Black Tuesday
A consumer panic in the stock market on October 29, 1929 that is said to allegedly be the main cause of the Great Depression. This crash continued past the 29th well into November, when the DJIA fell from 381 to 198.7.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Gave 2 billion to states, banks, and insurance companies for self liquidating projects. Plan worked but 2 billion wasn't enough. under Hoover in 1932
Bonus Army
A group of WWI veterans who were supposed to be given a "bonus" from the government for their services. In 1932 the deadline for the veterans was pushed back by the government thus causing the group to march onto Washington to demand their money. Excessiv
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
An act that raised the tariff significantly. the tariff seemed to be counterproductive and added to the depth and length of the great depression
Hoovervilles
After the stock market crashed, many people lost their jobs and homes. Soon settlements of shacks made by the homeless appeared in US cities. These shacks were built of cardboard, scrap metal, packing boxes and tar paper. People called them Hoovervilles a
Dust Bowl
1930-1936; Most severely effected Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Colorado; Combination of severe draught, over farming, and massive wind storms removed the top soil; From storms and evictions thousands of families hit the road in search of work;
Okies
Great Plain's farmer's who headed West. Went anywhere to find work. Found hard times in California. Couldn't find employment, so set up campus on the outskirts of town, and wandered looking for jobs. Deregotary term.
The Three R's
set by Roosevelt. Reform relief and recovery.
Reform: banking and finance. Emergency Banking Act. Empowered secretary of treasury to open specific safe banks and release funds from the IFC. FDIC
Relief: conservation programs. Conservation initiatives. FER
The New Deal
1933-1937 Government sponsored programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to revitalize the economy and alleviate poverty and despair caused by the Depression.
First Hundred Days
Roosevelt entered office with enormous political capital. Americans of all political persuasions were demanding immediate action, and Roosevelt responded with a remarkable series of new programs in the "first hundred days" of the administration, in which
Emergency Banking Relief Act
The Emergency Banking Act (the official title of which was the Emergency Banking Relief Act) was an act of the United States Congress spearheaded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. It was passed on March 9, 1933. This act allo
Fireside chats
During the depression years of the 1930s, President FD Roosevelt used the radio to communicate with the American people, using plain language to explain complex issues and programs. These had a reassuring and steadying effect on the public and boosted con
Huey P. Long
He was a Senator from Louisiana who felt that FD Roosevelt was too conservative. He proposed the program "Share-our-Wealth." This could have given every family $5,000 at the expense of the prosperous. Long was later assassinated in 1935. Nicknamed The Kin
American Liberty League
1934- 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
National Labor Relations Act
(FDR) 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-management relations.
, Made sure
Schechter v. United States
This case took place in May 1935 when a New York company was charged with a violation of an NRA poultry code which dealt with wage-fixing and prices. It resulted in the Supreme Court declaring the NRA unconstitutional by stating that the NRA was regulatin
Court-packing scheme
1937- FDR's attempt to add more members to the Supreme Court to more easily pass his New Deals; granted the President power to appoint an additional Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court, up to a maximum of six, for every sitting member over the age of 70 yea
Roosevelt Recession
When FDR started to take away some of the new deal programs recession started back up again. This proved that the new deal programs didn't "cure" the depression, they only "stopped the bleeding"., 1937 economic downturn caused by sound fiscal policy due t
Good Neighbor Policy
1933- Franklin Roosevelt described his foreign policy as that of a "good neighbor." The phrase came to be used to describe the U.S. attitude toward the countries of Latin America. Under Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor Policy," the U.S. took the lead in promoti
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 mu
Cash and carry
A less restrictive neutrality act adopted by Congress in 1939, this provided that a belligerent could buy US arms if it used its own ships and paid cash; although it was "neutral" it strongly favoured Britain.
Destroyers for Bases
Roosevelt's compromise for helping Britain as he could not sell Britain US destroyers without defying the Neutrality Act; Britain received 50 old but still serviceable US destroyers in exchange for giving the US the right to build military bases on Britis
Land-Lease Act
An act that allowed U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to supply arms and other supplies on credit to Great Britain and other nations involved in World War II; passed by Congress in March 1941, 8 months before the U.S. would be in World War II.
Atlantic Charter
(1941) Meeting on a warship off the coast of Newfoundland in August 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed this covenant outlining the future path toward disarmament, peace, and a permanent system of general
Four Freedoms Speech
1941 Roosevelt dipicted a world with freedom of speech, freedom from want, expression, and fear. Roosevelt and Churchill put 4 freedoms in Atlantic Charter.
Pearl Harbor
7:50-10:00 AM, December 7, 1941 - Surprise attack by the Japanese on the main U.S. Pacific Fleet harbored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii destroyed 18 U.S. ships and 200 aircraft. American losses were 3000, Japanese losses less than 100. In response, the U.S. dec
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Commanded the D-Day invasion while serving as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II. In the winter of 1942, General Eisenhower led U.S. troops to defeat Axis forces in North Africa. Eisenhower also prepared U.S. military forces in England
Operation Overland
the code name for the Allied invasion of mainland Europe in World War II, starting with the D-Day landings at Normandy. Troops were led by Omar Bradley
Bataan Death March
A long trek across the Philippines that American and Filipino prisoners of war were forced to make by the Japanese in 1942. The Japanese forced 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners too march 65 miles w/ little food or water. About 100,000 prisoners died
Doolittle Raid
(1942) first air raid by the United States on Japanese Home Islands; demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to US air attack; boosted morale; raid was led by lt. col. Doolittle; 16 bombers were launched in Pacific Ocean.
Battle of midway
(FDR) , U.S. naval victory over the Japanese fleet in June 1942, in which the Japanese lost four of their best aircraft carriers. It marked a turning point in World War II
Island hopping campaign
series of amphibious landings by Allied forces in the pacific during WW2 in which the allied forces - combined land, sea and air - fought back, recaptured islands from Japanese forces or blocked their connection with home bases. focused on smaller and mor
General Douglas MacArthur
American General; he commanded U.S. troops in the South Pacific during World War II; later he commanded UN forces in the Korean War. One of America's greatest WWII generals; told the Filipino people, "I shall return"; became a five-star general of the U.S
Selective Service Act
(FDR) 1940 law requiring all males aged 21 to 36 to register for military service
Navajo code talkers
Native Americans from Navajo tribe served the country by enlisting in the armed services and working in thousands of factories across the United States. Most famous was this group, who translated U.S. code into the Native American Language so that enemy f
442nd Regimental Combat Team
Regiment made up almost entirely of American Japanese soldiers who volunteered to fight despite parents being put into internment-- fought in Europe and considered to be most decorated infantry regiment in history of United States Army
Tuskegee Airmen
332 Fighter Group famous for shooting down over 200 enemy planes. African American pilots who trained at the Tuskegee flying school, all black unit of fighter pilots. trained in Tuskegee Alabama. won many awards for bravery and never lost a single pilot
WAACS/ WACs, WASPs and WAVES
The WAAC was the women's branch of the Army. WAACs were non-combat. They represented the major nationalism of US citizens on the homefront. They also encouraged women to fight for more rights and privileges.
Women's Army Corps; had about 140,000 members;
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie symbolized the American woman factory workers. Mostly single, unmarried women worked in factories during WWI. In WWII, married women and even many mothers worked in factories (the need for workers was greater in WWII). IMPORTANT NOTE: The massive in
Rationing and Victory Gardens
Restricting the amount of food and other goods people may buy during wartime to assure adequate supplies for the military
A vegetable garden, especially a home garden, cultivated to increase food production during a war or period of shortages
Executive Order 8802
Defense plants initially resisted hiring African-Americans. But in 1941, A. Philip Randolph (president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, threatened to have 100,000 blacks march on Washington to protest job discrimination. President Franklin Roos
Bracero Program
1942 to 1964; a federal guest worker policy that allowed Mexicans to work in the US temporarily; stems from the word "brazo" which means arm and is the equivalent of the English phrase "to extend a helping hand"; 5 million people signed bracero contracts
Zoot Suit Riots
1943 ; With the strong anti-Mexican tensions increasing, a riot broke out when some sailors claimed that they had been attacked by Mexican Americans. Mobs of people went into Mexican neighborhoods and beat any one wearing a zoot suit. The cities response
Executive Order 9066
1942, executing zones, can expel anyone from these areas such as people who they think are spies or people who might be on the wrong side. Results in Internment camps: containment of all Japanese (even citizens) in America 62% are Americans, the only way
Korematsu vs. United States
1944 Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court upheld the order providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans. It was not until 1988 that Congress formally apologized and agreed to pay $20,000 to each internee.
National War Labor Board
(FDR) 1942, an attempt to stave off labor problems, four reps each from labor, business and civilians. pledges of no lockouts or strikes during the war. an attempt to come to terms with labor regulations between these groups. During WWII it mediated dispu
Office of Price Administration
Instituted in 1942, this agency was in charge of stabilizing prices and rents and preventing speculation, profiteering, hoarding and price administration. The OPA froze wages and prices and initiated a rationing program for items such as gas, oil, butter,
War Production Board
Agency during WWII that was set up to mobilize the economy for war -> not very successful like the War Industries Board in WWI, but the nation still met its critical war needs
-During WWII, FDR established it to allocated scarce materials, limited or stop
Big Three
allies during WWII; Soviet Union - Stalin, United Kingdom - Churchill, United States - Roosevelt
Yalta Conference
1945 Meeting with US president FDR, British Prime Minister(PM) Winston Churchill, and and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war
Iwo Jima
a bloody and prolonged operation on the island of Iwo Jima in which American marines landed and defeated Japanese defenders (February and March 1945)
Manhattan Project
Code name for the U.S. effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb. Much of the early research was done in New York City by refugee physicists in the United States.
Potsdam Ultimatum
Truman told Japan that if they don't surrender, the US would subject them to complete and utter destruction- Japan rejected after 3 days
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
. (FDR following death) nuclear attacks during World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States of America at the order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Killed nearly half a million people in total
United Nations
An international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. It was founded in 1945 at the signing of the United Nations Charter
Security Council
Five permanent members( US, UK, France, China, USSR) with veto power in the UN. Promised to carry out UN decisions with their own forces.