Peacetime FDR 1933 - 1941 Flashcards
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression provided the impetus for Franklin Roosevelt’s unprecedented expansion of the federal government. This deck describes domestic affairs and foreign policy during Roosevelt’s first two terms in office.
Explain what happened to Mexican Americans across the Southwest in states like California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
Starting in 1929, and throughout the entire Great Depression, Hoover and Roosevelt had allowed local governments and private businesses to deport 2 million Mexican-Americans, 1.2 million of which had been born in the United States. Some of the people who were being forced out of the United States had never been to Mexico and didn’t know any Spanish.
The State of California, the only such state to do so, formally apologized to the Mexican-American people in 2006 and requires that this content be taught in their public schools today.
Explain the issue with land seizures.
When Mexican-Americans were deported to Mexico, their land was taken by the government, and often sold to prospective White buyers. If Mexican-Americans had possession of valuable land, oftentimes their race was used as an excuse to deport them and take away their land.
Black Americans also faced similar issues from White people, especially after the end of Reconstruction. Groups like the KKK, who re-emerged in the 1920s, terrorized Black people, threatening some with death if they did not leave their land. Oftentimes, the KKK would work with local city governments, to ensure that Black people’s land could be taken away, using the power of “eminent domain”. One such famous case is Bruce’s Beach in California.
What were the results of the 1932 election?
Running for re-election in the midst of a Depression, Hoover was resoundingly defeated by Roosevelt. In addition, Democrats swept both houses of Congress.
During his first inaugural address, President Franklin Roosevelt announced the “Good Neighbor Policy” in his relations with Latin America. What did Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy entail?
Under the Good Neighbor Policy, the United States would no longer intervene in the internal affairs of Latin American countries.
How did the Nye Committee influence foreign policy in the 1930s?
The Nye Committee, led by Senator Gerald Nye of North Dakota, held the strict belief that American entrance into World War I was fueled by the greed of bankers and arms manufacturers. As isolationists, the Committee had a vital influence on the passing of the Neutrality Acts of the mid-1930s.
Define:
Isolationism
Isolationism is a foreign policy under which one isolates their country from economic and diplomatic relations with other countries. Isolationists typically devote their entire efforts to their own internal advancement.
During the 1930s, American foreign policy was profoundly isolationist.
Define:
Fascism
Although Fascism escapes an easy definition, it can generally be described as a system of government that is ruled by a dictator, usually has a heavy emphasis on strong military, is strongly nationalistic, and promotes hatred of those who are considered “impure.”
In 1933, Adolf Hitler seized control of Germany, although his Nazi Party never received more than 40% of the popular vote. What tools did Hitler use to increase his popularity in Germany?
Hitler appealed to the German people by promising a return to economic prosperity, and by holding the Jews responsible for Germany’s loss in World War I.
Explain the significance of the impact of the New Deal on the Great Depression.
This New Deal would end up being a massive expansion of the Federal Government’s power into the economy. To achieve this, FDR engaged in what is called deficit spending to help stimulate economic growth.
Most historians and economists have concluded that FDR’s New Deal could not lift the US out of the Great Depression since there was not enough government spending. Instead, it would be the US entry into World War II, which forced the government to spend so much money on building weapons of war that it lifted the US out of the Great Depression since almost anyone who wanted a job could find one.
Immediately after his inauguration, President Roosevelt called Congress into a one hundred-day session to consider legislation to address the economy. What agencies resulted from the “Hundred Days”?
At Roosevelt’s direction, Congress passed legislation which established several agencies directed at stimulating the economy, including the:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
- National Recovery Association (NRA)
On his first full day in office, President Franklin Roosevelt announced the closure of what type of businesses?
On March 5, 1933, President Roosevelt announced a “bank holiday” and ordered all banks closed. The measure was necessary, he contended, to prevent further bank runs, and to allow the government and the banks themselves to assess their solvency.
Although many banks would never reopen, on March 9, 1933, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, which allowed banks to reopen on March 13, provided they were solvent. The Emergency Banking Act provided an explicit federal guarantee of all bank-held funds, and stopped further runs.
Passed as part of Franklin Roosevelt’s “Hundred Days” legislation, what was the purpose of the Public Works Administration (PWA)?
The PWA employed millions of unskilled workers on public works projects, such as building parks, post offices, and bridges.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established in 1933 as part of the “Hundred Days” legislation. What was this agency’s purpose?
The CCC focused on forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control, and similar projects. Aimed primarily at young men whose families received $25 (the men only received $5), many of the CCC’s camps were set up in National Forests and under the control of the Army.
How did the Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933) seek to remedy the low crop prices that plagued farmers in the early years of the Depression?
The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), passed during the “Hundred Days,” paid farmers to let a portion of their land lie unplanted, in the hopes that the crop supply would be reduced and the price of those crops would increase.
Although the AAA did stabilize prices, it had a disastrous effect on sharecroppers in the South, where landowners merely removed the sharecroppers from their land, or failed to pay AAA money forward. Sharecropping became exceedingly rare. In 1935, the Supreme Court ruled the AAA unconstitutional.
What was the National Recovery Act (1933)?
The National Recovery Act (NRA) was one of the first New Deal programs, passed as part of Roosevelt’s “Hundred Days” program. The NRA suspended antitrust laws and required each industry to set amounts for finished products, wages, hours of work, and maximum goods produced.
The NRA, modeled on a similar program established by Benito Mussolini, had only a negligible effect on the economy, and the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1935.
Define:
Hooverville
A “Hooverville” was a nickname for the shantytowns built by homeless people during the Great Depression, and named after President Hoover, whom they blamed for the Depression.
The term “Hooverville” was coined by the publicity chief of the Democratic National Committee, Charles Michelson.
Define:
Fireside chat
On occasion during his four terms in office, President Franklin Roosevelt conducted radio broadcasts, during which he explained his perceptions of the problems facing the country and his proposed solutions. These talks with the American people were known as fireside chats.
During his presidency Roosevelt held 30 of these conferences, which typically began, “My friends, I want to talk…”
Complete the sentence:
In an effort to halt falling prices (deflation), Congress ended the convertibility of paper dollars into _____ in 1933.
gold
The United States was still ostensibly on the gold standard because the amount of paper currency was still limited by the amount of gold held by the Treasury. Congress also made it illegal for American citizens to hold onto American gold dollars and other gold currency.
What federal agency was created by Congressional legislation in 1933 and 1934 to oversee the operations of the country’s stock exchanges?
The Securities and Exchange Commission
The SEC monitors stock issuance, regulates companies’ disclosure of material information, and oversees stock trades to ensure fairness for all investors.
Complete the sentence:
Receiving a federal charter in May of 1933, the _____ _____ _____ provided rural electrification in six Southern states.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
In addition to building power plants and running electrical lines, the TVA provided construction jobs and advised farmers on planting techniques, such as the use of fertilizer and crop rotation.
In late 1933, two thirds of states approved the Twenty-First Amendment. What did this amendment provide?
The Twenty-First Amendment ended Prohibition by repealing the Eighteenth Amendment. To date, the Eighteenth Amendment is the only repealed Amendment of the Constitution.
Although not supported by President Roosevelt, Congress passed legislation to establish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in June of 1933. What is the FDIC’s primary role?
The FDIC guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, by ensuring that deposits in an amount up to $250,000 will be repaid by the U.S. government to the depositor in the event the member bank fails.
By backing banks with the full faith and credit of the U.S government, the FDIC reassured bank customers during the Great Depression and helped prevent bank runs.
Historians typically divide Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs into two periods; the First New Deal and the Second New Deal. What are the differences between the two?
The First New Deal focused primarily on Recovery and the programs were mostly enacted in 1933. Many of these programs failed to boost the economy.
The Second New Deal focused on the second two “Rs,” relief and reform. Enacted after the Democratic victory in the Congressional election of 1934, the Second New Deal included programs like the Works Progress Administration and the Social Security Administration.
After seeing two elderly women dig through the trash outside his home in Long Beach, California, Dr. Francis Townsend came up with a controversial plan to rejuvenate the economy. What did Townsend propose?
Townsend proposed establishing a 2% national sales tax and using the proceeds to provide $200 to each U.S. citizen over age 65. Townsend believed that the prompt spending of the $200 would stimulate the economy.
Although unfeasible, the plan’s nationwide popularity prompted Roosevelt to suggest the Social Security Administration.
During the New Deal, Congress passed the first substantive legislation related to Indians, the Indian Reorganization (Wheeler-Howard) Act of 1934. What did the Act establish?
The Indian Reorganization Act overturned the Dawes Act (1887), which had attempted to establish independent Indian farmers. Under the Indian Reorganization Act, reservation lands were returned to the control of the Indian tribes.
Define:
Dust Bowl
After years of poor farming techniques, a drought and high winds coupled to blow away the topsoil and create massive dust clouds in the Great Plains states, which were termed the “Dust Bowl.”
As their farms turned to dust around them, thousands of farmers migrated west to California, where they were known as “Okies,” regardless of their state of origin.
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, is a fictional account of the Joad family’s journey from the Dust Bowl to California.
What did the various Neutrality Acts, passed in the mid-1930s, state?
Each Neutrality Act limited the United States’ aid to any countries engaged in war.
- Neutrality Act of 1935: prohibited arms distribution and American travel on belligerent ships
- Neutrality Act of 1936: prohibited loans to belligerent nations
- Neutrality Act of 1937: prohibited arms distribution to either side of the participants of the Spanish Civil War
In 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act as part of the Second New Deal. How did Social Security work?
Employers and employees contribute to a trust fund, administered by the Social Security Administration. When employees retire, they receive payments. Payments are also made to those who are or become disabled, and to their dependents.
Complete the sentence:
The _____ _____ _____ _____ guaranteed workers’ rights to join unions, and established the right of employers to negotiate collectively.
National Labor Relations Act (1935)
The Act also established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB is responsible for protecting workers’ rights to engage in union activity.
What was the American Liberty League?
The American Liberty League was a coalition of anti-Franklin Roosevelt Democrats and Republicans. They opposed the pro-Union orientation of New Deal legislation and were sharply critical of the deficit-spending Roosevelt used to fund his program.
People who were part of the American Liberty League, mainly people who identified as Conservative, did not think it was the government’s job to help people during the Great Depression. Instead, they believed in a very strict role for the government, to protect life, liberty, and property.
Who founded the National Union for Social Justice?
Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest whose radio show attracted a nationwide audience, established the National Union for Social Justice. The Union proposed a nationalization of all banks and currency inflation.
Strongly against the New Deal, Coughlin’s radio talks became anti-Semitic and pro-Fascist, and the Church barred Coughlin from further radio shows.
Huey Long, the former Governor of Louisiana and that state’s Senator from 1932 until he was killed in 1935, opposed Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation by proposing his “Share the Wealth” program. What were the key provisions of Long’s program?
Long proposed a national minimum income of $2,500, a maximum income of $1 million, old age pensions, and free college education. There was a significant threat that Long would form a third party to oppose Roosevelt.
Long was killed by the son-in-law of a political opponent in 1935.
In 1937, Roosevelt requested that Congress give him the power to name an additional Justice for each current Supreme Court Justice who was older than 70.5 years, a move the critics called the “Court-Packing Plan.” Why did Roosevelt take such a step?
Angered that the Supreme Court had struck down much of his legislation as unconstitutional, including the National Recovery Act and the Agricultural Administration Act, Roosevelt accused the Court as “being unwilling to cooperate” and sought to curtail the Court’s power.
How did Congress and the Supreme Court react to President Roosevelt’s Court-Packing Plan in 1937?
Both Republicans and Democrats reacted with shock and horror that the President would tamper with the checks and balances contained in the Constitution. The Court-Packing Bill was defeated in Congress.
Union membership skyrocketed during the Great Depression, prompted in part by the National Recovery Act and the National Labor Relations Act.
Q: How did the increased membership affect the American Federation of Labor?
Skilled white workers dominated the AFL and they reacted with displeasure to the efforts of John L. Lewis, who called for union membership to be extended to all workers, regardless of sex, race, and whether or not they were skilled or unskilled.
John L. Lewis, the head of the United Mine Workers, led a revolt and formed the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which concentrated on textile, automobile, and steel workers. The breach between the AFL and CIO became so virulent that John L. Lewis socked an AFL leader on the jaw at a labor convention.
Define:
Sit-down strike
During a sit-down strike, workers sit down on the job, and refuse to work until their demands are granted.
Sit-down strikes were used during a 1936-37 strike at the General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan. After Franklin Roosevelt and Michigan’s governor refused to intervene, General Motors recognized CIO affiliated United Auto Workers Union.
The Memorial Day Massacre took place in Chicago, 1937, where police killed 10 people and injured 30. What led to the Massacre?
In 1937, John Lewis’s CIO announced a strike at the Republic Steel plant in Chicago, and attempted to march on it. Police blocked the way, and when the crowd refused to disperse, opened fire.
One of the last pieces of New Deal legislation was the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938). What did the Fair Labor Standards Act establish?
The Fair Labor Standards Act limited child labor for those under the age of 16. In addition, it established a minimum wage and the 40-hour work week.
Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt’s wife, proved to be different from previous First Ladies. How so?
In an era where few women had careers, and previous First Ladies had restricted their role to White House hostess, Eleanor Roosevelt continued her active life during her husband’s Presidency.
Eleanor Roosevelt:
- Accepted money for public speaking
- Hosted a radio program selling Sweetheart Soap
- Published an autobiography
- Wrote a weekly newspaper column.
- Was an outspoken advocate of workers’ rights, racial and sexual equality, and the Red Cross.
Which three countries composed the Axis Powers?
The three Axis Powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan, who signed a mutual defense pact in 1940.
On September 1, 1939, the German army launched an attack against Poland, formally beginning World War II. How did Britain, France, and the Soviet Union respond?
Britain and France promptly declared war on Germany. Two weeks after the German invasion began, the Soviet Union invaded western Poland, completing Poland’s dismemberment.
Define:
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a German word meaning “lightning war” and referred to the strategy employed by the Germans in their attacks against Poland and France in WWII.
Developed by Heinz Guderian, blitzkrieg called for using mechanized force to break through an opponent’s line to ensure a quick defeat.
In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt persuaded Congress to adopt “Cash and Carry.” What did this policy allow?
Cash and Carry allowed countries engaged in war to purchase arms and ammunition in the United States, provided they carried it back to their country aboard their own ships.
While the Cash and Carry system was ostensibly neutral, it favored Great Britain, who retained control of the seas.
How did the U.S. government use the Smith Act (1940) to target Communism?
The Smith Act made it illegal to advocate overthrowing the government by force, or to join an organization doing so. During the Red Scare, 98 Communist leaders were convicted and jailed; the Supreme Court upheld their convictions in 1951.
A Supreme Court case in 1957 weakened the Act’s purview, but it is still in effect.
In 1940, the Selective Service Act established the third draft in U.S. history. Why was this draft different than the drafts which took place during the Civil War and World War I?
Unlike previous drafts, the Selective Service Act was passed during peacetime. Although the Act alarmed isolationists, they were convinced by the Roosevelt Administration’s contention that the Army’s growth was necessary to protect the Western Hemisphere.
In September 1940, President Roosevelt traded 50 obsolete destroyers to Great Britain in exchange for access to British Naval bases in the Caribbean. Why didn’t Roosevelt simply sell the destroyers to the British?
Selling the destroyers to the British would have been a violation of the Neutrality Acts. Instead, Roosevelt circumvented Congressional approval and provided the destroyers to Great Britain as part of a deal with Winston Churchill.
What group was formed in 1940 to support isolation and mobilize American public opinion against involvement in WWII?
The America First Committee
The America First Committee had some 880,000 members at its peak but shut down after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
President Franklin Roosevelt declared that it was the responsibility of the United States to support those nations that were committed to “Four Freedoms.” What were those freedoms?
In a speech before Congress in January, 1941, Roosevelt announced his Four Freedoms:
- Freedom of the press
- Freedom of worship
- Freedom from want
- Freedom from fear
What was the Lend-Lease Act?
The Lend-Lease Act, signed in 1941, was a policy that allowed Great Britain to purchase arms on credit. Lend-Lease ended the Neutrality Act’s requirement of “Cash and Carry.” The United States would serve as “the arsenal of democracy.”
By July, 1941, United States naval vessels were escorting British ships as far as Iceland with orders to shoot German ships on sight.
In 1941, at a secret meeting off the coast of Newfoundland, President Roosevelt reached a secret agreement with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the Atlantic Charter. What were the Charter’s terms?
Although the United States was not at war, the Charter described the Allies’ war objectives, which included free trade, no territory acquired by conquest, and self-determination of subject peoples.
Given that Germany was still on the offensive, and that Britain had little hope of imposing peace without American involvement, the Atlantic Charter virtually committed the United States into entry into the World War II.
Complete the sentence:
In 1941, President Roosevelt announced an embargo on the shipment of any war material to Japan, but promised to lift the embargo if Japan agreed to withdraw from _____.
China
Japan refused to abandon its war in China. Oil, rubber, and other war materials were essential to Japan’s continued conquest, and a Japanese strike at the Dutch East Indies (where such materials were in abundance) became a certainty.
To destroy U.S. forces, who would come into the War in the event of an attack on Dutch territory, Japan resolved upon a quick strike in an effort to defeat U.S. forces quickly.
