Vocabulary
A long and severe slowdown in the entire country's economy.
What is a DEPRESSION.
This financial event, which happened on Black Tuesday, was the immediate cause of the Depression.
What is the CRASH OF THE STOCK MARKET.
This economic rate affected an estimated 25% of American people during the height of the Great Depression.
What is UNEMPLOYMENT.
The idea that people should rely on themselves, not the government, which President Hoover promoted.
What is RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM.
Radio talks given by President FDR to speak directly to and reassure the nation.
What were FIRESIDE CHATS.
The nickname for October 29, 1929, the day the stock market experienced a huge crash.
What is BLACK TUESDAY.
Governmental mistakes, like keeping these too low and not doing this to the economy, helped contribute to the Depression.
What are:
- INTEREST RATES on loans (lower interest rates mean people are going to borrow more)
- REGULATE (make rules around best practices)
The environmental disaster in the Great Plains caused by drought and wind storms and that contributed to the agricultural failure during the Depression.
What is the DUST BOWL.
The war veterans who marched to Washington D.C. to demand early pay from the government.
What is the BONUS ARMY.
The New Deal program (CCC) that gave jobs to young men planting trees and fighting forest fires.
What was the CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS.
Paying a small percentage of a stock's price and borrowing the rest of the money.
What is BUYING ON MARGIN.
This happened to many banks when investors could not repay the loans they took out to buy stocks.
What is BANK FAILURE.
Shanty towns built by homeless people out of scrap materials outside of cities in the early years of the Depression.
What are HOOVERVILLES.
FDR's first action as president, which stopped bank failures and panic across the country.
What is a BANK HOLIDAY.
The New Deal goal of making permanent changes to the system to prevent a future depression from ever happening again.
What is REFORM.
Government-funded building programs, such as roads, dams, and schools.
What are PUBLIC WORKS.
This is the temporary and less severe economic slowdown, unlike a depression.
What is a RECESSION.
These were the two primary forms of cheap entertainment people turned to in order to escape the hardships of the Depression.
What are RADIO and the MOVIES / FILM.
The three "R's" that summarize the goals of the New Deal programs.
What are RELIEF, RECOVERY, and REFORM.
The New Deal program (FDIC) created to insure and protect the money that people put into banks.
What is the FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION.
The name for the programs and laws created by President FDR to fix the economy.
What is the NEW DEAL.
This was a long-term cause of the Depression, where the wealthiest had most of the money, and the rest had very little.
What is the WEALTH GAP between rich and poor; INCOME INEQUALITY.
This is what thousands of farm families (often called "Okies") were forced to do when the Dust Bowl made farming impossible.
What is ABANDON their FARMS and MIGRATE (move) WEST.
The core philosophy of FDR, who believed the federal government had a duty to intervene with aggressive programs.
What is DIRECT FEDERAL ACTION (expanded government intervention).
The permanent change / societal philosophy created by the Social Security Act that protects the elderly and unemployed workers.
What is a SAFETY NET.