Apush Unit 2 Test Questions – Flashcards

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the dust bowl
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The Dust Bowl was what occurred to the Great Plains during a hot period of drought; the soil dried up and created dust storms in Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. The significance was that farmers could not farm, which worsened the state of the Depression.
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Marvin Montgomery
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Marvin Montgomery was a Midwestern farmer who abandoned his farm during the Dust Bowl to go to California. Montgomery is representative of how the Great Depression affected individuals, and particularly farmers.
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Marginal Workers
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Marginal workers were people who were unemployed or when employed had minimal job security, particularly African-Americans, Mexicans, and women. They were significant because they received less pay and were seriously discriminated against for their minority status.
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Herbert Hoover
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Hoover was the president in office during the majority of the Great Depression and was forced to create impromptu policies to solve the economic downturn. He was significant because he changed the structure and nature of the government and laws drastically.
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"associationalism"
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Associationalism is the like that the government should coordinate businesses to help in times of economic crisis. This is significant because this policy increases government involvement in private businesses as well as expansion of public corporations.
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The President;s Organization on Unemployment Relief (POUR)
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POUR was a program Hoover created to provide private donations to those in need. It was a significant program because it acknowledged the dependent nature that government aid could possibly create.
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the Federal Farm Board
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The Federal Farm Board was a part of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929, which gave money to cooperatives to limit the supply of crops. It was significant because while funds lasted, it stopped food from being provided to those who were in desperate need, even though it helped the supply and demand problem.
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The Hawley-Smoot Tariff
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It was a tariff that raised import duties by forty percent in order to aid American goods and products. It was significant because it almost stopped international trade entirely, which came with backlash from foreign nations.
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the Reconstruction Finance Corporation:
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The RFC was a government aid program that provided loans for private businesses and industries to maintain investment in the American economy. It was significant because it was an example of direct government intervention, an ideology Hoover was opposed to on all other fronts.
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the Farmers' Holiday Association
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The FHA was a disgruntled group of Farmers who unionized a holiday to limit the supply in the market. This was significant because it showed the popularization of unions and the growing influence of socialist type organizations.
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Unemployed Councils
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These were groups of unemployed workers who were organized into Communist lead groups. This showed the strength the Communist party was gaining during the Great Depression.
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Gabriel Over the White House
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Gabriel Over the White House was a socialist propaganda film that expressed the peoples doubts with democracy and capitalism. It was significant because it mirrored the power struggle that Hoover was experiencing between what he was allowed to do and what he needed to do.
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Frankin D. Roosevelt
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FDR was from wealth, yet served as the peoples president. He was married to Eleanor Roosevelt. FDR's legs were paralyzed from polio. His character would be a significant part of his presidency.
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the 1932 presidential campaign and election:
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FDR ran on a platform advocating for more direct government intervention and his "New Deal" won him the popularity with the people. This was significant because he won by a landslide, indicating the peoples wants and needs.
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the twentieth amendment to the consitution
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The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution changed the inauguration of the President from March 4th to January 20th. It prevented the "lame-duck" period which was previously occurring.
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the banking crisis
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The banking crisis occurred when banks gave out more loans following World War I than they should have. Following the bubble burst in 1929, many of the loans became invalid and left the banks without enough money to cover their customers.
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the national bank holiday:
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Roosevelt called the holiday the day after his inauguration until the 9th to reorganize the chaotic and failed banks. This showed Roosevelt's action-taking personality and gave him 4 days to decide how to (somewhat) fix the dire banking situation.
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the Emergency Banking Relief Bill (March 9, 1933):
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The bill was approved 73-7 in the Senate and was signed into law the same day; it gave federal authority to reopen banks that couldn't pay their debt, reorganize the surviving banks, and gave federal money to help private banks. The restructuring of the banking system was an immediate success for the Roosevelt administration and saved the banking system from complete failure; it renewed depositor trust.
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Roosevelt's Fireside Chats
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As more people had access to the radio, Roosevelt made his presidency a very social/public one by engaging in nightly chats to inform the people about what was going on in Washington, or at least what he wanted them to know (the first one was telling them to trust the bank and put in money). FDR got a lot of stuff done by telling the public reassuring stuff during fireside chats which assisted his policies and, to some extent, eased his problems; the public gained trust in and intimacy with FDR.
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the first Hundred Days
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The first hundred days of Roosevelt's presidency in which he, his advisors, and his first lady focused on balancing the budget and deficit spending, producing legislation to recover the economy, and attempting to relieve those hurt by it; they also focused on economic planning. This was significant because the Coolidge didn't do anything and Hoover wasn't prepared to deal with the depression, so FDR showed that he cared about the people and was attempting to fix the situation to the best of his ability; critics called him a dictator because he extended and reformed government power.
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the Brain Trust
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Lawyers, university professors, and social workers who advised FDR on policies that the economy and people needed/what would be the right move to make; they were extremely influential in his policy making. The brain trust is responsible for a lot of the ideas behind FDR's presidency/policies and enlightened him on what was really needed or could be done.
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the National Industrial Recovery Act
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The NIRA worked to stop destructive competition that was said to destroy industry by authorizing competing businesses to participate in making industry wide codes; it also guaranteed industrial workers the right to collective bargaining (unions). The NIRA attempted to lessen unemployment by fixing prices and wages so consumer spending would go up and companies could rehire workers.
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The National Recovery Administration:
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The NRA was the means by which companies participated in the NIRA standards, but it was dominated by big business' influence and hurt small businesses; the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1935 for violating interstate trade regulations. The NRA symbolized government-private sector cooperation but catered to the needs of big business and didn't actually help the country towards economic recovery.
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the Blue Eagle
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The Blue Eagle is the symbol of the NRA that businesses could display if they participated in the industry-codes set from the NIRA and enforced by the NRA. The government encouraged people to boycott businesses that didn't display the symbol and they got the reputation of not helping the nation on the road to economic recovery.
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The Agricultural Adjustment Act
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(May 12, 1933): The AAA established a system of crop controls that paid farmers to produce less crops and livestock so that prices would go up to what they were before the depression; overproduction drove prices way down. The AAA destroyed crops and had many people questioning why there were food shortages when food was readily available and drove tenant farmers and share-croppers, often African Americans, off their land; however, it did help many of the previously struggling farmers (was found unconstitutional but was rewritten and passed because of
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Civilian Conservation Corps
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(March 31, 1933): The CCC paid unmarried young men $1 a day to hard outdoor work like build dams/reservoirs or create trails in national parks; they employed millions of men who sent the money directly home to their families. The CCC put many young men to work and showed the federal government trying to help the people come back to work as well as provided sustenance for the families of the men working.
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the Public Works Administration
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The PWA was created by Title II of the NIRA and put $3.3billion for public works in 1933; they built dams, bridges, and buildings but mainly focused on putting money back into the economy to improve economic conditions. Roosevelt's PWA showed an increase in federal spending to help the economy for the people and generated federal jobs for people to take.
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the American Liberty League
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The ALL was founded in 1934 by leaders of major corporations who opposed the new deal and disaffected conservative Democrats in conjunction with former presidential candidate Al Smith; they tried to turn Southern whites against the Democrats by funding a racist group in the South to circulate pictures of Eleanor Rooselvelt with blacks. The ALL shows the intense opposition to the New Deal and what some people saw as radicalism; it wasn't unanimously supported by the US as often conveyed.
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Father Charles Coughlin
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A Roman-Catholic priest who was anti-New Deal and anti-Semitic whose radio show had 30million listeners; he spoke to those who felt like they had lost control of their lives to the elite/impersonal forces. He shows the critics of the New Deal from the other side, those who were saying FDR was focusing too much on big business and not on the common people.
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Dr. Francis Townsend
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He was a public health officer in CA who was laid off at 67 with $100 of savings (happened to many people); he advocated that 60+ year old Americans should get a $200/month pension from a new tax. Townsend, although not well thought out fiscally, had the support of 20 million people who thought the elderly needed help; this was a large part of the New Deal's direct public relief program that jumpstarted programs like retirement and social security.
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Huey Long
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Huey Long was a popular demagogue populist who was elected governor of Louisiana in 1928; he originally supported the New Deal but turned his back because he thought it was corrupted by big business. He supported the Share Our Wealth Society (1934) that wanted to take any earnings/assets over $5 million; the movement had 5 million followers and they thought he would run for president but was assassinated in 1935. He represents the radicalism of the Americans in want who would readily take others money for a government controlled annual income and the opposition to the big business aspect of the New Deal.
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the "Black Cabinet"
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Fifty black Americans who held important positions in New Deal agencies and cabinet-level departments; they advised Roosevelt on what the black community wanted and needed. This was a huge step for blacks because it was a first time they had a seat at the table and were heard directly in government.
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The Second New Deal
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The Second New Deal defines the second stage of FDR's New Deal programs following his election, which focused on relief and reform. It was significant because it included the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, the Social Security Act, the Wagner Act, the WPA, and the Revenue Act, which greatly helped minimize unemployment and gave federal aid to the helpless.
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The Emergency Relief Appropriation
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(April 8, 1935): This legislation was a part of the New Deal that provided $4 in deficit spending. It was significant because it formed the Resettlement Administration, the Rural Electrification Administration, the National Youth Administration, and the WPA.
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The Works Progress Administration
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The WPA was an organization that hired Americans in various areas, including road construction, public facilities construction, and the arts. It was significant because it gave millions of unemployed Americans jobs, and it helped transform local communities.
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Federal Theater, Federal Arts, Federal Music, and Federal Writers Projects
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These projects were part of the WPA, that hired artists, musicians, writers, and actors as part of a wide range of cultural programs. It was significant because it gave employment to all forms of artists, brought a rich cultural scene to American towns and cities, and helped create the "slave narratives", which provided a documented account of slavery.
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The Social Security Act
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(August 15, 1935): This act was the second major piece of New Deal legislation, which created a federal system to provide for the social welfare of American citizens through a pension system, and various welfare programs. It was significant because it eligible workers retirement benefits, and gave much-needed aid to groups of needy people.
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The Wealth Tax Act
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(August 30, 1935): This act raised the income taxes of businesses and the wealthy, and increased taxes on inheritances, large gifts, and profits from the sale of property. It was significant because it helped achieve a slight redistribution of income between the rich and the poor in America.
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The 1936 Presidential Election
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This election was a Democratic victory in which FDR beat the Republican nominee, Governor Alf Landon of Kansas, by a landslide. It was significant because it represented Democratic dominance in the two-party system, ensuring that they would stay in power for the next thirty years, and it represented the switch of African-American allegiance from Republican to Democratic.
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The National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act (July 5, 1935)
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This act guaranteed workers the right to organize unions and to bargain collectively, and it outlawed unfair labor practices. It was significant because it created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which prompted the rise in union membership, and it alienated business leaders from the New Deal.
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Craft Unions versus industrial unions
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The rapid growth of unions saw a great rivalry between craft unionists (skilled workers), and industrial unionists (unskilled workers), where the craft unionists looked down upon the others, as they thought they had no talent or cause for unions. This was significant because it was this rivalry that prompted the creation of the CIO.
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John L. Lewis
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Lewis was an industrial unionist who was the former head of the United Mine workers, and considered the nation's most prominent labor leader. He was significant because he founded the Committee of Industrial Organizations.
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The Congress of Industrial Organizations
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The CIO was an organized created by industrial unionists, that helped organize millions of unskilled workers, including women and African-Americans. Membership gave the workers greater employment security, and the benefits of collective bargaining.
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The United Auto Workers' Strike of 1936
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This was a sit-down strike in which the UAW went on strike in side of manufacturing plants in order to gain recognition from General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford. It was significant because it represented a union victory, and saw the recognition of the UAW from large companies.
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The Memorial Day Massacre
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This was an event that occurred on Memorial Day in 1937, in which striking workers who were gathering for a picnic demonstration, were marching towards a plant peacefully when police attacked and killed ten people. It signified the great cost of union protesting, and the lack of sympathy from the population represented a growing dissent for unions.
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The Bureau of Reclamation
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The Bureau is an obscure agency created by the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902 to provide irrigation for small farms and ranches through the construction of dams and other irrigation structures. It was significant because it encouraged more people to move to the rural and arid West.
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The Taylor Grazing Act
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This act imposed new restrictions on ranchers' use of public lands for grazing stock. It was significant because it helped save the Western cattle industry, and it destroyed the traditional economy of the Navajos.
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