American History Chapter 23: The Great Depression
What are the long-term effects the supports of the New Deal see?
1) Lifted millions of people out of poverty 2) Improved working conditions 3) Improved countries infrastructure 4) Restored many American's faith in government
What were the main provisions of the social security act?
1) Pension insurance for the retired 2) Aid for dependent children 3) Financial aid for the disabled 4) Unemployment insurance for people who lost their jobs
What are the long-term effects the critics of the New Deal see?
1) Too much government involved in business 2) Increased nation's debt 3) Ultimately failed to end Great Depression 4) Didn't follow Constitution
FDR
32nd President of the United States. Brought the country out of the Great Depression with the New Deal.
What was the 'black cabinet"?
A group of high-ranking appointees who advised the President on African American issues. Mary McLeod Bethune and William Hastie were members.
Deficit Spending
A situation in which the government spends more money than it receives in taxes.
Bonus
Additional sum of money.
What were Hoovervilles?
Areas where homeless people congregated. There were entire communities made up. They got there name after the President at the time, President Hoover, blaming him for doing nothing.
Francis Townsend
California Doctor. Called for a system of government pensions.
Charles Coughlin
Catholic Priest; used the radio to show distrust in FDR's policies on banking and money.
John Collier
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, hired Native Americans to build schools, hospitals and irrigation systems.
Huey Long
Democratic Senator of Louisiana. Argued the government could end depression immediately. Proposed tax to wealthy - radio speeches named "Share our Wealth"
Default
Failure to repay loans.
Bankruptcy
Finalcial failure caused by an inability to pay one's debts.
Mary McLeod Bethune
Friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, Educator, became top ranking African American in government.
John L. Lewis
Head of the United Mine Workers, formed committee for Industrial Organization, later renamed Congress of Industrial Organization.
What actions did President Hoover take to ease the economic crisis?
Hoover's solution was to let individual governments and communities work it out themselves, seeing as he was a proponent of small government. He met with many of them and encouraged them to help. As a last minute resort before he left office he created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
Fireside Chat
Informal radio speech first given by president FDR while in office.
How did the FDIC protect bank depositors?
It guaranteed a certain amount of money ($2500) to all the people with accounts in the bank. It gave people protection if the bank failed and restored peoples faith in banks.
How did the Wagner Act protect workers?
It guaranteed workers' rights to organize into unions and prohibited unfair business practice, such as firing union members.
Why do you think Hoover wanted business leaders and local governments to take the lead?
Local Government knew better what their community need rather than have the federal government make assumptions and generalizations.
Eleanor Roosevlet
Most famous working women in the country - FDR's wife. Civil rights advocate
Migrant Worker
Person who moves form one region to another in search of work.
Civil Rights
Rights guaranteed in the Constitution, especially voting and equal treatment under the law.
Frances Perkins
Secretary of Labor, first women to serve in congress, backed major labor reforms.
Marian Anderson
Singer, wasn't allowed to perform at Daughters of American Revolution gathering, but Eleanor Roosevelt protested and arranged for her to sing at Lincoln Memorial on Easter.
Overproduction
Situation in which the supply of manufactured goods exceeds the demand.
Pension
Sum of money paid regularly as a retirement benefit.
Payroll tax
Tax that removes money directly from workers' paychecks.
Collective Bargaining
The right of a union to negotiate wages and benefits for all of its members.
What happened on Black Tuesday?
The stock market crashed. Many people tried to sell but left with nothing but a slip of paper. It brought many people to nothing overnight.
How did the CCC and WPA help the jobless?
They created jobs in time of need, while at the same time they were bettering the countries infrastructure and cities. ( WPA worked with nature and nature conservation)
What challenges did women face during the Great Depression?
They faced competition for jobs as males were more likely to be chosen, they were often the 1st to be let go, women with domestic jobs were fired on account of people not have money to pay them. They faced many new challenges on finding new ways to make money.
What happens when a company or individual defaults on a loan?
They fail to repay the loan.
What did Mexican Americans and Okies do as migrant workers?
They traveled from farm to farm to pick crops for low wages.
What was the goal of the bonus army?
To get the money that the government promised them before 1945, the date set to receive the money. They were protesting for $1000, money that they need at the present moment.
What caused the Dust Bowl (Black Blizzard) in the 1930's?
Very little rain made the land dry, and the new farming techniques farmers used included stripping the land of native soils that created dust because of the lack of rain.
The New Deal
What was President Roosevelt's plan to help people called?
When would a company declare bankruptcy?
When a company was unable to pay its debts, leading it to financial failure.
Why were many Mexican Americans expelled form the country during the Great Depression?
When white men started to look for new jobs they decided they could do the jobs of migrant workers. And of the migrant workers that farmers hired were illegal immigrants, so the Americans wanted them gone. The end result were many thousands of people being deported.
How can overpopulation hurt the economy?
With much being produced with little demand their is a great loss of money, the prices rise faster than the salaries.
Sit-Down Strike
Workers stay in a factory, but stop production.
John Steinbeck
Writer of Grapes of Wrath, a novel that captures the miseries of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.