Imported from Quizlet: Great Depression & New Deal Revision

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Hires jobless people to build public buildings and parks.

New Deal

program of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to end the Great Depression

Pros of Roosevelt's New Deal

• Government has a duty to help all citizens.

• The New Deal helped the nation through the worst days of the Great Depression.

• At a time when people in other countries turned to dictators to solve problems, the New Deal saved the Nation's democratic system.

Con of Roosevelt's New Deal

• Government should not interfere in business or in people's private lives.

• New Deal spending led to increases in the national debt.

• The New Deal did not end the Great Depression.

FDR

Roosevelt during the Depression and WWII. He instituted the New Deal. He was the only president in U.S. history to be elected to four terms

TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority Act)

one of the most important acts that built hydro-electric dams, particularly in the south

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

employed millions of young men to plant trees and improve the environment during the Great Depression

Causes of the Great Depression

• Factories and farms produce more goods than people can buy.

• Banks make loans that borrowers cannot pay back.

• After the stock market crash, many businesses cannot find people who will invest in their growth.

Effects of the Great Depression

• Many banks fail.

• Many businesses and factories fail.

• Millions of Americans are out of work.

• Many are homeless and hungry.

• Families break up and people suffer

buying on margin

practice that allows people to buy stock with a down payment of a portion of the value

National Recovery Administration [NRA]

government agency set up during the Great Depression to enforce new codes designed to stabilize industry

deficit spending

spending more money than it collects in taxes (this results in government debt)

Social Security Act

gives money to retirees, people with disabilities, and families with dependent children

Laissez Faire Policy

Hands off. No government intervention in business. Free market/free trade

Hoover during the Great Depression

believed in volunteer efforts by business and little government intervention, neither helped the Depression.

Conservative Thoughts during the 1930's- Hoover

Provide tax relief, loans, and encouragement to businesses. Discourage federal aid to the poor. Instead, encourage private charities and local and state governments to organize and provide poverty relief. Balance the budget to maintain financial stability. Increase tariffs (taxes) to protect American businesses from foreign competition.

Liberal thoughts during the 1930's

Increase taxes on the income of the wealthy.

Provide direct federal relief to the poor.

Make a massive federal commitment to public works to provide jobs and encourage economic growth.

Provide aid to farmers in the form of loans and payments to take crops out of production until prices for agricultural goods stabilize.

Fireside chats

FDR radio broadcasts to the American people

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Limited fraud in the stock market

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Gave insurance to banks, protecting depositors

Relief

immediate aid, Fix unemployment and poverty

Recovery

Bring back faith in the banks and economy; temporary measures

Reform

Long term, Fix the problems that caused the Great Depression

Bank Holidays

Closing banks to stop people from taking money out

Bank runs

People were running to banks to take their money out before the bank collapsed

What was important about FDR's 1st 100 days in office?

15 new laws were made to fix many problems, every president since has been compared to him

Agricultural Adjustment Administration

Paid farmers to not produce so much food, that way the prices would rise; ruled unconstitutional in 1936; disbanded after World War II

National Industrial Recovery Act

set hours, wages, and prices for workers

What is Keynesian Economics?

government spends more to fix the economy; deficit spending

Public Works Administration (PWA)

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

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

Men and women paid by federal government to do public projects

Father Coughlin

used radio to reach mass audience; Against New Deal and FDR; wealth distribution, nationalize banks

Who was Huey Long?

decided that no person can have more than a few million dollars and that you have to give the rest of your money to the government; "share the wealth"

The National Recovery Act

gave government power to place regulations on state businesses and declared unconstitutional because that was the job of congress, not the president

The Court Packing Plan

Roosevelt's new bill stated that 1. He gets to appoint a new judge of his choosing for every judge that had reached the age of 70 and didn't retire 2. The bill would allow FDR to add 6 new judges, all liberal, who would support him

Roosevelt recession

Unemployment goes back up when Roosevelt cuts PWA and WPA and slows gout spending

Efforts of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt

fought for social reform for women and African Americans

The Dust Bowl

Great Plains struck by a massive draught, top soil blown away and wheat became unable to grow, unable to farm, many head west to work elsewhere

margin call

demand by a broker that investors pay back loans made for stocks purchased on margin

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

Hoovervilles

Shanty towns that the unemployed built in the cities during the early years of the Depression; the name given to them shows that the people blamed Hoover directly for the Depression.

speculation

Act of buying stocks at great risk with the anticipation that the price will rise.

Alfred E. Smith

this American Democratic politician ran against Herbert Hoover during the election of 1928. Because he was both Catholic and anti-Prohibition, he divided the Democratic voting base and lost the election.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Hoover-sponsored federal agency that provided loans to hard-pressed banks and businesses after 1932

Hawley-Smoot Tarriff

high tariff tax- tried to protect American business during Great Depression. Failed.