Unit 8
John Dos passos
"Big Money" author who depicted the harsh urban realities of his native Chicago and hired by wpa
Margaret Mitchell
"Gone with the Wind" author who amplified the sugar coated South
John Steinbeck
"The Grapes of Wrath" tells the story of a family uprooted by the Dust Bowl making their way to CA
Quarantine Speech
"quarantining" aggressors with embargoes, but what would he have done after that? Isolationists then had a wave of protest.
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
(HH) 1930 , charged a high tax for imports thereby leading to less trade between America and foreign countries along with some economic retaliation, HIGHEST EVER
Resettlement Administration
Administration that helps move farmers away from Dust Bowl stricken areas
Spanish Cival War
Bloody Cival War under control of Franco. allowed Spain to become a fascist dictatorship.
German appeasment
Britain and France consented to Germany taking Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, promising that he only wanted that land. LIAR!
Charles Coughlin
Catholic priest who used his popular radio program to criticize the New Deal; he grew increasingly anti-Roosevelt and anti-Semitic until he was silenced.
London Economic Conference
Conference in 1933 subverted by FDR's attempts to protect US dollars from deflation
"Managed Currency"
FDR took the country off the gold standard and then inflated the currency by buying gold at higher prices. To relieve the misery of the debtor.
"Constitutional Revolution of 1937"
FDR tried packing the supreme court with people who supported the New Deal but it backfired and shifted in court
Eleanor Roosevelt
FDR's Wife and New Deal supporter. Was a great supporter of civil rights and opposed the Jim Crow laws. She also worked for birth control and better conditions for working women, she was FDR's "legs".
Good Neighbor policy
FDR's foreign policy of promoting better relations w/Latin America by using economic influence rater than military force in the region
Benito Mussolini
Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943.
Francisco Franco
Fascist leader of the Spanish revolution, helped by Hitler and Mussolini
Al Smith
Governor of New York four times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928. He was the first Roman Catholic and Irish-American to run for President as a major party nominee. He lost the election to Herbert Hoover.
Rape of Nanking
Japan invaded China, proper beginning to WW2, and went into ancient capital Nanking and committed countless atrocities
Nye Report
Report by US Senate. Supported US neutrality, by stating that US banks and corporations hoping to profit had tricked them into entering WWI.
Cordell Hull
Secretary of State under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and founder of the United Nation.
Manchurian Incident
Situation in 1931 when Japanese troops, claiming that Chinese soldiers had tried to blow up a railway line, took matters into their own hands by capturing several southern Manchurian cities, and by continuing to take over the country even after Chinese troops had withdrawn.
Neutrality Acts
The Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937 stipulated that when the president proclaimed the existence of a foreign war certain restrictions would automatically go into effect. No American could legally sail on a belligerent ship, or sell or transport munitions to a belligerent nation, or make loans to a belligerent. This displayed that America was not willing to go to war and desired to remain neutral and isolationist.
Alfred M. Landon
The governor of Kansas, chosen candidate for the Republicans in the campaign of 1936. A moderate who accepted some New Deal Reforms, but not the Social Security Act. His loss to FDR was mainly because he never appealed to the "forgotten man".
Frances Perkins
U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman ever appointed to the cabinet.As a loyal supporter of her friend Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition.
"The Black Cabinet"
a group of African American advisors to FDR
fascism
a political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition
"Merchants of Death"
blamed involvement in WW1 on business people
Buying on Margin
buying stock with a little money down with the promise of paying the balance at sometime in the future. Pay a little and borrow the rest
overproduction and under-consumption
companies overproduced consumer goods consumers didnt have enough money or credit to buy goods
Aaron Copland
composer
Emperor Hirohito
emperor of Japan during WWII. his people viewed him as a god
Federal Farm Board
established in 1929 to help farmers stabilize prices by holding surplus grain and cotton in storage
Normal Business Cycle
expansion --> peak --> recession (usually a 3-4 year cycle but there was an abnormally long expansion period during all of the 1920's)
Schecter vs. US
overturned NRA
Farm Credit Administration
provided low-interest farm loans and mortgages to prevent forclosures on the property of indebted farmers
Edward Hopper
realist painter, changed view on American life
Dorothea Lange
recorded the plight of migrant farm workers for the Farm Security Administration "Migrant Mother"
Democratic Platform
repeal prohibition, assailed so called "Hoover Depression", and promised a balanced budget and sweeping social and economic reforms.
21st Amendment
repealed the 18th amendment (end of prohibition)
1930 Mid Elections
the people showed their disapproval of Hoover's policies by voting Democrats into the House and Senate
totalitarianism
the principle of complete and unrestricted power in government
Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act
these reversed the high protective tariffs, increasing USA foreign trade
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
to insure personal bank deposits up to $5000; required commercial banks to separate themselves from investment brokerages
"sit down strikes"
unemployed workers sat down in their workplace, effectively preventing strikebreakers or moving factory locations or work in general. used by CIO.
Women's Emergency Brigade
wives, mothers, and daughters that provided crucial support preparing food and maintaining strikes
FDR's Second Inaugural
"One third of the nation..."
FDR's First Inaugural
"nothing to fear but fear itself" March 4 1933. wage war on the Great Depression.
Public Works Administration
(FDR) , 1935 Created for both industrial recovery and for unemployment relief. Headed by the Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes, it aimed at long-range recovery and spent $4 billion on thousands of projects that included public buildings, highways, and parkways.
Home Owners Loan Corporations
(HOLC) designed to refinance mortgages on nonfarm homes; ultimately assisted about a million badly pinched households; not only bailed out mortgage-holding banks, it also bolted the political loyalties of relieved middle-class homeowners securely to the Democratic party
Work progress Administration
(WPA) a main federal relief agency for the depression, it put relief workers directly on the federal payroll. , Had the objective of employment on useful projects (i.e. the construction of buildings, roads, etc.). Thought to be a "seed for Communism."
Election of 1936
1) Roosevelt (D) vs. Alfred E. Landon 2) Roosevelt won by a landslide, carrying every state except Maine and Vermont
The Dust Bowl
1930s "Dirty Thirties". Midwest environmental disaster. caused by overproduction, bad farm techniques, and droughts. happened in the great plains and kansas, colorodo, oklahoma, texas, new mexico, and nebraska. displaced thousands of people who migrated west and east.
Federal Emergency Relief Act
1933, The Act was the first direct-relief operation under the New Deal, and was headed by Harry L. Hopkins. Law provided money for food and other necessities for the unemployed.
National Labor Relations Act
A 1935 law, also known as the Wagner Act, that guarantees workers the right of collective bargaining sets down rules to protect unions and organizers, and created the National Labor Relations Board to regulate labor-managment relations.
Tennessee Valley Authority
A New Deal agency created to generate electric power and control floods in a seven-U.S.-state region around the Tennessee River Valley . It created many dams that provided electricity as well as jobs.
National Industrial Recovery Act
A New Deal legislation that focused on the employment of the unemployed and the regulation of unfair business ethics. The NIRA pumped cash into the economy to stimulate the job market and created codes that businesses were to follow to maintain the ideal of fair competition and created the NRA.
Harry Hopkins
A New York social worker who headed the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Civil Works Administration. He helped grant over 3 billion dollars to the states wages for work projects, and granted thousands of jobs for jobless Americans. p778
Federal Housing Administration
A federal agency established in 1943 to increase home ownership by providing an insurance program to safeguard the lender against the risk of nonpayment.
Richard Wright
African American author whose works helped redefine the dispossession of race relations in the US "Black Boy"
Grant Wood
American painter, mostly rural Midwest paintings "American Gothic"
20th Amendment
Changed date president takes office from March 4th to January 20th. Changed start of Congress to January3rd. End of Lame Duck Congress
Butler vs. US
Declared AAA unconstitutional
Election of 1932
Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, beat the Republican, Herbert Hoover, who was running for reelection. FDR promised relief for the unemployed, help for farmers, and a balanced budget.
The Second New Deal
Focused on recovery and putting money in people's pockets to tackle under-consumption. This was another period of massive legislation to improve the American economy. However, this one was aimed at ordinary people, and it provided more social welfare.
"Brain Trusts"
Group of reform-minded individuals who wrote FDRs speeches on the 'forgotten man'. Kind of a kitchen cabinet. Authored much of New Deal legislation.
Memorial Day Massacre
Happened on Memorial Day 1937 when striking workers gathered for a picnic and demonstration - they were marching toward plant peacefully and police opened fire - 10 killed. Hoover blamed and looked really bad for it.
John Collier
Head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who introduced the Indian New Deal and pushed congress to pass Indian Reorganization Act
Lame Duck Period
Hoover was helpless to embark on any long term policies without FDR's cooperation. Banks were closing at a scary rate and unemployment rates grew.
Huey Long
Louisianna Senator who opposed FDR's New Deal and came up with a , "Share the Wealth" wants to give $5k to all families ,was later assasinated
The Hundred Days
March 9-June 16, 1933; Congress enacted more than a dozen Progressive-inspired measures expanding federal involvement in national economic life; ambitious beginning of relief and recovery programs; symbolized both dynamism and confusion of the New Deal
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary McLeod Bethune was a leader in the struggle for women's and black equality. She founded a school for black students that eventually became Bethune-Cookman University. She also served as an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
NLRB
National labor Relations Board: (established by Wagner Act) Greatly enhanced power of American labor by overseeing collective bargaining; continues to arbitrate labor-management disputes today
Dr. Frances Townsend
New Deal critic; focused on the needs of older Americans; ideas for a pension plan for retirees contributed to formation of Social Security
Civilian Conservation Corps
New Deal program that hired unemployed men to work on natural conservation projects. unemployment relief act; hired young men for reforestation programs, firefighting. flood control, spawn drainage, etc;
Scottsboro Boys
Nine young black men between the ages of 13 to 19 were accused of of raping two white women by the names of Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. All of the young men were charged and convicted of rape by white juries, despite the weak and contradictory testimonies of the witnesses
Civil Works Administration
November 9, 1933- Harry L. Hopkins was put in charge of the organization. The CWA created construction jobs, mainly improving or constructing buildings and bridges. In just one year, the CWA cost the government over $1 Billion and was cancelled. So much was spent on this administration because it hired 4 million people and was mostly concerned with paying high wages.
"Black Tuesday"
October 29, 1929; date of the worst stock-market crash in American history and beginning of the Great Depression.
Marian Anderson
One of the greatest concert singers of her time. First African-American to perform at the Whitehouse. The DAR refused her use of Constitution Hall for a concert, so Eleanor Roosevelt set her up to perform at the Lincoln Memorial.
Herbert Hoover
President of the U.S from 1923-1933 leader of the US in the beginning of the great depression. He didn't want the gov involved in the peoples lives and thought that the people should express their individual rights.
John L. Lewis
President of the United Mine Workers, combined with seven other American Federation of Labor organizations to form the Committee for Industrial Organization. Wanted to bring together all of the unskilled workers together to mass-production industries
Agricultural Adjustment Act
Recovery: (AAA); May 12, 1933; restricted crop production to reduce crop surplus; goal was to reduce surplus to raise value of crops; farmers paid subsidies by federal government; declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in US vs Butler on January 6, 1936
Farm Security Administration
Relief for sharecroppers who lost their jobs and for victims of the Dust Bowl.
Election of 1928
Republican: Herbert Hoover and Democrat: Al Smith. Republicans identified themselves with the booming economy of the 1920s, and Smith's campaign, because Smith was a Roman Catholic, was not as successful because of Anti-Catholic prejudice. Hoover won in a landslide victory
Indian Reorganization Act
Reverse forced assimilation of Native American Indians by establishing tribal self-government
FDR
Roosevelt, the President of the United States during the Depression and WWII. He instituted the New Deal. Served from 1933 to 1945, he was the only president in U.S. history to be elected to four terms
Harold Ickes
Secretary of the Interior. Director of the Public Works Administration.
"Rugged Individualism"
The belief that all individuals, or nearly all individuals, can succeed on their own and that government help for people should be minimal. Popularly said by Hertbert Hoover.
Walter Reuther
The founder and president of the United Auto Workers Union from 1946 to 1979, Encouraged sit down strikes. New Deal supporter and Socialist
Fireside Chats
The informal radio conversations Roosevelt had with the people to keep spirits up. It was a means of communicating with the people on how he would take on the depression.
Agricultural Marketing Act
This act established the Federal Farm Bureau in 1929. Originally sponsored by Hoover, it was an attempt to stop the downward spiral of crop prices by seeking to buy, sell and store agricultural surpluses or by lending money to farm organizations. Although it had good intentions, this act did not help at all because the inflation rate was too high and the losses of the farmers just kept on increasing.
Bonus Army
Unemployed World War I veterans who came to Washington in the spring of 1932 to demand the immediate payment of the bonus congress had voted them in 1922. The veterans were forcibly removed from Anacostia Flats by federal troops by order of Hoover.
Congress of Industrial Organizations
Union organization of unskilled workers; broke away from the American Federation of Labor in 1935 and rejoined it in 1955. included skilled and unskilled workers; open to women and minorities. Used "sit down strikes"
William Faulkner
United States novelist (originally Falkner) who wrote about people in the southern United States
Muscle Shoals Bill
Was a proposal to dam up the Tennessee River in order to make a lake to create hydro-electric electricity as well as a recration area. Was opposed by Hoover because hw didnt like that the govt. would be selling electricity and competing against its citizens. Was a classic example ov Hoover's fear of a socialist govt. (page 766)
American Liberty League
a conservative anti-New Deal organization; members included Alfred Smith, John W. Davis, and the Du Pont family. It criticized the "dictatorial" policies of Roosevelt and what it perceived to be his attacks on the free enterprise system.
Securities and Exchange Commissions
a governmental agency that was established in 1934 to protect investors in securities( stocks anc bonds.) It registers all securities, licenses brokers, hears complaints, and penalizes people or companies who don't follow the rules
The New Deal
a series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression, this marked a point where the government interfered in the economy (differing from traditional capitalism)
The Stock Market Crash
caused by ignoring the warning signs of the growing gap between the rich and the poor, "sick industries", too much credit, overproduction and under-consumption, and over-speculation in the stock market
Bank Holiday
closed all banks until gov. examiners could investigate their financial condition; only sound/solvent banks were allowed to reopen
The Glass Steagall Banking Reform Act
created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure individual bank deposits
Jacob Lawrence
drew directly from his own experience goring up in Harlem in a series of sixty paintings "The Migration of a Negro" told a story of dispossessed blacks during the thirties.
"monetarist school
focusese on money and the quantity theory of money
Tydings McDuffie Act
for the independence of the Philippines. let Phillipines become free after 12 year transition time
Emergency Banking Relief Act
gave the President power over the banking system and set up a system by which banks would be reorganized or reopened
Social Security Act
guaranteed retirement payments for enrolled workers beginning at age 65; set up federal-state system of unemployment insurance and care for dependent mothers and children, the handicapped, and public health
Over-speculation
guessing of stock market, cause of depression, cause of 1929 crash
Hoover's Response to the Depression
it was slow. Felt the government should not interfere, asked business to keep wages the same, government. reduce taxes, put money into business hand instead of the people directly.
United Automobile Wokers
labor union founded as part of the left wing CIO in the thirties and under the leadership of Reuther.
Reconstruction Finance Company
making loans to railroads, banks, and agricultural institutions to keep business afloat to hire people. Using the trickle down method but wasn't successful.
Soviet Recognition
one major international act by FDR in his first term
Thomas Hart Benton
painter and muralist
Democratic Coalition
pro-choicers, women, African Americans, labor unions, intellectuals, people w/ lower incomes, city dwellers, non-Cuban Latinos, feminists, Jewish people, environmentalists
Hoover Dam
project as part of a massive public-works program; brought much needed employment to Southwest , a dam built in the 1930s, with funding from the federal government, to control the Colorado River.
Revenue Act of 1935
proposed a substantial tax increase on corporate profits and higher income and estate taxes on the wealthy.
Federal Securities Act
required corporations to provide complete information on all stock offerings and made them liable for any misrepresentations
