Great Depression IDs Flashcards
Recession
a period of severely declining economic activity spread across a nation’s economy. Normally visible in a decline in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial product, wholesale retail, credit, and loss in the overall confidence in the economy. The most recent recession was in 2008.
Depression
a very severe recession, the worst in the US took place between 1925 and 1940.
inflation
a general upward movement of prices for goods and services in an economy. In 2022 there was a spike in inflation that reached a high not seen in a long time.
deflation
a general downward movement of prices for goods and services in an economy, often accompanied by falling wages and unemployment. This is very bad for debtors.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a year. A decrease in this could be a sign of a recession.
Unemployment Rate
the percentage of the labor force who are actively trying to get a job for a few months and can’t find one. The unemployment rate was higher in the US during COVID.
Black Thursday
the stock market started crashing on Black Tuesday, October 29,1929, and did not stop till five days later, Black Thursday. Over $10 billion in market value had vanished by the end.
causes of the great depression
the 1929 stock market crash, protectionist trade policies, bank failures, and the excess of the 1920s are the causes of the great depression. The stock market crash was not the main cause, unlike what many people think.
President Herbert Hoover
Hoover only served one term from 1929-1933, refused to give government relief during the start of the great depression, and advocated for a balanced budget.
Life during the Great Depression
during the Great Depression goods and services fell by 1/3, unemployment was at 25%, the stock market lost 80% of its value, and 7,000 banks failed. Between the stock market crash and the bank failures, people lost the majority of their money especially their savings.
Causes of the Dust Bowl
causes of the dust bowl are new technology, overproduction, bad farming practices, and drought. The bonanza farms that only grew one plant depleted the soil’s nutrients, which in combination with tractors tilling up the grasses holding down the soil made the drought much worse when it came.
Migrants
the migrants coming from the dust bowl often went to CA and were called Okies. Okies were treated the same as people of color at the time and CA tried multiple times to pass legislation banning them from entering the state.
FDR
FDR was the only president to serve three terms from 1933-1945. He created the new deal policies that helped pull the US out of the Great Depression. One of his most famous policies that is still in place today is the social security act of 1935.
1st New Deal
the first new deal put into place in the first hundred days of FDR’s presidency in 1933 focused on agricultural reform and putting Americans back to work. some of the acts passed were the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Civil Works Administration (CWA).
2nd New Deal
the second new deal was in 1935 and was more radical, focusing on social reform. The most notable acts from this are the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Social Security Act (SSA), and the United States Housing Act (USHA).
