1. Charles Coughlin in The Great Depression. Father Charles Coughlin (1891–1979) was a Roman Catholic priest who became a national celebrity during the 1930s by hosting a popular radio broadcast. Coughlin started as a zealous supporter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, going so far as to call the New Deal, "Christ's Deal."
2. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935) The Supreme Court case that invalidated as unconstitutional a provision of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that authorized the President to approve “codes of fair competition” for the poultry industry and other industries. The Supreme Court stated that the NRA gave the president lawmaking power that properly belonged to Congress and that Congress could not regulate commerce if that commerce did not cross state lines.
3. Frederick Taylor
3.1. Some know Taylor for his important steel-tool discoveries. He invented the Taylor-White process for tempering steel, which revolutionized metal cutting techniques and earned multiple medals. He also invented a high-speed cutting tool that won awards at international expositions. Most know him for his shop-management philosophies, which have earned him the title "Father of Scientific Management." While working at the Midvale machine shop, he noticed that some workers weren't working to their capacity, slowing down production and causing inefficiencies. He developed a system, sometimes called production or task management, for approaching jobs objectively and measuring workflow efficiency and productivity before these concepts had names.
4. Henry Ford
5. Bulls vs. Bears
5.1. The use of "bull" and "bear" to describe markets comes from the way the animals attack their opponents. A bull thrusts its horns up into the air, while a bear swipes its paws downward. These actions are metaphors for the movement of a market. If the trend is up, it's a bull market. If the trend is down, it's a bear market.
6. Charles Lindbergh
6.1. Charles Lindbergh was an American aviator who made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
7. Marcus Garvey
7.1. Martin Delany in the 19th century and Marcus Garvey in the 1920s outspokenly called for African Americans to return to Africa, by moving to Liberia. Benjamin "Pap" Singleton looked to form separatist colonies in the American West. The Nation of Islam calls for several independent black states on American soil.
8. Mafia
8.1. {How did the mafia rise to power in the 1920s?}
8.1.1. They began to ruthlessly take control and fight over the illegal alcohol trade. The mafia also engaged in racketeering, which included loansharking, extortion, bribery, etc. The mafia in many respects began to replace old political machines of the cities with their own control and places like Chicago and New York were run by the mob.
9. KKK
9.1. The KKK used their movie to promote the idea that they were Christian heroes fighting to preserve American culture from the clutches of immigrant monsters.
10. John Thomas Scopes
10.1. Scopes Monkey Trial
10.1.1. The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was, and still is, seen by some as violating the truth of the Bible.
10.2. Ford followed many of the ideas major psychologist and engineer Frederick Taylor. He then organized the factory around this extreme efficiency in order to increase production and reduce costs. Ford followed this concept and introduced the most efficient assembly line in the world. The rapidly growing automobile industry led by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produced new and better models every year to supply the insatiable public demand. Increased wages and lower cost vehicles made possible through mass production meant that cars became increasingly affordable.
11. President Calvin Coolidge
11.1. President Coolidge was very pro-business and vetoed laws that he thought would bring socialism or communism to America. Coolidge also believed strongly in the laissez-faire approach and fired numerous US government workers. Coolidge was seen as a hero by many, but a villain and lackey for businesses by his opponents. The US economy expanded at a very rapid pace during Coolidge’s time in office. And prosperity reached millions of Americans. Coolidge has little to his name as president and he believed that was how it should be. He felt the US government had grown too intrusive into the lives of Americans and that people should hardly known or care who the president was. Coolidge trusted his inner circle to take care of things competently and they did so.
11.2. Albert Fall
11.2.1. Teapot Dome
11.2.1.1. The infamous Teapot Dome Scandal involved Albert Fall taking bribes from oil companies to drill on federal lands.
11.3. Federal Reserve
11.3.1. The Federal Reserve began to inflate the dollar following the brief economic crashed in 1921. Few noticed as businesses grew and trade flourished under Coolidge’s “hands off” approach. In late 1928 and early 1929, the Federal Reverse rapidly cut off inflation and this dried up the easy credit that so many businesses had used to grow. A small number of very clever investors, including the future President Kennedy’s father, saw this “deflation” coming and began pulling their money out of the stock market. Almost no one else paid much attention to the Federal Reserve and all assumed the economy would keep booming for years to come.
12. Charles G. Dawes
12.1. Dawes' Plan for Germany
12.1.1. The Dawes’ Plan was an attempt in 1924 to solve the World War I reparations problem that Germany had to pay, which had bedevilled international politics following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles.
13. Frank B. Kellogg & Aristide Briand
13.1. Kellogg-Briand Pact
13.1.1. The Kellogg-Briand Pact was formed by the US and France, but eventually was signed by 64 countries, including major powers like Britain, Italy, Germany, and Japan. The Kellogg-Briand Pact stated that the countries that signed it would give up war as a means of settling disputes and instead would look for diplomatic solutions.
14. President Herbert Hoover
14.1. Hoovervilles
14.1.1. A "Hooverville" was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States of America. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States of America during the onset of the Depression and was widely blamed for it.
14.2. Smoot-Hawley
14.2.1. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act is a U.S. law enacted in June 1930 which caused an increase in import duties by as much as 50%. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act goal was to increase U.S. farmer protection against agricultural imports. The increase in this tariff added economic strain to countries during the Great Depression.
14.3. Revenue Act of 1932
14.3.1. The Revenue Act of 1932 raised United States tax rates across the board, with the rate on top incomes rising from 25 percent to 63 percent. The estate tax was doubled and corporate taxes were raised by almost 15 percent.
15. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)
15.1. AAA
15.1.1. FDR then pushed Congress to pass the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The AAA created a government agency called the Agricultural Adjustment Administration whose job was to raise the prices for agricultural products in order to help farmers. The AAA administration determined that there was simply too much wheat, cotton, beef, pork, corn, etc. in America, so the surpluses had to be destroyed. They did their work and ensured farmers destroyed their crops or animals with an army of inspectors. These inspectors and the entire AAA was paid for by a new tax on businesses that turned raw farm products into finished products (e.g. turning cows into steaks or wheat into cereal). The AAA inspectors watched over the burning or millions of acres of crops and the mass slaughter of animals which were then buried in mass graves.
15.2. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
15.2.1. This agency corralled young men from the cities and kept them out of trouble by making them live in rural camps where they would help build national parks, roads, and canals, and plant trees. The CCC also helped many illiterate men learn to read. It paid them a monthly salary, but most of it was sent to their parents, so that they couldn’t use it for “immoral things.”
15.3. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
15.3.1. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was then created to give money to state and local governments to fund their own public relief agencies. These relief agencies cared for the poor and homeless and gave them shelters to live in. The federal government also hired people to do a vast array of important jobs likes chasing tumbleweed through the streets, walking around town with balloons to scare birds away from dropping feces on public buildings, and studying the history of the safety pin.
15.4. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC)
15.4.1. This addition gave the Federal Reserve the power to insure bank deposits for individuals if their banks joined the program. Joining the program gave the Federal Reserve even more power over the banks, but people demanded FDIC insurance, so virtually all banks in the US joined. Today it is hard to find a bank that doesn’t have FDIC coverage.
15.5. Federal Housing Authority (FHA)
15.5.1. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is a United States government agency created in part by the National Housing Act of 1934. The FHA sets standards for construction and underwriting and insures loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building.
15.6. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
15.6.1. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent, federal government agency responsible for protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly functioning of securities markets, and facilitating capital formation.
15.7. Works Progress Administration (WPA)
15.7.1. The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.
15.8. Social Security Act (SSA)
15.8.1. The Social Security Act (Act of August 14, 1935) was an act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a Social Security Board; to raise revenue; and for other purposes.
15.9. National Labor Relations Act
15.9.1. Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy.
15.10. Brains Trust
15.10.1. FDR quickly chose a Cabinet that became known as the Brains Trust because it contained men that most people thought were brilliant experts in their fields.
15.11. "New Deal"
15.11.1. FDR promised the people a “New Deal” and they responded by giving him and the Democratic Party a landslide victory in 1932. The New Deal was FDR’s plan to completely remake the economy and, in the process, the government.
15.12. Fireside Chats
15.12.1. FDR used the radio as a way of speaking directly to millions of Americans. He portrayed himself as a wise grandfather sitting by a fire giving advice to beloved children. The fireside chats were a brilliant way of convincing people to believe in and follow FDR’s plans.
15.13. National Industry Recovery Act (NIRA)
15.13.1. National Recovery Administration (NRA)
15.13.1.1. This NRA forced almost all factories and manufacturing businesses into government-controlled cartels. The government set prices for products, how much could be sold, to whom the products could be sold, etc. The NRA also introduced minimum wages and forced businesses to accept union workers. This agency basically turned most of the US economy into a fully socialist system. The NRA agents were paid for by a new tax that factories had to pay.
15.13.2. Public Works Administration (PWA)
15.13.2.1. The PWA tried to do what Hoover had done with his public works programs. The PWA spent about $100 billion in just 6 years, but just like Hoover’s attempt, it failed to help the economy recover.
15.13.2.2. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
15.13.2.2.1. From the PWA also came the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). This was a project to build dams and canals to create electricity along the Tennessee River. Nearly 2 dozen hydroelectric power plants were made by the TVA to bring electricity to parts of TN, MS, KY, AL, GA, NC, and VA. The TVA still operates today.
15.14. Court-Packing Plan
15.14.1. A move by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to increase the size of the Supreme Court and then bring in several new justices who would change the balance of opinion on the Court.
15.15. Glass-Steagall
15.15.1. The Glass-Steagall Act was a law that prevented banks from using depositors' funds for risky investments, such as the stock market. It was also known as the Banking Act of 1933. It gave power to the Federal Reserve to regulate retail banks. It also prohibited bank sales of securities. It created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
16. Father Coughlin
17. Senator Huey P. Long
17.1. Share The Wealth
17.1.1. Share The Wealth was a movement begun in February 1934, during the Great Depression, by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana. Huey Long first proposed the plan in a national radio address, which is now referred to as the "Share Our Wealth Speech".
18. Sacco and Vanzetti
18.1. Accused of an armed robbery, 2 men were killed and $15,777 stolen. They were suspected because of three reasons: 1) They were victims of the anti-immigrant feeling of the time. 2)The two men were Italian immigrants who openly said that they hated the American system of government. 3)They were anarchists - members of a political group that believed in the overthrow of all governments. They were arrested when they picked up a car that the police thought was used for the crime. They were carrying guns when they were arrested - one of these used bullets of the same type as the gun used in the crime. The jury found the two men guilty of the crime. Appeals and petitions were organised but they all failed.
19. Warren Harding
19.1. Warren G. Harding was an Ohio Republican, was the 29th President of the United States (1921-1923). Though his term in office was fraught with scandal, including Teapot Dome, Harding embraced technology and was sensitive to the plights of minorities and women.
20. Flappers
20.1. Flappers were a generation of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior.
21. Attorney-General Mitchel Palmer
21.1. Palmer Raids
21.1.1. The Palmer Raids were a 1920 operation coordinated by Attorney-General Mitchel Palmer in which federal marshals raided the homes of suspected radicals and the headquarters of radical organization in 32 cities hunted down suspected communists, socialists, and anarchists . Part of the Red Scare, these were measure to hunt out political radicals and immigrants who were potential threats to American security; led to the arrest of nearly 5,500 people and the deportation of nearly 400.
22. Schechter Poultry Corporation
23. Butler
23.1. United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1 (1936), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the processing taxes instituted under the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act were unconstitutional. In 1937, the Supreme Court ruled that the AAA was unconstitutional, but the basic program was rewritten and again passed into law. Even critics admitted that the AAA and related laws helped revive hope in farm communities. Farmers were put on local committees and spoke their minds. Government checks began to flow. The AAA did not end the Depression and drought, but the legislation remained the basis for all farm programs in the following 70 years of the 20th Century.
24. Demobilization and "the High Cost of Living"
24.1. Demobilization was the transforming of the US from a war-oriented position to a peaceful one, and “the High Cost of Living” referred to inflation.
25. Red Scare
25.1. The Red Scare was when radical anarchists and communists began sending bombs in packages to prominent businessmen and politicians around the country. These terrorist attacks began what was known as the first Red Scare in late 1919 and 1920.
26. Harlem Renaissance
26.1. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. During the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. The Harlem Renaissance as a movement represented a rebirth of African American culture in the United States. As a product of black urban migration and black Americans' disappointment with racism in the United States, the renaissance was aimed at revitalizing black culture with pride.
27. Creative Destruction
27.1. “Creative Destruction” describes the "process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one.
28. Causes of the Great Depression
28.1. Black Thursday
28.1.1. The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as Black Thursday, began on October 24, 1929 and was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States (acting as the most significant predicting indicator of the Great Depression). The crash, which followed the London Stock Exchange's crash of September, signalled the beginning of the 12-year Great Depression that affected all Western industrialized countries.