New Deal

Question 1

In the first hundred days, what did Roosevelt do about banks?

Answer 1

• Rooseveldt ordered a four day national bank holiday while the emergency banking act was passed through Congress
• Unsound Banks ( around 5% of the total) were close down while the remainder were helped with government grants and advice.
• Roosevelt explained what he was doing to the American people through a national radio broadcast, the first of his fireside chats. Those with savings were asked to return the money to the bank when they reopened. Public confidence was restored in the banking system survived.

Question 2

In the first hundred days, what did Roosevelt do about unemployment ?

Answer 2

• Unemployment stood at nearly 13,000,000 in 1933, approximately 25% of the workforce.
• THE CIVIL CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC):
  was set up to provide voluntary employment for young men aged 18 to 25. These men lived in government camps and they carried out conservation work, Continue forests, strong finning riverbanks Flood control and clearing scrubland. although the wages were low the scheme provided work for over 2 million men during the nine years of its existence.
• THE PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION (PWA):
  Provided jobs by initiating major construction projects such as dams, bridges, railways, schools, hospitals and houses. It spent $7 billion between 1933 and 1939 creating millions of jobs for skilled workers.
• THE CIVIL WORK ADMINISTRATION (CWA) :
  Aim to provide temporary work over the winter of 1933-4 and 4 million jobs were created before the scheme ended in April 1934

Question 3

In the first hundred days, what did Roosevelt do about agriculture ?

Answer 3

The collapse of food prices in 1929 left the farming industry in a crisis
- THE AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT AGENCY (AAA):
Paid farmers to take part of the land out of cultivation and reduce the livestock. Millions of acres of stone and were ploughed up and 6 million piglets were slaughtered. Prices rose and between 1933 and 1939 farmers’ incomes doubled.
- Farm labourers were not helped by this measure and found themselves unemployed.

Question 4

In the first hundred days, what did Roosevelt do about industry ?

Answer 4

• The national industrial recovery act set up THE NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION (NRA):
  Aiming to stabilise production and prices and improve working conditions and pay. Voluntary codes were drawn up for each industry that enable employees to regulate prices, hours and wages. Businesses who did this were able to display the NRA Badge. The public were encouraged to buy from these companies. This scheme led to improvements but tended to favour The large firms who sometimes force the smaller firms out of business. When the scheme of declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1935 Rooseveldt made no attempt to revive the idea.

Question 5

In the first hundred days, what did Roosevelt do about the poor?

Answer 5

-THE FEDERAL RELIEF ADMINISTRATION (FERA)
Had a budget of $500 million to assist those in desperate need. This money was used to soup kitchens, provide clothing and bedding and set up work scheme to nursery schools.

Question 6

What were Roosevelt’s aims in the hundred days?

Answer 6

• Relief -> help the struggling like the homeless and the unemployed
• Recovery -> Get there gonna be back on its feet and functioning
• Reform-> Change the US economy and society is operated

And initially prevent the US economy collapsing

Question 7

What were the most pressing problems during the 100 days and how successful were they?

Answer 7

• Banks -> situation stabilised by Emergency Banking Act and fireside chat
• Unemployed ->CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) successful but limited
  ->CWA (Civil Works Administration) fulfills it’s aim but only for the winters of ‘33 + ‘34
  ->PWA ( Public Workers Administration) success, creating permanent jobs for many
• Agriculture -> AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Agency) is a success as it brings prices up but it means there are less jobs for farm labourers as the agency is cutting down production.
  -> FCA (Farm Credit Administration) is a success and helps farmers afford to keep their farms

Question 8

What does Roosevelt do in the second new deal? ( no detail)

Answer 8

• The Social Security Act ( 1935)
• The Wagner Act (1935)
• Works Progress Administration ( 1935)
• Resettlement Administration (1935)

Question 9

What was the Social Security Act ?

Answer 9

Offered :
- Old age pensions
- Unemployment benefit
- The insurance scheme was based on workers paying taxes plus companies contributing
- Landmark piece of social legislation as it contradicted the belief among many Americans that individuals should provide for their own welfare.

Question 10

What was the Wagner Act?

Answer 10

• Replaced the National Industrial Recovery Act which had been declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
• Encouraged and supported trade unions for workers
• Prevented workers being sacked for joining a trade Union
• This meant better conditions and terms for workers

Question 11

What was the Works Progress Administration?

Answer 11

• Massive public works to create unemployment and kickstart the economy
• Construction of roads, hospitals, schools …
• Also provided funds for artists, writers, musicians ect.
• The national youth administration provided part-time work and vocational training for young people.

Question 12

What was the Resettlement Administration ?

Answer 12

• Helped farm workers who had suffered due to the actions of the AAA
• Aimed to move 500,000families to areas to better land and resettle them in houses.
• Farm Security Administration (1937) was an extension of this
• It provided loans to farm workers and sharecroppers
• Labour camps were also set up to help migrant workers

Question 13

How was the Second New Deal different from the first New Deal?

Answer 13

• Second was more long-term in its aims while the first focused on preventing the economy collapsing
• Some aspects of the second new deal were to build or deal with issues from the first new deal
• The second New Deal aimed to change the mindset of US society : it focused on state help and intervention rather than self help
• The second new deal provided a safety net for the poorest and most vulnerable in society eg old, unemployed

Question 14

What were the radical oppositions to the New Deal? (No detail)

Answer 14

• The ‘radio priest’ and the National Union for Social Justice
• Townsend Clubs
• Huey Long’s ‘Share our Wealth’ scheme

Question 15

What was the ‘Radio Priest’?

Answer 15

• Father Coughlin from Detroit was originally a supporter of the New Deal but he soon became disillusioned. He felt that Roosevelt was failing to tackle the problems of the poor.
• He broadcasted his ideas every Sunday evening to an audience of 40 million Americans
• He also founded the National Union for Social Justice which, at its best, had a membership of 7 million.

Question 16

What were the Townsend Clubs?

Answer 16

• Dr Francis Townsend from Illinois was the author of the Townsend Plan.
• Everyone over 60 was to receive a pension of $200 a month provided they retired and spent the money within the month . The pension was to be funded by taxation
• The plan was devised to help older people , create jobs for the young and inject money into the economy.
• Millions of old people joined Townsend Clubs which campaigned for the plan.

Question 17

What was Huey Long’s ‘Share our Wealth’ scheme?

Answer 17

• Senator Huey along, a former Governor of Louisiana, planned a major redistribution of wealth to stimulate the economy.
• His ‘Share our Wealth’ scheme included confiscation of large fortunes, lump sums for American families, pensions, minimum wages and free education.
• It was claimed that he had 7.5 million supporters in 1935 and he developed presidential ambitions. In September 1935, however, he was assassinated by the son-in-law of one of his political opponents.

Question 18

What was the conservative opposition to the new deal? ( no detail)

Answer 18

• Republicans
• The Liberty League
• States’ Rights Campaigners
• Supreme Court

Question 19

Why did the Republicans oppose the New Deal?

Answer 19

• Republicans believed in minimal government intervention, low taxation, low government expenditure, self-help, and individual responsibility.
• The New Deal was seen to undermine what were regarded as core American values
• Some of Roosevelt’s initiatives such as the TVA and the NIRA were compared with the Stalinist economic planning of Soviet Russia
• It was also claimed that Roosevelt had become too powerful and was acting like a dictator.

Question 20

What was the Liberty League?

Answer 20

• Business leaders formed the Liberty League in 1934 to unite opposition to the New Deal.
• Roosevelt was accused of moving towards socialism and destroying the free enterprise spirit of America
• In particular, businessmen disliked Roosevelt’s support for the trade unions, having contributed towards the unemployment insurance scheme, and the various codes of the NIRA

Question 21

What were the States’ rights campaigners?

Answer 21

• Some state governors, including Governor Kumamoto of West Virginia, argued that the New Deal laws and regulations conflicted with the rights of state government to manage their own affairs.
• Campaigners for the preservation of states’ rights objected to those schemes, such as the TVA, that compelled state governments to cooperate with the federal government

Question 22

What was the Supreme Court and what did it mean for the New Deal?

Answer 22

• The main task of the Supreme Court was to decide if measures passed by the President and Congress were consistent with the American Constitution.
• During the 1930s most of the nine judges were old, conservative and Republican.
• They had a natural political dislike for the New Deal and declared both the NRA and the AAA unconstitutional.
• After his victory in 1936 presidential election Roosevelt decided to try and sort out the Supreme Court. He wanted to appoint an additional six judges who would agree with his policies.
• This plan misfired and Roosevelt was accused of trying to ‘pack the court’ and overthrow the Constitution.
• Nevertheless, the Supreme Court began to drop its opposition to the New Deal and upheld two key measures in 1937, one of which was the pensions section of the Social Security Act.

Question 23

Why did unemployment persist despite the New Deal?

Answer 23

• The Home Market -> many Americans remained in on low incomes, reducing the amount of money that could be spent on American goods.
• The foreign market -> America’s industries were limited by the fact other countries were also experiencing from depression and were also imposing tariffs.
• improved production methods -> less labour was needed
• the business cycle -> America’s unemployment peak in 1938 reflected all other capitalist economies
• self-inflicted unemployment -> If there was to be less production in agriculture, people would have to be laid off.
• the limitations of the new deal -> Roosevelt could not have taken full control over the economy as Congress would never have let him do it.

Question 24

Why was the New Deal considered a failure?

Answer 24

• Unemployment -> never fell between 14% of the workforce between 1933 and 1939
• Trade Unions -> Business and industrialists strongly disliked the encouragement given to unions by the Wagner Act. Some companies were prepared to use violence to break up strikes and sit-ins. In 1937 10 Chicago steel workers were shot dead by police while taking part in a strike march
• Small farmers -> tenant farmers, labourers and sharecroppers were forced off the land by government plans to reduce agricultural production
• Black Americans -> Did not end racial discrimination. Roosevelt needed support from the south and so didn’t introduce any civil rights laws.
• Industry -> Industry was held back by increased rules and regulations, the increase in taxation and the encouragement given to trade unions.
• WWII -> America started supporting the war economically early on. Recovery was arguably due to the war and not the New Deal.

Question 25

What did unemployment look like while Roosevelt was in power?

Answer 25

• When he became president unemployment stood at 12.8 million which was nearly 25% of the workforce.
• By 1941, when America joined WWII, it had fallen to 5.6 million
• Unemployment rose sharply in 1938 to 10.4 million before continuing in its downward trend
• Unemployment never fell below 5 million

Question 26

Why is the New Deal considered to be a success?

Answer 26

• Unemployment fell by over 30% between 1933 and 1939
• Trade Union membership increased by over 7 million and many strikes were settled in workers’ favour. Working conditions and workers pay generally improved
• Large Scale Farmers benefited from the reductions in acreage and livestock and the increase in prices
• The poor we’re protected by the introduction of welfare payments and other emergency benefits such as food, clothing and shelter.
• A lot of business was saved when Roosevelt saved the banking system and future industrial development was stimulated by the construction of schools, roads, railways, bridges and hydroelectric dams.
• Roosevelt’s policies gave many Americans new hope, new confidence and a sense of purpose. The New Deal ensured that America survived the Great Depression without resorting to extreme governments.
• 93% of the primary vote