Great Depression and New Deal Flashcards

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Stock market crash

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A sudden, large drop in stock prices across many companies that causes investors to lose a lot of money and can trigger economic problems.

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Dust Bowl

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A period in the 1930s when severe drought and poor farming practices caused massive dust storms that ruined farmland across parts of the Great Plains, forcing many families to move.

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Hoovervilles

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Shantytowns of makeshift houses built by homeless people during the Great Depression; named after President Herbert Hoover, whom many blamed for the economic crisis.

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The New Deal

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A series of programs, laws, and projects created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s aimed at helping the nation recover from the Great Depression by providing jobs, financial reforms, and relief for the poor.

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Social Security Act

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A 1935 law that created a system of retirement pensions for older Americans, unemployment insurance, and aid for certain people in need (such as children and the disabled).

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Alphabet Agencies

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Nickname for the many New Deal agencies often known by abbreviations (like WPA or TVA) that were created to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression.

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Fireside Chats

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Radio talks given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to explain his policies and reassure the American public, delivered in a calm, conversational style.

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Great Depression

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The long, severe economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted through the 1930s, marked by high unemployment, bank failures, and widespread poverty.

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Migrant worker

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A person who moves from place to place to find work, especially seasonal farm laborers who travel to harvest crops.

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Recession

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A period of temporary economic decline when trade and industrial activity fall and many people lose jobs; less severe and usually shorter than a depression.