The Wall St. Crash, The Depression, The New Deal and WW2 Flashcards
Main acts by Roosevelt/ his attitude
1933-1945 AAA - agricultural adjustement act 1933 CCC - civilian conservation corps 1933 PWA - public works administration 1933 WPA - works progress administration 1935 NLRA/Wagner act 1935
wanted to focus on more federal control and social/economic security
interacted more with the public - fireside chats
new deal
was given 100 day by congress with unprecedented power eg. prepared for radical change
reelected for 4 terms
unemployment went down (roosevelt recession of 1937-8)
didn’t do much about civil rights and anti-lynching laws failed to pass many times in congress
social security / welfare state
social security act 1935 (did not commence until 1942 therefore wasn’t much help to the economy)
provided benefits for the first time, however women were not allowed to work in the relief sector therefore it could often be humiliating for women to ask for aid
there was an unfair system of distribution which discriminated against blacks, workers and farmers
also little focus on pensioners
1943 support for childcare started which allowed more women to contribute towards the war effort
only one member of the family could work for the civil services, however there was much encouragement for citizens to take up government funded jobs as they would directly help the economy (FERA Federal emergency relief act) $500 given to states and local governments for this distribution (therefore relied on southern democrats who would often discriminate against blacks or just not employ them)
farming -the facts
1/4 of farmers had lost all their land by 1932
price of grain had dropped to just 38 cents per bushel
mass over production and glut of cotton led to a high supply but low demand
construction also had little development
farming acts
AAA
could be seen as trying to save an already failing industry
- farmers given mortgages for their land
- given subsidies to burn their food, decrease crops and land, and slaughter animals
- many sharecroppers were laid off (mostly African Americans)
- given loans by the government to invest in new machinery
- between ‘32 - 35 it was successful
unemployment schemes
federal powers directly controlling the money and where it went to ensure that it was useful investments and families directly benefited
both acts aimed at men (in construction and development) which would boost the economy as more money would go back in through spending and it also decreased unemployment)
CCC - civilian corps construction, providing work in national parks/regional environment projects, only for 18-25 y.o’s - useful in the fact that men had to give back $25 of their $30 wages to their family (focused on the younger generation)
TVA - Tennessee valley authority which helped reconstruct areas/states such as tennessee which were suffering from extreme poverty. Funding for dams, electricity, roads and railways. Modernisation
WAGNER ACT 1935 - unions legalised which ensured wages were fair
construction and development
d
opposition to the new deal
american liberty league - welfare payments were too generous
northern democrats
Huey Long - governer of louisiana who wanted to share wealth directly
supreme court - had rejected 7/9 of Roosevelt’s act by 1939
over extended the power of the executive (had always held an unprecedented power over courts and restrictions on racial rights, too radical and could lead to a loss of their power due to the allowing of growth of organisations such as the NAACP)
Dr Francis Townsend
- pensioners were being ignored
- suggested monthly payments of $200 to everyone over 60 as long as they spent it in that month
centralised communication / planning
greater emphasis on federal control to ensure the economy recovered and something like the crash couldn’t happen again
eg. surveillance of communication such as radio/television
Securities and Exchange Commission 1934
regulated stocks and shares and investigated fraudulent behaviour on the stock market (invading peoples privacy? but direct action in response to wsc)
housing
Federal Housing Administration 1934
helped people take out mortgages eg. farmers and families didnt lose their land or houses, more leniancy with payments (could be seen as taking away the rights of local landlords and land owners)
National Housing Act 1938 (after small economic downturn)
housing projects for low income families, which also promoted home building in the suburbs
Roosevelt being a nicer president and encouraging growth of housing
Hoover’s reaction to the wall st. crash
criticised for not dealing with the wall st. crash well and adopting ‘laissez-faire economics,’ Andrew Mellon his adviser told him to do nothing
‘Hooverville Shanty Towns’
small attempts were made to help business and the economy to recover, but not individuals lives or the quality of living.
for example the reconstruction finance corporation of 1932 which loaned money to private corporations. This all kept in line with typical american capitalistic values and was not radical enough for the hardships of the depression. eg.
- glass seagull act
- federal home loan act
- emergency relief and construction act
RAISED INTEREST RATES (difficult for normal citizens to take out loans and then pay them back)
separatist policies, america couldn’t trade with any European countries as its consumer goods were priced to highly
wanted to decrease federal spending
main programmes set up to regulate work and unemployment (4)
if workers and business had more regulation then they would feel less discontent, also created stability for families as they had a fixed wage. It also focused on a wide range of jobs
WPA - works progress administration
a wide range of work programmes established
provided subsidies for people taking on government jobs
ran for 8 years yet used local officials
NRA - national industry recovery act
provided codes for wages, trade, production quotas (perhaps didn’t allow for changes in the industry and growth, also restricted freedom of businesses and removed competition)
PWA - public works administration 1935 lasted 5 months unsuccessful
funded creative projects (roosevelt was looking to all sectors for growth and expansion) federal artists bureau for example
why little change happened for blacks in the south
roosevelt needed to not alienate southern democrats and some republicans who had allied against him to create the conservative manifesto of 1937
NAACP (walter white) had tried to pass anti lynching laws in 1932, 33, 35 and 37 but due to filibusting and a reluctance for change/supreme court on board? it was never passed
voter clauses and discrimination still apparent
grandfather clause outlawed in 1915 louisiana
one party rule in the southern states
nixon vs henderson 1927
texas had forbidden blacks to run in primary elections as they called themselves a private entreprise
ASWPL + NAACP
was the New Deal racist?
segregation within many new deal programmes such as the CCC, sometimes blacks not offered places at all (local opposition as it targeted the south, congress giving too much power to state governments to implement these programmes)
black sharecroppers came off the worst
AAA declared unconstitutional
congress excluded AA’s from codes/wage increases in NIRA
HOWEVER
clearly had lots of popular support from AA’s as much of their vote switched from voting republican to democrat (1936 elections)
