Unit Quiz 2

A study guide for Unit Quiz 2 in my class. Does not have everything from the textbook, just what was mentioned on my study guide

Causes of the Great Depression

Unequal distribution of wealth and oligopolies

Reliance on credit

Sick industries and high tariffs (international economic issues)

Stock market boom and bust

Flawed Government policies

Unequal distribution of wealth and oligopolies

Caused problems because the US had created a mass production economy which required mass consumerism. When wages weren’t rising with the cost of living, it meant consumers were pulling back on spending. The creation of oligopolies meant the market had very little response to decreased purchasing power

Reliance on credit

Only prolonged the pull back in consumer spending. Once consumers reached their spending limits, they stopped buying. Which also left banks in a precarious situation

Sick industries and high tariffs

Made selling goods harder, which slowed the economy. Tariffs caused international trade to slow and also meant that the deavestated economies of Europe could not sell anything to repay their debts to the US

Stock market boom and bust

Left many people without money as they had gambled it all on the stock market which they thought could only keep doing well.

Herbert Hoover’s policies during the Great Depression

Smoot Hawley Tariff, 1930

Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1932

Over-reliance on voluntarism and did not use federal intervention

Smoot Hawley Tariff

Made things worse by limiting trade with other nations

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Gave loans to financial companies and businesses for large scale public works projects like the Hoover Dam

The issues with Hoover’s policies

State governments were becoming bankrupt trying to fund relief, and volunteerism had it’s limits. Hoover’s reliance on Hyakian economics meant he was focused on balancing the budget which did not allow for expensive federal intervention

Relief in the New Deal

The idea of providing money, services, materials, or commodities to provide the necessities of life to people in need in response to the Great Depresion

Recovery in the New Deal

An attempt to break the cycle created by the depression (less purchasing power leads to less demand which leads to layoffs which leads to less purchasing power) by creating programs which increased the purchasing power of Americans, usually through publicly funded jobs

Reform in the New Deal

The idea of fixing the system which lead to the Great Depression in the first place

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Furnished state and local relief agencies so more people could be helped

Public Works Administration (PWA)

Provided work relief and built schools, hospitals, courthouses, airports, dams, and bridges

Civilian conservation Corps (CCC)

Employed 2.5 million young men to work on conservation projects

Social Security Act

Provided unemployment compensation; old-age pensions; and aid for dependant moms, kids, and the blind

Wagner Act

Created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which enforced and guaranteed worker’s rights to unionize and forbade unfair labor practices

Franklin Roosevelt

A progressive president who created the New Deal and attempted to end the Great Depression

The Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, and Japan. US enemies during WWII

The Allies

US, Great Britain, France, and Russia. US allies during WWII

Pearl Harbor

An attack which caused the US to declare war on Japan. It killed over 2,300 Americans and the US Pacific Fleet was mostly destroyed

Executive order 9066

Authorized the secretary of war to remove civilian residents who were threats to national security and targeted 112,000 Japanese Americans

Japanese Internment

A forced relocation and imprisonment of Japanese Americans into concentration camps because the US government feared they may betray the US if Japan attacked the Pacific Coast

Rationing

Affected Americans during the war, rationing was a requirement unlike rationing in WWI. Rubber, Meat, Oil and other commodities were rationed during this time.

Women’s roles in the war effort during WWII

They were usually relegated to non-combative work. When they were allowed to participate, like with the WASPS, these groups were dissolved once men were able to enter the field. Fathers and husbands were drafted leaving families with one provider, but new jobs opened up because of the draft

United Nations (UN)

An international organization that takes after the League of Nations which is intended to promote peaceful cooperation between nations and to avoid war

The Cold War

A fight between the US and the USSR who had been established as the two world superpowers following WWII. Neither nation declared war, but they fought proxy wars and did reach near nuclear war several times