Unit 6 PLA

Great Depression

A period lasting from 1929 to 1940, marked by severe economic decline and high unemployment in the U.S.

Speculation

Involvement in risky business transactions to make quick or large profits.

Buying on margin

Purchasing stocks by paying only a small percentage of the price and borrowing the rest.

Black Tuesday

Date on October 29, 1929, when stock prices fell sharply.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act

A 1930 law establishing the highest protective tariff in U.S. history, worsening the depression.

Dust Bowl

Region made worthless for farming due to drought and dust storms during the 1930s, including parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

Breadline

A line of people waiting for free food.

Soup Kitchen

A place providing free or low-cost food to those in need.

Shantytown

A neighborhood where people live in makeshift shacks.

New Deal

President Franklin Roosevelt’s program aimed at alleviating the problems of the Great Depression.

Deficit spending

Government spending of more money than it receives in revenue.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

An agency of the New Deal that put young unemployed men to work on environmental projects.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

An agency that provided jobs in construction, the arts, and teaching as part of the Second New Deal.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Agency created in 1933 to insure bank accounts and protect against bank failures.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Agency created in 1934 to enforce laws regulating the stock market.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Federal corporation established in 1933 to create dams and power plants in the Tennessee Valley.

National Labor Relations Board (Wagner Act)

Agency created in 1935 to prevent unfair labor practices and mediate labor disputes.

National Recovery Act

Law enacted in 1933 to establish fair practices codes for industries and promote growth.

Social Security Act

1935 law providing aid to retirees, the unemployed, and families with dependent children.

Causes of the Great Depression

Factors including constricted money supply, stock market crash, consumer debt, unequal wealth distribution, and failed government policies.

Effects of the Great Depression

Widespread unemployment, hunger, poverty, homelessness, and the initiation of the New Deal.