Textbook Terms, Chapter 24

Focuses on the different actions and consequences of the New Deal to end the Great Depression.

Agricultural Adjustment Act

1933 New Deal law that attempted to raise farm prices by paying farmers to reduce crop production; later declared unconstitutional but revised versions continued federal support for agriculture.

"Bank Holiday"

Emergency measure declared by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 that temporarily closed all banks to stop panic withdrawals and allow the government to inspect banks before reopening stable ones.

Broker State

Term used by historians to describe the New Deal government acting as a mediator that distributed resources and negotiated among competing economic interest groups such as business, labor, and farmers.

Charles E. Coughlin

Catholic priest and radio broadcaster who initially supported the New Deal but later criticized it for not doing enough for the poor and promoted controversial economic and political ideas.

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

Major labor union federation founded in 1935 that organized workers in mass-production industries like steel and automobiles and supported New Deal labor protections.

Court-Packing Plan

Controversial 1937 proposal by Franklin D. Roosevelt to add additional justices to the Supreme Court after it struck down several New Deal laws; widely criticized as an attempt to gain control of the Court.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Influential First Lady and reform advocate who promoted civil rights, women’s rights, and New Deal relief programs while expanding the public role of the First Lady.

Federal Writers' Project

New Deal program under the Works Progress Administration that employed writers during the Great Depression to produce guidebooks, local histories, and interviews including narratives from formerly enslaved people.

Frances Perkins

Secretary of Labor under Franklin D. Roosevelt and the first woman to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet; a key architect of Social Security and labor reforms.

Francis E. Townsend

Doctor who proposed the Townsend Plan, calling for government pensions for elderly Americans to stimulate the economy and provide retirement security.

Banking (Glass-Steagall Act)

1933 banking reform law that separated commercial banking from investment banking and created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect bank deposits.

Harry Hopkins

Close advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt who directed major relief programs such as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Works Progress Administration.

Huey Long

Louisiana senator and populist critic of the New Deal who proposed the "Share Our Wealth" program to redistribute wealth and provide income guarantees for Americans.

John Collier

Commissioner of Indian Affairs during the New Deal who promoted Native American self-government and helped pass the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

John L. Lewis

Powerful labor leader and founder of the Congress of Industrial Organizations who helped organize industrial workers and expand union membership during the New Deal.

Marian Anderson

Renowned African American contralto singer whose 1939 performance at the Lincoln Memorial became a landmark event after she was denied a concert venue due to racial segregation.

National Recovery Administration (NRA)

New Deal agency created by the National Industrial Recovery Act to regulate industry by setting wages, hours, and production codes to stabilize the economy during the Great Depression.

Schechter Brothers Case

1935 Supreme Court decision that declared the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional, ruling that the federal government had exceeded its power to regulate interstate commerce.

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A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935) was a landmark SCOTUS case that unanimously ruled the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) unconstitutional. The Court held that NIRA violated the separation of powers by delegating legislative authority to the President and exceeded Congress's Commerce Clause power by regulating local, intrastate commerce

Second New Deal

Phase of New Deal reforms (1935–1938) that expanded social welfare programs, labor protections, and government regulation, including Social Security and stronger support for unions.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Federal regulatory agency created in 1934 to oversee the stock market, prevent fraud, and restore investor confidence after the stock market crash.

Sit-Down Strike

Labor protest tactic used in the 1930s in which workers occupied factories and refused to leave until employers recognized unions, famously used in the Flint auto workers strike against General Motors.

Social Security Act

Landmark 1935 New Deal law establishing a national system of old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid for vulnerable groups.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

New Deal agency that built dams and power plants in the Tennessee Valley to provide electricity, flood control, and economic development to a poor regional area.