Great Depression Terms

The belief that all individuals, or nearly all individuals, can succeed on their own and that government help for people should be minimal. Popularly said by Hertbert Hoover.

Camps built outside of major cities by people who had lost their homes during the Great Depression. Called Hoovervilles because they blamed Hoover for their situation.

People with jobs had to accept pay cuts, and they were lucky to have work. In cities, the destitute slept in shanties that sprang up in parks or on the outskirts of town, wrapped up in "Hoover blankets" (newspapers) and displaying "Hoover flags" (empty pockets).

English economist who advocated the use of government monetary and fiscal policy to maintain full employment without inflation

Song about the great depression. Showed how even the wealthy and educated can lose everything they have.

Region of the Great Plains that experienced a drought in 1930 lasting for a decade, leaving many farmers without work or substantial wages.

unflattering name given to Oklahomans and others from the rural Midwest, especially those who left the Dust Bowl looking for better lives during the 1930s

American novelist who wrote "The Grapes of Wrath". (1939) A story of Dustbowl victims who travel to California to look for a better life.

he story follows the fortunes of a poor family as they travel from the Dust Bowl region to California. based on the great depression written by John Steinbeck

Nine young black men between the ages of 13 to 19 were accused of of raping two white women by the names of Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. All of the young men were charged and convicted of rape by white juries, despite the weak and contradictory testimonies of the witnesses

This act established the Federal Farm Board, a lending bureau for hard-pressed farmers. The act also aimed to help farmers help themselves through new producers' cooperatives. As the depression worsened in 1930, the Board tried to bolster falling prices by buying up surpluses, but it was unable to cope with the flood of farm produce to market.

Congressional compromise serving special interest, it raised duties on agricultural and manufactured imports. It may have contributed to the spread of the international depression.

Created in 1932 to make loans to banks, insurance companies, and railroads, it was intended to provide emergency funds to help businesses overcome the effects of the Depression. It was later used to finance wartime projects during WW II.

Group of WWI vets. that marched to D.C. in 1932 to demand the immediate payment of their goverment war bonuses in cash.

Douglas MacArthur was one of the best-known American military leaders of World War II, when he commanded Allied forces in the southwest Pacific. MacArthur graduated first in his class from West Point Academy in 1903, then went to the Philippines and worked as an aide to his father, General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. He served with distinction in World War I, then returned to the Philippines as major general (1922-25) and commander of the Department of the Philippines (1928-30) before a mainland posting as Army chief of staff (1930-35). In 1935 he was again sent to the Philippines to organize defenses in preparation for their independence. In 1937 he retired from the Army rather than leave his Philippine project uncompleted, but he was recalled to active duty when it became clear that war with Japan was imminent. Overrun by Japanese forces at Bataan, MacArthur was ordered by President Franklin Roosevelt to withdraw to Australia. Before MacArthur and his family escaped, he made the famous vow, "I shall return."

the legislative and administrative program of President F. D. Roosevelt designed to promote economic recovery and social reform during the 1930s; also : the period of this program

FDR's optomistic campaign song 1932

This term refers to March 4 to June 16, 1933. During this period of dramatic legislative productivity, FDR laid out the programs that constituted the New Deal. Today, presidents are often measured by their actions in the same period of time

closed all banks until gov. examiners could investigate their financial condition; only sound/solvent banks were allowed to reopen

March 6, 1933 - FDR ordered a bank holiday. Many banks were failing because they had too little capital, made too many planning errors, and had poor management. The Emergency Banking Relief Act provided for government inspection, which restored public confidence in the banks.

To insure personal bank deposits up to $5000; required commercial banks to separate themselves from investment brokerages

The informal radio conversations Roosevelt had with the people to keep spirits up. It was a means of communicating with the people on how he would take on the depression.

"parity prices" (price set for a product that gave it the same real value) for basic commodities ;; eliminated surpluses by paying growers to reduce crop acreage

Empowered the president to allow monopolies at his discretion, permitted the existence of Unions and collective bargaining, created WPA, regulated price of oil, and created public works.

labor unions, collective bargaining

1933. First atempt to achieve economic advance through planning and cooperation among labor, business and government. Codes and regs. to control production, labor relations, and trade among businesses. Declared unconstitutional in 1935. Recovery and also Reform.

1933. First atempt to achieve economic advance through planning and cooperation among labor, business and government. Codes and regs. to control production, labor relations, and trade among businesses. Declared unconstitutional in 1935. Recovery and also Reform.

its goal was to stimulate the economy through the building of huge public works projects that needed large numbers of workers. It set up jobs for people without jobs which gave the employers money and the employers funded the job.

June 1933. Innovative attempt at regional planning. Series of dams in seven states on the Tennessee river to control floods, ease navigation, and produce electricity. Endures to this day. Relief and Reform

Establish the FDIC. included banking reforms, some of which were designed to control speculation.[citation needed] Some provisions such as Regulation Q that allowed the Federal Reserve to regulate interest rates in savings

The agency of the U.S. government that oversees U.S. financial markets and accounting standard-setting bodies.

provided jobs for young men whose families needed relief; plant trees; workers live in army like cmps & have to send most of money to families

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.

A Catholic priest from Michigan who was critical of FDR on his radio show. His radio show morphed into being severly against Jews during WWII and he was eventually kicked off the air, however before his fascist rants, he was wildly popular among those who opposed FDR's New Deal.

Advanced the Old Age Revolving Pension Plan, which proposed that every retired person over 60 receive a pension of $200 a month (about twice the average week's salary). It required that the money be spent within the month.

nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928-1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of FDR in the 1932 presidential election, Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933 and allegedly planned to mount his own presidential bid for 1936.

The Share the Wealth society was founded in 1934 by Senator Huey Long of Louisiana. He called for the confiscation of all fortunes over $5 million and a 100% tax on annual incomes over $1 million. He was assassinated in 1935 and his successor Gerald K. Smith lacked the ability to be a strong head of the society.

Louisiana senator Huey Long's Share Our Wealth movement during the Great Depression

Jan 1935-Sept1935- Reorganized fed program for jobless relief. Assistance to rural poor,Supp for org labor, social welfare benefits for elder, stricker business reg, heavier taxes on wealthy.

Defined unfair labor practices and protected unions against coercive measures such as blacklisting. Set up the National Labor Relations Board and reasserted the right of labor to engage in self-organization and to bargain collectively.

Created to insure fairness in labor-managment relations and the mediate employers' desputes with unions.

long-time labor leader who organized and led the first important unskilled workers labor union, called in to represent union during sit-down strike

union organization of unskilled workers; broke away from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1935 and rejoined it in 1955

Chicago Police Department shot and killed ten unarmed demonstrators in Chicago, on May 30, 1937. The incident took place during the "Little Steel Strike" in the United States. The incident arose after U.S. Steel signed a union contract, but smaller steel manufacturers (called 'Little Steel'), including Republic Steel, refused to do so. In protest, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) called a strike. On Memorial Day,hundreds of sympathizers gathered at Sam's Place, headquarters of SWOC. As the crowd marched across the prairie towards the Republic Steel mill, a line of Chicago policeman blocked their path. When the foremost protestors argued their right to continue,a tree branch was tossed at the police lines & the police fired on the crowd. As the crowd fled, police bullets killed ten people and injuring 30. Nine people were permanently disabled and another 28 had serious head injuries from police clubbing.

Written by Barc Blitzstein; dealt with unions and steel in the US. The government shut it down and the actors performed from out in the audience

the greatest victory for New Dealers; created pension and insurance for the old-aged, the blind, the physically handicapped, delinquent children, and other dependents by taxing employees and employers

1935. $5 million on emergency relief. Under Hopkins. Put unemployed on federal payroll. Also tried to preserve skills of artists. Relief

Federal government project to fund written work and support writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program. It was one of a group of New Deal arts programs known collectively as Federal One.

Project designed to provide jobs for unemployed artists to design posters, offer art courses, and paint murals on public buildings. (way for struggling artists to have a job and for the community to benefit as well)

It employed 15000 musicians under the direction of Nicholas Sokoloff, the conductor of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Government sponsored orchestra's were able to tour the country because of this.

US GOVN supports theater finacially, 1935,1939, grew out of depresson to create jobs, was censored by govn when it talked about poverty or the govn

Ran against FDR in the 1936 election. He was weak on the radio and weaker in personal compaigning, and while he criticized FDR's spending, he also favored enough of FDR's New Deal to be ridiculed by the Democrats as an unsure idiot.

coalition forged by the Democrats who dominated American politics from the 1930's to the 1960's. its basic elements were the urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholics and Jews, the poor, Southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals.

frequently called the court-packing plan,[2] was a legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Roosevelt's purpose was to obtain favorable rulings regarding New Deal legislation that had been previously ruled unconstitutional. The central and most controversial provision of the bill would have 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 70½.

temporary reversal of the pre-war 1933 to 1941 economic recovery from the Great Depression in the United States. Economists disagree about the causes of this downturn. Keynesian economists tend to assign blame to cuts in Federal spending and increases in taxes at the insistence of the US Treasury, while monetarists, most notably Milton Friedman tended to assign blame to the Federal Reserve's tightening of the money supply in 1936 and 1937

term for the federal government after the New Deal that describes how the federal government mediates between various interest groups competing for advantages in the national economy

FDR's Wife and New Deal supporter. Was a great supporter of civil rights and opposed the Jim Crow laws. She also worked for birth control and better conditions for working women

One of the greatest concert singers of her time. First African-American to perform at the Whitehouse. The DAR refused her use of Constitution Hall for a concert, so Eleanor Roosevelt set her up to perform at the Lincoln Memorial.

Leader in the struggle for women's and black equality. She founded a school for black students that eventually became Bethune-Cookman University. She also served as an advisor to President FDR

an informal network of black officeholders in the federal government; led by Mary McLeod Bethune, William Hastie, and Robert Weaver, they pushed for economic and political opportunities for African Americans in the 1930s and 1940s.

opened jobs and job training programs in defense plants to all Americans regardless of ethnicity

certain rights to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives. These include activities that contributed to the reversal of the Dawes Act's privatization of common holdings of American Indians and a return to local self-government on a tribal basis. The Act also restored to Native Americans the management of their assets (being mainly land) and included provisions intended to create a sound economic foundation for the inhabitants of Indian reservations. Section 18 of the IRA conditions application of the IRA on a majority vote of the affected Indian nation or tribe within one year of the effective date of the act (25 U.S.C. 478). The IRA was perhaps the most significant initiative of John Collier Sr., Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1933 to 1945.

was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman ever appointed to the US Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition. She and Interior Secretary Harold Ickes were the only original members of Roosevelt's cabinet who remained in offices for his entire Presidency

The most successful disarmament conference and also the greatest achievement of Harding's presidency. Held in Washington DC in 1921.

"Pact of Paris" or "Treaty for the Renunciation of War," it made war illegal as a tool of national policy, allowing only defensive war. The Treaty was generally believed to be useless.