Great Depression

Who was Huey Long?

A Louisiana politician who challenged FDR, claiming that the New Deal did not do enough to help Americans during the Great Depression.

What is a long period of rising stock prices known as? What is speculation?

A bull market. Investment in stocks, property, or other ventures in the hope of gain but with the risk of loss.

What is the gold standard? How can runs on banks result in bank failures?

A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. A bank run happens when large groups of customers withdraw their money from bankssimultaneously based on fears that the institution willbecome insolvent

How did FDR pay for his public works projects?

All the New Deal programs were paid for, and run by, the Government.

How did the Hawley-Smoot Tariff hurt commerce? Where did it hurt commerce?

By reducing the flow of goods into the US the tariff also prevented other countries from earning American currency to buy American exports. In this way, the tariff made unemployment worse by hurting companies that could no longer export goods to Europe. Many countries retaliated against the Tariff and raised their own. With in a few years, world trade had fallen by more than 40%

What did Congress create to regulate the stock market?

Emergency Banking Relief Act

How were Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt related?

FDR is Theodores fifth cousin and Eleanor was Theodores niece.

Who was the first female cabinet member?

Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor

What was Hoover's response to the deepening Depression? Did he massively increase government spending?

He believed in a limited role for government and worried that excessive federal intervention posed a threat to capitalism and individualism. He felt that assistance should be handled on a local, voluntary basis. Hoover didn't involve the government and only slightly raised taxes.

Hoover wanted who to provide relief, or money given directly to impoverished families?

Hebert Hoover pushed Congress to provide federal government money for direct relief of impoverished.

Did the stock market crash alone cause the Great Depression? What are the causes of the Great Depression?

However, as big as it was, the stock market crash alone didnot cause the Great Depression. Some economists point a finger at protectionist trade policies and the collapse of international trade. Stock Market Crash of 1929,Bank Failures,Reduction in Purchasing Across the Board, and buyers invested in buying on margin

Why did stock prices first begin to decline in late 1929? How did the stock market crash weaken the nation's banks?

Investors began to sell their stock. banks had invested their deposits in the stock market.

What is a hobo?

Jobless, homeless wanderers, hopped trains hoping to find work traveling from town to town

What movies were produced during the Depression? Were they usually focused on the plight of the homeless and unemployed? Who was the actress who played the heroine of Gone with the Wind? What was the first feature-length animated film?

Many flicks were created during this time, including, 42nd Street, The Wizard of Oz, and Gone With the Wind. No most movies focused on entertaining people away from their problems. Vivien Leigh. Snow White and the seven dwarfs.

Who are "Okies"?

Migrant workers from Oklahoma

What is the New Deal?

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's (FDR) plan to aggressively reinflate the economy and ease the worst of the suffering caused by the depression.

What is the Bonus Army? What did they want Congress to do? When Congress said no, what did the Bonus Army do? Who did Herbert Hoover send in to resolve the issue? Who led the group?

The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators - made up of 17,000 U.S. World War I veterans, together with their families and affiliated groups - who gathered in Washington, D.C. in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service certificates. Herbert Hoover then ordered the U.S. Army to clear the marchers' campsite. Douglas MacArthur

What is the CCC? What is WPA?

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a voluntary public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men. The Works Progress Administration was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of job-seekers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.

What book did John Steinbeck write? Describe the book.

The Grapes of Wrath. Tom Joad and his family are forced from their farm in the Depression-era Oklahoma Dust Bowl and set out for California along with thousands of others in search of jobs, land, and hope for a brighter future.

What were the two purposes of the Townsend plan? Who proposed the plan?

The basic idea of the Townsend Plan was that the government would provide a pension of $200 per month to every citizen age 60 and older. Devised by Dr. Francis E. Townsend

What is a well-known painting that pay tribute to Midwesterners? Who painted it?

The classic painting of a grim looking man and woman, the man with the pitchfork, standing in front of a farm house in the Midwest in 1930, so familiar to all, has been called "America's Mona Lisa" and justifiably so. The painting, by Grant Wood, is a triumph.

What happens when a bank collapses? What is a bank run?

When a bank collapsed they had no money which meant all those who had money in the bank lost it. A bank run is when people rush to banks to try and get their money out before the bank closes down.

What are soup kitchens?

a place where free food is served to those who are homeless or destitute.

What are "Hoovervilles"?

a shantytown built by unemployed and destitute people during the Depression of the early 1930s

What is the Dust Bowl?

an area of land where vegetation has been lost and soil reduced to dust and eroded, especially as a consequence of drought or unsuitable farming practice.

How did Roosevelt trigger a new economic downturn in 1937?

decreasing government spending

What is deficit spending?

government spending, in excess of revenue, of funds raised by borrowing rather than from taxation.

What are fireside chats?

informal speeches given by FDR over the radio to communicate and reassure Americans

During what years was the Great Depression? What day is considered the beginning of the Great Depression?

lasting from 1929 to 1939. October 29, 1929, (known as Black Tuesday).

What was the first thing Roosevelt set out to do to fight the depression?

to restore confidence in the banks

Discuss the New Deal's legacy, including its effectiveness in dealing with the Depression and its lasting effects on the role of government.

~Did not pull the U.S. out of its Depression~Led to massive deficit spending~Established a broker state~Provided Americans with a safety net (relief programs, Social SecurityAct)~Dramatically expanded the role and influence of the government in society ~FDR's frustration with the Supreme Court led to a "court-packing" attempt~Provided hope, promise, and relief for the American people~Some New Deal Programs are still around today (SEC, FDIC, Social Security)