Causes and Effects of the Great Depression

This set of flashcards covers the causes, key figures, and societal impacts of the Great Depression as discussed in the lecture transcript.

October 29, 1929

Known as Black Tuesday, the day the American consciousness was smacked by the stock market crash, plunging the United States into the Great Depression.

Great Depression

An economic apocalypse that lasted about a decade, characterized by a transition from 1920s prosperity to widespread financial failure.

Ford and Macy's

Large companies that spearheaded the 1920s transition from a rural agricultural economy to an urban industrial economy focused on consumer goods.

Agricultural Overproduction

A cause of the Depression where farmers ramped up production for World War I but were left with more food than buyers afterward, leading to debt and foreclosure.

Buying on margin

The practice of buying stocks on credit, where individuals could purchase shares for as little as $5$ to $10\%$ of their actual cost.

Black Tuesday

The day the artificial bubble inflated by speculative stock purchases burst, causing the value of the stock market to plummet dramatically.

Laissez-Faire

The economic policy of letting the market function unbothered by the government, a hallmark of Republican administrations in the 1920s.

Warren G. Harding

The Republican president who promised a "return to normalcy" after the heavy government intervention of the Progressive Era.

Calvin Coolidge

The Republican president who presided over the height of 1920s prosperity following Warren G. Harding.

Herbert Hoover

The Republican president who entered office in March of $1929$ and believed that private charities, rather than federal intervention, should solve economic crises.

Adam Smith

The economist whose theory suggests that, given enough time, the market will always correct itself.

Hoovervilles

Shanty towns built from discarded trash and detritus by Americans who had lost their homes due to foreclosure.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The Democrat who won the $1932$ election in a landslide and advocated for vigorous government intervention to address the Great Depression.

Limited welfare state

A transformation of the U.S. government characterized by the creation of social and economic safety nets through government power.

New Deal

The policies implemented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to transform the U.S. into a limited welfare state.