Name: ____________________________
Date: _______
7/8 MS SS ID
Unit 8: Great Depression Vocabulary
Before, you learned: The Roaring Twenties was a time of great prosperity for many Americans.
Now you will learn: When the prosperity of the 1920’s collapsed, President Herbert Hoover struggled to
address the country’s economic problems.
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1. Herbert Hoover: Republican president who failed to stop the Great Depression.
2. Stock Market Crash of 1929: plunge in stock market prices that marked the beginning of the
Great Depression.
3. Credit: arrangement for delaying payment of a loan or purchase.
4. Economic Depression: severe economic slump.
5. Speculation: buying and selling risky items in the hope of making a quick profit.
6. Great Depression: The serious and world-wide economic decline of the 1930’s.
7. Public Works: government-funded projects to assist individuals, families, and communities in
need.
8. Hoovervilles/Shantytowns: homeless people. Built shacks.
9. Bonus Army: World War I veterans who came to Washington seeking early payment of bonuses
for wartime service.
10. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Four time elected Democratic president who created the New Deal to
fix the effects of the Great Depression and give people jobs.
11. Brain Trust: group of advisors to FDR that thought of New Deal programs.
12. New Deal: program created by President Roosevelt to fight the depression.
13. Fireside Chats: series of radio talks in which FDR explained his policies in a casual style.
14. Hundred Days: First 100 days of FDR’s presidency. Many New Deal programs were passed.
15. Social Security Act: Law creating fund for assisting retired workers and the unemployed.
16. Deficit spending: economic system in which members of a society own businesses equally.
17. Dust Bowl: region including parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico in which
farms were damaged by dust storms.
18. Bank Holiday: FDR closed all banks and only reopened good banks. Gave people trust in banks
again.
19. Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO): labor union; included skilled and unskilled workers;
open to women and minorities.
20. American Federation of Labor (AFL): Largest labor union; more selective than CIO.
21. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): Jobs for young men to plant trees and build parks.
22. Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA): paid farmers not to grow crops so that prices go up.
23. Securities and Exchange Commission: regulated the stock market to prevent buying on margin.
24. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: insured savings accounts in banks approved by the
government.
25. Tennessee Valley Authority: built dams to provide electricity to 7 southern states.
26. Federal Emergency Relief Administration: gave relief (money) to unemployed and needy.
27. Court Packing Scheme: FDR wanted to add 6 justices to the Supreme Court (9) so they could
support the New Deal. This was not approved by Congress because it went against checks and
balances.