U.S. History: Chapter 14 Flashcards
shantytown
a neighborhood in which people live in makeshift shacks
soup kitchen
a place where free or low cost food is served
bread line
a line of people waiting for free food
Dust Bowl
the region, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, that was made worthless for farming by drought and dust storms during the 1930’s
direct relief
the giving of money or food by the government directly to the needy people
Herbert Hoover
president who tried to reassure Americans that the nation’s economy was on a sound footing and said “Any lack of confidence in the economic future… is foolish.”
Boulder Dam
a dam on the Colorado River, now called Hoover Dam, that was built during the Great Depression as part of a public-works program intended to stimulate business and provide jobs
Federal Home Loan Bank Act
a law, enacted in 1031, that lowered home mortgage rates and allowed farmer to refinance their loans and avoid foreclosure
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
an agency established in 1931 to provide emergency financing to banks, life-insurance companies, railroads, and other large businesses
Bonus Army
a group of World War I veterans and their families who marched on Washington, D.C. in 1932 to demand the immediate payment of a bonus they had been promised for military service
price support
the maintenance of a price at a certain level through government intervention
credit
an arrangement in which a buyer pays later for a purchase, often on an installment plan with interest charges
Alfred E. Smith
Democrat who ran against Herbert Hoover in the Election of 1928
Dow Jones Industrial Average
a measure based on the prices of the stocks of 30 large companies, widely used a a barometer of the stock market’s health
speculation
an involvement in risky business transactions in an effort to make a quick or large profit
