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Stock Exchange
a place where shares in corporations are bought and sold through an organized system
Hoovervilles
Homeless people gathered to live in makeshift villages known as Hoovervilles. This name was a sarcastic reference to President Hoover.
CCC
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Over the next 10 years, the CCC employed about 3 million young people. CCC workers toiled on projects that helped the public, including planting trees to reforest areas, building levees for flood control, and improving national parks.
Dust Bowl
During the 1930s, the southern Great Plains suffered an environmental disaster. The region came to be known as the Dust Bowl. Humans and nature both played roles in the catastrophe. Farmers had been using new technology, such as tractors and disc plows, to clear millions of acres of sod. They did not realize that grass held soil in place. When drought struck in 1931, crops died. Soil dried up and then blew away in the strong prairie windstorms.
Grapes of Wraith
In 1939 Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath, a story about a migrant farm family's experiences in California during the Depression. He received the Pulitzer Prize for this book. In 1962 Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Public Works
projects such as the building of highways, parks, and libraries built with public funds for public use
Bonus Army
In 1924 Congress had agreed to give each veteran of World War I a bonus—a cash award. Congress had promised to hand out this bonus in 1945. When the Depression hit, jobless veterans asked to receive their bonuses right away. In the summer of 1932, they formed what they called the "Bonus Army." They marched to Washington, D.C., to demand the money.
AAA
the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The act aimed to raise farm prices quickly. It also sought to control production so that farm prices would stay up over the long term.
In the AAA's first year, farmers grew more food than they could sell. The excess of crops drove prices down, hurting farmers. The AAA paid farmers to destroy crops, milk, and livestock, as well as neglect some of their land.
Facism
a political philosophy that stresses the glory of the state over he individual and that favors dictatorship
Gone With the Wind
The 1939 film of Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone With the Wind also showed people coping with hard times. It was set during the Civil War.
Default
to fail to meet an obligation, especially a financial one
Brain Trust
During the 1932 campaign, Roosevelt relied heavily on advice from a group of advisers known as the "Brain Trust." These advisers helped their candidate develop new ideas for overcoming the nation's severe economic problems.
TVA
One of the boldest Hundred Days programs was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The TVA aimed to promote the economic well-being of the Tennessee Valley region. The TVA built dams along the Tennessee and other rivers. These dams helped control the terrible floods so common to the region. The dams also used the power of flowing water to generate electricity. As a result, thousands of farms and homes got electricity for the first time.
Some critics charged that funds for the TVA should be used to support nationwide programs rather than a regional one. Power companies also attacked the program as unfair and socialistic. When the spring rains came in 1937, however, the system worked. Dams helped stop flooding. In the end, most observers agreed that the TVA was a great success.
Pension
a sum paid regularly to a person, usually after retirement
AFL
Unions in the American Federation of Labor (AFL) represented mostly skilled workers organized by craft.
Black Thursday
On October 24, panicked traders sold almost 13 million shares. That day became known as "Black Thursday."
Emergency Banking Relief Act
Roosevelt ordered all banks closed for four days. Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act to help banks reorganize. Those that passed government inspection could then reopen. The goal was to assure people they could trust their bank.
NIRA
On the last day of the Hundred Days—June 16, 1933—Congress passed the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). Roosevelt called this "the most important and far-reaching legislation" ever passed in the United States. The goal of the NIRA was to boost the economy by helping business regulate itself.
Unemployment Insurance
payments by the government for a limited period of time to people who have lost their jobs
CIO
John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers helped form a new labor group, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The CIO aimed to organize entire industries, not just workers of a certain craft. By 1938, the CIO had 4 million members, including many women and African Americans.
The Hawley-Smoot Tariff
The Hawley-Smoot Tariff raised the price of goods purchased from other countries. As a result, Americans bought fewer of these goods. This hurt foreign countries.
Hundred Days
During his first months in office—a period that came to be called the "Hundred Days"—Congress approved many FDR proposals. Optimism swept through the capital.
Elanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt played a major role in her husband's presidency. The president's disability made travel difficult. Eleanor Roosevelt acted as his "eyes and ears." She made many fact-finding trips in his place. Mrs. Roosevelt also was a powerful voice for women and families in need.
FLSA
In 1938 Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This banned child labor and set a minimum wage of 40 cents per hour.
Sit-Down Strike
In late 1936, workers at the General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan, began using a new technique—the sit-down strike. Strikers continuously occupied the plant and refused to work. After 44 days, management accepted the workers' right to be represented by the union of their choice—the United Auto Workers.