hist ch. 26

By 1932, what percentage of American workers were unemployed?

25%

What was The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) designed to do?

A New Deal effort created in 1933 to build dams and power plants on the Tennessee River. Its programs helped raise the standard of living for millions in the Tennessee River valley.

How did the consumer-goods revolution contribute to the great crash of 1929?

Because of the availability of durable goods that didn't need to be regularly replaced, production outpaced demand, which led to wide-scale layoffs.

What was FDR's "Court-Packing" Scheme? Why did FDR attempt to "pack" the Supreme Court?

Concerned that the conservative Supreme Court might declare all his New Deal programs unconstitutional, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to allow him to appoint additional justices to the Court. Both Congress and the public rejected this "court-packing" scheme.

What was the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)?

Created by Congress in 1933 as part of the New Deal, this agency attempted to restrict agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies to take land out of production. The object was to raise farm prices, and it did, but the act did nothing for tenant farmers and sharecroppers. The Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1936.

What was the most striking characteristic of the stock market in 1929?

Factories closed, machines fell silent, and millions of Americans looked for jobs that didn't exist

What was the Bonus Army?

In June 1932, a group of 20,000 World War I veterans marched on Washington D.C., to demand immediate payment of their "adjusted compensation" bonuses voted by Congress in 1924. Congress rejected their demands, and President Herbert Hoover had the Bonus Army forcibly dispersed.

How did the Great Depression affect Americans psychologically?

It was a great burden. Americans suffered through year after year of grinding poverty with no letup.

Where did President Hoover believe unemployment relief should come from?

Local governments and private charities

Which New Deal programs did the Supreme Court declare unconstitutional?

NRA and AAA

What was the Works Progress Administration (WPA)?

New Deal agency to provide work relief for the unemployed.

What was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)? What was its purpose?

One of the most popular New Deal programs, the CCC provided 30,000 young men between the ages of 18 and 25 with government jobs in reforestation and other conservation projects.

What is the basic explanation (or causes) for the Great Depression?

Overproduction. US factories produced more goods than the American people could consume.

What was the New Deal?

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's program to combat the Great Depression.

Fireside Chats?

Radio addresses by President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 193 to 1944, in which he spoke to the American people about such issues as the banking crisis, Social Security, and World War II. The chats enhanced Roosevelt's popularity among ordinary Americans.

What role did the stock market crash play?

Stocks plunged, speculators panicked, rumors circulated of people committing suicide

What was the Social Security Act?

The 1935 Social Security Act established a system of old age, unemployment, and survivors' insurance funded by wage and payroll taxes.

What was the Wagner Act? What was its purpose?

The 1935 Wagner Act, formally known as the National Labor Relations Act, created the National Labor Relations Board to supervise union elections and designate winning unions as official bargaining agents. The board could also issue cease-and-desist orders to employers who dealt unfairly with their workers.

What was the National Recovery Administration (NRA)?

This New Deal agency was created in 1933 to promote economic recovery and revive industry during the Great Depression. It permitted manufacturers to establish industrywide codes of "fair business practices" setting prices and production levels. It also provided for minimum wages and maximum working hours for labor and guaranteed labor the right to organize the bargain collectively. The Supreme Court declared in unconstitutional in 1935.

What ended the immediate financial crisis of the 1930s? (Has to do with banks)

money had been distributed to nearly one-sixth of the American people.

What was the primary motivation for the passage of this act?

the government acknowledged for the first time its responsibility to provide for the welfare of those unable to care for themselves in an industrial society.