the 1930s: depression and the new deal

Question 1

when was the Wall Street crash?

Answer 1

October 1929

Question 2

when was Roosevelt elected president?

Answer 2

1933

Question 3

when was the first new deal?

Answer 3

1933-34

Question 4

what did the FERA do?

Answer 4

• the federal emergency relief administration tackled the urgent needs of the poor
• $500 million was spent on soup kitchens, blankets, employment schemes and nursery schools

Question 5

what did the CCC do?

Answer 5

• the civilian conservation corps was aimed at unemployed young men
• they could sign on for a period of six months, which could be renewed if they could still not find work
• around 2.5 million people were helped by this scheme

Question 6

what did the AAA do?

Answer 6

• the agricultural adjustment administration tried to tackle the long-term problems facing farmers
• it set quotas to reduce farm production to force prices gradually upwards
• helped farmers modernise and use farming methods that would conserve the soil
• farmers were also given help with their mortgages

Question 7

what did the PWA do?

Answer 7

• the public works administration used government money to build schools, roads, bridges and airports
• these would be vital once the USA had recovered, and in the short-term they created millions of jobs

Question 8

what did the NRA do?

Answer 8

• the national recovery administration improved conditions in industry and outlawed child labour
• it also set out fair wages and sensible levels of production to stimulate the economy by giving workers money to spend, without overproducing and causing a slump
• over 2 million employers joined the scheme

Question 9

what did the TVA do?

Answer 9

• the Tennessee valley authority built a series of dams on the Tennessee river
• these transformed the region, bringing water to the dried-out land
• they also provided electricity for this underdeveloped area
• building the dams also created thousands of jobs in an area badly hit by the depression

Question 10

when was the second new deal introduced?

Answer 10

1935

Question 11

when was the revenue act?

Answer 11

1935

Question 12

what did the revenue act do?

Answer 12

introduced a 79 per cent tax on incomes over $5 million

Question 13

when was the undistributed profits act?

Answer 13

1936

Question 14

what did the undistributed profits act do?

Answer 14

brought in taxes on business

Question 15

what did the Wagner act do?

Answer 15

• forced employers to allow trade unions in their companies and to let them negotiate pay and conditions
• it made it illegal to sack workers for being in a union

Question 16

what did the social security act do?

Answer 16

• provided state pensions for the elderly and for widows
• allowed state governments to work with the federal government to provide help for the sick and the disabled
• set up a scheme for unemployment insurance

Question 17

what did the WPA do?

Answer 17

• the works progress administration brought together all the organisations whose aim was to create jobs
• also extended this work beyond building projects to create jobs for office workers and even unemployed actors, artists and photographers

Question 18

what did the RA do?

Answer 18

• the resettlement administration helped smallholders and tenant farmers who had not been helped by the AAA
• this organisation moved over 500,000 families to better-quality and housing

Question 19

what did the FSA do?

Answer 19

• the farm security administration replaced the RA in 1937
• gave special loans to small farmers to help them buy their land
• it also built camps to provide decent living conditions and jobs for migrant workers

Question 20

who were some of the key critics who argued that the new deal was not doing enough?

Answer 20

Huey Long, Dr Francis Townsend and Father Coughlin

Question 21

who were some of the key critics who argued that the new deal was doing too much?

Answer 21

republicans and sections of the business community

Question 22

state some of the arguments for the new deal doing too much

Answer 22

• the new deal was complicated and there were too many regulations that hampered businesses
• Roosevelt was behaving like a dictator and the new deal schemes were too like the economic plans being carried out in the communist USSR and were unsuitable for the democratic, free-market USA
• schemes such as the TVA created unfair competition for private companies
• high taxes discouraged people from working hard and gave money to people for doing nothing or doing unnecessary jobs

Question 23

state some of the arguments for the new deal not doing enough

Question 24

describe the new deal’s impact on unemployment and the economy

Answer 24

• the new deal created millions of jobs and stabilised the US banking system; it cut the number of business failures
• however, the new deal never solved the underlying economic problems
• confidence remained low throughout the 1930s and there were still 6 million unemployed in 1941

Question 25

describe the new deal’s impact for African Americans

Answer 25

• around 200,000 African Americans gained benefits from the CCC, other new deal agencies and relief programmes
• many African Americans benefitted from new deal slum clearance and housing projects
• however, there was still racial segregation in the CCC, mortgages were not given to black families in white neighbourhoods
• more black workers were unemployed, 35 per cent living on relief in 1935, but they were much less likely to be given jobs

Question 26

how did the government/Hoover respond to the Great Depression?

Answer 26

• Hoover tried to restart the economy in 1930 and 1931 by implementing tax cuts
• He tried to persuade business leaders not to cut wages because that would lead to lower spending and reduce demand
• He set up the Reconstruction Finance Company, which propped up banks to stop them going bankrupt
• He put money into public works programs such as the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River
• Hoover raised taxes, the revenue act of 1932 doubled the rate of tax paid by the richest one percent of the population