Topic 13 L1-3 - The Great Depression and the New Deal

business cycle

periodic growth and contraction of the economy

gross national product

the total value of the goods and services produced by a country

Herbert Hoover

served as secretary of Commerce and later as the President of the United States from 1929-1933, during the Great Depression. His administration’s response to the Great Depression was widely criticized for its ineffectiveness

speculation

practice of making high-risk investments in hopes of obtaining large profits

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929, when stock prices fell sharply in the Great Crash

Great Depression

period lasting from 1929-1941 in which the U.S. economy faltered and unemployment soared

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

protective tax on imports enacted by Congress in 1930 in an effort to counter the nation’s slide into the Great Depression

bread line

line of people waiting for food handouts from charities or public agencies

Hooverville

term used to describe makeshift shantytowns set up by homeless people during the Great Depression

tenant farming

farmer who pays rent to a landowner for the use of the land

Dust Bowl

term used for the central and southern Great Plains during the 1930s, when the region suffered from drought and dust storms

Okies

general term used to describe Dust Bowl refugees

repatriation

process by which government officials return persons to their country of origin

localism

policy relied on by President Hoover in the early years of the Great Depression whereby local and state governments act as primary agents of economic relief

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

federal agency set up by Congress in 1932 to provide emergency government credit to banks, railroads, and other large businessesfederal agency set up by Congress in 1932 to provide emergency government credit to banks, railroads, and other large businesses

trickle-down economics

economic theory that holds that financial benefits given to banks and large businesses will trickle down to smaller businesses and consumers

Hoover Dam

Dam on the Colorado River that was built during the Great Depression

Bonus Army

group of World War I veterans who marched on Washington, D.C., in 1932 to demand early payment of a bonus promised them by Congress

Douglas MacArthur

commanded American troops in World War I, where he developed a reputation for bravery. As supreme commander of Allied forces in the Pacific (1942-1945) he accepted Japan's surrender to end World War II. In 1950, he became commander of UN forces in the Korean War. He retired after his controversial removal from command in 1951, following a dispute with President Harry Truman.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

served as assistant secretary of the Navy (1913-1920), before running unsuccessfully for Vice President on the Democratic ticket in 1920. Stricken with polio the following year, He recovered to resume his political career as governor of New York (1929-1933). Elected President in 1932, he lead the nation through the Great Depression and World War II before dying in office in 1945.

Eleanor Roosevelt

With FDR's election as president in 1932, She became a public figure in her own right, traveling the country promoting the causes of helping women, children, and the poor. After her husbands death, she served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations, focusing on human rights and women's issues.

New Deal

programs and legislation pushed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression to promote economic recovery and social reform

fireside chats

informal radio broadcasts in which President Franklin D. Roosevelt explained his view of issues at hand (including the Great Depression, New Deal programs, and World War II) to average Americans

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

government agency created during the New Deal that insures bank deposits, guaranteeing that depositors' money will be safe; a federally sponsored corporation that insures your money up to insurance limit.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

government agency created during the New Deal to build dams in the Tennessee River valley to control flooding and generate electric power

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

New Deal program that provided young men with relief jobs on environmental conservation projects, including reforestation and flood control

National Recovery Administration (NRA)

New Deal agency that promoted economic recovery by regulating production, prices, and wages

Public Works Administration (PWA)

New Deal agency that provided millions of jobs constructing public buildings as well as airports, dams, and bridges.

Charles Coughlin

served as pastor of a Catholic Church in Michigan from 1926 to 1966. He won a huge audience in the 1930s for his radio broadcasts, first supporting President Roosevelt's New Deal and later opposing it as he adopted ultraconservative views. he vocally opposed U.S. entrance into World War II and after he began making anti-Semitic remarks, Catholic officials ordered him to stop broadcasting in 1942.

Huey Long

was elected governor of Louisiana in 1928, where he won a wide following by providing reforms to help the poor during the depression. While serving in U.S. Senate (1932-1935), he became a vocal critic of Roosevelt's New Deal and called for a redistribution of the nation's wealth. In 1935, he announced his plan to run for President but was assassinated that same year.