chapter 32 - the great depression and the new deal

brain trust

• group of expert policy advisers who worked with FDR in the 1930s to end the great depression

  • term for his cabinet

new deal

• president franklin d. roosevelt’s precursor of the modern welfare state

• programs to combat economic depression enacted a number of social insurance measures and used government spending to stimulate the economy

• increased power of the state and the state’s intervention in united states social and economic life

• three r’s → relief, recovery, and reform

hundred days

• the special session of congress that franklin d. roosevelt called to launch his new deal programs

  • lasted about three months

glass-steagall banking reform act

• banking act of 1933

• established the federal deposit insurance corporation and included banking reforms

  • some designed to control speculation

• repealed in 1999 → opening the door to scandals involving banks and stock investment companies

civilian conservation corps (CCC)

• hired young and unemployed people to do restoration projects throughout the country

  • employed over three million people

works progress administration

• may 6, 1935 → began under hoover and continued under roosevelt

  • headed by harry l. hopkins

• provided jobs and income to the unemployed but could not work more than 30 hours a week

  • built many public buildings and roads, and as well operated a large arts project

national recovery administration (NRA)

• a new deal legislation that focused on the employment of the unemployed and the regulation of unfair business ethics

  • pumped cash into the economy to stimulate the job market and created codes that businesses were to follow to maintain the ideal of fair competition

schecter case

• stated that congress could not delegate legislative powers to the executive

• known as the “sick chicken decision” → involvement of a fowl business in new york

public works administration

• 1935

• created for both industrial recovery and for unemployment relief

  • aimed at long-range recovery and spent $4 billion on thousands of projects that included public buildings, highways, and parkways

• headed by the secretary of interior → harold l. ickes

agricultural adjustment administration (AAA)

• 1933 and 1938 → act signed by FDR

• helped farmers meet mortgages

  • created by congress in 1933 as part of the new deal

  • the agency attempted to restrict the agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies to take land out of production 

• deemed unconstitutional because the government was paying the farmers to waste ⅓ of their products

dust bowl

• region of the great plains that experience a drought in the 1930s lasting for a decade

  • left many farmers without work or substantial wages

securities and exchange commission

• a government commission created by congress to regulate the securities market and protect investors

• monitors the corporate takeovers in the united states

tennessee valley authority (TVA)

• a relief, recovery, and reform effort that gave 2.5 million poor citizens job and land

• brought cheap electric power, low-cost housing, cheap nitrates, and the restoration of eroded soil

federal housing administration

• a federal agency established in 1943 to increase home ownership

  • providing an insurance program to safeguard the lended against the risk of nonpayment

social security act

• provided for immediate relief for poor elderly

• national old-age and survivors insurance, a shared federal-state plan of unemployment insurance, and public assistance programs (AFDC)

wagner act

• 1935

• established the national labor relations board

• protected the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands

national labor relations board

• an act establishing federal guarantee of right to organize trade unions and collective bargaining

fair labor standards act

• important new deal labor legislation that regulated minimum wages and maximum hours for workers involved in interstate commerce

• outlawed labor by children under sixteen

• the exclusion of agricultural, service, and domestic workers meant that many blacks, mexican americans, and women who were concentrated in these sectors—did not benefit from the act's protection

congress of industrial organization (CIO)

• a federation of labor union for all unskilled workers

  1. provided a labor union for unskilled workers, unlike the AFL, which limited itself to skilled workers only

sitdown strike

• work stoppages in which workers shut down all machines and refuse to leave a factory or their workplace until their demands are met

  • to prevent from being easily replaced

indian reorganization act

• restored tribal ownership of lands

• recognized tribal constitution and government

• provided loans for economic development

liberty league

• conservatives who did not agree with FDR

  • wanted government to leave business alone and play a less active role in the economy → advocated for more laissez-faire policies

• members of this organization complained the new deal interfered too much with business and with people’s lives

roosevelt coalition

• an alignment of interest groups and voting blocks used to remain the democratic party in power

  • labor unions and minority groups involved

court-packing plan

• president FDR’s failed 1937 attempt to increase the number of the united states supreme court justices from 9 to 15 in order to save his second new deal programs from constitutional challenges

keynesianism

• belief in aggressive government intervention to combat recession and promote economic growth

  • especially by massive federal spending → “stimulus”

“the forgotten man”

• a nickname given to everyday americans people by FDR during the depression

franklin delano roosevelt

• 32nd united states president

• began new deal programs to help the nation out of the great depression

• nation’s leader during most of ww2

eleanor roosevelt

• franklin d. roosevelt’s wife and new deal supporter

• was a great supporter of civil rights and opposed the jim crow laws

• worked for birth control and better conditions for working women

harry l. hopkins

• a new york social worker who headed the federal emergency relief administration and civil works administration

• helped grant over 3 billion dollars to the states wages for work projects, and granted thousands of job for jobless americans

father charles coughlin

• a radio priest

• anti-semetic and anti-new deal

  • catered away some support from FDR

francis e. townsend

• american physician and social reformer whose plan for a government-sponsored old-age pension was a precursor of the social security act of 1935

huey p. “kingfish” long

• immensely popular governor and senator of louisiana

  • provided tax favors, roads, schools, free textbooks, charity hospitals, and improved public services for louisiana citizens 

• cost → corruption and personal dictatorship

• formed the national organization, share our wealth

  • “every man a king”

    • slogan of the share our wealth movement

frances perkins

• united states secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945

  • first woman ever appointed to the cabinet

• as a loyal supporter of FDR, she helped pull the labor movement into the new deal coalition

ruth benedict

• a researcher who argued that the sexual socialization of youngsters in many traditional societies was a calm and non-stressful process in societies in which sexual experimentation was treated openly

• a prominent 1930s social scientist who argued that each culture produced its own type of personality

pearl buck

• novelist who won the nobel peace prize and advanced humanitarian causes

  • “americans in china”

john steinbeck

• american novelist who wrote the “grapes of wrath”

  • a story of dust bowl victims who travel to california to look for a better life

mary mcleod bethune

• united states educator

• worked to improve race relations and educational opportunities for black americans

harold ickes

• interior secretary under the roosevelt administration

• organized liberal republicans for roosevelt in 1932

george w. norris

• united states senator from nebraska who is responsible for the REA, TVA, the 22nd amendment, and the nebraska unicameral

john l. lewis

• miner known for creating the united mine workers

• helped found the CIO 

• responsible for the fair labors standards act

john maynard keyne

• english economist who advocated the use of government monetary and fiscal policy to maintain full employment without inflation

alfred m. landon

• a republican who carried only two states in a futile campaign against “the champ” in 1936

robert f. wagner

• democratic senator of new york

• the key figure behind the wagner act → also known as the national labor relations act

  • established the legal right for workers to organize unions and bargain collectively