All the Acts

Question 1

What was the NIRA and what did it do?

Answer 1

National Industrial Recovery Act - set up CWA and PWA and aimed to make industry strong again

Question 2

What was the AAA and what did it do?

Answer 2

Agricultural Adjustment Administration

• set up quotas on agricultural produce to reduce produce and raise prices
• gave modern techniques
• some farmers helped with mortgages
• soil preservation also taught to stop erosion

Question 3

Why did some people oppose AAA?

Answer 3

• modernisation put some farmers out of work

- quotas and modernisation was contradictory

Question 4

What was the NRA and what did it do?

Answer 4

National Recovery Administration

• Improved working conditions
• outlawed child labour
• fixed wages
• over 2 million employees joined the scheme and were awarded the blue eagle badge

Question 5

Why did some people oppose the NRA?

Answer 5

• was seen as interfering too much with American life

- many people thought the NRA was against the law as the government was acting like dictators

Question 6

Why did FDR scrap prohibition?

Answer 6

• realised a lot of money could be raised through making alcohol legal again by taxing the makers and distributors of alcohol

Question 7

Who opposed FDR scrapping prohibition?

Answer 7

Rural and Religous

Question 8

What was the PWA and what did it do?

Answer 8

Public Works Administration

• used government money to build schools, bridges, dams and airports
• created millions of short term jobs
• over $3 billion spent

Question 9

Why may some people oppose the PWA?

Answer 9

• very costly for taxpayers

- republicans thought it was too much help and anti rugged individualism

Question 10

What was EBA and what did it do?

Answer 10

Emergency Bank Act

- 5000 trustworthy banks opened and rules and regulations were put in place to stop speculation

Question 11

Why did some people oppose the EBA?

Answer 11

-some small banks were not able to reopen which seemed as too much government interference

Question 12

What was the TVA and what did it do?

Answer 12

Tennesse Valley Act

• Tennesse Valley was a place which always flooded in the winter
• a bunch of dams were built on the Tennessee River to irrigate land, control water flow and provide jobs building
• the dams were used for hydroelectricity

Question 13

Why did some people oppose the TVA?

Answer 13

• very unpopular with small electric companies as the TVA was so big and powerful that they could not compete and were put out of business

Question 14

What was the CCC and what did it do?

Answer 14

Civilian Conservation Corps

• aimed at men aged 18-25
• signed up for 6 months at a time
• did environmental projects like national parks
• earned $30 a month but $25 sent back to families
• 2.5 million people joined this scheme

Question 15

Why did some people oppose the CCC?

Answer 15

• very costly for taxpayers
• Republicans thought it was too much help
• most money sent home was not spent due to lack of confidence

Question 16

What was the HOLC and what did it do?

Answer 16

Home Owners Loan Corporation

- set up to help people pay mortgages

Question 17

What was the EA and what did it do?

Answer 17

Economy Act

- This reduced government’s employees pay by 15%

Question 18

What was the FERA and what did it do?

Answer 18

Federal Emergency Relief Act

- $500 million was given to states for soup kitchens, blankets, nurseries and employment schemes

Question 19

Why did some people oppose the FERA?

Answer 19

• very costly for taxpayers

- republicans thought it was too much help

Question 20

Why did some people oppose the new deal?

Answer 20

Interfering too much with American life/

• Businessmen and Republicans believed there were too many rules and regulation
• the government acted like communist by supporting trade unions
• Worthless jobs created such as boondoggling
• high taxes discouraged rich from working hard

The new deal was against the law/

• the supreme court believed this
• the closed down AAA and PWA as they said it interfered with state laws and was imposing too much control on people
• NRA found Schechter Poultry Co-operation guilty for breaking NRA rules by selling poor food and treating workers badly-supreme court said NRA had no right to interfere with sate laws and allowed it to re-open
• FDR threatened to sack 6 Supreme Court judges

Question 21

How did some people benefit from the New Deal?

Answer 21

• Around 200,000 black employed by the CCC
• Indian Reorganisation Act provided money to help Native Americans to buy and improve land
• WPA created 8 million jobs in 8 years
• 1937 there were 4700 strikes and 80% were in favour of the workers
• NRA gave workers more power against larger industrial giants by improving working conditions

Question 22

Failures of the new deal?

Answer 22

• Many agencies discriminated blacks and often got no work or lower wages/ CCC only got 200,000 blacks out of 2.5 million
• Still 6 million unemployed people by 1941
• FDR never passed a law to stop lynching
• only 8000 women emplyed by the CCC
• Workers strikes often broken up by violence- Frankensteen beaten up by ford security