Chapter 15 Flashcards by Alyssa Vassel

rugged individualism

success comes through individual effort and private ownership

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breadlines

long lines of poverty-stricken women and men in line for bowls of soup and bread

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shantytowns

collection of makeshift shelters built out of packing boxes, scrap lumber, and corrugated iron

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gross national product

the total value of all goods and services produced in a given year: fell below $56 billion at the height of the depression

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bull market

a market with an upward trend in stock prices

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margin buying

practice of purchasing stocks with borrowed money

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bear market

a market with a downward trend in stock prices

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Who was President during the Great Depression?

Herbert Hoover

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Why did financial experts issue warnings about business practices during the 1920s?

agricultural crisis
mass production
debt from credit purchases
rapid buying and selling of stocks

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What was Black Thursday?

October 24, 1929; a large number of investors sold their shares, jolting investor confidence and causing prices to plunge

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What did the President blame the depression on?

World War I

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How much money did stockholders lose in 1929?

$30 billion

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List 4 events that signaled the beginning of the Great Depression.

the crisis in the banking industry
business failures
stock market crash
massive unemployment

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How did unemployment during the depression affect men and women differently?

men: depressed attitudes, alcoholism, and suicide rates were high
women: forced to work to earn money for less wages

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How did unemployment during the depression affect the lives of American workers?

homelessness
racial discrimination
hunger

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In 1933, unemployment had risen to what?

15 million

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business cycle

the regular ups and downs of business in a free enterprise economy

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What effects did the depression have on the U.S. economy?

unemployment
business failures
people withdrew their money from banks and banks closed
people lost their homes

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Cotton prices fell from ___ cents a pound in 1929 to __ cents a pound in 1931.

How did the hardships of the depression differ for rural and urban residents?

urban: less demand for farm products, hunger, breadlines, shantytowns, discrimination, homelessness/poverty
rural: unable to sell crops, mutualistas, homelessness/poverty

List 2 results of family life during the depression.

marriage rates fell / divorce rates rose
birth rates declined

William Faulkner

famous novelist from Oxford, MS; wrote “As I Lay Dying” and “The Sound and the Fury”

How many Americans committed suicide in 1932?

20,000

List 3 things Hoover offered for Americans to get out of depression.

public works projects
offered loans to farmers
provided money to savings banks

What was the largest public works project during Hoover's presidency?

Hoover Dam

Home Loan Bank Act of 1932

established the Home Loan Bank Board and provided money to savings banks

Federal Farm Board (FFB)

- offered loans to farmers - offered equipment - bought crops in bulk

Who won the 1932 election and what was his slogan?

Franklin D. Roosevelt; "new deal"

Who was Franklin D. Roosevelt's wife?

Eleanor Roosevelt

How did urban and rural residents cope during the depression?

urban: - fought for food - waited in breadlines - lived in shantytowns rural: - let crops rot - killed cattle - immigrants left the country

Why did the stock market crash in 1929?

- mass production - inflation - rapid buying

What events in 1929 were historically significant?

- stock market crash - banking crisis

How did the stock market crash provoke a banking crisis and how did the banking crisis lead to business failures?

- investors couldn't repay loans to banks

How did poverty in urban areas create such a drop in agricultural prices that farmers let their crops rot in the field?

couldn't afford to purchase farm products

How did the hardships of the Great Depression further inflame racial prejudices against African American workers and Mexican migrant farmworkers?

many jobs went to white citizens

Why did President Hoover oppose government-sponsored direct relief for individuals during the great depression?

wanted individual effort with no government assistance (rugged individualism)

How did the Hoover administration attempt to save the depression's economic problems?

- created the Federal Emergency Relief Board (authorized $375 million for the unemployed) - created relief organizations like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and YMCA

What were some of President Hoover's public works?

- Hoover Dam - 800 public buildings - 37,000 miles of highway - $800 million in funding

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

created by Congress in February 1932; lended up to $2 billion of taxpayer money to stabilized troubled banks

How did the Great Depression affect the role of the federal government?

got more involved in the lives of citizens

Why did World War I veterans and unemployed workers resort to mass protest during the early years of the depression?

demanded bonuses, aid, and employment

How did President Hoover and President Roosevelt differ?

Roosevelt was more fair and optimistic

What were the multiple factors that contributed to the Great Depression?

- consumer debt - financial crisis - unemployment - agricultural crisis

How did racial prejudices magnify the effects of the depression for African Americans and Mexican Americans?

- discrimination in the workplace - lower wages - higher unemployment rate

What type of program would you have developed to ease the burdens of urban residents and farmers during the depression?

- mortgage relief program - school lunch program

How did Hoover's depression-era programs reflect his belief in rugged individualism and self-reliance?

- wanted volunteers and work for relief - nothing was given out for free