Introduction

Question 1

Give context to the events leading up to 1933.

Answer 1

From 1880-1933 - little sympathy from federal govt towards black Americans

• Influence of white supremacist Southerners in the Democratic Party and in Congress - made black progress unlikely
• During 1930s - Great Depression - prompted unprecedented federal govt assistance to poor
• Many black Americans poor - benefitted from assistance - despite discrimination in New Deal agencies established by FDR and Congress
• ‘New Deal’ convinced black Americans that federal govt was key to progress and that Roosevelt’s Democrats were the party most likely to help them

Question 2

Outline the key dates in the New Deal period.

Answer 2

1) 1929 - Wall Street crash - Great Depression
2) 1933 - March - FDR = president - programmes initiated - CCC established
3) 1933 - May - AAA, FERA, TVA established
4) 1933 - June - NRA and PWA established
5) 1934 - June - FHA established
6) 1935 - April - WPA established
7) 1935 - July - Wagner Act
8) 1935 - August - Social Security Act
9) 1937 - September - Wagner-Steagall National Housing Act
10) 1938 - June - Fair Labour Standards Act
11) 1941 - Fair Employment Practices Commission established