Chapter 31 Flashcards
Franklin D. Roosevelt, New Deal, First Hundred Days, Brain Trust
FDR- from a wealthy NY family became Governor of NY. Went to Harvard and Columbia for his education. His legislative agenda to fight the Great Depression was known as the New Deal which would include 15 major acts passed within the first 100 days of his Presidency(which was unprecedented). FDR put together one of the best Cabinets ever when he included the smartest college professors and experts in their field which would be called the Brain Trust.
Eleanor Roosevelt
FDR’s distant cousin and wife. Since polio struck FDR– Eleanor became his eyes and ears and was extremely active for a first lady as she travelled the country discovering problems and attempting to find solutions
Harry Hopkins
one of FDR’s friends who was in charge of FERA and the CWA programs during the depression
Frances Perkins
first female Cabinet member-Sec. Of Labor under FDR
Father Charles Coughlin
Catholic Priest from Detroit Michigan who ran a radio program with millions of followers who became anti- New Deal and extremely anti- Sematic, fascist, and demagogic.
Huey Long
Senator from Louisiana who believed in Share Our Wealth- where the wealthy would be heavily taxed and each poor family would receive $5000 during the Great Depression. Later he would want to run for President, but was assassinated by a deranged doctor
Harold Ickes
FDR’s Sec. of the Interior and also ran the PWA during the Great Depression
John Lewis
leader of the United Mine Workers (UMW)- increase labor union strength during the 1930’s
John Steinbeck
author of The Grapes of Wrath about the Okies’ struggles while they lived in the Dust Bowl and many left to California looking for jobs
Boondoggling
useless jobs just to help the unemployed-like Steinbeck counting dogs
3 R’s
FDR’s goals to deal with the Great Depression relief(short term immediate help or money directly for those in need), recovery (medium term assistance like creating jobs until the economy recovered), and reform (long term changes so another depression does not occur)
Glass Steagall Act
helped create the FDIC to insure bank deposits up to $5,000
CCC
Civilian Conservation Corps- hired men mostly 18-21 to drain swamps, fight forest fires, plants trees, and any outdoor work. Some viewed this as a form of socialism since all the men were uniformed
WPA
Works Progress Administration- created constructions jobs for the building of roads, schools, hospitals, dams, and the such. Within the WPA- the Federal #1 program provided money to employ artists, musicians, and actors—very controversial because many felt nothing was being accomplished by this
National Recovery Act
established minimum wages, maximum hours, also allowed labor unions to protest and negotiate
Schechter Poultry aka Sick Chicken Case
aka the Sick Chicken case where the Supreme Court ruled Congress cannot delegate Congressional power and give it to the President. Giving the President more power would make him more like a dictator and disrupt the separation of powers.
PWA
Public Works Administration- created construction jobs such as building roads, bridges, schools, dams, and hospitals to name a few
AAA
Agricultural Adjustment Administration- helped farmers to pay their mortgages, also paid farmers to destroy livestock, destroy crops, dump out milk in order to adjust the supply in hopes of creating an increase in prices, but actually ended up increasing unemployment.
Dust Bowl
dry region in Colorado/Oklahoma area where many struggled to become farmers so they left due to the lack of water and fertile soil
SEC
Securities and Exchange Commision- regulate the stock market, prevent fraud, and overspeculation
TVA
Tennessee Valley Authority- created dams to produce hydroelectricity in the poor Tennessee region. Many critics referred to this as creeping socialism since the federal government now competed against utility companies
Social Security Act
act that allowed people over the age of 60 to retire and also provided funds for the poor, disadvantaged, blind, and many others
Wagner Act
legalized collective bargaining(negotiating as a group) for labor unions.
NLRB
National Labor Relations Board- created to work with labor unions and owners in an attempt to prevent strikes and keep people working during the Great Depression.
Court Packing
FDR was upset the NRA and a few other of his New Deal programs were deemed unconstitutional so he wanted to add justices to the Supreme Court. FDR wanted to add a new justice for every current justice over the age of 70. The Supreme Court could go from 9 up to 15 members, but this was shot down because it would interfere with separation of powers giving FDR more dictatorial powers.
Keynesianism
British economist who came up with deficit spending which is an attempt to jump-start the economy by spending more money up front to create jobs, but it means the U.S. is going into debt by trying to do this. **this is a turning point because the U.S. would remain in debt to this day
FDIC
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation- insured bank deposits up to $5,000 during the Great Depression Era which gave people more confidence to deposit money in the bank. –still exists today with $250,000 insured
CWA
Civil Works Administration- government agency that provided construction jobs for the unemployed. The building of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, and dams
21st Amendment
reversed the 18th Amendment and legalized alcohol.
Hooverville, Shantytown
shacks that people made out of tarps, fences, and anything else. Typically they lived on public property and blamed Hoover for their demise.
