CH.8 The Great Depression VIP

Bonus Army

a $1000 bonus for WW1 was promised in 1924 to be paid around 1945; 1000s of veterans traveled to Washington DC to demand payment of the bonus in 1932; the army was called out to disperse them and they did not get the bonus

dust bowl

a drought hit the great plains from north Dakota to texas (1932); with very little rainfall the grass dies and the wind blew the topsoil (dust) away

Stock Market

a place where people buy and sell shares of a company or business

Bull Market

a time of rising stock prices

John Steinbeck

author; wrote the Grapes of Wrath; book described the migration of Dust Bowl farmers to California

public works

buildings projects paid for by the government; ports, airports, highways, etc

Margin

buying stock by only paying a small portion of what the stocks cost (credit or loan)

speculation

buying very risky stock in hopes that price would rise quickly just sell when it was high enough

soap opera

day time radio show that were sponsored by soap companies; allowed people to escape reality for an hour

Alfred E. Smith

first roman catholic to be nominated to run for president; key issue of 1928 election was his religion affiliation

hobo

homeless people that rode railroad cars across the country looking for work

Grant Wood

led the regionalist school of art; most famous painting is American Gothic

William Faulkner

made the writing style called steam of consciousness popular (the reader knows what the character thinks and feels before they speak

installment

pay a small down payment and the pay the rest in small payments every month

Foreclosure

repossessing a farm after the payments on a loan were not made

Shantytown

shacks on unused land or parks that were made from scrap lumber, metal and junk

Hoovervilles

shantytown named after president hoover, because the public believed hoover was calloused and did nothing to help end the depression

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

since many banks had closed, the gov began loaning out money to businesses; within 6 months loaned out $238 million

margin call

when stockbrokers demand that the price of the stock is to be paid in full

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

(1930) raised the average tariff rates to the highest in US history

Walt Disney

1937 produced the first feature length movie, snow white and the seven dwarfs

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929; largest loss in the stock market for a single day ($10-15 million)