great depression & the americas

World War 1

first truly global conflict fought between 1914 and 1918

Adolf Hitler

German Nazi dictator during World War II

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII

Joseph Stalin

Communist dictator of the Soviet Union during WWII

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Democratic president who presided over the country during the Great Depression & WW2

John Maynard Keynes

British economist who shaped Great Depression policy

Treaty of Versailles

the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers at the end of World War I which demanded reparations from the Germans

Tripartite Pact

1940 alliance between Japan, Germany, and Italy

Herbert Hoover

31st President of the United States, who presided during the Great Depression

Great Depression

the global economic crisis that affected many nations in the 1930s

Warren Harding

29th president of the US with a "Return to Normalcy" slogan after WWI

Calvin Coolidge

30th U.S. President, known for his quietness ("Silent Cal")

United Fruit Company

American multinational corporation that traded tropical fruit to Europe and the United States

dependent development

when poor countries develop economically with a reliance on wealthy countries

Argentine wheat

primary Argentine export in the 1920s

Brazilian coffee

Brazil's dominant agricultural export in the 1920s

Canada's Conscription Crisis

conflict caused by Canada's decision for mandatory military service in WWI

Canada's Liberal Party

political party with progressive social policies and advocated for Canada's sovereignty

William Lyon Mackenzie King

Canadian prime minister during Great Depression & WWII

Canada's Conservative Party

political party that supports fiscal restraint and traditional values

Arthur Meighen

Conservative Canadian leader known for his support of conscription

Canadian shield

A huge, rocky region that covers half the land area of Canada (central/northern Canada)

Canadian branch plants

factories in Canada created by non-Canadian companies

Andrew Mellon

Secretary of Treasury under President Harding, Coolidge and Hoover

Federal Reserve

the central bank of the United States

Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act

act raised tariffs extremely high and limited foreign trade

Roaring Twenties

term used to describe the economic growth and cultural change in the 1920s

Wall Street Crash

sudden drop in stock prices in 1929 in the United States

Hoovervilles

a shantytown built by unemployed and destitute people during the Depression of the early 1930s

Dust Bowl

A drought in the 1930s that turned abandoned farmland in central North America very dry

Smoot-Hawley Tariff

A high tariff enacted in 1930 during the Great Depression that taxed imported goods in an effort to ward off foreign competition

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Agency established in 1932 to provide emergency relief to large businesses, insurance companies, and banks

Bonus Army

WWI veterans who marched on Washington demanding their bonus pay before the 1945 due date

Hoover Dam

A dam built in the 1930s, with funding from the federal government, to control the Colorado River

the three R's: Relief, Recovery, Reform

pillars of FDR's economic policy to alleviate harm done by the Great Depression

First New Deal

series of economic and social reforms in reponse to the Great Depression

Emergency Banking Act

law that stabilized large banks and gave the Federal Reserve additional power

Economy Act

law that cut salaries and reduced pensions to balance the federal budget

Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act

law that prohibited banks from underwriting securities, restoring trust in banks

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

corporation funded by banks that ensured bank deposits

gold standard

monetary system where currency is linked directly to gold

Agricultural Adjustment Agency (AAA)

federal agency formed to help save family farms of millions of Americans by establishing price stability for their crops

National Recovery Administration (NRA)

agency that promoted economic recovery by regulating production, prices, and wages

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

act that provided funds to local and state governments, and created. millions of jobs

Public Works Administration (PWA)

helped people get jobs doing public projects (highways, bridges, sewers)

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

agency that put young unemployed men to work developing parks, planting trees, and helping in erosion-control and flood-control projects

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

corporation to construct dams and power plants to generate electricity as well as to prevent floods

Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

program that insured loans for building and repairing homes

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

organization made to regulate investment markets

fireside chats

informal talks given by FDR over the radio that helped him gain the confidence of the people

Second New Deal

a new set of programs and reforms launched by FDR in 1935 that were even more progressive than the First New Deal

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

agency that hired jobless people to build public buildings and parks

Federal Project Number One

program sought to encourage pride in American culture and document history by providing work to artists

Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

organization that provided affordable electricity for isolated rural areas.

National Youth Administration (NYA)

an agency that provided young Americans with part-time jobs if they stayed in school

National Labor Relations Board

agency created to help with mediating disputes between management and labor unions

Social Security Board

board created to administer security programs that support the elderly mostly

court-packing plan

FDR's failed attempt to reorganize the Supreme Court and set an age limit for justices at 70

greenbelt communities

towns built to move people away from exhausted farmland caused by the Dust Bowl

Soil Conservation Service (SCS)

program that promoted farming techniques that protected existing farmland and prevented the spread of drought

Third New Deal

series of social and economic reforms from 1937 to 1941 in response to the Great Depression

U.S. Housing Authority (USHA)

agency that provided funding for public housing projects for low-income families

Fair Labor Standards Act

law that established a minimum wage and minimum working hours, giving workers more rights

Roosevelt Recession

term that refers to the financial downturn that occurred in the U.S. in 1937, even after FDR's New Deal policies

Upton Sinclair

political activist who ran for governor of California

Huey Long

politician who served as governor of Louisiana

Floyd Olsen

politician who served as governor of Minnesota

Father Charles Coughlin

Roman Catholic priest in Michigan with a radio program

American Liberty League

pro-industrial lobbying groups formed by members of the DuPont family

Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA)

far-left political party that advocates for the rights of the working class

Milton Friedman

famous American economist who criticized Keynesian economics within New Deal policies

Keynesian economics

macroeconomic theory that emphasizes demand in driving economic output

William Leuchtenberg

American historian who analyzed FDR's New Deal policies (said they were compassionate)

Howard Zinn

American historian and WW2 veteran who criticized New Deal policies

Arthur Schelsinger Jr.

American progressive historian with a generally positive outlook on New Deal policies

Richard Hofstadter

American consensus historian who characterized New Deal policies as opportunistic

Barton Bernstein

American New Left historian who criticized New Deal policies for not going against capitalist forces

David Kennedy

American historian who characterizes New Deal policies as FDR's need for stability

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

American civil rights organization founded to combat racial discrimination against Black Americans

Mexican 'repatriation'

forced/coerced migration of many Latinos to Mexico during the Great Depression due to actual deportations and an environment of fear and xenophobia

Eleanor Roosevelt

former First Lady, wife of Franklin Roosevelt, and a strong advocate of human rights

Federal Writer's Project

New Deal program that financially supported writers affected by the Great Depression

Farm Security Administration

New Deal agency founded to combat rural poverty caused by the Great Depression