Great Depression

Causes of the Depression	20’s saw a huge growth in productivity, but w/low pay and trade war w/Europe goods were not being sold.
Dust Bowl & Okies	Farmers grew wheat on land normally used for grazing animals. This intensive farming destroyed the protective cover of vegetation and the hot dry summers began to turn the soil into dust. High winds in 1934 turned an area of some 50 million acres into a giant dust bowl. Led to Midwesterners fleeing CA (where they got the name Okies)
Stock Market Crash	Black Thursday, Oct 24 1929. Margin buying, excessive speculation and a bull market that led to inflated investments leads to a huge crash of the market.
“Rugged Individualism”	Hoover’s philosophy to deal w/depression. Did not believe in payments or aid for the poor.
Trickle Down Economics	Reganomics, Supply Side Economics, Voodoo Economics, Bush Economics, Trickle on the Poor Economics. Tax cuts to wealthy, wealthy will then invest in economy and the $ will trickle down to the poor
Reconstruction Finance Corporation	Hoover authorized $2 billion in funding for the creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in January of 1932. The RFC was intended to make low cost loans to companies to stimulate the economy. This was somewhat effective.
Bonus Army	In 1924 Congress voted $3.5 B to the American veterans of the First World War. Payable over 20 years. Veterans wanted it sooner. 10,000 march on Washington. They are driven away by the US military. Embarrassing incident for Hoover.
Hoovervilles	Term referring to the shantytowns that the homeless and unemployed started putting up in major cities all across the US.
FDR	Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Harvard graduate, lawyer, Governor of NY, handicapped, the consummate politician. Lead through Great depression and WW2.
New Deal	FDR’s plan to fix the problems of the Great Depression. New Deal fundamentally changes the way our country interacts w/government; it is a huge expansion of the federal government.
Relief, Recovery, Reform	3 goals of the New Deal Relief: Immediately help the out of work and put people back to work Recovery: Get the economy working well again Reform: Put mechanisms in place to prevent a reoccurrence of the depression.
Emergency Banking Act	Closed all banks in the US until they could be inspected by the Gov. They reopened when their finances were assured. Built confidence of public and stopped runs on banks.
Federal Emergency Relief Act	FERA was the first step in the program of relief at the beginning of the New Deal; it allocated an initial fund of $500,000,000 to help those in need. Direct payments, soup kitchens, etc.
WPA, CCC, PWA	3 programs to put America back to work: Works Progress Administration: building public buildings Civilian Conservation Corps: working on national parks, dam projects Progress Works Administration: working under the Sec of Interior (Ickes)
NRA: “codes of fair competition”	Pushed industries to make codes and rules for "fair competition". It gave more rights to workers and employees, and assisted industries as well as unemployed . The NRA established minimum and maximum labor hours. The NRA was declared unconstitutional in 1935 by the US Supreme Court on the grounds that its codes were an illegal delegation of authority and invaded areas reserved for states.
FHA	Mortgage Relief. Sets up low cost mortgages for new construction or repair of older buildings.
AAA	Agricultural Adjustment Act: Paid farmers not to grow crops and not to produce dairy produce such as milk and butter. The money to pay the farmers for cutting back production of about 30% was raised by a tax on companies that bought the farm products and processed them into food and clothing. Also tried to help farmers destroyed by the creation of the dust-bowl.
FDIC	Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Insured banks against failure.
SEC	Security Exchange Commission: Regulates stock sales and public companies and put safeguards in place to prevent another crash.
Social Security	1935. Establishes Old Age and Survivors' Insurance benefits that may be paid on retirement at 65. Both the employer and employee had to pay a 3% payroll tax. The act also encouraged states to deal with social problems. By offering substantial financial help the states provide unemployment benefits, old-age pensions, aid to the disabled, maternity care, etc.
Wagner Act	The National Labor Relations Act also established the rights of workers to join trade unions and to bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of their own choosing. Workers were now protected from their employers and as a result union membership grew rapidly
Labor Standards Act	The main objective of the act was to eliminate "labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standards of living necessary for health, efficiency and well-being of workers". Established maximum hours, minimum wage, child labor laws.
TVA	Tennessee Valley Authority: developed fertilizers, taught farmers how to improve crop yields, and helped replant forests, etc. Generated electricity by TVA dams. Electric lights and modern appliances made life easier and farms more productive. Electricity also drew industries into the region, providing desperately needed jobs.
Court Packing	After the supreme court struck down the AAA and NRA Roosevelt proposed expanding the court to 15 members. This was rejected as an obvious attempt to get around the system of checks and balances.
1940: 3^rd term	Roosevelt takes an unprecedented 3^rd term (precedent set by Washington). He is elected to a 4^th as well. Only Pres to do so. Later 22^nd amendment will close this loophole (unwritten v written constitution)
Opposition to New Deal	Huey Long-Kingfish proposes a dramatic redistribution of wealth Father Coughlin-anti-Semitic radio announcer sees Roosevelt’s new deal as a Jewish conspiracy. Dr. Townsend-proposes a radical payment plan to elderly. Roosevelt quiets him by passing the SS act.