Great Depression
the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s
stock market
A general term used to describe all transactions involving the buying and selling of stock shares issued by a company.
Wall Street
a street in lower Manhattan where the New York Stock Exchange is located. Where the stock market crashed during the Great Depression
Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929)
zmillions of panicky investors ordered their brokers to sell, when there were practically no buyers to be found. From that day on, prices on Wall Street kept going down.
income distribution
During the Great Depression, distribution was not equally shared, the top 5 percent of the richest Americans received over 33 percent of all income
buying on margin
Allowed people to borrow most of the cost of the stock, making down payments as low as 10 percent
Gross National Product
The value of all the good and services produced by the nation in one year
Herbert Hoover
Republican candidate who assumed the presidency in March 1929 promising the American people prosperity and attempted to first deal with the Depression by trying to restore public faith in the community.
Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930)
Highest tariff rates in history. Passed by Republican Congress-set tac increases ranging from 31-49 percent on foreign imports
Farm Board
Created in 1929. Authorized to help farmer stabilize prices by temporarily holding surplus grain and cotton storage. Too modest to handle the continued overproduction of farm goods
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Federally funded, government owned corporation. Measure for propping up faltering railroads, banks, life insurance companies, and other financial institutions
bonus march (summer 1932)
1000 unemployed WWI veternas marched to DC to demand immediate payment of the bonuses promised them at a later date. Hoover eventually ordered army to break up the encampment
Franklin D. Roosevelt
often referred to by his initials FDR, was the thirty-second President of the United States. Elected to four terms in office, he served from 1933 to 1945, and is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms of office. He was a central figure
Eleanor Roosevelt
Became most active first lady in history. Served as president's social conscience and influenced him to support minorities and the less fortunate
Twentieth Amendment (lame duck)
shortened the time between the election and inauguration day, also called the "Lame Duck Amendment," it changed the inauguration date from March 4 to January 20 for president and vice president, and to January 3 for senators and representatives. It also s
First New Deal
Established to serve the "three Rs" Relief for the people out of work, Recovery for business and the economy as a whole, and Reform of American economic institutions (three R's)
Brain Trust
Group of expert policy advisers who worked with FDR in the 1930s to end the great depression
Frances Perkins
U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman ever appointed to the cabinet.
Hundred Days
100 days after FDR was sworn into office. Congress passed into law every request of FDR enacting more major legislation than any single Congress in history
bank holiday
FDR ordered banks to close on March 6, 1933 to restore confidence in banks that were failing
repeal of Prohibition
kept promise by repealing. Raised tac money by passing Beer-Wine Revenue Act
fireside chats
FDR went on the radio to assure his listeners that the banks which reopened after the bank holiday were now safe
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
guaranteed individual banks deposits up to $5000
Public Works Administration (PWA)
directed by Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, allotted money to state and local governments for building roads, bridges, dams, and other public works
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
employed young men on projects on federal lands and paid their families small monthly sums
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
experiment in regional development and public planning; hired thousands of people in Tennessee Valley to build dams, operate electrive power plants, control flooding and erosion, and manufacture fertilizer
National Recovery Administration (NRA)
encouraged businesses to set a minimum wage and abolish child labor. NRA also tried to set up codes governing pricing and other practices for every industry. The NRA helped people to stay in work and for the employers to get the same amount of wages and a
Schechter v. US
declared NRA unconstitutional
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
created to regulate the stock market and to place strict limits on the kind of speculative practices that had led to the Wall Street crash
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
gave both the construction industry and homeowners a boost by insuring bank loans for building new houses and repairing old ones
Second New Deal
A new set of programs and reforms launched by FDR in 1935; concentrated on relief and reform
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
spent billions of dollars to provide people with jobs. Operated under Harry Hopkins
National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act (1935)
Replaced NIRA. Guaranteed a worker's right to join a union and a union's right to bargain collectively. Outlawed business practices that were unfair to labor
Social Security Act (1935)
Created a federal insurance program based upon the automatic collection of taces from employees and employers throughout people's working careers. Trust fund would be used to amke monthly payments to retired persons over the age of 65
Father Charles E. Coughlin
Catholic priest attracted a huge popular following with his weekly radio broadcasts. Founded National Union fo Social Justice which called for issuing an inflated currency and nationalizing all banks
Francis E. Townsend
proposed that a 2 percent federal sales tax be used to create a special fund, from which every retired persons over 60 years old would receive $200 a month
Huey Long
As senator in 1932 of Washington preached his "Share Our Wealth" programs. It was a 100% tax on all annual incomes over $1 million and appropriation of all fortunes in excess of $5 million. With this money Long proposed to give every American family a com
Supreme Court reorganization plan
court-packing" bill; proposed that the president be authorized to appoint the Supreme Court an additional justive for each current justice who was older than a certain age
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
organize all workers in a certain industry (skilled and unskilled) into one union. example all auto workers in one union or all hospital workers in one union. Lead by John L. Lewis
sit-down strike
literally sitting down at the assembly line and refusing to work
Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)
established a minimum wage (initially fized at 40 cents an hour), a maximum workweek of 40 hours and time and a half for overtime, child-labor restrictions on those under 16
John Maynard Keynes
according to his theory, deficit spending was acceptable because in difficult times the government needed to spend well above its tax revenues in order to initiate economic growth
depression mentality
an attitude of insecurity and economic concern that would always remain, even in times of prosperity
drought, dust bowl, Okies
severe drought ruined crops in the Great Plains. Region became known as the dust bowl, as poor farming practice coupled with high winds blew away millions of tons of dried topsoiled
John Steinbeck
Wrote about the hardships in the dust bowl in his classic study of economic heartbreak, The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
Marian Anderson
Distinguished African American singer had been refused the use of Constitution Hall in DC, by the all-white Daughters of the American Revolution
Mary McLeod Bethune
long-time leader of efforts for imporving education and economic opportunities for women
Fair Employment Practices Committee
an executive order in 1941 set up a committee to assist minorities in gaining jobs in defense industries
A. Philip Randolph
head of the Railroad Porters Union, threatened a march on Washington to demand equal job opportunities for African Americans
Indian Reorganization (Wheeler-Howard) Act (1934)
returned lands to the control of tribes and supported the preservation of Native American cultures