Great depression terms- history

— The year the stock market crashed. The crash on October 29, known as "Black Tuesday," helped start the Great Depression.

1929

— A severe economic crisis that lasted from 1929 until World War II. Millions of Americans lost jobs, businesses failed, and many banks closed.

The Great Depression

— Franklin Roosevelt’s plan to fight the Great Depression through government programs that focused on relief, recovery, and reform.

The New Deal

— The 32nd U.S. president who led the country during the Great Depression and most of World War II. He created the New Deal programs to help Americans recover.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)

— A Supreme Court case that ruled parts of the New Deal, including the Agricultural Adjustment Act, unconstitutional.

United States v. Butler (1936)

— A law that raised taxes on imported goods. Many economists believe it hurt international trade and made the Great Depression worse.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff

— A government agency created by President Hoover that gave loans to banks, businesses, and local governments to help the economy recover.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

— A government agency that protects money deposited in banks, helping people feel confident that their savings are safe.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

— Situations where many people rushed to withdraw their money from banks at the same time, causing banks to run out of cash and close.

Bank Runs

— The interest rate set by the Federal Reserve for loans to banks. Changes in this rate affect the amount of money available in the economy.

Discount Rate

— A group of World War I veterans who marched to Washington, D.C., demanding early payment of promised bonuses. They were removed by the military under President Hoover’s orders.

Bonus Army

— The pattern of economic growth, decline, recession, and recovery that economies often go through over time.

Business Cycle

— Someone who supports traditional values and generally believes the government should play a limited role in the economy and people’s lives.

Conservative

— Someone who believes the government should take a more active role in solving social and economic problems.

Liberal

— Someone who wants major political, social, or economic changes, often much more dramatic than those supported by liberals or conservatives.

Radical

— Makeshift communities of homeless people during the Great Depression, named after President Hoover because many blamed him for the economic crisis.

Hoovervilles

— A New Deal program that built dams and power plants, provided electricity, controlled flooding, and created jobs

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

— A New Deal program that paid farmers to reduce crop production in order to raise farm prices and reduce overproduction.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

— A New Deal law that helped reopen stable banks and restore public confidence in the banking system after a nationwide bank holiday.

Emergency Banking Act

— A period of severe dust storms in the Great Plains caused by drought and poor farming practices, forcing many families to leave their farms.

Dust Bowl

— A New Deal program that provided jobs for young men working on environmental and conservation projects such as planting trees and building parks.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

— A New Deal agency that created millions of jobs building roads, bridges, schools, parks, and other public projects.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

— A New Deal law that created retirement benefits, unemployment insurance, and assistance for people with disabilities.

Social Security Act

— A law that strengthened labor unions and protected workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Wagner Act

— Radio speeches in which President Roosevelt spoke directly to Americans, explaining government policies and reassuring the public.

Fireside Chats

— A photographer who documented the hardships of Americans during the Great Depression through powerful photographs.

Dorothea Lange

— Louisiana governor and senator who proposed the "Share Our Wealth" plan, which called for redistributing wealth from the rich to help poorer Americans.

Huey Long

— A Catholic priest and radio personality who criticized economic inequality and called for greater government action to help struggling Americans.

Father Coughlin