CH 22 Great Depression and Forging the New Deal

Smoot-Hawley Tariff

A high tariff enacted in 1930 during the Great Depression. By taxing imported goods, Congress hoped to stimulate American manufacturing and protect farmers, but the tariff triggered retaliatory tariffs in other countries, which further hindered global trade and led to greater economic chaos.

Bonus Army

Group of WWI vets. that marched to D.C. in 1932 to demand the immediate payment of their goverment war bonuses in cash

Fireside Chats

Radio broadcasts made by FDR to the American people to explain his initiatives and improve moral during the Great Depression.

Hundred Days

The special session of Congress that Roosevelt called to launch his New Deal programs. The special session lasted about three months. Today, a presidents first months are predictive of his effectiveness or lack there of.

Glass-Steagall Act

Established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and included banking reforms, some of which were designed to control speculation.

Agricultural Adjustment Act

New Deal legislation passed in May 1933 that aimed at cutting agricultural production to raise crop prices and thus farmers' income.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration

The Act was the first direct-relief operation under the New Deal. The law provided money for food and other necessities for the unemployed.

National Recovery Administration

New Deal agency that promoted economic recovery by regulating production, prices, and wages. It allowed industries to create fair competition which were intended to reduce destructive competition and to help workers by setting minimum wages and maximum weekly hours.

Civilian Conservation Corps

New Deal program that hired unemployed men to work on natural conservation projects

Public Works Administration

Helped construction workers get jobs doing public projects (highways, bridges, sewers).

Federal Housing Administration

A federal agency established in 1934 to increase home ownership by providing an insurance program to safeguard the lender against the risk of nonpayment. It refinanced home mortgages for mortgage holders facing possible foreclosure.

Securities and Exchange Commission

An independent federal government agency responsible for protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly functioning of the securities markets (created after the Stock Market Crash)

Wagner Act

In 1935; established 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.

Townsend Plan

Dr. Francis Townsend, a California physician, won wide support by which the government would make a monthly payment of $200 to Americans over 60, with the requirement that they spend it immediately.

Social Security Act

In 1935 guaranteed retirement payments for enrolled workers beginning at age 65; set up federal-state system of unemployment insurance and care for dependent mothers and children, the handicapped, and public health.

Works Progress Administration

Federal New Deal program established in 1935 that provided government-funded public works jobs to millions of unemployed Americans during the Great Depression in areas ranging from construction to the arts.

Roosevelt Recession

A period when FDR cut government spending to balance budget; this led to an economic downfall.

Keynesian Economics

The economic theory, developed by British economist in the 1930s, that purposeful government intervention in the economy (through lowering or raising taxes, interest rates, and government spending) can affect the level of overall economic activity and thereby prevent severe depressions and runaway inflation.

Fair Labor Standards Act

1938 law- established a national minimum wage, a maximum 44 hour work week and guaranteed time and a half for overtime in certain jobs, and prohibited most employment of minors in "oppressive child labor," restricted/outlawed child labor

Indian Reorganization Act

Government legislation that allowed the Indians a form of self-government and thus willingly shrank the authority of the U.S. government. It provided the Indians direct ownership of their land, credit, a constitution, and a charter in which Indians could manage their own affairs. Tried to reverse Dawes Act

Grand Coulee Dam

At its time (1941): The largest Hydro-electricity producing structure in the world. This 150 mile dam built on the Columbia River in the state of Washington provided irrigation for the states major crops; apples, potatoes, cherries, wheat and pears.

Tennessee Valley Authority

Part of the New Deal Relief, Recovery and Reform effort. It created many dams to generate electric power and control floods in a seven-U.S.-state region around this area. In addition 2.5 million jobs were created for poor citizens as well as cheap land and low cost housing. It also helped to restore eroded soils.

Rural Electrification Administration

Provided affordable electricity for isolated rural (farming) areas. This affordable electricity would improve the standard of living and the economic competitiveness of the family farm; many opposed

Eleanor Roosevelt

Wife to FDR. most active first lady in history. She advocated for the expansion of positions for women in labor unions, education and political parities while battling for the impoverished and oppressed.

Mary McLeod Bethune

An African-American educator who dedicated herself to promoting opportunities for young African Americans. She believed "American's" had to become "accustomed to seeing Negroes in high places."