UNIT 8 Facts and Terms

Federal Housing Administration

New Deal Program created by the National Housing Act of 1934 with the goal to subsidize and insure mortgages for home buyers, expand home ownership opportunities, and stop foreclosures. However, also introduced the idea of "redlining" whereby certain, predominantly Black areas were not insured/ homes were not sold to Black families in white areas.

Public Works Administration

New Deal Program established in 1933. Over the ten years it existed, it funded over 70% of new educational facilities, 65% of new courthouses, and 35% of new roads. It provided tens of thousands of jobs during the Great Depression.

"Okies"

Used to describe poor migrants who moved West, usually to California, to escape the Dust Bowl. The majority of migrants were from Oklahoma, but "Okies" was used to describe all migrants impacted by the Dust Bowl.

FDR

32nd POTUS, Roosevelt was the architect of the New Deal and won four elections (1932-1945), died shortly after winning his fourth election. He saw America through both the Great Depression and WWII, was the first President to use the media (radio) to speak directly to the American people, and greatly grew the role of the federal government through his New Deal programs.

Calvin Coolidge

30th POTUS, Coolidge was best known for doing very little. He tried to keep government involvement to a minimum, and used his veto power to strike down bills he felt would grow governmental power. Nickname was "Silent Cal"

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Hoover established the in 1932 with the purpose to restore faith in the American banking and economic system, provide emergency funding to banks, and subsidize agriculture, commerce, and industry.

Brain Trust

FDR's group of close advisors who helped him strategize to win the 1932 election, and helped him weigh his ideas of public policy and draft speeches.

Mcnary Haugen Bill

This bill would have subsidized American agriculture by raising the price of five major crops, have the government buy the crops and then export them at a loss. It was passed by the House and Senate, but vetoed by Coolidge.

"pump priming"

An economic principle from Keynesian economics that encouraged large government spending to "prime the pump" for the economy; to add a little bit of money to get the whole economy moving again.

Lost Generation

Term used to describe the generation that came of age during WWI; famous figures include Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and EE Cummings.

John Steinbeck

Incredibly popular author who wrote about the struggles of farmers, Okies, and migrants in his books. Famous works include "Of Mice and Men," "Grapes of Wrath," and "East of Eden."

Civilian Conservation Corps

New Deal Program that employed primarily young men with dependents to work on planting trees, maintaining public land, and other conservation activities throughout the American West. Each man earned $30 per week, and sent $25 of it home to his family.

Agricultural Adjustment Act

New Deal Program that sought to solve the problem of overproduction on farms. The government paid farmer subsidies to not plant on part of their land and bought up cattle. The government also bought up corn, tobacco, wheat cotton, beans, and rice. This act was declared unconstitutional in 1936.

Great Crash/Black Tuesday

October 24, 1929, the day the stock market crashed, leading to over $700 million of loss in a single day

John Lewis/CIO

MIllions of Americans joined this union, and Lewis organized many strikes, marches, and advocated for worker's rights throughout the 1930s.

Teapot Dome Scandal

One of the biggest scandals in US history, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall used his position to sell coveted public land to oil companies in return for kickbacks, bonds, and stocks. Fall was convicted and became the first sitting cabinet member to be convicted of a crime.

Herbert Hoover

31st POTUS, largely blamed by the population for the Great Depression. He created some programs, largely working with private business, to try to curb the economic hardships, but it was too little too late.

Scopes Trial

Also known as the "Monkey Trials," tested the legality of teaching evolution in public schools. John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution and put on trial which garnered national attention. William Jennings Bryan, argued for the prosecution, and Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. This brought the debate over teaching evolution in schools to the national stage.

Margaret Sanger

birth control activist, nurse, and women's sexual health advocate, Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and collaborated in the creation of the first birth control pill.

Hoovervilles

Name given to the shanty-towns made from cardboard and corrugated tin, an expression that captured the anger many Americans impacted by the Depression held towards Hoover

Sinclair Lewis

activist, author, and playwright who became the first American to win the Pulitzer Prize in literature in 1930. His work was critical of American capitalism and consumerism in the 1920s and 30s.

Normalcy

World War I and the Spanish flu had upended life, and Harding said that it altered the perspective of humanity. Harding argued that the solution was to seek normalcy by restoring life to how it was before the war. Harding's conception of normalcy for the 1920s included deregulation, civic engagement, and isolationism.

Social Security Act

New Deal Program that created the Social Security Administration to create old age, maternal, and other disability benefits.

Dust Bowl

A series of geological events such as extreme heat, drought, and high winds that made agriculture impossible throughout the midwest of America.

N.I.R.A.

A New Deal Program that set prices, wages, and restricted new competitors. Thousands of businesses signed up to participate, but the program was declared unconstitutional in 1935.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

A 1930 tariff that was meant to protect American industry and business, but instead contributed to the decrease of international trade and worsening of the worldwide Great Depression.

Harlem Renaissance

An explosion of Black art in Harlem, N.Y. that was Black artists writing about their experience in America. Poets, artists, photographers, and musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington all got their start during this era.

Tennessee Valley Authority

A New Deal Program that brought federally subsidized power to one of the poorest areas of the country. It provided tens of thousands of jobs, but required people to move out of their homes as dams were built and certain areas were flooded.

Immigration Quota Act

Also known as the Johnson Reed Act, this set limits on immigration based on which country the immigrants were coming from, known as national origin quotas. The US allowed thousands of immigrants from various European countries, but completely barred immigration from Asian countries.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

An author who wrote about the excesses of the extravagance of the 1920s, most famous book is "The Great Gatsby."

Indian Reorganization Act

Pushed through Congress by John Collier, the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs, this act allowed indigenous tribes to create their own constitutions and take collective ownership over the reservations, reversing the Dawes Act. However, not all tribes accepted the conditions, and there was opposition to its passage among various indigenous tribes and individuals

Bonus Expeditionary Force

Also known as the Bonus Army, it was a group of WWI veterans who marched on Washington, D.C. in 1932 to demand early payment of their service bonuses. The House passed a bill that gave the veterans their money early, but the Senate voted it down. Four years later, Congress did give the veterans their money early, overriding Roosevelt's veto.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration

A New Deal program established in 1933, it provided states with federal funds to help provide relief at the state level. This was replaced by the WPA in 1935.

Wagner National Labor Relations Act

Guarantees protection for unions and the right to collectively bargain, created the National Relations Labor Board to enforce the act.

Flappers

Women in the 1920s who pushed back against traditional Victorian feminine norms by wearing revealing clothes, dancing the Charleston, listening to jazz, and participating in unladylike activities (i.e., smoking, drinking, riding bikes, and driving cars)

Bank Holiday

A holiday declared by FDR after he was inaugurated, this shut down banks nationwide to try to give them time to recoup money and stop panicked customers from storming the banks.

Court-Packing

The biggest scandal in FDR's administration, he tried to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices after his sweeping re-election victory in 1936 to guarantee judicial support for his New Deal plan. Commonly seen as blatant grab for power and attempt to circumvent checks and balances.

Frances Perkins

The first woman appointed in a presidential cabinet, she served as FDR's Secretary of Labor and worked closely with Roosevelt to support and enact his New Deal programs.

Works Progress Administration

A New Deal program that employed thousands of artists, historians, poets, and authors in various government efforts (i.e., creating government propaganda for New Deal programs, interviewing former slaves, and writing government sponsored newspaper articles)

Scottsboro Case

Nine Black American boys were accused of raping two white women; the trial in Scottsboro found eight of the nine guilty by an all white jury and they were sentenced to death. The mishandling of the trial led to protests in the North, and the convictions were overturned on appeal, though not before the eight convicted men had served over 100 years in prison collectively. Helped spur the Civil Rights Movement and came to represent the unfairness of the judicial system.

Huey Long

Known as the Kingfish, Long was a populist governor of Louisiana who rose to prominence for criticizing the New Deal for not being radical enough.