great depression and new deal study guide
Second New Deal
(1935) a new set of programs in the spring of 1935 including additional banking reforms, new tax laws, new relief programs. new set of reforms presented by Roosevelt which relied on his pragmatic and activist government to address the problem and provide more jobs for Americans
New Deal
A series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression.
Stock Market
A system for buying and selling shares of companies
Josephine Roche
Colorado's first policewoman and heir to a fuel company and was the assistant secretary of the Treasury in 1934
Mobilization
Gathering resources and preparing for war
Construct a topic sentence that answers this question: How did the federal government respond to the Great Depression, and what were the reactions to the New Deal?
The Federal government responded to the Great Depression by implementing the New Deal with different methods that the people didn't like.
How did the New Deal improve the lives of minorities in the United States?
The New Deal established camps to provide food and shelter for migrant workers and their families. For native Americans, the New Deal established programs that employed Native Americans and gave them back some land.
In what ways did the Second New Deal improve people's lives?
The Second New Deal provided jobs on small construction projects and funded projects that employed writers, teachers, and musicians
Mexican Repatriation Program
Time when hundreds or thousands of Mexican forcefully migrated South because of the U.S. Over 1 million were deported
Coalition
alliance
Ellen Woodward
former Mississippi legislator who led the Civil Works Administration
What sequence of events made Roosevelt's court-packing plan unnecessary?
Roosevelt miscalculated the power of his mandate. Politicians worried that adding more members to the supreme court would throw off the balance among the three branches of government. A vote of 5 to 4 upheld the NLR and SS acts. Conservative judges also started to retire which made his plan unnecessary.
What controversies and negative effects was Roosevelt concerned about in terms of the New Deal?
Roosevelt was concerned about the increasing national debt leading to inflation, federal welfare programs diminishing the recipients' initiative and self-respect, and the crashing stock market.
First Hundred Days
Roosevelt's first few months in office where he passed 15 new laws to combat the struggling economy.
How did Eleanor Roosevelt influence the appointment of women to important positions in New Deal agencies?
She influenced the appointment of women to important positions in New Deal agencies by quoting girls and women who had written her letters telling how the Great Depression affected them and their families. She pointed out that many of the women were earning college degrees and entering the workforce with fresh ideas that could benefit the nation.
Why was Frances Perkins called the "architect of the New Deal"?
She was called the architect of the New Deal because President Roosevelt implemented many of her ideas into the New Deal as he saw that she was the first woman in US history to hold a cabinet level post.
What were the unintended consequences and complexities of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930?
Some unwanted consequences of the act were that there was an obstructed flow of capital, goods and services in the world economy, other countries imposed tariffs which also made exporting US goods very tough, international trade declined, and international banks failed which only added to the suffering of people at home and abroad.
What effect did speculation and buying on margin have on stock prices?
Speculation and buying on margin drove up the stock prices until the recession hit. The prices went up but the market started to weaken which ultimately led to the Great Depression
How did mexican Repatriation Program differ from the government program to repatriate Filipinos?
The Mexican program deported Mexicans by giving them free train fares back to Mexico while others were tricked into leaving the country. On the other hand, Filipino programs only encouraged them to leave which led to only 2,000 leaving by 1943 as the program was much softer on them.
How did the New Deal affect the role of women in society?
The New Deal allowed women to earn more college degrees and enter the workforce with fresh ideas that could help the nation. Even though the New Deal provided more jobs for women, they only owned 7% of the jobs created by the CWA and were paid much less than males.
How did the New Deal expand the role of the federal government in the nation's economy?
The New Deal gave the government the ability to regulate banking and investment activities and increase the government's participation in the settlement of labor disputes. The New Deal also let the government set the precedent of providing federal aid to farmers.
How does the Southern Tenant Farmers Union symbolize the advance and retreat of organized labor unions?
The Union symbolizes the advance and retreat of organized labor unions as codes from the NRA encourage monopolies which lead to rise in labor unions which eventually led to the retreat of them as everything stabilized.
Why did the campus for unemployed women fail?
The campus for the women was too expensive and they failed to provide work. Opponents complained about the cost a lot.
What did the Scottsboro Boys case demonstrate about racism and discrimination in the United States at the time?
The case demonstrated that racism was often expressed through lies that people believed only because the discrimination was so high at the time in the country. It was easy for Americans to believe that African-Americans were the cause of many problems and issues that occurred in the social lives of individuals in society.The case shows that simply by blaming an African American for something can get them arrested on the spot because of the discrimination and racism.
What sequence of events led to the establishment of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and what is its function today?
The economic crash in 1929 that caused the Great Depression known as the stock market crash of 1929 led Roosevelt to create the SEC to protect investors in the stock market.
In what ways did the expanded role of the federal government affect society and the economy in the 1930s?
The expanded role of the federal government created more jobs for unemployed people while generating new orders for factories which helped individual contractors hire and pay their workers. This helped boost the economy.
How might the social and economic impacts of the Dust Bowl refugees have influenced the reception the Okies received in California?
The lack of jobs and the already tough economic conditions made it harder for the residents of California to have a livelihood led to the negative reception of the Okies that moved to California that abandoned their farms in the midwest.
List the main ideas about the New Deal expressed in the three documents?
The main ideas were that the New Deal will restore the financial system with faith from the people, the New Deal promoting labor troubles, higher wages, shorter hours, and less profits will bring the downfall of all classes, and the New Deal has many flaws that many foolish people fail to recongnize.
How did mass media trends help people cope with the Great Depression?
The mass media trends helped keep people busy and heroes in comic books provided a sense of hope that everything was going to be all right during a time of uncertainty. The mass media such as films helped people get away from their troubles that were going on during the depression.
What segments of American society did the Second New Deal target?
The new Deal targeted the workforce segment of American society and give out more jobs to the unemployed
Why were most New Deal programs discontinued?
The programs were discontinued because there was still a great deal of unemployment, the national debt was increasing, and the majority of Congress no longer supported progressive programs that Roosevelt wanted to enact along with Roosevelt's reputation suffering.
What types of economic indicators contributed to a recession in 1937?
The significant decrease in take-home pay of workers and the decrease in the purchasing power from the economy by billions of dollars were the economic indicators that contributed to a recession in 1937. Unemployment began to rise, production plummeted, and the stock market fell again.
Gross National Product (GNP
The total value of goods and services, including income received from abroad, produced by the residents of a country within a specific time period, usually one year.
how were people still suffering during the New Deal
There was a lot of agricultural overproduction meaning that the farmers did not benefit from the prosperous economy, a lopsided distribution of income, and more than half of the American people were at or below the poverty line. More than 21 million families did not have any savings at all. There was also a recession in 1927 where prices fell by 4.5%, production slowed, and consumer spending dropped significantly.
Why do you think the press did not focus on FDR's disability?
They didn't focus on his disability because it could mean the end of his political career and it could make him look like an unfit president to lead the country.
What gains did American labor make during the1930s?
Union leaders were allowed to consult with employers about shift changes and increases or decreases in work hours, Unions gained the right to collectively bargain for wages and benefits, and employers were no longer able to engage in a wide range of "unfair labor practices".
Using evidence from this chapter and the documents, write an informative paragraph that supports your topic sentence
While planned scarcity helped increase the farm wages by 60%, the AAA system barely helped the poor tenant farmers that did not own land which led to uprisings. The farmers were rarely paid a share of the government payments that they were promised. They joined the Southern Tenant Farmer's Union and they were evicted from their homes as a result.
Picket line
Workers on strike walk around a company's building. They try to keep people from going into the building.
Welfare State
a system in which the government provides for the health and well-being of its citizens
Woody Guthrie
an Okie folk singer who sang about the life he lived, sang on the streets for money, and wrote the anthem "This Land is Your Land" which celebrated the beauty and diversity of the country
Lame Duck
an outgoing official serving out the remainder of a term, after retiring or being defeated for reelection
Margin
buying a stock by paying only a fraction of the stock price and borrowing the rest
Hilda Smith
director of women's education in FERA who ran camps to provide for unemployed women
Polio
infectious disease that causes paralyzation
Voting Bloc
large group of citizens who share a common concern and tend to vote the same in elections
Economic Planning
management of the economy by the federal government
Sit-down strike
method of boycotting work by sitting down at work and refusing to leave the establishment
disposable income
money left after taking out taxes
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
monitors the stock market and enforces laws regulating the sale of stocks and bonds
Breadwinners
person who earns the money for a family
Populists
politicians who claim to represent the concerns of ordinary people
Pension Fund
pool of money used to pay a small, established income after retirement
Totalitarian
referring to a form of government in which one person or party holds absolute control to better control their people and economy
Deficit Spending
spending more money than the government receives from taxes
Repatriation
the act of returning to the country of origin
Speculation
the act of speculating that the stock prices will always go up, even if there is no guarantee that they will
Great Depression
the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC):
the government agency that insures customer deposits if a bank fails
National Socialism
the ideology and practices of the Nazi party, which included national expansion, state control of the economy, the totalitarian principle of government, and anti-Semitism.
Nazi Party
the political party founded in Germany in 1919 and brought to power by Hitler in 1933 that was formed as a result of the harsh punishments the Allies implemented in the Treaty of Versailles
Planned Scarcity
theory in which the government lowers the supplies of certain products in order to create a high demmnd for them and raise the prices
Mandate
(n.) an authoritative command, formal order, authorization; (v.) to issue such an order
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Agreement signed in 1928 in which nations agreed not to pose the threat of war against one another
How were Roosevelt's New Deal policies criticized by both Democrats and Republicans?
Both democrats and republicans said that Roosevelt needed to do more to ease the American suffering and unemployment. They also said that the New Deal programs were unconstitutional because they increased the power of the president to regulate the economy and not the judicial or legislative branches of the government.
Mass Media
Forms of communication, such as newspapers and radio, that reach millions of people.
Brain Trust
Group of expert policy advisers from universities who worked with FDR in the 1930s to end the great depression
What did FDR mean when he said " The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"?
He meant that there is nothing to fear in life except to fear the idea of fear which hurts peoples' peace of mind.
Describe the ways in which President Franklin Roosevelt used his increased presidential powers in response to the Great Depression?
He used his increased powers to manage the New Deal by creating the Tennessee Valley Authority to construct dams and power plants along the river and its tributaries which provided thousands of jobs and electricity for many others. He also used the Central Valley Project to irrigate the arid San Juaquoin valley with dams for power and reservoirs for storing water.
Why did Democrats believe Franklin Roosevelt was a good candidate for president?
He was the cousin to the well-respected former president, Theodore Roosevelt, his wife's political opinions and support for causes such as women's rights and labor influenced her husband greatly, and he had great optimism and confidence. Roosevelt had an easy way of connecting with any American.
John Collier
Head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who introduced the Indian New Deal and pushed congress to pass Indian Reorganization Act
How did the scale and duration of human actions, including modifying the landscape, affect the natural systems of the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl?
Human actions such as modifying the landscape affect the natural systems of the Great Planes as humans turned the fields where the planted wheat up as they harvested their crops. Also, the overgrazing of cattle and other livestocks led to many of the roots being removed and there was nothing to keep the soil in place. This and high winds led to the soil being picked up and spread across hundreds of miles that covered the Great Plains.
How did Folk music, photography, and literature help recount the plight of the poor during the Great Depression?
It help recount the plight of the poor during the Great Depression with photographs capturing the hard conditions that people endured during the Depression, literature portrayed the discrimination and struggles faced by many people, and folk music was often sung about the hard times many poor people endured.
Why is it important that artists document significant historical events through their art?
It is important that artists document significant historical events through their art because it helps future generations understand the events from a clear perspective and makes sure they know what to do better if the historical event was negative and to embrace the event if it was positive.
Why were unions important to American workers in the 1930s?
Labor Unions gained Americans greater rights in the workforce and brought them benefits such as different shifts, shorter hours and better wages. They also gave workers rights to negotiate with employers for more benefits as well.
Trading Pools
MANIPULATION investors group together and "trade" stock to move up prices without actually changing ownership of stock
How were African Americans, married women, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans hurt by the unemployment of white male workers?
Married women were accused of taking jobs away from men who were supposed to do the work and provide income for the family. As a result, women were dismissed from the southern teaching jobs and were fired from most corporation jobs. African Americans were forced out of low-paying service jobs when white people were seeking work-force. Many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans were deported from the country or were pressured to leave the United States.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Measure of average of stock prices of major industries
Black Thursday
October 24, 1929; stock market crashes and almost 13 million shares are sold that day alone
How did overproduction lead to weakness in key sectors of the economy?
Overproduction resulted in oversaturated markets which meant the prices of goods greatly decreased and the markets eventually collapsed as there was no profit being made from the extremely low prices.
Why might people be drawn to fascist or ruthless leaders who promote extreme nationalism during difficult economic times
People may have seen those systems be successful in their country and have a good economy as a result while they saw capitalism as a failing system that was worsening the economy and sending America into chaos.
Court-packing plan
President FDR's failed 1937 attempt to increase the number of US Supreme Court Justices from 9 to 15 in order to save his 2nd New Deal programs from constitutional challenges
Collective bargaining
Process by which a union representing a group of workers negotiates with management for a contract
Indian Emergency Conservation Program (IECP)
Program that employed Native Americans to work on physical improvements to reservations
Indian Reorganization Act (IRA)
Provided tribes with federal funds to buy back some reservation lands
Dust Bowl
Region of the Great Plains that experienced a drought in 1930 lasting for a decade, leaving many farmers without work or substantial wages.
What role did religion play in the presidential race between Hoover and Smith?
Religion was the key factor that protestants used to justify religious intolerance that were held against Smith's faith. This hurt Smith's case and ultimately led to his downfall in the presidential election.