U.S History 2 Great Depression and New Deals Quest

What is the stock market?

a system for buying and selling stock shares in a company.  A company that sells stock is hoping to raise money from investors to put back into their business so that they can expand, create more products, and provide more jobs

What is speculation?

buyers of stocks hoping to make a fortune overnight, without understanding the risks involved with investing in companies.

One specific reason why the stock market crash caused banks to fail?

Banks were taking customers’ deposits and investing in the stock market with those deposits.  When the stock market crashed, banks lost their customers’ money.

What is an installment plan?

a credit plan that would allow people to make a small down payment to buy something like a car, radio, or refrigerator, and they would pay the rest in monthly installments.

What were two causes of the Great Depression?: 

1. too many people were in debt due to installment plans  

2. too many people were borrowing money to speculate in the stock market

What is a soup kitchen?

Private charities set up to give people a meal.

What was a shantytown also known as a/Hooverville?

a place where homeless people put up shacks on unused lands

Where and what was the Dust Bowl?

he Great Plains states of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma

Describe Franklin Roosevelt’s background and personality traits

He had been stricken with polio, which caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down.  He was competitive, liked winning and liked to be in control and be around people.  He was charming, confident, and optimistic

What was the New Deal?

Roosevelt’s federal government policies, programs, and laws (acts) to end the Great Depression.

What did FDR mean when he said “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”?

Roosevelt’s optimistic words given during his First Inaugural Address in 1933 (his first speech to the American people as president) to try to restore the nation’s confidence.

What was a “fireside chat?”

Roosevelt’s direct talks on the radio to the American people to let them know what he was trying to accomplish with his programs and how he was trying to help Americans recover from the Depression.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

A New Deal program that employed single men, ages 18-25, for natural resource conservation jobs

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

A New Deal program that built hydroelectric plants and dams aimed at improving seven Southern states and attracting industry to the South.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

A New Deal agency which regulated (set and enforced rules for) the stock market to avoid dishonest practices.

How did the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) help make the banking industry safer?

it provided bank insurance for bank customers’ deposits, so that their money would be safe

What is deficit spending?

when the government borrows money and spends more money than it is collecting in tax money.  FDR used deficit spending to pay for his employment programs to put unemployed people to work

National Labor Relations Act

gave legal protection to workers to form unions and would protect them against owners who wanted to fire them for joining a union

American Liberty League

 Conservative group that was critical of FDR’s New Deal believing it was harming the economy and taking away individuals’ and businesses’ freedoms. 

Senator Huey Long

A senator from Louisiana who was a critic of Roosevelt who believed Roosevelt wasn’t doing enough to help Americans through the Great Depression.  He promoted a program called “Share the Wealth” which would have the federal government tax the rich and give money directly to the poor

What four things did the Social Security Act specifically do?

1. unemployment insurance

2. disability insurance

3. old age pension

4. child welfare benefits