The Great Depression

Isolationism

foreign policy of the United States between World War I and World War II; U.S. removed itself from involvement in international affairs

Nativism

increased during the 1920s as a reaction to increasing immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia

Flappers

women who pushed traditional cultural norms, such as smoking, drinking, and wearing shorter hair and hemlines

Laissez-faire

policy in which the government does not regulate businesses and the economy

Mass consumption

as a result, of increased production and an economic boom

Red Scare

intense fear of communism or other radical ideas; many Americans/immigrants were deported and jailed for their radicals beliefs

Palmer Raids

“suspected radicals” many of whom were immigrants were rounded up without evidence/trial and were jailed or deported

Prohibition

created by the 18th Amendment, which made it illegal to manufacture, sell, or transport alcoholic beverages; led to creation of speakeasies and organized crime

Teapot Dome Scandal

scandal during Harding’s administration, in which Albert Falls sold the rights to drill on government land to two oil companies in return for money

Harlem Renaissance

African American cultural revival, which encouraged African Americans to stand up for their rights; Louis Armstrong and Langston Hughes

Immigration Quotas

created to limit immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe and Asia; response to increased nativism

Return to Normalcy

President Harding’s plan for America after World War I; return to peacetime economy, deregulation, isolationism, reduction of taxes; increased productivity and led to an economic boom

Clarence Darrow

defended Scopes during the Scopes Trial

William Jennings Bryan

prosecuted Scopes during the Scopes Trial

Henry Ford

created the Model T and the assembly line, which increased mobility in the United States and increased mass production

Marcus Garvey

created the Back to Africa Movement, in which he encouraged African Americans to move back to African as a way to ensure equality

Charles Lindbergh

made aviation history when he flew the Spirit of St. Louis nonstop from St. Louis to Paris in 1927

Warren G. Harding

President during the Teapot Dome Scandal and introduce Return to Normalcy (reduce taxes, deregulation, and isolation)

Langston Hughes

poet during the Harlem Renaissance, who encouraged African Americans to fight for equality

Louis Armstrong

musician during the Harlem Renaissance, who helped to break the color barrier in music

Scopes Trial

trail which debated teaching evolution in schools; conflict between modernism and traditionalism

Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

trail in which two Italian immigrants were found guilty and executed based on circumstantial evidence, most of which was based on their immigrant status and radical beliefs

Assembly Line

led to mass consumption by making factory production more efficient and effective; introduced by Henry Ford

1929

On Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed leading the a worldwide economic depression

Tariff

tax on imported goods

Causes of the Great Depression

• Buying on Margin – people were buying stock with money they didn’t have; when the stock market crashed people couldn’t pay their loans back
  

• Overproduction – factories were producing too many goods
  

• Underconsumption – people who needed goods couldn’t afford them and people who could afford them didn’t need them

Dust Bowl

created by lack of crop rotation (over farming) and drought; affected the Great Plains; farmers migrated west (California) in search of jobs

Federal Reserve Raises Interests Rates

made it difficult to get loans, which led to more businesses closing because they couldn’t afford to stay open

Bank Runs

too many people went to the bank to withdraw all of their money

FDR Court Packing Plan

FDR tried to put justices on the Supreme Court who would support FDR’s New Deal Policies; Congress rejected the plan because it would violate separation of powers/checks and balances

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

created the highest tariff in American history; led to other countries raise their tariffs – cutting off international trade

Mexican Repatriation Act

Many Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants were deported to Mexico in response to the Great Depression

New Deal

President Roosevelt’s plan to restore economic stability and get Americans back to work; included the creation of several programs which revolved around relief, recovery, and reform

Social Security Act

New Deal program which still affects Americans today; creates a pension for Americans who are retired or disabled and can’t work

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

New Deal program which still affects Americans today; created to insure bank deposits and restore public confidence in the banks

Securities and Exchange Commission

New Deal program which still affects Americans today; regulates the shock market

Tennessee Valley Authority

provided hydroelectric power, flood control, and recreational opportunities to the Tennessee River Valley and surrounding areas

Civilian Conservation Corps

provided employment for 3 million young men in projects that included reforestation, fire fighting, and swamp drainage

Agricultural Adjustment Act

paid farmers subsidies to reduce their crop production
Federal Housing Administration – helps Americans to get affordable mortgage loans from the bank

Works Progress Administration

distributed money to state and local governments to build highways, schools, etc.

The Grapes of Wrath

book written by John Steinbeck; highlights the plight of Oklahoma farmers during the Dust Bowl and their migration westward

Herbert hoover

President during the Great Depression; believed in little government involvement to help relieve the Great Depression and instead encouraged rugged individualism

Franklin D. Roosevelt

President during the Great Depression; believed the government needed to increase its role in helping to relieve the Great Depression (New Deal)

Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady who fought for the rights of the poor, women and African Americans

Dorothea Lange

took photos which showed the plight Americans faced during the Great Depression