American Society During the Depression Flashcards

All 16 cards in this deck

What were 'Hoovervilles'?

Camps of shacks where homeless people lived during the Depression, nicknamed after Hoover to criticise him for not doing enough to help.

What was the Dust Bowl?

Large areas of American farmland turned to dust and made impossible to farm, ruining farmers already hit by low prices.

Give one way the Depression affected farmers in America.

They could not sell their produce at a profit, so many lost their farms and farmworkers were sacked.

Who was the 'Bonus Army' and what did Hoover do about it?

First World War veterans who camped in Washington demanding early payment of their bonus; Hoover set the army on them, making him more unpopular.

True or false? The Depression only affected poor, unskilled Americans.

False. It affected all levels of society – rich and professional people lost jobs and had homes reclaimed by banks, and managers suffered from business failures.

What was 'rugged individualism', the idea Hoover was blamed for relying on?

The belief that people should help themselves rather than depend on government, and that the economy would recover by itself.

What was Roosevelt's campaign promise and theme tune in the 1932 election?

He promised ordinary people he would end the Depression; his theme tune was 'Happy Days are here again'.

True or false? Hoover took no action at all in response to the Depression.

False. He cut taxes and set up building programmes to create jobs, but was blamed for not doing enough and expecting people to be 'rugged individuals'.

What happened in the Wall Street Crash of October 1929?

Panic selling made share prices collapse, wiping billions of dollars off share values. The worst days were 'Black Thursday' (24 October) and 'Black Tuesday' (29 October).

Give one long-term cause of the Wall Street Crash.

Overproduction: by the late 1920s factories and farms were producing more than Americans could afford or wanted to buy, so profits began to fall and shareholders lost confidence.

Why did many American banks go bankrupt after the Crash?

They had lent heavily to share buyers who could no longer repay, and panicking savers rushed to withdraw their money; 659 banks failed in 1929 alone, and thousands more in the early 1930s, wiping out people's savings.

How high did unemployment rise in the USA by 1932–33?

To around 12–13 million people, about a quarter of the workforce.

Give one way the Depression affected businessmen.

With customers spending far less, sales collapsed: many firms went bankrupt and the rest laid off workers. Industrial output fell by almost half between 1929 and 1932.

What was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1932)?

Hoover's agency that lent federal money to banks, railways and businesses in trouble, to try to save jobs.

How did the Hawley–Smoot Tariff (1930) make the Depression worse?

It raised import duties to protect American producers, but other countries retaliated with duties on American goods, so US trade shrank and more firms and farmers lost markets.

Who won the 1932 presidential election, and by how much?

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democrat, who beat Hoover by a landslide, winning 42 of the 48 states.