Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

The United States 1917-1954: Boom, Bust and Recovery > Chapter 6 - Controversy: The New Deal and its impact > Flashcards

Chapter 6 - Controversy: The New Deal and its impact Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
U.S. Geography flashcards
1
Q

What was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential background?

A 
Democrat.
Crippled by polio.
1932-1945.
Pledged himself to create a 'New Deal'.
'Relief, recovery, reform'.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Why did Franklin D. Roosevelt win the 1932 election?

A

Hoover - poor treatment of the bonus marchers, ‘Hoovervilles’.
Good press relationship - charmed 125 journalists.
Two press conferences per week.
Divided information into: ‘attributable, background and off the record’.
Used ‘fireside chats’ to appeal to the US public.
Skillful Congress manipulator - Democrat majority.
58% popular vote.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

How did Roosevelt approach the banking crisis?

A

Democrat party - split between high/low tariffs.
Intertwined the two policies - experimental.
Surrounded himself with a Brains Trust - academic experts.
Established initiatives - ‘The Hundred Days’.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How bad was the US economic crisis by the 1930s?

A 
GNP - halved since 1929.
Unemployment: 4 million in 1930.
12-15 million in 1933.
25% workforce was out of work.
Malnutrition signs started appearing.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How badly hit was the US population regarding the public?

A

Poor farmers/sharecroppers were technically unemployed/hardly any income.
AA - worst off.
Whites also suffered - even the middle class.
Chicago - teachers were unpaid for a year.
10,000 schools shut.
25% Americans lost their homes in 1932.
350,000 had lost homes in the previous 2 years.
Crime rose - prison population increased by 40%.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

How badly hit was the US population regarding the banks?

A

Bank failures had led to 32 states to close their banks for ‘extended bank holidays’ to avoid collapse.
6 states had closed almost all their banks.
10 states had limited withdrawals - Texas $10 per day.
$7 billion of the depositors’ money had been wiped out.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

How was Russia involved regarding the US unemployment problem?

A

Some young skilled men sought refuge in the ‘socialist paradise’ - Stalin’s Russia.
USSR advert for 6,000 workers - over 100,000 applied.
No unemployment there.
USA’s democracy was questioned.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What was ‘The Hundred Days’?

A

Inaugural FDR speech - asked Congress for 100 days of total cooperation.
March 19th-June 16th.
16 significant measures were put through.
Originally supposed to be for just the banking crisis - but extended to other issues as well.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What issues did ‘The Hundred Days’ tackle? 4

A
  1. The Banking System/markets - re-establishing stability.
  2. Agricultural issues - rural importance.
  3. Providing jobs in a revived industry - urban economy.
  4. Relief for slump victims - society/political leaders - more responsibility.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What was FDR’s opinion on the cause of the depression?

A

Bankers/brokers.
No agenda for radical change.
Planned to overhaul system - not build a new structure e.g. public ownership of the banks.
Many were disappointed - too conservative.
He should’ve seized the moment - the 58% popular vote was behind him.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What did FDR do following the day of his inauguration?

A

Emergency action powers - 4 day national bank holiday.
The Emergency Banking Act 1933 had been prepared.
Relied on active support of the outgoing Republican team - notably Treasury Secretary Odgen Mills.
Used Hoover’s RFC to buy stock.
Bought up bank debts to insure financial stability when the banks reopened.
Banned gold export.
Suspended dollar convertibility to gold.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What happened regarding the banks after FDR’s 4 day closure?

A

70% were able to reopen.
3 days - 5,000 banks given permission to re-open.
April - $1 billion dollars had been registered as bank deposits.
Savings were entering the financial system once more.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How did FDR play a part in the reopening of the banks after the 4 day closure?

A

‘Fireside’ chats.
Confident words - explained the significance of the banking system.
Stressed the need for a national partnership based on trust to restore stability AND THEN prosperity.
Significant economic boost.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What banking measures were passed under FDR’s time?

A

The Emergency Banking Act 1933.
The Glass-Steagall Act 1933.
Securities Exchange Commission 1934.
+ USA left the gold standard in 1933.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What did The Glass-Steagall Act 1933 do?

A

Emergency response to 5,000 failing banks.
Ordinary high street banks - no longer allowed to be involved in investment.
Removed conflicting interests.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation established deposits under $2,500 were insured against bank failures.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What did the Securities Exchange Commission 1934 do?

A

Provided framework - tackled speculation.
Banned insider dealing.
Banned purchasing of shares ‘on the margin’.
First chairman - Joseph Kennedy - very effective.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

How was FDR criticised regarding his handling of the banks?

A

Should’ve gone further in promoting the rationalisation of the banking system.
By removing small banks - big weakness.
Problem wasn’t large banks e.g. JP Morgan - however they gained lots of criticism.
However FDR took the popular route, as well as promoting some degree of stability.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How was the agricultural community of great important to the US?

A

1930s farmers made up 30% of the workforce.
Agricultural associations - masters at lobbying in Washington.
Traditionally had formed the US backbone.
Growing signs of farmer militancy in 1933.
FDR had a genuine interest.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What agricultural acts were passed in FDR’s time?

A 
The Farm Credit Act 1933.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act 1933.
The Commodity Agency 1933.
The Farm Mortgage Refinancing Act 1934.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 1933.
Rural Electrification Act 1935.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What was The Farm Credit Act 1933?

A

FDR - GOOD.
Loan funds were made available.
Protected farmers from low prices/debt.
$100m to be available for re-finance mortgages.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What was The Agricultural Adjustment Act 1933?

A

FDR - KIND OF SUCCESSFUL.
Issue was OVERproduction.
Paid farmers to cut down production - increased prices/income - created the AAA in 1933.
Farmers owning their own land were paid to take land out of production in certain crops.
Subordinate agency 1934 - The Commodity Credit Agency.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What did The Commodity Credit Agency do?

A

SUCCESSFUL.
As part of the AAA - set up 1934.
Loans to farmers to store their products.
Only repaid when certain crop price was reached.
Targets: corn, cotton, milk, pigs, tobacco and wheat.
Payment was to be financed by a tax on food processing - the cost would then be passed on to the consumer
Gave $1.5b in loans.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What were the statistics for the farmers trying to tackle overproduction regarding the AAA?

A

AAA bought and slaughtered 6 million pigs.
1m cotton farmers were paid NOT to plough 10m acres.
12m acres of tobacco.
75% cotton farmers had signed up.
95% tobacco farmers, 93% lowa farmers.
California - peaches left to rot.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What were the issues with the AAA?

A

SC - unconstitutional in 1936 - argued that the Fed Gov. shouldn’t be able to dictate laws.
Only 7 of the thousands of different grown crops - eligible for AAA payment.
Farmers continued to grow - despite government action.
Underproduction may be the issue.
1940s surplus pile up - although WW2 solved this.
3 million sharecroppers suffered (AAs).
STFU didn’t feel listened to.
Owners of the big estates gained.
Only had 3,000 staff.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What were the aims of the AAA?

A 
Establish a parity of price and wage.
Establish a minimum price for produce.
To control crop production.
To raise farm prices.
To give price support loans.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Was the AAA successful?

A

If every US family had an adequate diet - needed to INCREASE production.
It did succeed in raising farm prices for the landowners.
BUT most were worse off - millions of unemployed industrial workers - had to pay more for food.
Farmer Credit Act/TVA - more positive impact.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

In what ways was the ND NOT successful with dealing with the agricultural problems?

A

Bad for consumers.
Unconstitutional - AAA - 1936.
Incoherent - only long-term benefited big farmers
UNDERproduction was actually the problem.
AAA - 3,000 - understaffed.
STFU - not listened to.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

What was the TVA?

A

GOOD.
Tackled flooding, provided cheap electricity, and replanting forests.
Improved travel on the Tennessee River.
Developed business/farming - south-east farmers.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

What was the Farm Credit Administration 1933?

What did The Farm Mortgage Refinancing Act 1934 do?

A

BOTH GOOD.
Administered loans 1933.
Rescheduled debts.
Avoiding foreclosures on indebted farms.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

What did the Rural Electrification Act 1935 do?

What agency did it work with and how was the aim achieved?

A

Aimed to provide electric power everywhere.
The Rural Electrification Agency.
Low interest loans to rural cooperatives.
Helped fund electricity in more rural areas.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

How successful were the aims of The Rural Electrification Agency?

A

GOOD.
Cooperation/development of local democracy.
1933 - 20% farming families had electricity
1949 - 90%.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

What were the agricultural problems between 1933-1937 regarding the weather?

A

The Dust Bowl- Great Plains region affected by drought.
Oklahoma, Kansas, northern Texas and eastern Colarado.
Widespread soil erosion - ‘black blizzards’.
Problem arose from previous attempts to increase acreage by removing trees.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

What was done in response to the ‘Dust Bowl’?

A

1934 - 300,000 farmers decamped to Pacific coast.

1940 - 2.5 million had fled - 10% to California.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

What did The Soil Erosion Act 1935 and The Soil Conservation Act 1936 do?

A

GOOD.
Farmers paid to plant soil conserving grasses and legumes.
Reduced crop acreage.
3 years later, soil erosion had dropped by 65%.
Big producers - received most funding.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

Was the ND successful with dealing with the agricultural problems?

A 
1936 - farm prices rose 66%.
50% rise farm income.
Farm Credit Act - $100m farmer loans.
Commodity Credit Agency.
Farm Mortgage Refinancing Act.
AAA. TVA.
Soil Erosion/Conservation Act.
Gold standard removal - 1933.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

What happened to the AAA in 1936 and what happened afterwards?

A

SC - unconstitutional - 1936.
Modified act - passed in 1938.
Farmer price support - fixed marketing quotas/allotted acreage.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

What were the negative aspects of the New Deal regarding agriculture?

A

Terrible waste of food in a time of scarcity - AAA.

Had a tendency to reward/favour better-off farmers.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

What did FDR rely on regarding ‘putting America back to work’?

A

Active cooperation of the business community.
Agricultural approach - needed support of richer farmers.
Wanted to save capitalism.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

What was FDR like regarding the budget spending?

A

Lewis Douglas as Budget Secretary.
Hoover budget deficit of 4.6% GNP - unacceptable.
58% popular vote gave FDR opportunity for fundamental change - fairer wealth distribution.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

What did FDR’s administration propose to overcome unemployment in March 1933?

A

30 hour working week.
Job sharing.
BUT passed in haste.
The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

What did the National Industrial Recovery Act 1933 establish?

A

NRA.

PWA.

42
Q

What did the National Recovery Administration do?

NRA

A

1933.
General Hugh Johnson.
Created legally binding codes - regulated wages, prices and competition.
541 codes.
‘We play our part’ - slogan - focused on cooperation.
Aim - restore purchasing power/avoid excessive cut-throat competition.
Would benefit everyone - dangerous formula.
SC - unconstitutional - 1935 - Schechter Poultry Corp VS United States

43
Q

How would larger businesses and workers benefit from the NRA?

A

From the suspension of anti-trust legislation - LB.
Workers - collective bargaining (section 7a).
Codes - regulated prices, working conditions and agree minimum wages.
Excluded agricultural workers and domestic servants.

44
Q

What did section 7a include?

A

Part of NRA.
Collective bargaining.
Talks with employees - assisting trade union power.
Employer resentment.
1939 - 9 million union members.
United Mine Workers of America - 100,000 to 400,000,

45
Q

What did the advertising campaign for NRA include?

A

Blue Eagle badge.
2.5 minute propaganda film - voice of Jimmy Durante.
General Hugh Johnson - head of NRA.
Johnson had enormous energy - covered 90% of the nation’s industrial capacity.

46
Q

What was the point of the codes regarding NIRA, and how successful was the NIRA?

A

UNSUCCESSFUL.
541 codes established - caused problems.
Aim was to satisfy workers whilst guaranteeing bosses a fair profit - muddled.
Damaged effective on industrial growth.
‘Negro Run Around’ - AA businesses due to code over regulation.
Employers delighted - NRA 1935 unconstitutional.

47
Q

What did The Public Works Administration (PWA) do?

A

SUCCESSFUL - second arm of NIRA.
1933-1944.
Harold Ickes.
NRA/PWA - two different leaders - lack of coherence.
$3.3 billion - first year.
$6 billion in total.
Aim was to provide funding for public work schemes.
E.g. road building, dams, hospitals, schools.
Would improve US infrastructure, boost the construction industry and put money into workers’ pockets.

48
Q

Was the PWA successful?

A

Only $110m/$3.3bn spent in the first 6 months.
Funded 34,000 major construction schemes.
13,000 schools.
50,000 miles of road.
Employed tens of thousands of workers.
E.g. Triborough Bridge in NY.
Funded 70% schools 1933-1939.

49
Q

What were the TVA’s aims?

A

1933.
1. 20 dams - irrigation, flood control and electricity.
E.g. The Great Dams.
2. Agriculture transformation - fertilisers - manufactured within region.

50
Q

How successful was TVA?

A 
SUCCESSFUL.
Fed. gov - none of their business.
BUT it transformed the region.
1932 - 2% properties had electricity.
1945 - 75%.
Average incomes rose by 200% between 1929 and 1949.
15,000 jobs created.
51
Q

What was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)?

A

Part of FERA.
1933-1942 relief program.
Men 17-28 years - worked in national forests/parks.
Projects: reforesting stripped slopes, cutting breaks to prevent fires, building roads, working in soil conservation and taking part in irrigation/flood schemes.

52
Q

What was the pay and how many were involved in the CCC?

A

0.5 million in 2,000 camps.
$30 per month - $25 sent back to their families.
Hearty life under military-style discipline.

53
Q

Who supported the CCC and who was against it?

A

Against: money was wasted on temporary jobs (6 months) - boondoggle.
For: future President Johnson.
Discipline, teamwork, sense of purpose.

54
Q

What was the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)?

A

RELIEF - 1933.
Harry Hopkins.
$500m budget.
Unemployed help - 20 million employed.
Half - direct relief.
The other half was one dollar for every three spent by a particular State.
State majority cooperated - vast number of projects got underway - especially construction industry.

55
Q

Who opposed the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)?

A 
Kentucky/Ohio - refused to comply.
Uncomfortable states - poverty - self-made problem.
Queued for hours, endless forms.
Arizonia - 100F temperature.
Governor of Georgia - euthanasia.
56
Q

What was the most significant contribution of the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)?

A

Established that central government recognised responsibility for social welfare and tried to work in partnership with the states.
Real progress was made e.g. adult literacy.

57
Q

What did the Civil Works Administration (CWA) do?

A 
Another hurried agency - November 1933.
To create jobs for the winter period.
$400m - but went way beyond this.
6 weeks - spent $200m+ a month.
Budget Director - Lewis Douglas.
58
Q

How effective was the Civil Works Administration (CWA)?

A

MOSTLY UNSUCCESSFUL.
Boon doggling - 12 million feet of sewers.
Antagonised Ickes at the PWA.
CWA - used by FDR opponents for lack of coherence.
Stopped in 1934 - cost worry.

59
Q

How effective was the New Deal after 2 years?

A

SOME improvement but REAL RECOVERY was still a long way off.
1933-1934:
National income rose 25%.
Unemployment dropped 2 million.
HOWEVER:
National income was only slightly more than half of what it had been in 1929.
10 million workers were unemployed.
Almost 20 million were partially relief dependent.

60
Q

What did the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act 1935 do?

A

Set up the WPA - 1935.

Set up the Resettlement Agency.

61
Q

What was the budget for the Works Progress Administration 1935?
(WPA)

A

$4.8 billion - Harry Hopkins.
1943 - $11 billion on war relief.
Employed 8 million.
7 years - 2,500 hospitals, 6,000 schools, 570,000 miles of roads, 1,000 airfields constructed.
2 million employed within 6 months.
HOWEVER it only employed 1/3 who needed work.
Deliberately offered lower wages than the private sector - primarily relief schemes.

62
Q

How successful was the WPA 1935?

A

SUCCESSFUL BUT CONTROVERSIAL.
Agencies were established for arts/writers.
Theatre - Orsen Wells.
Music agencies - sponsored 38 symphony orchestras.
Negro division - inspired by black rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune.
First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt - involved.
Average wage - $41.57.
Only employed 13.5% women.

63
Q

Why was the Resettlement Agency set up?

A

SMALL SUCCESS.
Under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act 1935.
Created garden cities - different life for the poor.
However only 3 were established.
Loaned funds to smaller farmers - fresh start.
1938 budget cutbacks - only 4,440 farmers resettled.

64
Q

What housing relief programs were introduced in 1933 and 1934?

A

HORC- 1933.
Offered lower rates of interest over an extended borrowing period.
1930s - re-financed 20% urban homes.
The Federal Housing Administration 1934.
Government backed insurance on long-term mortgages. Helped many families.
Gave necessary boost - construction industry.

65
Q

What housing relief acts/programs were introduced in 1937 and 1938?

A

The Wagner-Steagall National Housing Act 1937.
The Federal National Mortgage Association 1938 - ‘Fannie Mae’.
Ease trade in mortgage areas.
Make shifts in capital from one area to another.

66
Q

What was the response like regarding The Federal National Mortgage Association 1938?

A

PARTIAL SUCCESS.
White suburbs - mainly benefited.
Low income/inner city unemployees (AAs) didn’t.
BUT it did massively boost home ownership over the following 30 years.

67
Q

How were different factors affecting decisions regarding the sensitive FDR in 1935?

A
  1. SC against him - more radical.
  2. 1934 mid-term congressional elections - more radical House of Representatives.
  3. New Congress - wanted to do it his way.
  4. Pissed at big businesses - ‘economic royalists’.
  5. Huey Long, Francis Townsend, Charles Coughlin.
68
Q

What were all of the names of the measures passed between 1935-1938? 10

A
  1. Emergency Relief Appropriations Act 1935.
  2. Rural Electrification Act 1935.
  3. National Youth Administration 1935.
  4. Wagner Act 1935.
  5. Revenue Act 1935.
  6. Social Security Act 1935.
  7. Public Utility Holding Company Act 1935.
  8. Wagner-Steagall Act 1937.
  9. Agricultural Adjustment Act 1938.
  10. Fair Labor Standards Act 1938.
69
Q

What were labor conditions like?

A

1930s labor relations were in favour of the employers.
Dictorial conditions - rights circumscribed.
Congressmen thought it was necessary for reform.
E.g. Democratic senator Robert F. Wagner.
More stability/fairer wage - stimulate long-term recovery.

70
Q

What was The Wagner Act 1935 in response to?

A

NRA struck down in 1935 - had encouraged union growth under section 7a.
Wagner pushed a more radically pro-Union piece of legislation through - FDR was half hearted.
But FDR was mad with SC, so backed Wagner.

71
Q

What did The Wagner Act 1935 create?

A

A National Labor Relations Board.
Forced employers to recognise trade unions.
One union to represent all workers (if indicated by a majority ballot in a plant).
CLOSED SHOP.

72
Q

Why was the National Labor Relations Board subject to controversy?

A

An individual worker may have been forced to join a union against his will.
2,000 strikes.
Minneapolis- 4 month truck driver strike involved pitch street battles and martial law.
1933 - 2 million union members.
1938 - 9 million union members.

73
Q

Which future acts did The Wagner Act 1935 spark?

A

Guffey-Synder Act 1937 - fairer labour standards to the coal industry.
Fair Labor Standards Act 1938 - prohibited child labour, 40 hour week, minimum wage.

74
Q

What did the The Wagner Act do? 4

A

SUCCESSFUL.

  1. Prohibited companies from firing members.
  2. Created the National Labor Relations Board - developed a fair minded reputation.
  3. Secret ballots to determine if workers wanted union representation - closed shop.
  4. Strengthened free collective bargaining.
75
Q

Who did the National Labor Relations Act not include?

A

Anyone outside inter-state commerce.

AAs, MAs and women - agricultural service and domestic work were excluded.

76
Q

How did the Wagner Act create better political relations?

A

Alliance between Democratic Party/labour movement.
Argued that achieving better relations/wealth imbalance - would help to achieve growth.
Began to gain more support.

77
Q

How did new unions get their aims met?

A

Demanded a fair return for their labour, and a voice in improving working conditions.
Lewis was a good orator - radio.
1936 - workers made effective use of ‘sit-ins’.
Workers wold down tools but stay in the factory.

78
Q

Did the sit-ins work regarding unions?

A

1937 - General Motors agreed to negotiate.
1941 - Henry Ford accepted that organised unions and collective bargaining were here to stay.
Employers began to realise that strong unions weren’t the end of capitalism.

79
Q

How was there conflict in the mining/steel industry after John Lewis’ unionisation efforts?

A

Smaller mineworkers union of 1933 - feared was more vulnerable to communism.
1937 - police shot striking steel workers in Chicago - 10 died.
BUT union membership increased.
1940 - CIO leaders said that ‘they could talk to their bosses like men, rather than slaves’.

80
Q

What did the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) think about the Federal Government in relation to industry?

A

Believed the FG bettered industrial relations.
A fairer society = more prosperous society.
HOWEVER some believed that unions caused unemployment - strikes made possible by the Wagner Act.
Inflexible wages prevented companies from hiring additional workers - job shortage.

81
Q

What was the Social Security Act 1935?

A

Beginning of a partial welfare state.
Funded by contributions from employers/employees.
Provided small payments to aged/unemployed.

82
Q

How were the reforms limited regarding social welfare in 1935+?

A

VERY LITTLE SUCCESS.
The FG had no financial responsibility.
Unemployment insurance was funded by a payroll tax.
Contributory payment for pensions wasn’t until 1940.
No health insurance scheme.
FDR refused to allow direct taxes as funding- had to be self-financing.
Budget concerns.
Not extend to farmers/domestic servants.
Varied distribution:
1939 - Massachuetts - $61 per month.
Mississippi - $8 per month.

83
Q

How much were pensions and the unemployed given regarding social reforms?

A

Pensions: $10-85 per month.
Unemployment: maximum $18 - and only for 16 weeks.
Hardly represented a social revolution.

84
Q

What were the positives of the FDR social reforms?

A

Set some important precedents.
Established the principle of Federal responsibility.
Particularly supported elderly - first to lose/last to hire.
Fewer than 10% had a private pension plan - some support offered.
Townsend plan - $200 per month for 60+.
Influenced radical critics e.g. Huey Long.

85
Q

What was the Wealth Tax Bill 1935?

A

‘Soak the rich’ tax - 75% of the highest incomes.
Overspending concern - wanted to balance fed. budget.
Bitter Congress debates - watered down.
Added modest $250m to the Federal income.
Wasn’t enough to balance the budget but infuriated the rich - made FDR seem more radical.

86
Q

How did FDR balance the Federal budget after being re-elected in 1936, and what effect did this have?

A

Savage cutbacks on the dole.
Sharp unemployment rise 1937/8 - ‘FDR recession’.
Stock market collapsed by 30% in autumn 1937.
1938 - unemployment rose from 4 million to 10 million.
FDR stopped ‘priming the pump’ - recovery fantasy.

87
Q

What was the peak of the New Deal?

A 
ND didn't recover a sick economy.
Only good year was 1937:
Unemployment - 14.3% - below 8 million.
BUT unemployment - 19% in 1938.
ROOSEVELT RECESSION - 1937.
Real recovery - WW2.
88
Q

What were the positive impacts for women during the ND?

A 
Harold Ickes support.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt - arranged AA singer Marian Anderson - concert -  Lincoln memorial - 1939.
Forced NYA to give a female division.
Francis Perkins - Secretary of Labour.
Hattie Caraway - first female senator.
89
Q

What were the negative AA impacts of the ND?

A

NONE EXPLICITLY.
Anti-lynching laws got no FDR backing - needed southern support (Dixiecrats).
Kentucky - last public hanging - Rainey Bethea accused of killing white girl - 20,000 attended - 1936.
Some tried to strip the corpse for souvenirs.
Discrimination.
CCC - banned.
NRA - paid less than whites - ‘Negro Run Around’.
AAA - 17,000 sharecroppers.
Hattie McDaniel won an Oscar for ‘Gone with the Wind’ - denied premiere access in Atlanta.
LE 10 years lower for AAs, doing same job as whites.
1930 - 30 lynchings.
TVA/CCC - segregation.
Scottsboro - 9 AAs accused of raping 2 whites.

90
Q

Why did AAs like FDR and the New Deal, despite not explicitly benefiting from it?

A

1936 - 3/4 voted Democratic.
1935 - 30% black families were on relief - x3 proportion of white families.
1939 - 1 million blacks - WPA jobs - ‘colour-blind’.
1/3 federal housing went to blacks.
Hopkins/Ickes sympathetic.
16 AA theatre groups.
WPA - taught 250,000 AAs to read/write.
First AA congressmen - Arthur Mitchell.
Mary Bethane - Negro head of NYA.
1936 - 30 AA delegates to Democratic convention.
CIO - banned union discrimination.

91
Q

What was the quality of life like for American Indians during the New Deal?

A

330,000 - bleak prospects.
Extreme poverty/poor healthcare.
Dawes Act 1887 - removed the legal right of tribes.
Given the vote in 1924 - but very little improvements.
1932 - 90 million acres lost.

92
Q

What was done for American Indians during the New Deal?

A

John Collier was appointed Commissioner for Indian Affairs in 1933 - had lived among Pueblo Indians and respected them.
Wanted to restore tribal life.
CCC recruited 12,000 AIs.
But NAs had doubts with Collier’s plans - paranoid about ‘living museums’.
Indian Reorganisation Act 1934 - got rid of Dawes 1997 Act.
WPA. PWA, NYA - NIs recruited.

93
Q

How did culture and the arts benefit from the New Deal?

A

Various WPA programs.
Federal Writer’s project - 6,000 journalists, poets, novelists ect.
$46 million - art.
First 15 months - Federal Music Project - 50 million heard live concerts.
First year of WPA Theatre - 60 million saw performances.
Weekly attendance - 0.5 million.

94
Q

What were the overall positive impacts of the New Deal?

A

Built dams, buildings, highways and bridges.
Dynamic government saving the nation.
Housing.
Extended security for most groups e.g. bankers, trade unionists, prosperous farmers and unemployed blacks.
Saved US democracy.

95
Q

Was the New Deal successful?

A

Didn’t bring about recovery.
Failure to redistribute income.
National wealth shares were basically the same in 1940 as in 1930.
No significant state-owned enterprises had emerged.
Some groups had been neglected e.g. AAs.
USA slowest to recover - even Germany recovered quicker.

96
Q

What were the negative impacts of the ND for women?

A

NRA - unequal pay - not covered by codes.
Social security - domestic servants excluded.
Economies of Government - banned government hiring 1+ member of same family - male breadwinner.
CCC - banned.
13.5% WPA - lowest paid - ‘pin money’.
AFL - refused to let married women work.

97
Q

What were the worker/union advantages of the ND?

A 
WPA - employed 8 million.
TVA - 200% wages - 15,000 employed.
CWO.
9 million - unions.
Wagner Act - collective bargaining - 7a.
98
Q

What was the NYA?

A 
1935 - 1943.
$58 million.
Part of WPA.
Headed Aubrey Willis Williams
Work for ages 16-25.
Included women.
1938 - youths paid $6-$40 for school 'work study' projects.
155,000 - paid $10-25 for part-time work.
99
Q

What was the Public Utility Act?

A

1935.
Facilitated regulation of electric utilities.
Limited them to a single state for state regulation.
OR forcing a single integrated system - limited geographic area.

100
Q

What was the Economy Act 1933?

A

Cut federal workers/veteran payments.
Supposed to cut $500 million - only $243 million.
Written by Lewis Douglas.
Cut veteran payment by 50%,
UNSUCCESSFUL - government purchased fewer goods.
Worsened depression.
Section 213 - only one breadwinner.

The United States 1917-1954: Boom, Bust and Recovery (9 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions