APUSH Chapter 31 - The Great Depression and the New Deal (1933-1939)

Brain Trust

Many of the advisers who helped Roosevelt during his presidential candidacy continued to aid him after he entered the White House. A newspaperman once described the group as "Roosevelt's Brain Trust." They were more influential than the Cabinet.

New Deal

A series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending 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: 100 days.

Glass-Steagall Banking Act

Created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures the accounts of depositors of its member banks. It outlawed banks investing in the stock market.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

an agency, established as part of the New Deal, that put young unemployed men to work building roads, developing parks, planting trees, and helping in erosion-control and flood-control projects.

National Recovery Administration (NRA)

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was a prime agency established by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) in 1933. The goal of the administration was to eliminate "cut throat competition" by bringing industry, labor, and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

Gave farmers money to reduce crop size to reduce production and bring up the value of crops

Dust Bowl

Region of the Great Plains that experienced a drought in 1930 lasting for a decade, leaving many farmers without work or substantial wages.

Indian Reorganization Act

1934 - Restored tribal ownership of lands, recognized tribal constitutions and government, and provided loans for economic development.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

a federal corporation established in 1933 to construct dams and power plants in the Tennessee Valley region to generate electricity as well as to prevent floods

Social Security Act

(FDR) 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

Wagner Act

1935, also National Labor Relations Act; granted rights to unions; allowed collective bargaining

Fair Labor Standards Act

1938 act which provided for a minimum wage and restricted shipments of goods produced with child labor

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

union organization of unskilled workers; broke away from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1935 and rejoined it in 1955

Court Packing Plan

President FDR's failed 1937 attempt to increase the number of US Supreme Court Justices from 9 to 15 in order to save his 2nd New Deal programs from constitutional challenges

Keynesianism

the belief the government must manage the economy by spending more money when in a recession and cutting spending when there is inflation

Franklin D. Roosevelt

32nd US President - He began New Deal programs to help the nation out of the Great Depression, and he was the nation's leader during most of WWII

Eleanor Roosevelt

FDR's Wife and New Deal supporter. Was a great supporter of civil rights and opposed the Jim Crow laws. She also worked for birth control and better conditions for working women

Harry L. Hopkins

A New York social worker who headed the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Civil Works Administration. He helped grant over 3 billion dollars to the states wages for work projects, and granted thousands of jobs for jobless Americans.

Father Charles Coughlin

a critic of the New Deal; created the National Union for Social Justice; wanted a monetary inflation and the nationalization of the banking system

Francis E. Townsend

A doctor and critic of FDR's who proposed that everyone 60 years of age or older should get $200 a month as long as they spent it within 30 days.

Huey Long

"Kingfish" Rep. senator of LA; pushed "Share Our Wealth" program and make "Every Man a King' at the expense of the wealthy

John Steinbeck

American novelist who wrote "The Grapes of Wrath". (1939) A story of Dustbowl victims who travel to California to look for a better life.

Frances Perkins

U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman ever appointed to the cabinet.

Mary McLeod Bethune

United States educator who worked to improve race relations and educational opportunities for Black Americans (1875-1955)

Robert F. Wagner

A Democratic senator from New York State from 1927-1949, he was responsible for the passage of some of the most important legislation enacted through the New Deal. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 was popularly known as the Wagner Act in honor of the senator. He also played a major role in the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 and the Wagner-Steagall Housing Act of 1937.