Great Depression Study Guide Flashcards
(32 cards)
What is a Bull Market?
A long period of rising stock prices; there was one in the late 1920s
What is buying on a margin?
When a buyer only puts down 10-20% of the money and borrows 80-90% of the cost
What was Black Tuesday?
The stock market plummeted completely and lost over ten billion dollars
When did the stock market crash?
September 1929
What are the causes of the Great Depression?
Overproduction, the Hawley-Smoot Tariff, and mistakes from the Federal Reserve
How did overproduction contribute to the Great Depression?
Factories and farms were producing more goods than people were buying
What was the Hawley-Smoot tariff? How did it contribute to the Great Depression?
The act raised the average tariff rate, leading to other countries increasing their own tariffs on American goods. It reduced international trade, causing global trade to plummet.
How did the federal reserve’s mistakes contribute to the Great Depression?
The Federal Reserve failed to raise interest rates and essentially let the banking system collapse
What was daily life like for people during the Great Depression?
There were bread lines and soup kitchens set up by private organizations like the YMCA. Many people were evicted so they either fled by “riding the rails” or joined shantytowns.
Who was the president when the Great Depression began? How did he respond to the Depression?
Herbert Hoover, who responded with a collection of programs like the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
What was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)?
The RFC made loans to businesses; it provided financial aid to railroads, financial institutions, and business corporations.
What is relief?
Money given directly to impoverished families
What was the Bonus Army?
A group of marching veterans petitioning a bill for the early payment of bonuses
What were Hoovervilles?
Shantytowns during the Great Depression; they were named after the president because the homeless blamed him for their problems
What was the New Deal?
Roosevelt’s policies for ending the depression
What were bank holidays?
Roosevelt’s system in which he closed banks to prevent them from collapsing
What famous quote did Roosevelt say about the bank holidays?
“the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
What were the Hundred Days?
The time period in which Congress passed 15 acts to resolve the economic crisis.
What were Fireside Chats?
Roosevelt’s addresses to the nation (via radio) to explain what he was trying to accomplish
What did the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) do?
It provided government insurance for bank deposits (up to a certain amount)
What did the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) do?
It regulated the stock market and prevented fraud
What did the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) do?
It paid farmers NOT to raise certain livestock and certain crops.
What did the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) do?
It provided jobs and electricity to the Tennessee Valley area.
What did the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) do?
It offered unemployed young men jobs like planting trees, fighting forest fires, and building reservoirs.
