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Jamestown Currency
Jamestown was America's first permanent colony, and the introcution of tobacco as a cash crop not only provided the colony with the money and food to survive, but was typically used as a type of currency before real coins were introduced to the colonies. -
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Mercantilism
For an entire century, the British colonies were under mercantilst rule (as were many other colonies settled by other great empires such as France and Spain). This economic theory encouraged powerful nations to export more than they import in order to secure wealth. For the colonies, this meant providing raw materials as dictated by the Mother Country. -
Navigation Acts
As part of mercantalism, the colonies had to abide by laws put in place by the British parliament. These rules as listed in the Navigation Acts (of 1651, 1660, 1663) affected the colonial economy because trading ships employed primarily British sailors and the colonists were left the task of building these ships (an industry which grows in the North). Meanwhile, the Acts also restricted the colonies to produce certain goods, dictating the agriculture economy of the South. -
Tariff Act
The first congress of the United States passed this act under President George Washington that would pay for the funds due for the congress and for the Revolutionary War debts. There was much debate over this tax, because Northerners liked it because it halped their industry, but Southerners didn't like it because they were typically paying more money. -
Non-Intercourse Act
This act said that America could trade with anyone except Britain or France after the Embargo Act was repealed. This act was passed under Jefferson's presidency and its purpose was to hurt British and French economies after they participated in the Chesapeake Affair. -
First Bank of the United States
Alexander Hamilton, America's first Secretary of the Treasury, pushed for this first bank, to stabilize & fix America's debt & businesses. The bank's job was to deposit the federal surplus, to make loans, and to make currency and was signed for a 20 year term. -
XYZ Affair
When President Adams sends diplomats to France to create oeace in the French Quasi-War, they demand a $12 million bribe and $250,000 before they would even talk to the American diplomats. America refused to pay this and became offended, as they went home and prepared for war with France. -
Embargo Act
As a response to the Cheaspeake Affair, Jefferson retaliated to Britain and France by cutting off all American exports, killed New England shipping and hurt merchants and farmers in the process. This act was repealed in 1809. It's most detrimental affect was a recession that followed, which lasted for 3 years until the Macon's 2nd Bill was passed and recovery began. -
First Industrial Revolution
It is said to start in 1810, several decades behind Britain. The process of harvesting crops, especially cotton, became more mechanicized thanks to Samuel Slate, a skilled mechanic. Meanwhile, Eli Whitney developed other helpful machines such as the cotton gin and encouraged the building of interchangeable parts to increase productivity. Along with mills, (Waltham and Lowell mills) the production of textiles became much more efficient. Thus, propelling the American economy up the ranks. -
Macon's Bill #2
Under President Madison, this bill stated that if either France or Britain repealed of their shipping restrictions, then America eould refuse to trade with whoever did not accept this proclamation first. Napoleon of France accepts this first and takes advantage of the United States, for he still attacks American ships, even though America stops trade completely with Britain. -
Second Bank of the United States
Following the expiration of the first BUS 6 years prior, President Madison called for support of the creation of a new national bank. This would work alongside, Henry Clay's proposal of the American System which would improve roads and canals and put in place new tariff measures in hopes of creating a self-suffiecient economy. -
Panic of 1819
This was the first major financial crisis in America, which was caused by people buying land that they cold not afford. Also, there was not a national currency used throughout the country, so trade was unequal and unsupervised. -
Panic of 1819
The period of increased land speculating ended in 1819 due to unregulated practices by state banks. Banks were lending out loans to many farmers betting on the fact that high demand for crops would be profitable and debts could be payed. However, a recession in Britain decreased the need for U.S. crops and farmers, who were strongly dependent on their exports, were leftt with excess harvest and no profit--unable to repay loans. -
Tariff of 1832
This lowers John Quincy Adams' high Tariff of 1828 slihtly, although the people, especially the South, hoped it would be lowered even more so. -
Jackson Removes Federal Deposits
The 1st national bank was doomed to die in 1836, nd expecting this as well as being very against the recreation of a second bank, Jackson removes federal deposits in the federal bank and put that money into state banks in order to ensure the bank's ultimate death and hopefully discourage congress from rechartering a Second Bank of America. -
American System
This economic plan proposed by Henry Clay was tri-fold, with the introduction of canals and roads to link the country, the use of tariffs to collect money to pay for improvements and establish the Bank of the United States for the second time, since the first 20 year recharter was going to expire soon. -
Compromise Tariff
This tariff was proposed by Henry Clay and it said that in order to solve the drama started by the Nullification Crisis, the rates of the Tariff of 1828 and the Tariff of 1832 would be slowly reduced over time. -
Force Bill
Congress passes this bill, which said that the president can use force if necessary to collect taxes from American citizens. This bill makes Congress look like it did not give in to Supreme Court power, however the the Supreme Court nullified the Force Act and repealed the Nullification Ordinence. -
End of the Bank of the United States
In the 1830s, Jackson fought to put an end to the bank of the United States. He felt that the banks favored the elites and caused social inequality, instead preferring states banks where the distribution of money was more widespread. Thus, he fought toughly for the closing of the bank (the issue was part of his presidential campaign). After the Bank War, the BUS does not get renewed in 1836. However, this move didn't have the greatest reprecussions as exemplified by the recession that follows. -
Specie Circular
Jackon issues a specie circular, which would require land to be purchased with hard money. This meant that land had to be purchased with gold and silver and eventually, America goes into a recession due to this move by Jackson. -
Panic of 1837
A recession begins in 1837 due to bank failures and lack of confidence in thhe paper currency. While severeal banks closed down, unable to keep up with the struggling economy, the cotton industry of the South also collapsed. This recession lasts for 6 years, one of the longest and worst up until that time. -
Second Industrial Revolution
The start of the 2nd industrial revolution is marked by the bessemer process, which helped in the mass production of steel. Like the first industrial revolution, this one would be marked with increased productivity in factories due to new technology and processes (i.e. production line). This alongside with the growth of big businesses (of Andrew Carnegie, J.P Morgan, etc.) would establish huge trusts that would have both long-lasting economic and social effects -- uneven distribution of wealth. -
Morrill Tariff
High protective tariff under the Buchannan administration that was very Republican and showed the control that Republicans had over Congress. The purpose of this tariff was to protect and encourage industry and the high wages of industrial workers. -
Homestead Act
The Republican Party believed that free land would promote economic opportunity, so they offered up 160 acres of land to anyone willing to pay a $10 fee, live on the land for five years while cultivating it. -
Freedmen's Bureau
This was signed into law by congress and was the first federal welfare agency. It provided food, clothing, medical care, education and all around, looked out for the basic needs of free blacks. It was short lived and run by the federal government, and only helped out about 5-10% of black people because Congress refused to fund it due to the white south being openly against it and the belief that it would make blacks lazy. -
Panic of 1873
During this recession, land speculators were able to purchase thousands of acres in the Red River Valley of North Dakota cheaply. -
Timber Culture Act
Following the Homestead Act, homesteaders were given an additional 160 acres if they planted trees on 40 acres of their given land. -
Desert Land Act
Congress passed this law which made 640 scres of land available at $1.25 an acre. -
Timber and Stone Act of 1878
This law permitted the purchase of up to 160 acres of land for $2.50 an acre. -
Interstate Commerce Act
In response to the Court's rule that states could not regulate interstate commerce, this act was passed which elected an Interstate Commerce Commission whose job it was to regulate interstate commerce, specifically railroads. This law also found pooling, rebates and short-distance rates illegal. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Senator John Sherman got Congress to pass this act which outawed trusts and monopolies that fixed prices in restraint of trade. Anyone who broke this particular law would have fines of up to $5,000 and may face a year in jail. -
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
Passed in response to the growing dissent from advocates of the coinage of silver, this Act increased the amount of silver the government was allowed to purchase every month. This law was passed in hopes of boosting the economy and to create inflation. -
McKinley Tariff
Proposed by William McKinley and passed by Repbulicans in 1890, the McKinley tariff pushed rates to an all time high. Unsurprisingly, this was not well recieved by Americans who suffered from the increase of prices. Once Democrats gained control of the Senate, House, and the Prsidency, lawmakers were at work to create a lower tariff. -
Panic of 1893
A collapse in the railroad industry triggered the Panic of 1893. In addition, the US gold reserves were drained of gold when British investors sold millions worth of stock to American railroads who then converted their dollars to gold. Other factors such as the high McKinley Tariff, the Silver Purchase Act, and benefits for veteran's drained the gold reserve. Also, stock prices plummeted during this time, when investors converted their holdings to gold. The depression continued until 1897. -
Repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act
President Cleveland pursuaded Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act because he believed that it was the cause of the run of gold and would exhaust the gold supply. -
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Depression of 1893-1897
During this time, starting from the Panic of 1893, the US was in a huge recession. There was unemployment, bad business, and the constant struggle for a satisfactory life. -
Wilson-Gorman Tariff
Following Grover Cleveland's election, lawmakers (Democrats) were at work creating a lower tariff, later known as the Wilson-Gorman tariff. This was done in response to the bad reception recieved from the outrageously high McKinley tariff. This tariff lowered the rates previously set by the McKinley tariff and also imposed a 2% income tax, the first of its kind in US history. -
Dingley Tariff
Proposed by US Representative Nelson Dingley Jr., this tariff was passed in order to counteract the lower rates that came with the passing of the Wilson-Gorman tariff, 3 years prior. With this tariff in place, duties were imposed on products such as wool and hide while rates on other products, such as linens and sugar, increased. Interestingly enough, the Dingley tariff ended up having much higher rates than the McKinley tariff; completely discrediting the passing of the Wilson-Gorman tariff. -
Currency Act
The Currency Act passed in 1900 officially placed the United States on the gold standard. This received little protest due to the rising farm prices and the discovery of gold in Alaska and other places. -
Elkins Act
This act, passed under President Theodore Roosevelt, allowed the Interstate Commerce Committee to impose heavy fines on railroads that offered rebates and upon shippers who accepted the rebates. -
Hepburn Act
The Hepburn Act was enacted under President Theorodore Roosevelt's administration and expanded the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission with the power to set maximum railroad rates, end free passes and special treatment of big businessmen. -
Payne-Aldrich Tariff
This tariff, passed by President William Howard Taft, was very steep and overturned the Dingley Tariff. This made former President Theodore Roosevelt very angry because this tariff went against Roosevelt's beliefs, which he had hoped Taft would continue on in his own presidency. -
Mann Elkins Act
The Mann Elkins Act is a law that was passed by President William Howard Taft to expand the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission, specificaly for telegraph and telephone industries. -
16th Amendment
The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution created an income tax, which was wanted to help the lower class with money collected by this tax from the wealthy. -
Underwood-Simmons Tariff
This tariff, passed by Wilson under the triple wall of protection reinstated the income tax to help the poor and lowered tariff rates by a significant amount to counteract the Payne-Aldrich Tariff. -
Federal Reserve Act
This act created twelve regional banks and one central bank in Washington DC, setting up the Federal Reserve. The twelve regional banks would be able to print their own currency for economic stability, but the central bank would be in charge of American monetary policies. -
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
This act replaced the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and made sure company advertisement was honest. It was basically a bigger, more powerful Interstate Commerce Commission, now excluding labor unions. -
Loans to the Beligerents
The United States loaned $2 billion to the Allied powers and $27 million to the Central powers before we were even involved in the war. This was so that American international trade could continue. However, this ended up being a major reason America had to get involved in the Great War-to make sure they would be paid back. -
War Risk Insurance Act
This act authorized payments to servicemen's dependents. In other words, this act, gave the marines insurance and later established a Bureau of War Risk Insurance that provided insurance policies and pay claims. -
War Industries Board
The Council of National Defense set this committee up to coordinate military purchasing and ensure production effeciency when America joined the Great War. Later, Bernard Baruch was put in charge, where he allocated raw materials, established production priorities, and induced competing companies to standardize and coordinate their products and processes to save scarce comodoties. -
Recession of 1920
After the conclusion of World War I, the United States went into a few-month depression. This was caused by veterens reentering the job market, decline in union labor force, and changes in money-related policies. -
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Postwar Recession
Following the war, America suffered a brief economic depression from Jan 1920 - July 1921. More details in the event titled "Recession of 1920" -
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Consumer Borrowing
In the 1920s, many American went into debt while playing the stock market and buying expensive items on credit, such as cars, appliances, etc. By the end of the decade, total debt stood at about $8 billion. This of coure made the situation worse during the Great Depression for many Americans. -
Treaty of Versailles
This peace treaty of World War I was made by only Allied powers and was harsh on the central powers. Some provisions included: Germany was forced to accept all blame for the war, $32 bilion paid to primarily France and also Britain, Alscase & Loraine were returned to France, Germany is stripped of its colonies, the Ottoman Empire is diminished, Germany must reduce its military, the creation of Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Yugoslavia andmany more, and Japanese aquisition of German islands -
Sheppard-Towner Act
This act passed by Congress in 1921 funded rural and prenatal baby-care centers staffed by public-health nurses. -
Fordney McCumber Tariff
This tariff, passed by President Harding, was a higher tariff passed in order to protect factories and farms. However, this tariff was received badly by the farmers that was blamed as the reason for the agricultural depression. For example, the price of materials (like raw wool) was higher because of this tariff. Thus, it caused farmers to raise the price of their exports -- food, clothes, etc. became more expensive. -
Dawes Plan
A payment plan from the United States to Germany which would reduce the number of reparations. The plan was to have America loan money to Germany so that Germany may pay back Britain and France who would eventually pay back America. -
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Unemployment
Starting from 1929 until 1945, unemployment rates varried between 15 to 25% of the civilian labor force. This rate of high unemployment began the year of the stock market crash and continued until during World War II. By 1945, the rates returned to about 2%, the same as it has been 20 years prior. -
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Gross National Product (GNP) and Personal Income
Both the gross national product, or how much the nation made as "profit" through the economy, and the personal income of workers declined during The Depression years. It's all time low was between '32-'33 at about $50 million while reaching it's high of $200 (GNP) and $170 (personal income) billion not until the 1940s. This goes to show how The Depression and World War II affected the US economy. -
McNary-Haugen Bill
This bill planned to have the government buy the surplus crops and sell them on the foreign market to make more money, which would then create revenue. However, this plan was vetoed by President Calvin Coolidge and never went into effect. -
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Farm Product Prices
The prices of farm products during this time was strongly indicative of the situation of the economyd. During the Great Depression cotton, corn and wheat prices continously declined and reached an all time low. All 3 sold for less than $0.40 - per pound of cotton and per bushel of corn and wheat - from 1931-1932. -
Federal Farm Board
This organization was created to stabilize prices and to promote the sale of agricultural products. The board would help farmers stabilize prices by holding surplus grain and cotton in storage. -
Black Thursday
On Thursday, the stock market fell out due to a selling frenzy. Wealthy stock owners began to remove their stock in companies because they no longer needed a foot in those businesses, however these investments would reach millions of dollars. Therefore, many indications of the value of stocks reducing became known, worrying average citizens, who then sold their stocks in fear of losing money fast on a declining business. -
Black Tuesday
On Tuesday, more investors pull out of the stock market and approximately 16 million shares were sold in one day. In the following week, all stock values depreciated by about 50%. -
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
This act passed under Herbert Hoover's presidency imposed some of the highest tariffs ever on imported goods. The idea was to ensure people would buy domestic goods intead of foreign goods, but in reality just managed to make matters worse. -
Neutrality Acts
Due to the trouble in Europe and before the USA entered the war and was still in a nautral state, these acts were passed to ensure America's neutrality, stating that we could not trade, give money or travel on beligerant ships. Later, FDR had them expanded to account for lend-lease. -
Norris-Laguardia Anti-Injunction Act
This act ended yellow dog contracts and said that the workplace could not stop their workers from striking. Workers could also engage in labor disputes constitutionally and openly join trade unions. -
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Hoover did make some positive changes in order to respond to the Great Depression including this agency. It loaned money to banks and companies as well as loaning money to the states to start public works programs. This was the first time the government had ever loaned money to private businesses too. -
Bonus March
After the stock market crashed, many World War 1 veterans demanded their pensions in cash immediately. However, Congress and Hoover unanimously agreed that they did not have the money to pay them all in full and in cash at the moment. Therefore, these veterans swarmed the streets of DC in front of the White House and Hoover sends out General MacArthur to clear them from the streets. The WWI veterans lost the fight to immediately recieve their pensions in cash. -
Glass-Steagall Act
This act created insurance on money deposited into a bank. Therefore, if your bank failed, you would automatically be reimbursed. This was created in order to prevent the loss of money and increase in poverty caused by the Great Depression. -
National Industrial Administration
Created by the NIRA, & was led by Hugh Johnson. It said that by joining the group your company had to mandate working hours, give living wages, provide better working conditions & prices, be friendly to unions & use patriotism in the workplace. In return for membership, businesses would recieve a blue eagle symbol to be displayed in their window and be exempt from any antitrust laws. However, after just two years, this was declared unconstitutional in the Schechtner v US case. -
Banking Holiday
Once FDR got into office, one of the very first things he did during the "One Hundred Days" was to impose a 4-day banking holiday in which he closed all banks for four days, during which they could not make any transactions. The stock market was also closedat this time. They were allowed to reopen four days later if they passed tests to test their ability to meet regulated demands. -
Emergency Banking Act
This act was created during the Banking Holiday which would test banks to ensure that only healthy banks reopened. Healthy included being able to meet the demands of their depositors and maintain a careful watch on peoples' debt. This was mainly created to calm the American people down and regain their trust in the banking system. -
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
This act provided deposit insurance at a minimum amount of money. This agency had to authority to provide deposit insurance to banks and it also had the authority to regulate and supervise state non-member banks. -
Securities Exchange Act
This act required public businesses to register their stock sales & distribution & make regular financial summaries. It also watched over exchanges, brokers, & over-the-counter markets & set up federal commissions for more specific regulations. -
Social Security Act
Under this act, the government provides money to those in need, such as the unemployed, the disabled & dependent mothers with children.The act was drafted by Frances Perkins and was paid for through payroll taxes. -
Fair Labor Standards Act
This act created the federal minimum wage. Although this act only covered interstate jobs, many states followed this act up with their own minimum wage laws. This act also banned child labor and created the federal work week. -
Cash and Carry
FDR petitioned for an amendment to the Nautrality acts that would allow the sale of materiel to belligerents, as long as the recipients arranged for the transport using their own ships and paid immediately in cash, assuming all risk in transportation. -
USA stops trade with Japan
The United States stops trading aviation fuel and scrap metal with Japan in hopes that the economic hardship in Japan would make them less of a focus while the Allied powers were fighting on the European front. -
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Employment
Unlike the Great Depression, unemployment during the war time years was practically non-existant. For example, by 1945, about 19 million employees were women, about 12 million were military personel and almost 3.5 million were federal cilian employees. Aditionally, as mentioned earlier, GNP and salaries were at an all time high - about $210 and $110 billion, respectively. All these aspects comibened indicated the huge economic boom during World War II. -
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National Debt
During the war time years, the national debt rose to $250 billion. This is indicative of the economic idea that the government would make investments now while the booming economy would produce the profit to rid America of the debt it acquired. The post war years would take care of paying of the debt amassed. -
Office of Price Administration
It's functions were to regulate prices of products to ensure that they didn't skyrocket and become unobtainable. In order to do so, they introduced price caps on several products. -
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War Time Industries
During World War II, many industries were formed in order to suport the war time effort. These new industries attracted many people, who were looking for work and wanting to get out of the toils of the Gret Depression. These booming industries are indicated by the growth of populations in certain areas. For example, California's population boomed to 300,000 due to the aircraft factories, shipyards and other war time industries located there. -
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War Time Economy - WWII
Wartime spending ($360 billion) ended the Great Depression, unemployment, and stimulated an industrial boom. It also ceated 17 million jobs, increased corporate profit, and raised purchasing power. -
Lend-Lease
This act ended US neutrality and said that our allies including Great Britain, Russia, China and France could borrow our supplies and they could then be returned to us at the end of the war. -
USA Freezes Japan's Assets
One year after we stop supplying Japan with scrap metal and aviation fuel, we officially cut off all trade with Japan, for they took over French Indochina and American was worried for the safety of Hawaii, Samoa and the Phillippines. -
War Production Board
FDR creates this agency to regulate the production of materials and fuel. In other words, this group was hired to tell factories what roducts to make, how much to make and how to price those items. While this act seemed very socialistic, as soon as the war ended, the programs was discontinued. -
G.I. Bill
Also known as the Servicemen's Readjusment Act of 1944, this law gave veterans priority for many jobs and also up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits. It also provided low-interest loans as well as promising to pay up to 4 years of further education or job training. By 1946, the government was giving veterans up to $65 a month. -
Bretton Woods Agreement
This agreement among the allies set the stage for America to become the economic leader of the noncommunist world. It was the first time the independent nations came together to create order regarding money. -
International Monetary Fund
Part of the bretton Woods Agreement, this stabalized exchange rates by valuing other currencies in reltaion to the US dollar. In other words, it made it easier to trade money via countries with idfferent currencies by figuring out how to exchange money with exact values. -
International Bank For Reconstruction and Development
This was also known as the World Bank and it helped rebuild war-battered Asia and Europe, and was established under the Bretton Woods Agreement. -
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Created by the Bretton Woods Agreement, this broke up closed trading blocs and expanded international trade. This gave the United States a very favorable position in international trade and finance. -
Tax Cut
In 1945, a tax cut of $6 billion spurred corporate investment in new factories and equipment & helped produce an economic boom. -
Helping the Postwar Economy
Americans spend almost $135 billion saved from wartime work & service pay to satisfy their desire to consume, & sales of homes, cars & applicances skyrocketed. -
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Baby Boom
For nearly 20 decades, America's population rapidly grew with the birth of 76 million American children. The baby boom in turn also created an economic boom due to the huge purchases of food, clothing and insurance. -
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The Other America: Poverty in the United States
35 millions Americans lived below the "poverty line" during these two decades; 22% of the population in 1960. Most of the poor lived in inner-city slums away from suburbia America and lived in very different conditions. There was a shortage of food and housing while pleas for government help went unanswered. -
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Employment (cont.)
When the veterans returned, jobs were turned over to them and most women were removed from the workforce. This was especially true due to the GI Bill, in which, veterans were encouraged to recieve higher education and get professional jobs. -
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The Affluent Society
Post-war America was primarily prosperous and the majority of the population seemed to be living the American dream. By 1960, 60% of families owned homes, 75%, cars; and 87%, TVs. Meanwhile, the average worker was earning 35% more than they did in '45. -
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GATT was responsible for breaking up trading blocs and expanding international trade. The United State's control on powerful economic institutions gave the US a highly favorable position in trade and finance internationally. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montogomery was extremely segregated and civil rights leaders decided bussed would make a great protest target. After the vast majority of African-Americans began carpooling or walking to their workplaces, the busses saw major losses in revenue. Eventually the massive loss in revenue led to a desegregation law to be passed on public transportation. -
Peak of Baby Boom
The baby boom reaches it's peak in 1957 with 4.3 million births in that year only. The economy would have seen it's greatest effects during this year, including the sales of baby products, medical insurance, etc. -
The National Defense Education Act
This law provided direct federal funding to higher education to improve the science, math, and foreign languages departments. By 1960, $1.5 billion was sent to universities and a third of scientists and engineers worked full-time on government research on university faculties. -
National Aeronautics and Space Administration founded
NASA was created in 1958 in response to the Soviet's growing aerospace program. Funds (several millions a year) were pumped into the program in order to compete with the Soviet's launching Sputnik with one of America's own. -
Tax Reduction Act
This act was a part of LBJ's Great Society. It cut almost $10 billion worth of taxes paid that would then be used as deficit spending for corporations and wealthy economic growth individuals to use. The idea of this act was to use deficit spending to stimulate economic growth. -
Economic Opportunity Act
Part of LBJ's Great Society's war on poverty, this act gave more than $1 billion to the poor and created the Office of Economic Opportunity. The main idea was to end American poverty, which was severe at the time. -
Medicare
This program, created under LBJ's Great Society provided health incurance for the aged under social security. This program is still around today. -
Higher Education Act
Under LBJ's Great Society, this act gave $650 million for scholarships and low-intrest loans to needy college students and funds for grants to college llibraries to promote higher education for less-wealthy students. -
Great Society
President Lyndon B Johnson created this group of societal betterment programs, which included more acts than FDR's New Deal. These new agencies and organizations were created all for the purpose of improving the lives of Americans. This proved that he was willing to spend a lot of time and money on domestic America and displayed his view that it was a crime to have such injustice in a free country. Programs included urban development, education, economic growth, war on poverty & civil rights. -
Housing and Urban Development
LBJ made this part of his Great Society and it gave $8 billion for low and middle income housing and for rent supplements for low income families. Also, it created the cabinet-level Department of Housing and Urban Development to improve housing for the poor and urban beautification. -
Medicaid
This program was offered under LBJ's Great Society and provided a health plan for the poor. Soon, this program served 47 million people and accounted for a quarter of the nation's health-care expedientures. This program is still around today. -
Office of Economic Opportunity
Created by the Economic Opportunity Act, this created Head Start, Upward Bound, VISTA, Jop Corps and other similar programs. This office was dedicated to accomplishing the goals of LBJ's war on poverty in his Great Society Agency. -
Head Start
This program was created under the Economic Opportunity Act by the Office of Economic Opportunity through LBJ's Great Society. It provides education, health, nutrition, and parent services to low-income families or those in need. -
VISTA
This agency created by LBJ's Great Society under the Office of Economic opportunity was a domestic version of the Peace Corps, created by JFK. Examples of the services provided by the Volunteers In Service To America include employment and education and more. -
Appalachian Regional Development Act
LBJ's Great Society created this plan that gave $1 billion for highway construction, health centers and resource developmetnt in Appalachia to stimulate economic growth in this depressed area. -
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Stagflation
This is a combination of stagnation and inflation and was prominent around this time. Ford and Carter tried several different tactics to tackle this economic issue including increasing government spending, wage & price guidelines, deregulation and many more. -
Medical Care Act
The government funded hospital and medical care for the elderly in Medicare and for the poor in Medicaid. The purpose of this act was to provide health insurance for senior citizens and medical care for the poor. -
Watergate Scandal
During the historic Watergate Scandal, Predient Nixon tells his advisors to steal money from the Committee to Reelect the President, which would then be used to pay for the burglers' legal fees. This was significant because it initiated the illegal activity that surrounded this entire scandal. -
Supplemental Social Security
Passed by the Nixon administration, this extended Social Security that now said that you can get money from the government if you are disabled and you work, however due to your disability, you do not make enough money to live, whereas you will recieve more government money. -
Whip Inflation Now
President Ford introduced this campaign to fix the inflation issue in America. He created many buttons bearing the logo, which were excessively teases and made fun of, but were never forgotten. -
Reaganomics
This was Reagan's economic policy during the 80s, which mainly focused onsupply-side or trickle-down ideas. With this plan, he planned on reducing government spending, reducing the federal income tax, reducing government regulation and controlling the money supply. -
Iran-Contra Scandal
This affair was America's way to secretly fund the Contras fighting in Nicaragua, without violating the Boland Amendment. Instead, America replaces old Israeli missles with new missle, Israel then sells their old missles to Iran and the money from Iran for the missles went to the Contras in Nicaragua to funa their fight against the Sandanistas. -
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Booming Economy
During this time period, America experienced a great boom in the economy under Clinton's presidency. During this time of such a conspicuous economy, many people were buying luxuries and building McMansions, which were mass produced, large, single family homes. -
North American Free Trade Agreement
This was an agreement signed between America, Mexico and Canada where there would be free trade among the three, it would be tariffless and favorable among the three countries. -
Welfare Reform Bill
This act would restrict the accessability of welfare to American citizens so that people are not dependent on Welfare and actually have to attempt to earn money for themselves. States followed this bill up with bills that commonly allowed only 2 years of continuous coverage and 5 years of coverage in one lifetime. -
JQA's High Tariff
John Quincy Adams passes a high tariff that went up to as much as 45% on some items in order to get some money back and stabalize the economy. In retaliation, Jacksonians pass a higher tax on manufactured goods and food, however this plan backfires, when Northern congressmen are willing to accept this high tax if it means protection on their manufactured goods.
