US History: The Great Depression and World War II

Flashcards about US History: The Great Depression and World War II

What is the Stock Market Crash?

The stock market crash of 1929, also known as Black Tuesday.

What is the Great Depression?

A period of severe economic downturn in the 1930s, characterized by widespread poverty and unemployment.

What are Hoovervilles?

Areas of makeshift shacks inhabited by homeless people during the Great Depression.

What is the New Deal?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's program to combat the Great Depression.

What is the Dust Bowl?

An environmental disaster in the 1930s caused by drought and poor farming practices.

What is the Civilian Conservation Corps?

An agency that provided jobs for young men in conservation projects.

What is the Tennessee Valley Authority?

An agency that aimed to improve the Tennessee River system and promote economic development in the region.

What is the Social Security Act of 1935?

An act that established a national old-age insurance program and unemployment compensation.

What is the Fair Labor Standards Act 1937?

An act that created the right to a minimum wage and overtime pay.

What is the Wealth Tax?

Increased income tax rates for higher income brackets during the New Deal era.

What is the Johnson Act 1934?

U.S. could not lend money to foreign nations that had not paid their war debts.

What are the Neutrality Acts ‘35, ‘36, ’37?

Keep US completely neutral, no selling of war stuff, Americans can’t travel on warring countries’ ships, no loans or credits for countries at war.

What is the Ludlow Amendment?

Introduced by Louis Ludlow, in attempts of giving citizens more power over decisions relating to war.

What is the Munich Conference?

Conference where leaders agreed to allow Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, in an attempt at appeasement.

What is Cash-and-Carry?

Neutrality ‘37 allowed nations at war to buy non-military goods if they paid in cash and transported goods themselves.

What is Selective Service Act H.R. 1776?

Act authorized the U.S. to provide military aid to nations whose defense was deemed vital to American security.

What is the Atlantic Charter?

Outlines post-war goals: self-determination, economic cooperation, disarmament, and freedom of the seas.

What is Pearl Harbor?

Japan launched a surprise air raid on the U.S. Pacific Fleet stationed here on December 7, 1941.

What is the Battle of Midway?

Stopped Japanese expansion in Asia and was a major defeat for the Japanese Navy.

What is the Battle of Guadalcanal?

The Allies gained control of the Solomon Islands

What is the Battle of the Atlantic?

Fought in the Atlantic Ocean between Allied and Axis powers, primarily involving U-boats.

What is Casablanca?

City where FDR and Churchill met to determine strategy and issue the Casablanca Declaration.

What is the Sicily Campaign (Operation Husky)?

Allied invasion of Sicily, leading to Mussolini's downfall.

What is D-Day?

The largest seaborne invasion in history, aimed at liberating Western Europe from Nazi control.

What is the Battle of the Bulge?

Germany launched a surprise attack on Allied forces in the Ardennes forest in December 1944.

What is the Yalta Conference?

Determining the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe, including the establishment of the United Nations.

What is the Manhattan Project?

Top-secret U.S. government research and development program during World War II that produced the first atomic bombs.

What is the Holocaust?

Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German- occupied Europe.

What is Executive Order 9066?

Authorized the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans and immigrants after Pearl Harbor.

What were the main causes of the Stock Market Crash of 1929?

Speculative investing, overproduction, and risky bank loans.

What were the major effects of the Great Depression on American society?

Massive unemployment, bank failures, and widespread poverty.

What was the primary goal of the New Deal?

To provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression.

What were the main causes of the Dust Bowl?

Severe drought and unsustainable agricultural practices.

What was the main purpose of the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s?

To keep the U.S. out of potential European conflicts by limiting trade and travel with warring nations.