Unit 7: The Great Depression and New Deal

Which area of the US economy was the weakest in the 1920s?

Agriculture(farming)

What signaled the beginning of the Great Depression?

The collapse of the stock market in October 1929

Who was the president during the stock market collapse and the start of the Great Depression?

Herbert Hoover

One of the economic problems that contributed to the Great Depression was the spending habits of the 1920s. What allowed people to spend so much money and go into debt?

The availability of cheap credit

What was Herbert Hoover’s primary (first) response to the Great Depression?

Encouraged Americans to go to work and spend their money to stimulate the economy

In regard to the way Hoover dealt with the Depression, What did he refuse to do?

Provide direct relief to the people

What were “Hoovervilles”?

Homes for Homeless people

What did President Franklin Roosevelt call his plan for reform and recovery?

The New Deal

What did President Roosevelt’s New Deal offer to the people?

Hope that things would improve

After FDR’s inauguration in 1933, what was the first thing he addressed about the Great Depression?

The Bank System

What did the “Hundred Days” refer to?

The amount of Legislation enacted during the first 3 months of FDR’s term

What was the Civilian Conservation Corps intended to do?

Create soil conservation and reforestation jobs for young men ages 18-25

How did the Agriculture Adjustment Act seek to raise farm income?

By reducing the surplus of farm products

What did the Civil Works Administration do?

Created jobs for the unemployed

Which New Deal program provided billions of dollars for jobs to build roads, stadiums, and jobs for actors, writers, and artists?

Works Progress Administration

The novel that best portrayed the desperate plight of millions impoverished by the Depression was The Grapes of Wrath. Who was it written by?

John Steinbeck

Who was the most formidable of the extremists opposing Roosevelt and the leader of the Share Our Wealth movement?

Huey Long

The Second New Deal included a measure that gave workers the right to bargain collectively and prohibited employers from interfering with Union organization activities in their factories. What was this legislation called?

Wagner Act

What was the chief obstacle to the New Deal legislation that declared two programs unconstitutional and threatened many more?

The Supreme Court

What did FDR propose to make the Supreme Court more “pro-New Deal”?

He threatened to increase the number of justices(Court-packing)

What happened as a result of Roosvelt’s “Court-packing” plan?

Second New Deal legislation was saved

What was the greatest problem of the New Deal?

It failed to end the Great Depression

What was the most significant change Roosevelt’s New Deal gad on American Society?

It made government responsible for the welfare of the people and began the tradition of deficit spending

Which groups of people did Eleanor Roosevelt advocate better treatment for?

Women and African Americans

What were Roosevelt’s addresses to the public over the radio called?

Fireside Chats