Causes of the Depression
The collapse of the stock market on October 29, 1929
Black Tuesday
Makeshift shantytowns set up by homeless people
Hoovervilles
Programs and laws pushed during the Great Depression to promote economic recovery and social reform
The New Deal
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Insured bank deposits up to $5,000 (now $250,000)
Period lasting from 1929-1941 when the economy faltered and unemployment soared
The Great Depression
What percentage of the American population was unemployed by 1933?
25%
Historic drought and dust storms in the Great Plains that destroyed farmlands
The Dust Bowl
Republican president who resisted using federal resources to provide direct relief to individuals
Herbert Hoover
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Regulated stock market and made it safer for investments
Dam on the Colorado River built during Great Depression
Hoover Dam
What were the high stock prices of the 1920s based on?
Confidence
Long lines to get food handouts
Bread lines
Democratic president who believed that the federal government needed to play an active role in promoting recovery and providing relief to Americans
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Environmental conservation projects that provided jobs for 2 million+ young men
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Built or improved highways, dredged rivers and harbors, and promoted soil and water conservation
High-risk investments in hopes of making a huge profit
Speculation
Working for bigger landowners rather for themselves
Tenant farmers
Theory that money poured into the top of economic pyramid will trickle down to the base
Trickle-down economics
National Recovery Administration (NRA)
Increased wages and price of goods so companies could make a profit
This law established a pension system for retirees
Social Security Act
This raised taxes on foreign imports and was supposed to help American businesses; instead, it harmed businesses, damaged international trade and spread depression to other countries
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
Efforts by officials to encourage or coerce immigrants to return to their country of origin
Repatriation
Policy where problems could best be solved at local/state levels
Localism
Public Works Administration (PWA)
Improved nation’s infrastructure and created millions of jobs
Recognized the right of employees to join labor unions and gave workers the right to collective bargaining
Wagner Act