US History Chapter 14 Flashcards

Price Supports

• McNary-Haugen bill aimed to provide subsidies by the federal government for key products like wheat, corn, cotton, and tobacco to maintain producer prices.

Credit

• Arrangement enabling consumers to purchase items now and make payments later, fostering consumer spending.

Alfred E. Smith

• Democratic candidate in the 1928 presidential election; lost to Republican Herbert Hoover.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

• Widely recognized indicator of stock market health; based on stock prices of 30 major firms on the New York Stock Exchange.

Speculation

• Involves purchasing stocks and bonds with the expectation of quick profits, disregarding associated risks.

Buying on Margin

• A practice where investors pay a fraction of a stock’s price upfront and borrow the remainder, increasing investment risk.

Black Tuesday

• October 29, 1929, marked by significant drop in stock prices, signifying the start of the Great Depression.

Great Depression

• Global economic downturn beginning with the 1929 stock market crash, leading to low production, high unemployment, and a crisis in confidence in economic self-regulation.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act

• Established the highest protective tariff in U.S. history aimed at protecting American producers but resulted in detrimental effects on international trade.

Transportation and Energy Shifts

• Railroads lost business to trucks, buses, and cars; coal mining faced competition from hydroelectric power, fuel oil, and natural gas.

October 29, 1929

• Date of the stock market crash, resulting in an estimated $30 billion loss for investors.

Causes of the Great Depression

• Factors included tariffs and war debt limiting foreign markets, agricultural sector crises, easy credit access, and income inequality.

Shantytown

• Areas composed of makeshift homes built from scrap materials, reflecting the struggles of the impoverished during the Great Depression.

Soup Kitchen

• Facilities providing free or low-cost meals during economic hardship.

Bread Line

• Queues formed by those seeking food distributed by charity or public service organizations.

Dust Bowl

• A severe drought in the 1930s impacting the Great Plains leading to environmental degradation and widespread dust storms.

Direct Relief

• Initial government aid in the form of cash payments or food that was largely unavailable during the early years of the Great Depression.

Herbert Hoover

• President from 1929 to 1933; faced the aftermath of the stock market crash and implemented various measures during the Great Depression.

Boulder Dam

• Also known as Hoover Dam, built to create jobs and provide water and hydroelectric power.

Hoover's Actions

• Supported the Federal Farm Board to stabilize crop prices and initiated measures to bolster the banking system through the National Credit Corporation.

Federal Home Loan Bank Act

• Legislation aimed at reducing mortgage rates and enabling farmers to refinance loans to prevent foreclosure.

Glass-Steagall Banking Act

• Law enacted to separate commercial from investment banking, with the intent to mitigate the risks of financial crashes.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

• Gave authorization for up to $2 billion in emergency funding to stabilize large financial institutions, but was criticized for not aiding average citizens.

Bonus Army

• Group of World War I veterans led by Walter Waters, who marched to Washington, D.C., advocating for the passage of the Patman Bill.

Patman Bill

• Proposed legislation to permit the government to pay veterans a bonus for their service; ultimately, it was not passed.