The Great Depression

Flashcards about the Great Depression in the US and Canada, causes, effects, and key events.

What are the main causes/effects of the Great Depression in the US?

Tariffs/war debt, farming crisis, income gap, availability of credit.

What percentage of radios and cars were purchased on credit during this time?

75% of radios and 60% of cars were purchased on credit.

What percentage of the US population lived below the poverty line during the Great Depression?

70% of the country lived below the poverty line ($2500).

What was the impact of the Great Depression on European countries' ability to trade and pay war debts?

European countries couldn’t pay back war debt, couldn’t trade, high tariffs.

What were the major factors contributing to farm foreclosures during the Great Depression?

Loans and overproduction led to 400,000 farm foreclosures.

What was the amount of consumer debt during the Great Depression?

$6 billion.

What was the hobo population during the Great Depression and how did they mainly travel?

Hobo culture saw a resurgence in popularity, with approximately 300,000 hoboes in the US.

What were the social impacts of the Great Depression on families, women, and children?

Men abandoned their families, companies refused to employ women, and children faced malnutrition and lack of education.

How did the Great Depression affect black unemployment compared to white unemployment?

Black unemployment was twice that of whites, and black women three times that of white women.

What is Keynesian Economics?

John Maynard Keynes argued government intervention could smooth out business cycles through deficit spending and manipulation of interest rates.

What were 'Suitcase farmers'?

Suitcase farmers: Eastern businessmen planted seed, let it grow, and stayed at home until harvest.

What factors led to the Dust Bowl?

Over farming depleted soil nutrients, droughts started summer 1931, big wind = 38 massive dust storms 1933.

What were the 'Dust Bowl' states?

Colorado (gray), Texas, Oklahoma (red), Kansas (black), New Mexico (gray).

What is meant by 'buying on margin' and what did that led to?

Buying on margin (small down payment + later installments) let many normal Americans get involved, led to speculation.

Who predicted the stock market crash?

Roger Babson.

Which of the following programs loaned money to states & communities for low cost construction?

USHA (United States Housing Authority).

What did Hoover do on Monday October 21?

Hoover celebrated 50th anniversary of lightbulb invention.

What happened on Black Thursday, and who tried to stabilize the prices?

Black Thursday 10/24: Thomas Lamont bought 13 million shares in key stocks to stabilize prices.

What happened on Black Tuesday?

Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929: MASSIVE crash, 16.4 million shares dumped.

What was the purpose of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)?

Regulate the stock exchange & protect investors.

What was the purpose of the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board)?

Gave unions a legal standing with employers.

What was the purpose of the NBCC (National Bituminous Coal Commission)?

To help stabilize the coal industry & preserve the resource

Which sector did FCIC (Federal Crop Insurance Corporation) aim to stabilize?

Agriculture.

What was the purpose of NYA (National Youth Administation)?

To find them employment.

What did WPA (Works Progress Administration) provide?

Public works projects across the nation.

What was the purpose of FSA (Farm Security Administration)?

Fight rural poverty.

How was the Canadian Confederation established in 1867?

British North America Act.

What was the Canadian economy dependent on?

Dependent on the export of wheat and paper/pulp.

In which Canadian provinces did Dust bowl occur?

Prairie Provinces.

Why wouldn't King give a “five-cent piece” to Conservative provincial governments?

He believed provinces were responsible for themselves.

What was the result of Bennett raising tariffs?

Raises tariffs → Hawley-Smoot as counter from US, hurt Canada.

What were 'Royal Twenty Centers' ?

Work camps.

What was the 'On to Ottawa Trek'?

Workers marched to Ottawa to get Bennett to do something, ended with Regina Riot.

What was the name of Bennett's conversion?

Unemployment insurance, minimum wage, max work hours, fair trade legislation, farm rehab + soil conservation.

What did the Canadian Wheat Board 1935 control?

controlled wheat prices/marketing, farmers required to sell all wheat to CWB

What did King attempted that was shot down?

attempted Loan Council (shot down by Alberta as attempt to control provinces), unemployment insurance (shot down by Ontario/Quebec)

King established Royal Commission on what?

Dominion-Provincial Relations.

What did Over Reliance on exports of “cash crops” lead to?

Coups d’etats → “Depression Dictators”.

What is Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI)?

government took control over key industries to forcibly industrialize and diversify respective countries’ economies

In which country was Estado Novo established?

Brazil.

What happened in Brazil in 1930?

Vargas coup

What was 72% of Brazil's economy based on?

Coffee.

What is Valorization?

Hoarding supplies of coffee to keep prices high.

What is corporatism, according to Vargas?

corporatism = ideology that worker/employer harmony could be achieved through government mediation

What did Vargas do to reduce coffee supply

Bought/destroyed 78 million sacks of coffee to reduce supply.

What Ministry was established to control disputes?

Ministry of Labor, Industry, and Communications 1930 to mediate worker/employer disputes & control unions

What did Brazil do with US Oil Refiners?

Seized US oil refiners in Brazil in 1938

What industries dominated the Brazilian economy?

Traditional industries

What was William Green involved with?

he Labor Advisory Boards of the NRA and NLB

What did Adolf serve as?

Adolf Berle writes speeches, and became the Assistant Secretary of State in 1938

What did Roosevelt's female cabinet member, Frances Perkins do?

Frances Perkins drafted significant New Deal legislation, like the NRA. She also played a key role in the creation of Social Security

What was Woodrow Wilson looking for with WWI

liberal internationalism

What kind of policies postwar presidents trying to put forward?

High Import Tariffs, Limited Government, free-market American Business

What was the effect of Fordney-McCumber 1922 policy?

led to counter-tariffs from GB/France

What kinds of policies did Hoover implement?

voluntary cooperation

What did National Credit Corporation do?

Loaned money to small banks

What Corporation was aimed for banks, railroads, other big businesses hoping it would eventually trickle down to commoners

RFC = Reconstruction Finance Corporation

What army marched to DC and set up shantytowns until Hoover/Attorney General William D. Mitchell sent 1,000 soldiers led by General Douglas MacArthur and Major Dwight Eisenhower to get rid of them?

Bonus Army

What did President Roosevelt do as his first action was?

National bank holiday

What was the term to descrive Mexicans being evicted in 1929

repatriation.

What was the greatest artistic legacy of New Deal ?

Murals

What radio broadcast scared the American households

War of the Worlds

What did New Deal Critics say that Roosevelt was lacking?

didn’t do enough for the elderly!

What was the Alberta Party called

Social Credit Party