Chapter 22: The Great Depression and the New Deal

What did Herbert Hoover sign into law in 1930?

the Smoot-Hawley Tariff

What was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff?

it raised tariffs hoping to stimulate American manufacturing

Did the Smoot-Hawley Tariff work?

no, it triggered retaliatory tariffs in other countries, further deepening the global crisis

What did Hoover encourage state and local governments to do?

to create jobs with public works projects

By how much did Hoover increase federal spending on public works by in 1931?

$700 million

What was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)?

created by Hoover to provide loans to railroads, banks, etc

What was the 1932 Bonus Army?

15-20,000 WWI veterans marched on Washington, D.C demanding their bonuses which were to be paid in 1945 and set up camps by the Capitol and asked to meet with Hoover

What did Hoover do to the bonus army?

he sent the US army to evict the veterans and burned their camp down

What was a phrase Hoover always said?

“prosperity is just around the corner”

Who was elected president in 1932?

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)

What did FDR promise for all Americans when he got elected?

a “New Deal”

What were the fireside chats?

FDR used radio addresses to explain New Deal policies to citizens

How many major bills were passed by Congress during FDR’s first Hundred Days?

15

What did the bills passed during the first Hundred Days address?

major concerns like banking failures, agricultural overproduction, manufacturing and unemployment

What did Roosevelt do on March 5, 1933?

he declared a “bank holiday” and closed all banks for 1 week

What was the Emergency Banking Act passed on March 9, 1933?

banks could reopen after inspections by Treasury Department agent

What did FDR do on March 12, 1933?

he had a fireside chat that assured Americans that banks were safe and encouraged people to deposit money into banks again

What happened on March 13, 1933?

banks reopened and $1 billion re-deposited into banks

What was the Glass-Steagall Act?

it created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure bank deposits up to $2,500 (today it insures up to $250,000)

What was the Banking Act of 1935?

created a Federal Reserve System to control interest rates

What was the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)?

it provided cash subsidies to farmers who cut production to limit supply and keep prices high for other farmers

What was the National Recovery Act (NRA)

it regulated industrial wages, set prices and set production quotas; businesses could voluntarily join

What was the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)?

it was created to provide $300 million to state relief agencies (soup kitchens, churches, etc)

What was the Public Works Administration (PWA)?

public works construction projects that built Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) & Grand Coulee Dam, and repair highways & bridges; 4 million Americans went to work

What was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)?

reforestation and conservation jobs, built bridges, roads, trails; 3 million Americans went to work

What were the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)?

federal agency to help refinance mortgages; within 2 years, 1 million Americans kept their homes

What was the 1934 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)?

it helped regulate the stock market by determining how stocks/bonds are sold and prevent insider trading

Who criticized Roosevelt’s “reckless spending”?

Republicans and conservative Democrats

What was the National Association of Manufacturers?

industrialists and business leaders who opposed government regulation of business

What did the National Association of Manufacturers do?

produced movies, radio programs, billboards and pamphlets urging free enterprise and deregulated capitalism

Who was Father Charles Coughlin?

nicknamed the “Radio Priest” with 30 million listeners, urged FDR to nationalize banks and distribute wealth to the poor

What did Father Charles Coughlin become?

increasingly anti-Semitic and openly embraced fascism and Hitler

Who was Huey Long and what was his policy?

Louisiana governor/senator who proposed the Share Our Wealth policy

What was the Share Our Wealth policy?

a 100% tax on all income over 1 million dollars and inheritances over 5 million dollars

What was the 1935 Wagner Act?

guaranteed the right of industrial workers to join unions, banned employers from union suppression tactics, & guaranteed collective bargaining

What was the 1935 Social Security Act?

created old-age pension, unemployment money, & payment program for widows, orphans and the disabled

What was the 1936 Works Progress Administration (WPA)?

government job program that built roads, bridges, highways & airports while others were hired as artists, writers, poets, painters, & playwrights; employed 8.5 million people

Was FDR re-elected in 1936?

Yes, in a landslide

What did the Supreme Court do to several New Deal programs?

they struck down several as unconstitutional

What did FDR do as a response to the Supreme Court striking down New Deal programs?

he introduced a “court packing” scheme

What was FDR’s “court packing” scheme?

it was to add a new justice for every current member over the age of 70 (6 new judges)

What happened to the “court packing” scheme?

FDR faced heavy criticism and withdrew the idea

What did FDR base his programs on?

the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes

What is Keynesian economics?

deficit spending and interest rate adjustment by government could prevent depression and limit inflation

What was the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act?

outlawed child labor, standardized 40 hour work week, mandated overtime pay and established federal minimum wage

What did the New Deal policies ignore/exclude despite the efforts off FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt?

they ignored/excluded minorities; lower minimum wages were set; often “last hired, first fired”

What did the CCC exclude and what did they do to African Americans?

it excluded women and African Americans lived in segregated camps

What did the Resettlement Administration do but what did southern segregationists blocked?

it helped small farmers buy land and southern segregationists blocked African American farmers from this

What did FDR refuse to support and why?

he refused to support legislation making lynching a federal crime because he feared of losing southern support in Congress for New Deal legislation

Who did FDR appoint as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)?

John Collier

What was the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act?

Native Americans promoted self government, wrote formal constitutions, and democratically elected tribal councils; tribes won religious freedom and semi sovereign nation status

Who did the US government deport from 1929 to 1937, why and what happened as a result?

500,000 Mexicans were deported to Mexico to protect American jobs and thousands more flocked to New Deal job programs

What percent of the deportees during 1929 to 1937 were US citizens?

60%

What was the 1930-1939 drought in the midwest nicknamed?

the Dust Bowl

What was the Dust Bowl and what did it cause?

wind erosion of topsoil spread dust across the midwest killing other farms and a mass migration of “Oakies” to California

What did the US government do to help the Dust Bowl

several New Deal programs encouraged planting of soil-preserving grasses and the US Forest Service planted 220 million trees as “shelter belt” from Texas to Canada

What was the 1933 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)?

it built a series of dams and power plants to bring to the rural south, providing electricity and jobs

What was the 1935 Rural Electrification Administration (REA)?

it offered loans to farmers to install power lines