) and de facto (customary) means.
Jim Crow laws legally enforced racial segregation in schools, transport, housing, and public facilities.
Signage marking a “Colored Waiting Room” at a Durham, North Carolina bus station. Such notices exemplified the legal segregation that curtailed African Americans’ civil and political participation in the South. This image post-dates 1932 (photographed in 1940) but depicts the same regime described in the notes. Source
Voter suppression persisted through literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation, excluding most southern Black citizens from political participation despite the 15th Amendment (1870).
Jim Crow Laws: A set of state and local statutes enforcing racial segregation in the American South from the 1870s to the 1960s.
Economic Conditions
The Great Depression disproportionately harmed African Americans. Already concentrated in low-paid agricultural or domestic roles, they faced higher unemployment rates — often two to three times that of white workers. Racial discrimination intensified as whites displaced Black workers from scarce jobs.
In the rural South, many remained sharecroppers — tenant farmers tied to landowners through exploitative contracts.
Northern migration during the Great Migration offered industrial jobs but not equality; de facto segregation persisted in housing and employment.
Civil Rights Situation
Civil rights progress was limited. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) fought segregation and lynching through legal challenges and lobbying but achieved only incremental gains. Federal governments, including Hoover’s, were largely indifferent to Black civil rights, prioritising economic issues over racial equality.
Native Americans by 1932
Government Policy and Land Loss
Native Americans suffered systematic erosion of sovereignty and land since the Dawes Act (1887), which imposed allotment — dividing tribal lands into individual plots and selling “surplus” to white settlers.
First page of the General Allotment (Dawes) Act, 1887, the federal law that dismantled communal landholding and promoted allotment to individuals. Its long-term effects shaped Native American poverty and land loss evident by 1932. This is a National Archives milestone document. Source
Tribal land ownership fell from 138 million acres (1887) to 48 million acres (1932).
Allotment undermined traditional communal life and led to severe poverty.
Allotment: The policy of dividing communal Native American lands into individual plots to encourage assimilation into Euro-American society.
Social and Economic Conditions
By 1932, Native Americans were among the poorest groups in the US.
Life expectancy was low, and healthcare and education provisions were minimal.
Government-run boarding schools suppressed indigenous languages and cultures, forcing assimilation.
The Meriam Report (1928), commissioned by the federal government, exposed these conditions — highlighting malnutrition, poor education, and land theft. However, reforms were minimal before Roosevelt’s presidency.
Women by 1932
Legal and Political Status
The 19th Amendment (1920) had granted women the right to vote, marking a significant step forward. However, political participation remained limited:
Few women held elected office or leadership roles.
Social norms continued to prioritise domestic roles over political or public life.
Economic and Social Conditions
The Great Depression reversed many gains in female employment. Women faced job discrimination and were often the first dismissed from positions.
Many states introduced “marriage bars” — policies excluding married women from public-sector jobs.
Female employment was concentrated in low-wage, low-status sectors like domestic service and clerical work.
Feminist momentum from the suffrage movement waned in the interwar period. Groups like the National Woman’s Party continued campaigning for an Equal Rights Amendment, but support was fragmented, and opposition from labour groups and conservatives limited progress.
Workers and Trade Unions by 1932
Labour Conditions
The 1920s had seen rising productivity but stagnant wages, and the Depression destroyed millions of jobs. By 1932:
Over 12 million Americans were unemployed.
Those still employed often faced wage cuts and poor working conditions.
Union Strength and Federal Response
Trade union power was weak. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) remained craft-oriented and failed to organise unskilled workers, leaving many without representation.
Anti-union sentiment was widespread among employers, who used yellow-dog contracts (agreements not to join unions) and strikebreakers to suppress organising.
Federal government policy was hostile or indifferent. Court rulings, such as Adair v. United States (1908) and Coppage v. Kansas (1915), upheld employer rights over workers’ freedom of association.
Yellow-Dog Contract: An employment agreement in which workers promise not to join a union as a condition of employment.
State and federal forces frequently broke strikes, and there were few legal protections for collective bargaining. Hoover’s administration resisted direct federal intervention, adhering to the belief that relief and recovery should come from private enterprise.
Overall Status by 1932
By 1932, systemic inequality and exclusion defined the experiences of African Americans, Native Americans, women, and workers.
African Americans faced entrenched racial segregation and economic marginalisation.
Native Americans endured poverty, land loss, and cultural suppression.
Women achieved formal political rights but faced persistent social and economic barriers.
Workers struggled with mass unemployment, poor conditions, and weak union representation.
These shared experiences of hardship and exclusion created the conditions that would fuel demands for reform in the New Deal era, marking a turning point in the federal government’s role in civil rights and social justice.
FAQ
The Meriam Report was a government-commissioned investigation into the living conditions of Native Americans. It exposed widespread poverty, malnutrition, poor education, and the devastating effects of allotment policies.
Although it raised public awareness and influenced policymakers, President Hoover’s administration implemented few meaningful reforms. The report’s findings laid the groundwork for later policy changes under Roosevelt’s New Deal but did not significantly improve Native Americans’ status before 1932.
The Great Migration saw hundreds of thousands of African Americans move from the rural South to northern industrial cities between 1916 and 1930.
It offered better wages and some political freedoms compared to the South.
However, de facto segregation persisted in housing, education, and employment.
Economic competition with white workers intensified during the Depression, and Black workers were often the first to lose their jobs.
Thus, while migration provided new opportunities, systemic racism continued to limit equality.
“Marriage bars” were policies excluding married women from employment, particularly in teaching and clerical roles. They reflected the widespread belief that men were the primary breadwinners and that scarce jobs should go to them.
Economic crisis reinforced these gender norms. Women, especially married women, were seen as less deserving of work, and public opinion often supported their dismissal from jobs. This hindered women’s economic independence and slowed progress towards workplace equality.
Even with weak legal protections, some unions sought to improve conditions through:
Strikes and boycotts, though often suppressed by employers and authorities.
Forming mutual aid societies to provide unemployment relief.
Lobbying for protective legislation, albeit with limited success under Hoover.
However, employer resistance, legal setbacks, and internal divisions limited the effectiveness of these efforts, leaving workers vulnerable throughout the Depression.
Several Supreme Court decisions entrenched employer power and restricted union activity.
Adair v. United States (1908) and Coppage v. Kansas (1915) upheld employers’ rights to require “yellow-dog contracts.”
Courts often issued injunctions against strikes and picketing, weakening collective action.
These decisions reflected a broader judicial commitment to laissez-faire principles and property rights over workers’ rights. By 1932, the legal environment remained hostile to union growth and labour reform.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (2 marks):
Name two ways in which the Great Depression affected African Americans by 1932.
Mark scheme:
1 mark for each valid point, up to 2 marks.
Possible answers include:
They experienced unemployment rates two to three times higher than white workers.
Many were displaced from jobs by white workers competing for scarce employment.
Most remained in low-paid agricultural or domestic work.
Sharecropping kept many African Americans in exploitative conditions.
Question 2 (6 marks):
Explain how federal government policies affected Native Americans’ status by 1932.
Mark scheme:
Award up to 6 marks using the following levels:
Level 3 (5–6 marks): Developed explanation showing clear understanding of how government policies shaped Native Americans’ status. Likely to reference the Dawes Act and its impact on land loss, poverty, and assimilation, as well as mention of government-run boarding schools or the Meriam Report.
Level 2 (3–4 marks): Some explanation offered, but may lack detail or depth. Mentions allotment and land loss but with limited development.
Level 1 (1–2 marks): Basic knowledge, possibly listing policies or effects with minimal explanation.
0 marks: No relevant knowledge or incorrect information.
Indicative content:
The Dawes Act (1887) enforced allotment, breaking up communal land and selling “surplus” to white settlers, reducing Native land from 138 million to 48 million acres by 1932.
This policy undermined tribal sovereignty and traditional life, contributing to widespread poverty.
Government-run boarding schools attempted to assimilate Native children, eroding language and culture.
The Meriam Report (1928) exposed poor living conditions, but federal reform remained limited before 1933.
