8th grade ch 23- the great depression Flashcards
signs of weakness in the 20s (3)
- older industries (mining, railroads, clothing manufacturing) were in decline
- agriculture was suffering
- lots of margin buyers (gambling) in stocks
stock market peak and decline5
- peak: sept. 1929
- decline: oct 3, 1929
- brokers who bought on money asked for their loans
- investors who couldn’t pay loans had to sell stocks (caused prices to drop more)
- oct 29, 1929: black tuesday: stock market crumbled (marked start of great depression)
overproduction2
- situation in which the supply of manufactured goods exceeds the demand
- affected housing, automobiles, and goods
crisis in banking2
- banks that loaned farmers money went out of business when farms failed
- many people rushed to bank to withdraw their savings after market crashed
depression cycle 5
- ) stock market crashed (people lose money)
- ) people unable to buy what factories are producing, factory workers lose their jobs
- ) unemployed have less money to buy goods
- ) declining sales lead to more closings and layoffs
- ) go back to #2
bankruptcy
financial failure caused by a company’s inability to pay its debts
influence to world3
- after ww1, european nations owed US lots of money
- depression slowed down international trade, which caused countries to be unable to pay loans
- investors cut back on loans to europe, causing europe to begin a depression
default
fail to repay their loans
show of poverty4
- soup kitchens
- sell apples or pencils
- hop freight trains to move (hobos)
- homeless communities: hoovervilles
impact on families4
- fathers had to leave or abandon families to find work
- fewer people got married, fewer people had babies
- children had more health problems
- most children stopped attending school
government aid4
- hoover’s advisers thought to do nothing, hoover disagreed
- hoover told states to make public projects and soup kitchens to help the jobless
- formed the reconstruction finance corporation to fund businesses like banks, insurance com, and railroads
- situation continued to worsen
bonus
extra payment
bonus army3
- veterans of ww1 who marched to washington to demand their payment of 1000 for fighting in ww1
- government used violence to clear them out, killing and injuring the people
- americans were outraged by this incident
franklin d roosevelt2
- democrat, ran against hoover in 1932
- pledged “a new deal” for the americans
bank holiday4
- first day in office, fdr declared a bank holiday to halt the nationwide bank failures
- proposed an emergency banking relief act, which provided more careful government regulation of banks
- delivered the first fireside chat (radio talk) that encouraged people to go put their money back in the banks
- the next day, the banks reopened and people redeposited their savings
goals of the new deal3
- relief for the jobless
- economic recovery
- reforms to prevent future depressions
federal emergency relief administration
granted funds to states so they could reopen shuttered relief industries
programs to provide jobs2
- civilian conservation corps (ccc): hired city dwellers to work in american’s national wilderness
- works progress administration (wpa): put people to work building or repairing public buildings like schools or post offices
national recovery administration2
- kept prices stable while boosting employment and buying power
- succeeded in raising prices but failed to improve the economy
public works administration
-granted money to build public works projects like tunnels and dams
tennessee valley authority
-built giant dams along the tennessee river to control flooding, provide electricity, and increase jobs
preventing future depressions3
- truth-in-securities act; required corporations to inform the public about their stocks
- federal deposit insurance corporation: protected bank depositors
- federal power commission: helped control the oil and fas industries
supreme court opposes2
- declared several new deal measures to be unconstitutional
- president tried to replace the justices with more liberal ones
new deal critics
- conservatives thought new deal went too far in regulating businesses and restricting individual freedom
- liberals thought it did not go far enough in helping the poor
huey long
- argued that the government could end the depression immediately
- wanted to tax the wealthy and distribute the money to the poor
francis townsend
called for a system of government pensions (retirement payments)
charles coughlin
used the radio to call to the government to take over the banks
women in workplace3
- salesclerks and secretaries: little competition, less likely to lose job
- teachers or librarians: higher competition
- factory, maids, housekeepers: more likely to lose job or have wages cut
eleanor roosevelt2
- spoke and traveled on FDR’s behalf
- campaigned for women’s rights
blacks in depression2
- black sharecroppers lost their land
- couldn’t find work in north or south
civil rights
rights guaranteed in the constitution, especially voting and equal treatment under the law
mary mcleod bethune
member of the black cabinet, who advised the president on black issues
marian anderson2
- black singer who was denied allowance to sing at the Daughters of American Revolution hall
- eleanor roosevelt allowed her to sing at the lincoln memorial
migrant workers
people who travel from farm to farm picking crops
mexicans in depression
more whites were becoming migrant workers and so the government deported thousands of mexicans
john collier
commissioner of indian affairs who led the Indian New Deal
native americans in depression3
- law in 1924 granted natives citizenship
- indian new deal wanted to help natives find work and protect their land
- Indian Reorganization Act of 1934: restricted tribal land sales (good) but couldn’t bring self-government
one cause of dust bowl2
- new farming equipment removed the sod from the land which kept the soil in place
- when rains failed, the soil blew away
black blizzards
dust storms that were very thick and dark
effect of dust bowl2
- caused many okies to move west to california
- unable to buy land, had to compete with local workers to pick crops at low wages
john steinbeck
wrote the grapes of wrath that told about the harsh life during the depression
arts of the depression3
- photographers and painters used the depression as a theme for their art
- movies were meant to help people forget about their problems
- radio was used for FDR’s fireside chats, music, comedy, and soap operas
social security act3
- old age insurance: gave retired people a pension funded by a payroll tax
- aid to dependent children: helped kids whose fathers were unable to support their family
- did not benefit many african americans, migrant workers, and poor rural whites
payroll tax
tac that removes money directly from workers’ paychecks
frances perkins
first woman to serve in the cabinet who backed major labor reforms and drafted the social security act
wagner act2
- guaranteed workers’ rights to organize into unions and prohibited unfair business practices, such as firing union members
- upheld collective bargaining and helped rise union membership
collective bargaining
right of a union to negotiate wages and benefits for all of its members
fair labor standards act3
- set minimum wages
- established time-and-a-half payment for overtime work
- ended child labor in some businesses
john l lewis
head of the united mine workers, formed the congress of industrial organization
congress of industrial organization3
- umbrella organization consisted of many other unions
- combined all the workers in a particular industry (skilled and nonskilled), unlike the american federation of labor
- opened up union membership to more women and blacks
sit down strike
workers stay in the factory but stop production
arguments against new deal4
- gave too much power to federal government
- threaten individual freedom and free enterprise
- worried about increase in nation’s debt
- failed to end great depression
deficit spending
situation in which the government spends more money than it recieves in taxes
supports for new deal5
- employed millions of jobless
- ended banking crisis
- reformed stock market
- improved working conditions
- restored faith in government
