Alphabet Agencies

Question 1

Which alphabet agency in the first new deal paid farmers to produce fewer crops, this aimed to end overproduction and drive food prices back up? This was heavily criticised as it destroyed food at a time where people were starving. For example, 20,000 children were malnourished and 45 died in hospital in New York.

Answer 1

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

Question 2

Which alphabet agency in the first new deal paid farmers to store food in warehouses instead of selling it?

Answer 2

Commodity Credit Corporation

Question 3

Which Alphabet Agency in the first new deal improved mortgages for about 20% of farms, meaning farmers could pay more easily and avoid repossession?

Answer 3

Farm Credit Administration (FCA)

Question 4

Which Alphabet Agency in the first new deal provided $3 billion of federal money to be given to states to help the unemployed?

Answer 4

Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)

Question 5

Which Alphabet Agency in the first new deal extended mortgages so that people could pay over 20 years instead of five, and afford their mortgage payments?

Answer 5

Homeowners Refinancing Act

Question 6

Which Alphabet Agency in the first new deal was set up to give outdoor conservation work to 2 and a half million 18 to 25-year-olds. They lived in camps and were paid $30 a month, most of which was sent home to their families?

Answer 6

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Question 7

Which Alphabet Agency in the first new deal involved $3.3 billion of federal money for public works schemes and for hiring skilled workers?

Answer 7

Public Works Administration (PWA)

Question 8

Which Alphabet Agency in the first new deal set up a scheme where business owners could pledge to follow guidelines on wages, working hours, workplace conditions and prices?

Answer 8

National Recovery Agency (NRA)

Question 9

Nobody was forced to join the NRA scheme, but doing so meant they could display the NRA’s _________ logo and show they were helping to resolve the Depression.

Answer 9

blue eagle

Question 10

How many businesses joined the NRA?

Answer 10

2.3 million

Question 11

The NRA also gave workers the legal right to join a _____ and campaign for better working conditions. Union membership rose from 3.1 million to __________ in 1939.

Answer 11

union

3.9 million

Question 12

Which Alphabet Agency in the first new deal was set up to solve the problems of poverty, underdevelopment and soil erosion in states along the Tennessee River. Federal control allowed it to achieve more than state governments could?

Answer 12

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Question 13

What percent of farmers had electricity at the start of the 1930s?

Answer 13

10%

Question 14

What did the TVA build?

Answer 14

Hydroelectric Dams

Question 15

How did the WPA support culture in 1930s America?

Answer 15

The WPA created work for unemployed artists. Actors were hired to put on free shows and artists painted public art.

Question 16

Who was a prominent writer that was a member of the WPA and Nobel prize winning novel did he write whilst in the WPA?

Answer 16

John Steinbeck

Grapes of Wrath