Chapter 24: The Great Depression and the New Deal 1929-1939 Flashcards

1
Q

Black Tuesday

A

October 29, 1929: When the bottom fell out of the stock market
~Millions of panicky investors ordered their brokers to sell when there were no buyers to be found

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2
Q

“Buying on Margin”

A

Allowed people to borrow most of the cost of the stock

~Made down payments as low as 10%

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3
Q

Gross National Product

A

The value of all the goods and services produced by the nation in one year

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4
Q

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

A

Set tax increases ranging from 31-49% on foreign imports
~Meant to satisfy U.S. business leaders
~European countries retaliated by putting higher tariffs on U.S. exports

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5
Q

Federal Farm Board

A

Authorized to help farmers stabilize prices by temporarily holding surplus grain and cotton in storage
~The program was much too modest to handle the continued overproduction of farm goods
~Actually created in 1929 prior to the stock market crash

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6
Q

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

A

Funded by Congress as a means to prop up faltering railroads, banks, life insurance companies, and other financial institutions
~President reasoned that emergency loans from the corporation would help to stabilize these key businesses
~The benefits would “trickle down” to smaller businesses and ultimately bring recovery

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7
Q

Bonus March Army

A

A thousand unemployed WWI veterans marched to Washington D.C. to demand immediate payment of the bonuses promised them at a later date
~Camped outside/near the Capitol
~Congress failed to secure the bonus they sought
~The encampment was broken up

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8
Q

Franklin D. Roosevelt

A

Democratic nominee for president in the Election of 1932
~Pledged a “new deal”
~Expanded the size of the federal government altered its scope of operations and greatly expanded the power of the presidency

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9
Q

20th Amendment

A

Shortened the period between presidential election and inauguration
~Set a new date, Jan. 20 for the start of the president’s term in office
~Known as the “lame duck” amendment

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10
Q

Eleanor Roosevelt

A

FDR’s wife and Theodore Roosevelt’s niece
~The most active first lady in history
~Wrote a newspaper column, gave speeches, and traveled the country
~Influenced FDR to support minorities and the less fortunate

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11
Q

Brain Trusts

A

A group of university professors who Roosevelt turned to for advice on economic matters
~Included Rexford Tugwell, Raymond Moley, and Adolph A. Berle Jr.

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12
Q

Frances Perkins

A

Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor in his cabinet

~First woman ever to serve on a presidential cabinet

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13
Q

The First Hundred Days

A

Where Roosevelt called Congress to an immediate, special, 100 day session within a few weeks of being sworn into office
~During this, Congress passed into law every request of Roosevelt

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14
Q

Bank Holiday

A

Where Roosevelt went on the radio and closed all banks until further notice
~Explained that the banks would be reopened after allowing enough time for the government to reorganize them on a sound basis

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15
Q

21st Amendment

A

Repealed the 18th Amendment and ended Prohibition

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16
Q

Fireside Chats

A

Announcements to the American people telling them what was going on

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17
Q

Emergency Banking Relief Act

A

Authorized the government to examine the finances of banks closed during the bank holiday and reopen those judged to be sound

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18
Q

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

A

Guaranteed individual bank deposits up to $5000

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19
Q

Homeowners Loan Corporation (HOLC)

A

Provided refinancing of small homes to prevent forclosures

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20
Q

Farm Credit Administration

A

Provided low-interest farm loans and mortgages to prevent foreclosures on the property of indebted farmers

21
Q

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

A

Offered outright grants of federal money to states and local governments that were operating soup kitchens and other forms of relief for the jobless and homeless
~The director was Harry Hopkins, one of the president’s closet friends and advisors

22
Q

Public Works Administration (PWA)

A

Allotted money to state and local governments for building roads, bridges, dams, and other public works
~Such projects were a source of thousands of jobs
~Directed by Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickles

23
Q

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

A

Employed young men on projects on federal lands and paid their families small monthly sums

24
Q

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

A

A huge experiment in regional development and public planning
~Hired thousands of people in one of the nation’s poorest regions: the Tennessee Valley
~Paid to build dams, operate electric power plants, control flooding and erosion and manufacture fertilizer
~Sold electricity to residents of the region at rates that were well below those charged by the previous owners

25
Q

National Recovery Administration (NRA)

A

An attempt to guarantee reasonable profits for business and fair wages and hours for labor
~Helped each industry set codes for wages, hours of work, levels of production, and prices of finished goods
~Gave workers the right to organize and bargain collectively

26
Q

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

A

Encouraged farmers to reduce production by offering to pay government subsidies for every acre they plowed under

27
Q

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

A

Was added to the PWA and other New Deal programs for creating jobs
~Hired laborers for temporary construction projects sponsored by the federal government

28
Q

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

A

Was created to regulate the stock market and to place strict limits on the kind of speculative practices that had led to the stock market crash in 1929

29
Q

Federal Housing Authority (FHA)

A

Gave both the construction industry and homeowners a boost by insuring bank loans for building new houses and repairing old ones

30
Q

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

A

Spent billions of dollars between 1935 and 1940 to provide people with jobs
~Paid workers double the relief rate but less than the going wage for regular workers

31
Q

Resettlement Administration (RA)

A

Provided loans to sharecroppers, tenants, and small farmers
~Established federal camps where migrant workers could find decent housing
~Headed by Rexford Tugwell, one of the Brain Trustees

32
Q

National Labor Relations Act (1935)

A

Guaranteed a worker’s right to join a union and a union’s right to bargain collectively
~Outlawed business practices that were unfair to labor

33
Q

Social Security Act

A

Created a federal insurance program based upon the automatic collection of taxes from employees and employers throughout people’s working careers
~Used to make monthly payments to retired workers over the age of 65
~Workers without a job received payment as well as the disabled and the dependent

34
Q

Alf Landon

A

Challenged Roosevelt for the Republican nominee
~A Progressive that minded governor from Kansas
~Criticized Democrats for large spending but overall accepted the New Deal

35
Q

American Liberty League

A

An Anti New Deal organization headed by leading Republicans

~Avowed purpose to stop the New Deal from “subverting” the U.S. economic and political system

36
Q

Father Charles Coughlin

A

A Catholic priest and demagogue of the era broadcasted in the early 1930s
~Founded the National Union for Social Justice which called for the issuing of an inflated currency and nationalizing all banks
~His attacks on the New Deal became anti Semitic and fascist
~Superiors in the Catholic Church ordered him to stop
~Proposed simplistic schemes for ending the “evil conspiracies”

37
Q

Dr. Frances E. Townsend

A

A retired physician from Long Beach, California a demagogue
~Proposed a simple plan for guaranteeing a secure income for senior citizens
~Proposed that the federal government put aside 2% sales tax into a special fund in which senior citizens would receive $200 a month
~They would then spend the money and stimulate the economy
~Roosevelt responded with the Social Security Act

38
Q

Huey Long

A

The most dangerous demagogue, the “Kingfish” Senator from Louisiana
~Proposed a “Share Our Wealth” program that promised a minimum of $5000 annual income for every family
~This was to be paid by taxing the wealthy
~Challenged Roosevelt’s leadership by announcing his candidacy for president in 1935
~Was killed by an assassin before the election

39
Q

“Court Packing”

A

A bill proposed by Roosevelt, a judicial reorganization bill to appoint to the Supreme Court an additional justice for each justice over the age of 70.5
~Would have allowed Roosevelt to add 6 additional justice

40
Q

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

A

The industrial unions combined into one big union

~Concentrated on organizing unskilled workers in the automobile, steel, and southern textile industries

40
Q

United Auto Workers (UAW)

A

The union of automobile workers

~Strikers of General Motors were yielded after the company recognized the union

41
Q

Fair Labor Standards Act

A

The last major reform in the New Deal that provided a host of regulations on business in interstate commerce
~Established:
1. A minimum wage (initially fixed at 40 cents/hour)
2. A maximum work week of 40 hours
3. Child labor restrictions on those under 16

41
Q

Keynesian Economics

A

Where deficit spending would be like “priming the pump” to increase investment and create jobs
~Federal spending on public works

42
Q

Dust Bowl

A

A severe drought in the early 1930s which ruined crops in the Great Plains
~Poor farming practices coupled with high winds blew away millions of tons of dried topsoil
~Thousands of “Okies” migrated to California
~John Steinbeck wrote about their hardship/heartbreak in “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939)

43
Q

Fair Employment Practices Committee

A

A committee to assist minorities in gaining jobs in the defense industry

44
Q

Indian Reorganization (Wheeler-Howard) Act (1934)

A

Repealed the Dawes Act of 1887

~Returned lands to the control of tribes and supported the preservation of Native American cultures

45
Q

Fair Employment Practices Committee

A

A committee to assist minorities in gaining jobs in the defense industry

46
Q

Indian Reorganization (Wheeler-Howard) Act (1934)

A

Repealed the Dawes Act of 1887

~Returned lands to the control of tribes and supported the preservation of Native American cultures