FDR-New Deal

Question 1

EBA

Answer 1

1933 emergency banking act
Authorised the RFC to buy stock and if necessary buy up bank debt in order to make the institutions in ancillary sound when they reopened

Question 2

EBA

After the 4 days

Answer 2

Between 11-15 March nearly 70% of banks that had functioned before the Bank holiday had reopened for business. The RFC went across the nation and separated the solvent banks from insolvent ones. Those with unimpaired Capitol were given licence to reopen. The rest were refinanced by the RFC and reorganised prior to being opened again.

Question 3

AAA

Answer 3

1934 Agricultural Adjustment Act 
Caused rural
Depopulation 
AAA gave 4.5m to farmers between 1934-1940. Farm production cut by 6%. Brought and slaughtered 6m pigs and paid farmers to destroy their crops 
Called unconstitutional in 1936

Question 4

The glass Steagall Act

Answer 4

1933
Commercial banks that had relied on small scale depositors were banned from banking. They were forbidden from using depositors’ money

Question 5

FDIC

Answer 5

1933 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Established to provide a system of Federal guarantees for bank deposits (up to $2,500) on the margin bills/loans were banned

Question 6

Fireside chats

Answer 6

The day before the first banks reopened FDR gave his first fireside chat. Stressed the need for national partnership based on trust. Restored confidence as told them banks would be approved by the govt. by March 15th deposits exceeded withdrawals. By April nearly $1b had flowed back into the system

Question 7

EBRA

Answer 7

1933 emergency banking relief act
US taken off of gold standard by forbidding the export of the metal except under license from the treasury. Those who had gold had to turn it in at the Fed Reserve Banks for $20.60. Took congress 40 minutes to debate this

Question 8

Truth in Securities Act

Answer 8

1933
Required banks to offer clients realistic information about the securities they were selling
False statements about the sales of securities were outlawed

Question 9

The Securities Act (SEC)

Answer 9

1934 set up the Securities Exchange Commission
Regulated the stock market and tired to prevent fraudulent activity
Prospective issuers of securities had to file detailed financial statements with the FTC and wait for 20 days b4 the securities could be issued. Anyone who dealt with these were legally liable for the accuracy
Joseph Kennedy put in charge
1934-1941 SEC increased from 698 people to 1678 and had a budget of $5.3 m
SEC halted issue of $155m of fraudulent services

Question 10

Economy Act

Answer 10

1933 slashed numbers of salaries of his govt. employees (he led by example)
Cut ex-soldier pensions but treated the “bonus army” better than Hoover; greeting them personally with refreshments and entertainment
They left peacefully

Question 11

NIRA

Answer 11

National Industrial Recovery Act. Established 2 orgs-NRA and PWA
As these two were had different ideals suggests bad organisation. Aims:voluntary,raising profits, minimum wages.
NIRA heralded as business, govt and people working together but led to dissolution.

Question 12

NRA

Answer 12

National Recovery Act
Hugh Johnson. Covered over 90% of the nations industrial capacity. A total of 541 codes were established. Created legally binding codes for regulating wages, prices and competition. Larger businesses benefitted as anti-trust measures were suspended for 2 years.
Workers benefitted from section 7a
Long standing goals-child labour ended in Southern cotton mills

Question 13

Section 7a

Answer 13

In a month, John Lewis’ Mine Workers union had shot up by 100,000 members. Another 50,000 workers joined the newly created Union for rubber tyres.
Some companies responded with violence to strikers and by firing employees.
Violence erupted in 1934 as over 1 m workers walked off their jobs in 1,856 separate strikes.

Question 14

HORC

Answer 14

Home owners refinancing corporation-1933
Offered lower rates of interest over an extended borrowing period.
Established HOLC

Question 15

HOLC

Answer 15

Home Owners Loan Corporation-1933
Aimed to help families avoid foreclosure on their homes by offering refinancing on better terms.
By 1951 it had assisted 1 million families in keeping their homes.

Question 16

Wagner-Steagall National Housing Act

Answer 16

1937

A public housing programme

Question 17

Federal Housing Administration

Answer 17

1934

Offered government backed insurance on long term mortgages

Question 18

Did the housing legislation work?

Answer 18

White middle class suburban families mainly benefitted
Low income, unemployed or those living in the inner cities did not benefit (usually minority families)
BUT massively boosted home ownership over the next 30 years

Question 19

John Collier

Answer 19

Appointed Commissioner for Indian affairs in 1933.
Wanted to restore tribal life and revive values (he had lived with the Pueblo Indians for years).
Managed to get 12,000 NA’s recruited to the CCC.
Criticised by some NA accusing him of wanting to transform reservations into living museums but mostly people liked him.

Question 20

IRA

Answer 20

Indian Reorganisation Act:1934
Two policies:
Assimilation
Allotment-their territory in reservations being divided+distributed to individual Indians to own
Tribes reorganised and allowed to vote as well as govern themselves
Nothing to relieve poverty and discrimination
75 of 245 tribes voted against this

Question 21

TVA

Answer 21

Tennessee Valley Authority 1933
Generates electricity outside of independent companies
Electricity drew industries into the region
Provided cheaper electricity many felt federal government had no right to interfere in state business
By 1945 75% of all properties had electricity (only 2% in 1932)
Average incomes went up by 200% between 1929-1945

Question 22

PWA

Answer 22

Public Works Administration
Part of NIRA
Built large scale public works eg dams, bridges+schools
Aimed to spend $3.3b in first year and $6b in all
Only spent $110m in first 6 months
Between July 1933+March 1939 it funded 34,000 projects as well as 79% of new schools and 1/3 of hospitals
By June it had spent entire find on 13,266 federal projects and 2,407 non federal projects
For every PWA worker 2 additional workers were employed indirectly

Question 23

FERA

Answer 23

Federal Emergency Relief Act 1933 
Was originally ERA created by Hoover 
Led by Harry Hopkins 
Allocated budget of $500 million 
Half of budget spent directly (the dole) 
Other half spend with a ratio of 1:3 (one federal dollar for 3 state ones) 
Ran from May 1933 to Dec 1935 
Gave states 3.1b 
1935 FERA replaced by WPA

Question 24

CCC

Answer 24

Civilian Conservation Corporation
Part of FERA
Robert Fechner in charge
Operated from 1933-1942
Young men ages 17-28 recruited to work in national forests in every state
Paid $30 sent $25 home
Maximum enrolment at any one time was 300,000 in 9 years
By 1933 there were 1,463 working camps
200,000 AAs enrolled and were segregated but given equal pay and housing
Separate Indian division
No women enrolled

Question 25

CWA

Answer 25

Civil Works Administration 1933 
Set up to create jobs for winter as they were worried about the death toll 
Set up 1933 with Hopkins in charge 
Budget of $400m (short term) 
Within 6 weeks they were spending $200m in a month 
Ended March 1934 but have jobs to 4m 
Work with no purpose-boom doggles 
Have jobs to women 
Built 12m feet of sewers

Question 26

Rural Electrification Act

Answer 26

1935
Created Rural Electrification Administration (REA)
Aimed to provide electric power throughout country
Provided low interest loans in rural co-operatives
By 1939 25% of farming families had electrical power by 1949 it was over 90%

Question 27

Farm Credit Act

Answer 27

1933
Arranged for $100m to be available to refinance mortgages established Farm Credit System (FCS)
Authorised Farm Credit Administration (FCA) to create 12 production credit associations

Question 28

National Labour Act

Wagner Act

Answer 28

1935
Established to force employers to recognise trade unions
Closed-shop unions would be recognised (this was the idea that the workers would ballot for one union+they would all belong to the one that won)
In 1933 there were 2m members but by 1938 there were 9m
Made in response to NRA being struck down

Question 29

What did the Wagner Act do?

Answer 29

Prohibited companies from firing union members
Created Labour Relation Board which had a reputation at being fair minded
Conducted a secret ballots to determine if workers wanted to join a union
Guaranteed right to collective bargaining
Led to Guffey Snyder Act 1937

Question 30

Guffey Snyder Act

Answer 30

1937
Fairer labour standards to the coal industry
Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938 which prohibited child labour, established the 40 hour week and the minimum wage

Question 31

WPA

Answer 31

Works progress Administration 1935
Led by Hopkins
Engaged in small projects in close cooperation with states
Only hired people on relief (8.5m) and were paid directly by the government
Included National Youth Administration
Cost $11b
Included controversial projects such as the Federal Arts Projects

Question 32

Wealth tax

Answer 32

Introduced an increase in the corporate tax rate for top earners (75%)
Introduced an inheritance tax
Introduced an excess profit tax
Was crates to reduce the need for government deficit spending
Only raised $250m in extra revenue-not enough

Question 33

Social security act

Answer 33

Provides small payments to the aged, unemployed and dependents of deceased
Funded by contributions from employers and employees
No health insurance
Delegated to the state to arrange payments therefore they were varied
E.g. Massachusetts paid a child $61 a month but Mississippi paid $8 a month (states were given the same amount of money)

Question 34

Federal Surplus Relief Corporation

Answer 34

Created within WPA 
Aimed to reduce agricultural surpluses by government purchase and redistribution of food to the needy 
3 methods of redistribution:
Direct
Food stamps 
School lunches