Great Depression VFL Terms

Dow Jones Industrial Average

a measure based on the prices of the stocks of 30 large companies, widely used as a measure of the stock market's health

Price Support

the maintenance of a price at a certain level through government intervention

Credit

when a buyer pays later for a purchase, often with an installment plan or with interest charges

Speculation

an involvement in risky business transactions in an effort to make a quick or large profit

Buying on Margin

the purchasing of stocks by paying only a small percentage of the price and borrowing the rest

Black Tuesday

a name given to October 29, 1929, when stock prices fell sharply

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act

1930 law established the highest protective tariff in U.S. history, worsening the depression in America and abroad

Soup Kitchen

a place where free or low cost food is served to the needy

Shantytown

also called Hoovervilles, a neighborhood in which people live in makeshift shacks

Bread Line

a line of people waiting for free food

Dust Bowl

land was made worthless for farming in the 1930s by drought and dust storms in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico

Direct Relief

the giving of money or food by the government directly to needy people

Herbert Hoover

Republican president who promised the American people prosperity and attempted to restore public faith in the community to fix the depression

Boulder Dam

(Hoover Dam) on Colorado River, was built during the Great Depression to stimulate business and provide jobs

Federal Home Loan Bank Act

1931 law that lowered home mortgage rates and allowed farmers to refinance their loans and avoid foreclosure

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

an agency established in 1932 to provide emergency financing to banks, life-insurance companies, railroads, and other large businesses

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