The Great Depression

c/notesThe Great DepressionERA DEFINEDDepression 1929-1941:Crash of stock marketGreat DepressionDust BowlNew DealExpansion of the Federal governmentRelief, Reform, RecoverySOLVENCY OF LONG-TERM ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMSEntitlement Programs (government programs providing benefits to members of specified groups)Solvency (in this context this term refers to the idea that assets are greater than liabilities)Social Security According to the Brookings Institute this entitlement program will likely run out of money sooner than expected.Medicare According to the Brookings Institute this entitlement program will likely run out of money sooner than anticipated.

IMPACT OF PHYSICAL AND HUMAN GEOGRAPHIC FACTORSThe Dust BowlHuman factors many farmers had misused the land (over planting, not rotating crops); millions of acres of farmland became useless; hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homesPhysical factors years of sustained drought caused the land to dry up; great clouds of dust and sand were carried by the wind (where the name Dust Bowl came from)

EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION ON THE U.S. ECONOMY AND SOCIETYWidespread unemployment by 1933 unemployment was at 25% (according to Bureau of Labor Statistics).Deportation and repatriation of people of European and Mexican heritage in the 1930s, the U.S. government looked for ways to ease the country's financial hardship. In order to make more jobs available, the government deported many people of European and Mexican heritage.

NEW DEAL POLICIES AND ITS OPPONENTS' APPROACHES TO RESOLVING THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION RooseveltIntroduced higher taxes on the richBelieved if it was good for business, then it was good for AmericaNew Deal divided into three parts (Relief, Reform, and Recovery)OpponentsBelieved too generous to the corporate interestsConfiscate any personal fortune over $3 million and use this money to give each family in AmericaPromised a national minimum wage, old age pensions, and cheap food for the poor (opinions of Huey Long)

VARIOUS NEW DEAL AGENCIES AND PROGRAMSFDIC Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationSEC Security and Exchange Commission regulate the stock markets and businessesSSA Social Security Administration retirement savingsExpectation that government should step in during economic crises or when the people are sufferingAAA Agriculture Adjustment Act drastic measure to raise agricultural prices by limiting the surplus/supplyTVA Tennessee Valley Authority brings electrical power to poverty-stricken rural areas of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and other states; also provided jobs to the area.

CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES RAISED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POLICY CHANGES DURING TIMES OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTSGreat Depression Roosevelts attempt to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from 9 to 13 would have created a shift in the separation of powers and checks and balances