American Journey - Chapter 25 Terms - The Depression and FDR 1929-1941
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42 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Stock market | A general term used to describe all transactions involving the buying and selling of stock shares issued by a company. |
| Stock exchange | An organized system for buying and selling shares, or blocks of investments, in corporations. |
| Buying on margin | Paying only a fraction of the stock price and borrowing the rest from their brokers, who would in turn borrow their money from banks. As long as the value of stocks rose, the buying could sell later, pay back the borrowed money, and make a profit. |
| Black Thursday | October 24, 1929; stock market crashes and almost 13 million shares are sold that day alone because panicked traders were worried that they would lose all of their money now that the prices of stocks were plummeting. |
| Depression | 1930s; the United States slides into this severe economic crisis. The nation's economic output dropped 43%, from $104 billion in 1929 to $58 billion in 1932. Banks failed, millions of people lost jobs, etc. Things that led to this were an unbalanced economy, credit crisis, international depression, joblessness, and poverty. |
| Hoovervilles | Shanty-towns made out of old boxes grouped together by unemployed people who had lost their homes. They were referred to this because of President Hoover's failure to act. |
| Public works | Prjoects such as highways, parks, and libraries. |
| Reconstruction Finance Corporation | 1932; (RFC) - Hoover let Congress create this program to lend money to businesses and to provide funds for state and local programs providing relief. However, the RFC's budget remained almost unspent because it was reluctant to make risky loans. |
| Bonus Army | In 1932, 20,000 WWI veterans of this group marched to Washington D.C. to demand their $1000 bonus promised to them in 1945. They were turned down, but 2,000 families vowed to stay. Hoover then ordered Douglas MacArthur and his aid Dwight D. Eisenhower to lead cavalry, machine guns, etc. to burn their homes and scatter the veterans. |
| FDR | The Democratic president in 1932; "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people." He was ambitious and charming, and as soon as he won his election, he began experimentation with new programs to help the nation. He reasurred people and promised immediate |
| Brain Trust | A group of progressive lawyers, economists, and social workers whom FDR drew advice from to come up with relief programs. He counted on this group to help him guide the nation to recovery. |
| Election of 1932 | FDR wins by a landslide in this election. He captured all but six states and received 472 of the 531 electoral votes. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror." - inauguration |
| Fireside chats | Informal radio talks that were named __________ ______ because he sat next to a fireplace in the White House as he spoke. These talks helped FDR gain the public's confidence. |
| Hundred Days | The special session of Congress that Roosevelt called to launch his programs at the beginning of his presidency, lasting for about 3 months. It was an amazingly productive time. "The gloom, the tenseness, the fear of the closing months of the Hoover administration had vanished." |
| New Deal | The new laws that Congress passed during the Hundred Days - and in the months and years that followed. These laws and regulations affected banking, the stock market, industry, agriculture, public works, relief for the poor, and conservation of resources. |
| Civilian Conservation Corps | 1933; (CCC) - this employed about 3 million young men to work on projects that benefited the public, planting trees to reforest areas, building levees for flood control, and improving national parks. |
| Federal Emergency Relief Administration | 1933; (FERA) - this gave money to the states for use in helping people in need, led by Harry Hopkins. This aided the poor and suffering. |
| Agriculture Adjustment Act | 1933; (AAA) - this act had two goals - to raise farm prices quickly and to control production so that farm prices would stay up over the long term. This group paid farmers to destroy crops, milk, and livestock/not farm to raise prices. The AAA paid subsidies to make up for the money they lost. This was ruled unconstitutional in 1936 for invading the reserved powers of the states. |
| Tennessee Valley Authority | 1933; (TVA) - this employed men to control flooding, promote conservation and development, and bring electricity to rural areas along the TN River. The TVA built dams to provide cheap power and to prevent floods. The system was attacked until in 1927, the dams saved the TN River from flooding. |
| National Industrial Recovery Act | 1933; (NIRA) - this aimed to boost the economy by helping business regulate itself. The NIRA created the NRA and the PWA. |
| National Recovery Act | 1933; (NRA) this encouraged businesses to set a minimum wage and abolish child labor. It set up codes governing pricing and other practices for every industry. The agency had a blue eagle symbol and slogan - "We Do Our Part." |
| Public Works Administration | 1933; (PWA) - this employed people to build ports, school, aircraft carriers, hospitals, etc. |
| Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation | 1933; (FDIC) - this insured bank deposits from $2,500 to $5,000. The government guaranteed that money placed in a bank insured by the FDIC would not be lost if the bank failed. |
| Securities and Exchange Commission | 1934; (SEC) - this law gave the SEC the power to punish dishonest stockbrokers and speculators. |
| Eleanor Roosevelt | The best-known woman in American public life. She acted as FDR's "eyes and ears." She made many trips for the president because of his polio and campaigned for women, minorities, and other humanitarian concerns. She wrote a daily newspaper column and had boundless energy. |
| Dust Bowl | 1930s; the region in the southern Great Plains that was hit with "black blizzards," or strong prairie winds that blew the soil away in rolling black storms. Causes of the ______ _______ were over-farming, droughts, heaving industrial farming equipment, and weak plant roots. 400,000 farmers had to migrate to California and become migrant workers. |
| Migrant worker | A farmer who has to move from place to place to harvest fruits and vegetables. Many were called "Okies" because so many of them were from Oklahoma. |
| Spanish Civil War | 1936; fascists were trying to take over the Spanish government, supported by Germany and Italy. America remained neutral, but over 3,000 Americans went to Spain to fight against the fascists. |
| Charles Coughlin | A Detroit priest who reached millions of listeners through his radio program. He attacked FDR for not dealing firmly enough with big business - "Franklin Double-Crossing Roosevelt." He eventually lost support through his extreme views to attack bankers, Jews, Communists, etc. |
| Francis Townsend | A California doctor who had a plan for a monthly pension, or payment, for older people. Older workers who quit their jobs could make them available to younger people. It forced many Americans to think about the plight of the elderly poor and the needs of retired people. |
| Huey Long | The Senator of Louisiana who won wide support with public works projects and attacks on big businesses. One of his major complaints against FDR was that he had not taken steps to redistribute wealth. This man had his own plan - "Share Our Wealth Plan" - that called for taxing the rich heavily, then using that money to give every American a home and $2,500. He was assassinated in 1935 before he could run for president in 1936. |
| Second New Deal | 1935; a new set of programs and reforms launched by FDR. These laws passed changed American life even more than the Hundred Days had done. |
| Works Progress Administration | 1935; (WPA) - this gave jobs to about 2 million people between 1935 and 194. Led by Harry Hopkins, the WPA built/repaired 800 airports, 650,000 miles of roads, etc. It also employed writers, artists, and musicians to decorate buildings/document life in America. |
| Social Security Act | 1935; (SSA) - this created a tax on workers and employers. That money provided monthly pensions for retired people. Another tax funded unemployment insurance to people who lost their jobs. The SSA also helped people with disabilities, the elderly poor, and unsupported children. |
| John L. Lewis | The head of the United Mine Workers. He was the most influential labor leader in the 1930s. He also strived to unite workers in every industry in a single union. |
| American Federation of Labor | Unions representing only skilled workers. Lewis then called for industrial unions to include unskilled workers-the largest group in the labor force. |
| Congress of Industrial Organizations | 1935; (CIO) - founded by John Lewis to help create industrial unions. By 1938, the CIO had over 4 million members, including large numbers of women and African Americans. |
| Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act) | 1935; named after its sponsor, Senator Robert Wagner of NY. It guaranteed workers the right to form unions to bargain collectively with employers. This act alos created the National Labor Relations Board to enforce its provisions. |
| Fair Labor Standards Act | 1938; (FLSA) - banned child labor and set a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour. |
| Election of 1936 | In this election, FDR received 61% of the popular vote, the biggest landslide in an American presidential election to that time. His support came from progressives and liberals, the poor and unemployed, urban workers, and A-As. |
| "Court-Packing" | This was FDR's plan to add 6 new justices (who of course would uphold the New Deal) to the Supreme Court, from 9 to 15. Critics accused the president of trying to "pack" the Court and ruin the system of checks and balances set up in the Constitution. The plan was thrown out soon, but it cost FDR a great deal of support and triggered a split in the Demo. Party. |
| Roosevelt Recession | The ___________ ___________ was an economic downturn in which farm prices dropped, four million lost their jobs again, and times were almost as hard as those in 1932-1933. This was because FDR had tried to reduce the government's debt by cutting spending on relief and job programs. |
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