Quizlet for Review Quiz 3 Reconstruction thru the Great Depression

The Red Scare

A "Red Scare" is the promotion by a state or society of widespread fear of a potential rise of communism or radical leftism. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States with this name. In the United States, the First Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War I, revolved around a perceived threat from the American labor movement, anarchist revolution and political radicalism. The Second Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War II, was preoccupied with perceived national or foreign communists infiltrating or subverting U.S. society or the federal government.

Senator Huey Long

A critic of FDR and the New Deal, early in 1934, Long announced his "Share Our Wealth" program. Vowing to make "every man a king," he promised to soak the rich by imposing a stiff tax on inheritances over $5 million and by levying a 100 percent tax on annual incomes over $1 million. The confiscated funds, in turn, would be distributed to the people, guaranteeing every American family an annual income of no less than $2,000. In Long's words, the money would be more than enough to buy "a radio, a car, and a home."

Father Charles Coughlin

A critic of FDR, Coughlin blamed the Depression on greedy bankers and challenged Roosevelt to solve the crisis by nationalizing banks and inflating the currency. When Roosevelt refused to heed his advice, Coughlin broke with Roosevelt and in 1934 formed the National Union for Social Justice.

Social Security

An act, passed during the new deal, to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, and others.

Herbert Hoover's response to the Great Depression

At the start - very little. Believed that it was simply a temporary dip in the economy Increased taxes. He called business leaders to the White House to urge them not to lay off workers or cut wages. His perceived lack of response led the American people to believe he did not care about them and they voted for FDR in 1932. The Shanty towns created during the depression were often called "Hoovervilles" to mock Hoover's lack of helping the poor.

The National Labor Relations Act

Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining for unions, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy.

The FDIC

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), independent U.S. government corporation created under authority of the Banking Act of 1933 (also known as the Glass-Steagall Act), with the responsibility to insure bank deposits in eligible banks against loss in the event of a bank failure and to regulate certain banking practices.

Dr. Francis Townsend

Roosevelt's least likely critic was Dr. Francis Townsend, a California public health officer, who found himself unemployed at the age of 67 with only $100 in savings. Seeing many people in similar or worse straits, Townsend embraced old-age relief as the key to ending the Depression. In January 1934, Townsend announced his plan, demanding a $200 monthly pension for every citizen over the age of 60. This plan later became the basis for the Social Security Act.

W.E.B. DuBois and the NAACP

In 1909, DuBois helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was one of the earliest and most influential civil rights organization in the United States. During its early years, the NAACP focused on legal strategies designed to confront the critical civil rights issues of the day. They called for federal anti-lynching laws and coordinated a series of challenges to state-sponsored segregation in public schools, an effort that led to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared the doctrine of "separate but equal" to be unconstitutional.

The Securities and Exchange Commission

In 1933, during the peak year of the Depression, Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933. Together with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which created the SEC, the legislation was designed to help investors feel more comfortable about putting their money back into the stock market.

Causes of the Dust Bowl

In the midwest the Dust Bowl was caused by an overproduction ( overfarming of crops) drought (no rain) and strong winds. Farmers turned over the dirt, not understanding the need for dry farming, and the dry soil was blown away by the strong winds.

Installment loans

Installment plans were credit systems where payment for merchandise/items is made in installments over a pre-approved period of time. In the 1920s, the items people could purchase with an installment plan included: automobiles, automobile parts, household appliances, radios, phonographs, pianos, and furniture. People were so in love with this new idea in business because like any new concept, everyone thinks that it has no problems or downsides to it. People essentially thought that they were getting things for less/free because they were not being forced to pay apon purchasing. This created a false sense of security and obviously people fell behind on their payments or even lost their jobs and were left with no way to pay off all of the things that they had bought. When people lost their jobs and could no longer make payment that were bought from the store or company that set up the installment plan, banks started to lose lots of money from unpaid installment plans. All of these unpayed loans contributed to the Great depression in 1929.

Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, and Bessie Smith

Leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance.

Problems of farmers in the 1920s

Much of the Roaring '20s was a continual cycle of debt for the American farmer, stemming from falling farm prices and the need to purchase expensive machinery and overproduction. When the drought conditions of the Dust Bowl hit many farmers lost their farms and migrated to California.

FDR's Court Packing Plan

On February 5, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt announces a controversial plan to expand the Supreme Court to as many as 15 judges, allegedly to make it more efficient. Critics immediately charged that Roosevelt was trying to "pack" the court and thus neutralize Supreme Court justices hostile to his New Deal. During the previous two years, the high court had struck down several key pieces of New Deal legislation on the grounds that the laws delegated an unconstitutional amount of authority to the executive branch and the federal government. Flushed with his landslide reelection in 1936, President Roosevelt issued a proposal in February 1937 to provide retirement at full pay for all members of the court over 70. If a justice refused to retire, an "assistant" with full voting rights was to be appointed, thus ensuring Roosevelt a liberal majority. Most Republicans and many Democrats in Congress opposed the so-called "court-packing" plan.

Causes of repeal of Prohibition

Rise of organized crime, and the failure of the public to follow and support the law.

The Dust Bowl

THE DUST BOWL was the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, in which the frenzied wheat boom of the "Great Plow-Up," followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation and led to farm foreclosures and the migration of many farmers to California.

The causes of the Great Depression

The Buying of stocks on margin which led to the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the overproduction of goods, the drought in the great plains, few regulations of business which led to the bank failures, the widening gap in wealth between the rich and poor.

The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. African American culture flourished with Jazz music, in literature and poetry, dance and art.

The Immigration Quota Acts of the 1920s

The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. The quotas restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

Prohibition and The Volstead Act

The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was enacted to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment, which established prohibition in the United States.While the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the production, sale, and transport of "intoxicating liquors", it did not define "intoxicating liquors" or provide penalties.

The New Deal

The New Deal was a group of U.S. government programs of the 1930s. President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the programs to help the country recover from the economic problems of the Great Depression. The programs encompassed three categories, Relief, Recovery and Reform. Relief programs provided direct money and immediate help to those in need. Recovery programs looked to build the nations infrastructure to put people back to work. Reform programs looked to fix the problems that caused the Great Depression.

The temperance movement.

The Temperance movement is a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements typically criticize alcohol intoxication, promote complete abstinence (teetotalism), or use its political influence to press the government to enact alcohol laws to regulate the availability of alcohol or even its complete prohibition.

The Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter on May 18, 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression.

Unemployment Insurance

The Unemployment Insurance program (UI) provides temporary weekly cash payments to people who are unemployed through no fault of their own. The first federal unemployment insurance program was created as part of the Social Security Act of 1935.

The Scopes Monkey Trial

The trial of John Scopes for teaching evolution in a public school which violated Tennessee law. The 1920s saw the conflict between rural America and its traditional values and urban America and its more Progressive values. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100 but the trial was seen as a victory for modernists as the fine was small and later overturned.