Attempts to halt the Depression

Question 1

what did Hoover do for public works

Answer 1

Persuaded state & local city govs to expand their public works programmes & spending by US$1.5B
President’s Organisation for the Unemployed Relief aimed to promote and coordinate local relief efforts

Question 2

what were hoover’s Federal relief (Legislation & Organisations) efforts

Answer 2

The Emergency Relief Act 1932:
Home Loan Bank Act 1932:
Reconstruction Finance Corporation 1932

Question 3

what was The Emergency Relief Act 1932:

Answer 3

Provided US$300 million to state govs to help the unemployed

Question 4

what was Home Loan Bank Act 1932

Answer 4

To stimulate house building & home ownership. 12 regional banks set up with a collective fund of US$125M, offering up to 50% assistance for those who couldn’t afford to pay off mortgages
Clements argues it was “largely ineffective” & failed because it was insufficient to deal with the severity of the situation

Question 5

What was RFC 1932

Answer 5

Largest federal aid given → US$2 billion in loans to ailing banks, insurance companies, railroads & private corporations

Aim of lending money to banks, railroads, and other enterprises → rationale = stability at the top would filter down to smaller businesses.

Question 6

how effective was the RCF

Answer 6

This saved some small business but ultimately had little impact on the overall GD.
FDR continued to use the RFC as part of his economic policy towards the depression. Thus, the corporation can be seen as effective enough to be maintained.

Question 7

what does Lippmann say ab FDR measures

Answer 7

“The Roosevelt measures are a continuous evolution of Hoover measures.”

Question 8

what was the Agricultural Marketing Act 1929

Answer 8

Established by the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916, with a revolving fund of $500M to stabilize prices & to promote the sale of agricultural products
Attempt made by the Hoover administration to deal with the problem of overproduction and low agriculture prices pre-crash

Question 9

what happened to the AMA 1929 after the depression took place

Answer 9

Set up corporations to buy surpluses of various products to maintain prices, however once the depression took hold, this was not maintained as prices dropped excessively .

Question 10

what was Grain Stabilisation Corporation

Answer 10

Bought surplus wheat from cooperatives as a way of stabilising grain prices

Question 11

how did Hoover’s Inaction and misinterpretation of severity of the crisis make him ineffective (+what does Clements say

Answer 11

Hoover fatally undermined the potency of the Great Depression which meant he was inactive in taking aggressive measures to resolve it

Hoover’s policies were “not far reaching enough” to address the scale and seriousness of the Depression (Clements)

Question 12

impact of Hoover’s Reliance on voluntaryism → rugged individualism

Answer 12

Due to this republican policy Hoover did not accept what many argued was necessary: (aggressive) direct government relief → helped to prolong the GD & hindered the recovery

Question 13

what does clements say about voluntarism

Answer 13

Clements argues that the problems were “simply too great” for voluntarism to work” (Clements)

Question 14

what did Hoover believe ab intervention

Answer 14

Hoover argued that intervention was a local responsibility and that federal intervention would destroy character and undermine the roots of the government and American culture (rugged individualism)

Question 15

what did the Smoots-Hawley Tariffs 1930 do to trade

Answer 15

reduced the levels of international trade & triggered retaliations from other countries

Question 16

how much did the value of trade fall by (Smoots-Hawley Tariffs 1930)

Answer 16

1929-1930 the value of international trade fell by $500M → led to European countries repudiating their war debts and abandoning free trade

Question 17

how high were the Smoots-Hawley Tariffs

Answer 17

The tariffs under the act were the second-highest in the U.S. in 100 years

Question 18

impact of failure of agricultural policy

Answer 18

many farmers went bankrupt and lost their farms

Failure to aid farming helped to perpetuate the depression in agriculture (Murphy)

Question 19

when did the Federal Farm Board fail & why

Answer 19

1932
Paid farmers artificially high prices & couldn’t continue in the long term
Treated agriculture as a domestic issue & failed to take account of foreign considerations

Question 20

what was the fault in the AGM Act

Answer 20

Encouraged farmers to keep producing but should have encouraged to produce less

Question 21

what restriction did Hoover put on immigration

Answer 21

Hoover ordered the immediate deportation of illegal immigrants for the protection of Jobs for American citizens
Resulting in a xenophobic atmosphere in society

Question 22

when was the First New Deal

Answer 22

1933-35

Question 23

what are the ‘3 r’s’ of the New Deal

Answer 23

relief for the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy back to normal levels, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.

Question 24

what was short term & long term impact of New Deal

Answer 24

Short term → N.D programs helped improve the lives of people suffering from the depression.

Long term → N.D programs set a precedent for the federal government to play a key role in the economic & social affairs of the nation

Question 25

what was the main reason why FDR was more effective

Answer 25

The main reason for FDR’s more successful policy was his aggressive pursuit of government interventionism. His ‘New Deal’ expanded the role of the federal government in the nation’s economy in an effort to address the challenges of the GD

Question 26

FDR quote

Answer 26

“action, and action now”

Question 27

What Act was FDR’s efforts for financial reform (Stabilising Banking System)

Answer 27

Emergency Banking Act 1933

Question 28

what was the Emergency Banking Act 1933

Answer 28

Took steps to stabilize and restore confidence in the U.S. banking system

Sustained from Hoover’s legislation which also helped make the financial landscape more solid (Banking Act of 1932, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act of 1932.)

Question 29

What was the success of the Emergency Banking Act

Answer 29

Succeeded in restoring the confidence of both Main Street and Wall Street

Question 30

what did FDR believe was the major key to raising farmers’ incomes

Answer 30

curtailing overproduction; stop growing more crops than the market could support.

Question 31

What FDR Acts were a part of Stabilising the Agricultural sector

Answer 31

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) 1933
1933 Commodity Credit Corporation
Farm Credit Act 1933 
The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act 1933  
The Farm Security Administration

Question 32

what was the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) 1933

Answer 32

Brought relief to farmers by paying them to curtail production, reducing surpluses, and raising prices for agricultural products
The Agricultural Marketing Act 1929 by Hoover admin was seen as an important precursor to this act

Question 33

was the AAA effective

Answer 33

yes, addressed the issue of overproduction and Farm income in 1935 was more than 50% higher than farm income during 1932, due in part to the farm programs

Question 34

what was 1933 Commodity Credit Corporation

Answer 34

to give surplus crops to the cash-strapped unemployed

Question 35

Farm Credit Act 1933

Answer 35

help farmers refinance mortgages at below-market interest rates at regional / national banks = helped farmers recover from the Dust Bowl

Question 36

The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act 1933

Answer 36

loaned funds to farmers in danger of losing their properties.
gave $1B in loans from the Farm Credit Administration refinanced more than 20% of farm mortgages & helped millions of rural Americans fight off foreclosure

Question 37

The Farm Security Administration

Answer 37

extended loans to tenant farmers (ending a long tradition of official neglect), & provided medical clinics to 1M+ disadvantaged migrant farmworkers

Question 38

what does Soloutos say about FDR agricultural policy

Answer 38

The New Deal era was “the greatest innovative epoch in the history of American agriculture” (Saloutos)

Question 39

Although FDR’s policies did not lift all farmers out of poverty, they: ?

Answer 39

transformed the rural landscape,
prompted conservation practices,
brought rural Americans into the “Electric Age,”
helped farmers confront overproduction & put their land to more effective use

Question 40

what were Hoover’s ‘Alphabet Agencies” (in the First New Deal)

Answer 40

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) 1933
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) 1933
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) 1933
National Recovery Act & Admin (NRA) 1933

Question 41

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) 1933

Answer 41

To relieve unemployment during the GD by providing national conservation work primarily for young unmarried men.
Employed about 3 million men nationwide

Question 42

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) 1933

Answer 42

Built on the Hoover administration’s Emergency Relief and Construction Act 1932
Provided grants to states for public works projects so as to create jobs.
1935: its work was taken over by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) and the Social Security Board .

Question 43

National Recovery Act & Admin (NRA) 1933

Answer 43

Eliminate “cut throat competition” by bringing industry, labor, and gov together to create codes of “fair practices” and set prices
Reflected interests of big business at the expense of the consumer and small businessman, BUT they did improve labour conditions in some industries + aided the unionization movement

Question 44

what was aim of the 2nd new deal

Answer 44

aimed to provide economic security and emphasised social justice. FDR passed legislation to deal w some of the issues his New Deal was facing from the Supreme Court
Many historians refer to this as more liberal and controversial.

Question 45

what were the Pro-union/labour acts

Answer 45

Wagner Act 1935

Fair Labour Standards Act 1938

Question 46

Fair Labour Standards Act 1938

Answer 46

Established min wage, overtime pay, & youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector & in Federal, State, & local govs.
Changed employment culture of the US

Question 47

Wagner Act 1935

Answer 47

Guaranteed the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, & take collective action (eg, strikes)

Question 48

why was the wagner act significant

Answer 48

Through this FDR guaranteed federal support for unions which the former Hoover administration failed to do
= Trade union membership jumped to almost 9 million by 1940

Question 49

what was one of the most important new deal measures that previous govs did not implement

Answer 49

Social Security Act 1935

Question 50

Social Security Act 1935

Answer 50

Created a federal/economic “safety net” for elderly, unemployed and disadvantaged Americans
provided old-age benefits to be financed by a payroll tax on employers and employees.
Significant in its role of poverty reduction & alleviation, especially in a period of recession

Question 51

what alphabet agency came in the 2nd new deal

Answer 51

Work Progress Administration (WPA) 1935

Question 52

Work Progress Administration (WPA) 1935

Answer 52

Provide the unemployed w useful work that would help to maintain their skills and bolster their self-respect.
1935-1941: employed a monthly average of 2.1M workers on a variety of projects (construction of roads, bridges, airports, and public buildings; natural-resource conservation; and artistic and cultural programs)

Question 53

Although the New Deal alone did not end the Depression, it ….

Answer 53

was a success in restoring public confidence and creating new programs that brought relief to millions of Americans

Question 54

what was an isssue w some of FDR’s programs

Answer 54

Some New Deal Programs by FDR clashed w the Supreme Court, which declared them unconstitutional (Eg, Agricultural Adjustment Act, National Industrial Recovery Act)

Question 55

why wasnt the CCC beneficial to women

Answer 55

Only 8000 women were employed by the CCC out of 2.75 million people
Women lucky enough to enroll in the camps received an allowance rather than a wage, could stay only one month, and received training in hygiene and housekeeping.

Question 56

how did the WPA help women

Answer 56

spent 12% of its budget on women and hired 372,000 of the nation’s 3 million unemployed women.

Question 57

what did FDR do that didnt help married women

Answer 57

FDR continued Section 213 of the Economy Act → stipulated that married persons couldn’t be employed by the federal gov

Question 58

unlike previous presidents what did FDR do to help women

Answer 58

FDR employed many women into high government jobs
Named 22 women to senior administrative posts, many previously held by men.
Believed in using women to promote his New Deal programs.

Question 59

why did racism occur (AAs) during New Deal era

Answer 59

often because federal programs were administered through local authorities or community leaders who brought their own racial biases to the table

Question 60

how was Relief + aid benefits for AAs by the AAA less than whites

Answer 60

AAA offered white landowners cash for leaving their fields fallow, but didn’t pass on their government checks to the black sharecroppers and tenant farmers who actually worked the land

Question 61

what were some benefits to AAs from new deal

Answer 61

Poor relief & job creation projects administered by the Federal Emergency Relief Admin 1933-35 = Over ¼M African Americans were given literacy help via federal aid projects
Employment training provided by the National Youth Admin

Question 62

why did some businessmen dislike new deal

Answer 62

Businessmen became concerned about the way that the New Deal was infringing on their power and profits

Question 63

how well liked was new deal

Answer 63

Despite resistance from business and other segments of the community to “socialistic” tendencies of the New Deal, many of its reforms gradually achieved national acceptance.