In 1929, the stock market crash spelled an end to the prosperity of the 1920s. The stock market crash marked the beginning of a period of economic hard times known as the Great Depression which lasted through the 1930s. During the 1920s, Many Americans had seen how some had gotten rich by investing in the stock market. They wanted to invest, too. Stock brokers made it easier to buy stock on credit by paying as little as 10% and owing the rest. This was known as buying on margin. When the stock market started going down, those who had bought stock on margin panicked and sold their stock crashing the market. The effects of the crash spread through the economy as more and more businesses and banks failed, factories closed, and many people became unemployed. By 1930, the nation was sinking into the worst economic depression in its history. Hoover did little to help the economy or those hurt by the depression, and many Americans began to blame him for the Great Depression and not helping those in need. The shanty towns of unemployed came to be known as Hoovervilles.
In 1932, voters chose Franklin Roosevelt as President. FDR promised a new deal for Americans. In the years ahead, he tried out many programs. Together, they were called the New Deal. The New Deal was a great departure from the policies of previous Presidents. The New Deal was based on the concept that the government had a responsibility for helping those in need and getting involved in the economy. The first problem Roosevelt tackled was the banks. He declared a bank holiday closing the banks and then allowed only those in sound financial shape to reopen. To reassure the public and let them know what the government was doing to help Roosevelt gave a series of radio broadcasts known as fireside chats. The New Deal had three many goals; relief for the unemployed, recovery to get businesses and factories going again, and reform to prevent another depression. The Works Progress administration (WPA) was a relief program that hired many Americans to do a wide range of jobs from building parks to putting on plays to painting murals. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) sought recovery through establishes business rules. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was a prevention program created to stabilize banks by insuring the depositors' money.
Most Americans approved of the New Deal, evidenced by Roosevelt being re-elected several times. However, not everyone was pleased with the New Deal. Some Americans worried amount the mounting deficit. To pay for some of the programs the government spent more money than it took in; this is known as deficit spending. Some Americans worried about the free enterprise system and personal liberties. The government became larger and much more intrusive to businesses and to Americans personally. Supporters of the New Deal believed it had saved our democratic system of government, helped both people and business when they were in great need, and prevented future depression. The New Deal made things better, but did not end the Great Depression. Government spending for military supplies and drafting millions of men for World War II is credited with ending the Great Depression.
During the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl spread across the Great Plains. Years of poor land management and drought had caused the topsoil to turn to dust and be carried away by the wind. Thousands of Americans were forced off their farms. The depression brought hard times to minority groups like African Americans and Mexican Americans. Under the New Deal, however, Native Americans benefited from new government policies.
3221848694 | Causes of the Great Depression | 1. tariffs and war debt policies that cut down the foreign market for American goods. 2. Stock market speculation 3. Bank Failures 4. Fed. Reserve raised interest rates to banks to curb stock market. | 0 | |
3221848695 | Effects of the Great Depression | - Many banks fail. - Many businesses and factories fail. - Millions of Americans are out of work. - Many are homeless and hungry. - Families break up and people suffer | 1 | |
3221848696 | Buying on margin | credit practice that allows people to buy stock with a down payment of a portion of the value | 2 | |
3221848697 | Black Tuesday | day the stock market crashed, signaling the start of the Great Depression | 3 | |
3221848698 | Great Depression | worst period of economic decline in United States history, beginning in 1929-1933 | 4 | |
3221848699 | Social Welfare | government provided services | 5 | |
3221848700 | soup kitchen | place where food is provided to the needy at little or no charge | 6 | |
3221848701 | public works | projects built by the government to help public | 7 | |
3221848702 | Hoovervilles | Named after "Lazzaire Faire" President, 1928-1932, who was thought to not care about the poor. Group of shacks in which homeless lived during the Great Depression | 8 | |
3221848703 | WPA | Agency responsible for providing employment assistance directly to the poor. Hires jobless people to build public buildings and parks. | 9 | |
3221848705 | polio | highly infectious disease that causes inflammation of the nerve cells of the brain stem and spinal cord, leading to paralysis. FDR caught this disease. | 10 | |
3221848706 | bank holiday | Presidential closing of banks four days during the Great Depression to help recover | 11 | |
3221848707 | fireside chat | radio speech given by Franklin D. Roosevelt while in office | 12 | |
3221848708 | Hundred Days | Initial days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency when a lot of changes occurred | 13 | |
3221848709 | New Deal | program of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to end the Great Depression | 14 | |
3221848710 | Pros of Roosevelt's New Deal | - Government has a duty to help all citizens. - The New Deal helped the nation through the worst days of the Great Depression. - At a time when people in other countries turned to dictators to solve problems, the New Deal saved the Nation's democratic system. | 15 | |
3221848711 | Cons of Roosevelt's New Deal | - Government should not interfere in business or in people's private lives. - New Deal spending led to increases in the national debt. - The New Deal did not end the Great Depression. | 16 | |
3221848712 | Dust Bowl | region in the central Great Plains that was hit by a severe drought caused be misuse of land, not rotating crops and years of sustained drought in the Midwest. | 17 | |
3221848713 | civil rights | the rights due to all citizens | 18 | |
3221848714 | FDR | 32nd President of the United States, the President of the United States during the Depression and WWII. He instituted the New Deal. Served from 1933 to 1945, he was the only president in U.S. history to be elected to four terms | 19 | |
3221848715 | S.E.C | an independent federal agency that oversees the exchange of securities to protect investors | 20 | |
3221848716 | FDIC | A federal guarantee of savings bank deposits initially of up to $2500, raised to $5000 in 1934, and frequently thereafter; continues today with a limit of $100,000 | 21 | |
3221848717 | PWA | Part of Roosevelts New Deal programs. Put people to work building or improving public buildings like schools, post offices, etc. | 22 | |
3221848718 | AAA | attempted to regulate agricultural production through farm subsidies ($ to decrease the amount of crops produced); ruled unconstitutional in 1936; disbanded after World War II | 23 | |
3221848719 | TVA | created in 1933 in order to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted by the Great Depression | 24 | |
3221848720 | Eleanor Roosevelt | First lady of the United States from 1933-1945. | 25 | |
3221848721 | CCC | Relief program that employed jobless youths in such government projects as reforestation, park maintenance, and erosion control. | 26 | |
3221848722 | Social Security Act | Launched a federal-state program of workers' pensions, unemployment insurance, and other welfare benefits. | 27 | |
3221848723 | Fair Labor Standards Act | Banned child labor and set a national minimum wage. | 28 | |
3221848724 | Stock Market Speculation | Buying stocks for the sole purpose of reselling them once they increase in value. This led to a bubble in the prices of stocks. The bubble always bursts. | 29 | |
3221848725 | Drought | Prolonged period with no precipitation and restricted water access. | 30 | |
3221848726 | Recovery | Support for business, banking and farms so that they can return to normal | 31 | |
3221848727 | Reform | Try to prevent another great depression from occurring through legislation | 32 | |
3221848729 | RFA | A government agency that authorized loans to large businesses that lost money in Depression. | 33 | |
3221848730 | Glass-Steagall Act | (Banking Act of 1933) - Established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and included banking reforms, some designed to control speculation. Repealed in 1999, opening the door to scandals involving banks and stock investment companies. | 34 | |
3221848731 | Deficit Spending | spending more money than the govt. receives in revenue. Used by FDR to finance the New Deal | 35 | |
3221848732 | Huey Long | Opponent of the New Deal, "Kingfish" Rep. senator of LA; pushed "Share Our Wealth" program and make "Every Man a King' at the expense of the wealthy; assassinated | 36 | |
3221848734 | CWA | Civil Works Administration | 37 | |
3221848735 | FHA | provides mortgage insurance allowing Americans to have greater access tho home loans. | 38 | |
3221848736 | Court Packing | FDRs attempt to increase the number of US Supreme Court justices from 9 to 13. Constitutional Crisis that would have shifted to "separation of powers" and "checks and balances" in the US Constitution. | 39 | |
3221848737 | John Steinbeck | American author who wrote 27 novels and "Grapes of Wrath" that depict life during The Great Depression. | 40 |