2. FDR and the New Deal Flashcards
What was the US unemployment rate in 1932?
25%
What did FDR pledge when he was nominated the Democratic nominee?
‘I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people’
When Roosevelt became president in March 1933, what were his New Deal proposals?
1) Subsidies for farmers
2) Help for the unemployed
3) Welfare payments for the poor and elderly
How did FDR interact with Congress early in his presidency?
- Sought and obtained from Congress unprecedented powers and money necessary to implement his programmes - resulted in proliferation of ‘alphabet agencies’
What were ‘alphabet agencies’?
Aimed to lift the nation out of the economic depression and to ameliorate suffering.
Did FDR have black Americans in mind when implemented the ‘New Deal’?
- Knew that the Depression hit black Americans particularly hard - that they suffered exceptionally unfavourable social and political conditions in the South
1933 - appointed a liberal white Southerner - Clark Foreman - as his ‘Special Adviser on the Economic Status of the Negro’ - succeeded by black assistant, Robert Weaver
Who was Harold Ickes?
1874-1952
- Pennsylvania-born reporter, lawyer and Chicago politician - became Secretary of the Interior (1933-46) under FDR - who wanted a progressive Republican in his cabinet
- Important in the implementation of the New Deal
- Weaver and Foreman owed their appointments to him
How was federal government aid overseen and distributed?
Although several leading FDR appointees, led by Harry Hopkins, were sympathetic to the black plight - administration relied heavily upon local and state authorities to oversee and distribute federal aid
Who was Harry Hopkins?
1890-1946
- Born in Iowa - social services administrator in NYC - impressed Governor Roosevelt
- FDR employed him to supervise New Deal programmes - FERA, WPA, NYA
- Important aide and advisor to FDR - during WWII
Give a timeline for FDR.
1882 - born to wealthy family in NY State
1900-4 - studied law at Harvard
1905 - married distant cousin Eleanor Roosevelt
1913 - Assistant Secretary of the Navy
1928-33 - popular Governor of NY State, usually elected effective in combating unemployment
1933-7 - 1st presidential term dominated by Great Depression and New Deal
1937-41 - 2nd presidential term dominated by deteriorating international situation
1941-5 - led the country through WWII in his 3rd term
1945 - died in April - few weeks into his fourth term
What were FDR’s achievements?
- Used federal govt power and expenditure to stimulate economy during the Great Depression
- Combination of his policies and wartime demand helped bring about economic recovery
- Led the nation through the war but died on the verge of victory
List examples of measures taken by federal govt in ‘New Deal’.
- AAA
- TVA
- CCC
- NRA
- PWA
- WPA
- NYA
- FERA
- Social security Act
What was the AAA?
Agricultural Adjustment Administration
- Set up in 1933 under the Agricultural Adjustment Act - to aid farmers
- Federal govt considered overproduction the greatest problem in American agriculture
- Farmers invited to voluntarily reduce their acreage and production in exchange for govt subsidies - AAA - paid farmers to decrease production of staples such as corn, cotton, milk, pigs, rice tobacco and wheat
Who ran the AAA at a local level?
- Invariable run by country committees dominated by most powerful landowners - actions frequently harmed black Americans
How did actions of the AAA harm black Americans?
1) Landowners didn’t hesitate to evict sharecroppers or tenants - 1933 - around 800,000 AAs worked on farms in South - only 13% owned their land - rest were tenants and sharecroppers (on white-owned land) - between 1933-40 - 200,000 sharecroppers evicted
2) Federal govt have large landowners cheques made out to individual AA - but many landowners simply threatened the workers until they signed over the cheques
3) Many planters - added to black problems - used AAA money to buy machinery that replaced AA farm workers
4) When landowners needed additional labour - persuaded local relief administrators to remove AAs from welfare tolls - labour surplus: workers willing to accept very low wages
Overall, how did the AAA impact black Americans?
- Was of little help - AAA officials tried but failed to prevent evictions (in face of resistance from landowners)
- Evicted sharecroppers or tenants - sometimes attempted resistance - e.g., Communist-led Alabama Sharecroppers Union - 8,000 members by 1934 - federal govt condoned use of violence against resistance
What was the TVA?
Tennessee Valley Authority
- New Deal programme - to revitalise the economy of several impoverished Southern states through provision of flood control, electricity and employment
How did the TVA impact black Americans?
- Set up by federal govt in May 1933 - AA TVA workers given segregated facilities
- Restricted to unskilled jobs - given limited access to new housing - excluded from model farm programmes
- Situation improved when J. Max Bond - TVA’s black Supervisor of Negro Training - leaked info about discrimination
- NAACP published exposé - congressional committee called for improved treatment
What was the CCC
Civilian Conservation Corps:
- New Deal agency est. 1933 - offered employment through public works
- Department of Labor recruited 17-24-year-old unemployed males to work in the CCC
How many worked in the CCC?
- Around 250,000 worked on reforestation, soil conservation and forest management projects in 1933-4 and 500,000 in 1935
With most White Americans usually considering the CCC a great success, why weren’t black Americans not so impressed?
- CCC headed by Robert Fechner - racially conservative Tennessean - did nothing to encourage black American recruitment until Roosevelt administration intervened
What happened as a result of the Roosevelt administration intervening in the CCC?
When did they intervene?
1935
- CCC doubled black recruitment
- Around 200,000 AAs in its 9 year existence - but often restricted to low-skilled jobs
- Fechner issued directive ordering the ‘complete segregation of coloured and white enrollees’ in July 1935
How did working for CCC in the North impact black Americans?
- AA recruits arrived at Fort Dix - soon, 100 from Newark, New Jersey, went on strike
- Said food was scarce and poor - claimed that had been evicted from their barracks to make way for white recruits and forced to give up hot meals for raw potatoes
- White Army officers who ran camp - claimed they ate too much
Who were Company 235-C?
- Fort Fix’s 180 AA recruits from Harlem - sent to upstate NY to plant trees at $30 per week
- White major brought in 20 white recruits - replaced black clerks - Harlem recruits refused to work
- 6 of them arrested - sent home - 35 Harlemites still refused to work - only 1 returned
- 34 sent home
- White recruits transferred to another company - trouble continued - CCC said local white pop. was ‘somewhat nervous’ about the ‘possibility of rape’ by black recruits
- Company 235-C sent far away from white towns
