Topic 6 - Roosevelt and the New Deal

Question 1

What were the three main aims of Roosevelt’s New Deal?

Answer 1

RELIEF: Provide relief for the sick, old and unemployed.

RECOVERY: Get U.S. industry and agriculture back on its feet, and to get people working again.

REFORM: To make the USA a better place for ordinary people (e.g. protecting people’s savings and property).

Question 2

When did President Roosevelt introduce the First New Deal?

Answer 2

In 1933 during his first hundred days in office.

Question 3

What was the first problem Roosevelt tackled in the first hundred days of his presidency?

Answer 3

The banking crisis

Question 4

What measures did the Emergency Banking Act put in place?

Answer 4

American banks were forced to close until they had been inspected by government officials. Within three days, 5000 trustworthy banks were allowed to reopen..

Question 5

What measures did the Securities Exchange Act put in place?

Answer 5

By law, businesses had to release information about their finances, which could be accessed by investors before they chose to buy shares.

Question 6

Identify the impact of the Emergency Banking Act and Securities Exchange Act.

Answer 6

Emergency Banking Act: People’s confidence in America’s banking system was restored.

Securities Exchange Act: Investment in businesses grew, but reckless speculation in buying shares would be prevented.

Question 7

What alphabet agency was set up under the First New Deal to support farmers?

Answer 7

The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

Question 8

Identify two ways the AAA helped America’s farmers after 1933.

Answer 8

1. It set quotas to reduce farm production, which forced farm prices to rise.
2. It helped farmers to modernise and to use farming new methods that would help protect the soil.

Question 9

What alphabet agency was set up under the First New Deal to provide relief to the poor?

Answer 9

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Question 10

How did the agency FERA provide relief to the poor?

Answer 10

$500 million was spent on soup kitchens, blankets, employment schemes and nursery schools

Question 11

What alphabet agency was set up under the First New Deal to reduce the unemployment of young men?

Answer 11

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Question 12

How did the CCC help get young men back to work?

Answer 12

Young men could sign on for a period of six months work (usually environmental projects), which could be renewed if they could not find any.

Question 13

How many young men were helped by the CCC?

Answer 13

2.5 million

Question 14

What alphabet agency was set up to improve working conditions in industries?

Answer 14

The National Recovery Administration (NRA)

Question 15

Identify two ways the NRA helped to improve working conditions in US industries.

Answer 15

Businesses which signed up to the NRA (and used the blue eagle symbol) agreed to:

1. Set fair wages (so workers had money to spend)
2. Set sensible production levels (to prevent overproduction)

Question 16

What was the Public Works Administration (PWA)?

Answer 16

A agency which used government money to build schools, roads, dams, bridges and airports. In the short-term, the agency created millions of jobs.

Question 17

What problems did people living in the Tennessee Valley experience?

Answer 17

The Tennessee Valley was renowned for flooding in wet seasons, and turning arid in the dry season. Much of the farming land in the area had turned into a dustbowl, which could not be farmed. Many people lived in poverty.

Question 18

What was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)?

Answer 18

The focus of the TVA was to build a series of dams on the Tennessee river, in order to irrigate dried-out lands for farming.

The dams would also provide electricity to the area

The TVA created thousands of jobs in the area which was badly hit by the depression.

Question 19

What alphabet agency provided low-interest loans to unemployed home owners?

Answer 19

The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)

Question 20

Identify two ways HOLC improved the lives of home-owners.

Answer 20

1. HOLC gave low-interest loans to home owners to cope with temporary unemployment. This gave home owners the time to find money to repay their mortgages instead of being evicted.
2. Between 1933 and 1935 the HOLC made slightly more than one million loans.

Question 21

How many employers joined the NRA?

Answer 21

Over 2 million

Question 22

Identify three groups of people who opposed the First New Deal.

Answer 22

1. Republicans / businessmen
2. Radical democrats
3. The Supreme Court

Question 23

Why did Republicans and businessmen oppose Roosevelt’s New Deal? (Two reasons)

Answer 23

1. They accused Roosevelt of behaving like dictator and interfering in the American economy too much. The New Deal went against the Republican economic principles of “laissez-faire” (no interference) and “rugged individualism” (the idea that individuals should be able to help themselves), which they thought would lead to economic growth.
2. They accused alphabet agencies, such as the TVA, of creating unfair competition for private companies who were not given the business.

Question 24

Why did radical Democrats oppose the New Deal? (One reason)

Answer 24

They did not think the New Deal was doing enough to help the poorest in society.

Question 25

What ideas did Huey Long, a Democrat politician and Senator, put forward in improving the New Deal?

Answer 25

He proposed the ‘Share our Wealth’ scheme, which would:

1. Limit personal wealth to $3 million
2. Limit incomes to $1 million max. a year
3. Share taxes equally

Question 26

What ideas did Dr. Francis Townsend campaign for?

Answer 26

He campaigned for pensions of $200 a month to be given to everyone over the age of 60.

Question 27

Why did the Supreme Court oppose the New Deal? (One reason)

Answer 27

The Supreme Court argued that some agencies in the New Deal undermined the powers of American states and were, therefore, unconstitutional (illegal).

Question 28

Who was the Supreme Court dominated by?

Answer 28

Republicans

Question 29

Identify two alphabet agencies which were closed down by the Supreme Court.

Answer 29

The National Recovery Administration (NRA)

The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

Question 30

What did President Roosevelt threaten to do after alphabet agencies were closed down by the Supreme Court?

Answer 30

He threatened to appoint six more Democrat judges to the Supreme Court who would support his policies and outvote the Republicans. He did not follow through with this plan.

Question 31

How did Roosevelt respond to the opposition to the First New Deal?

Answer 31

He introduced a Second New Deal in May 1935.

Question 32

Identify four pieces of evidence which suggest that the First New Deal was not successful.

Answer 32

1. Businesses who had signed up for the National Recovery Administration (NRA) were beginning to go against the regulations. Henry Ford, for example, had begun to cut his workers’ wages.
2. The AAA only benefited some farmers. Modernisation and new machinery caused many farm labourers to lose work.
3. The $1 a day earned by workers in the CCC hardly lifted families out of poverty.
4. The employment provided by the PWA was only short-term and did not tackle long-term problems in employment.

Question 33

When was the Second New Deal introduced?

Answer 33

1935

Question 34

Identify four alphabet agencies created under the Second New Deal.

Answer 34

1. The Wagner Act
2. The Social Security Act
3. The Works Progress Administration (WPA)
4. The Resettlement Administration (RA)

Question 35

What was the impact of the Wagner Act?

Answer 35

The law forced all employers to allow trade unions to operate in their companies/industries to negotiate better pay and working conditions for workers.

Question 36

How did the Social Security Act provide relief to those in need? (Identify two ways)

Answer 36

1. State pensions were given to the elderly
2. An unemployment insurance scheme was set up in businesses to ensure employers and workers made a small contribution to a fund each week. If worker became unemployed, they would receive a small amount of benefit from the fund until they could find work.

Question 37

What was the impact of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)?

Answer 37

It extended employment programmes beyond building projects in order to create jobs for office workers and even unemployed actors, artists and photographers.

Question 38

Who did the Resettlement Administration (RA) help, and how?

Answer 38

WHO: It helped small-scale and tenant farmers, who had not been helped by the AAA.

HOW: The RA moved over 500,000 families to better-quality land and housing. Later, the Farm Security Administration gave loans to small farmers to help them buy their land.

Question 39

Identify five pieces of evidence which suggest that the New Deal programme (both first and second) was not successful.

Answer 39

1. There were still six million unemployed in 1941 (10% of the population).
2. The New Deal programme did not benefit woman workers as much as men (only 8000 women were involved in the CCC).
3. Many New Deal agencies discriminated against African Americans (e.g. lower wages / no work).
4. Unions were treated with suspicion by big businesses, and many worker strikes were broken up with brutal violence.
5. Old age pensions were small at $10 a month.

Question 40

What did Roosevelt use to explain his aims and actions of the New Deal to the nation?

Answer 40

‘Fireside chats’

Question 41

How many Americans tuned in to listen to Roosevelt’s ‘fireside chats’?

Answer 41

60 million

Question 42

When and how often were Roosevelt’s ‘fireside chats’?

Answer 42

Every Sunday

Question 43

What are the full names of these alphabet agencies of the First New Deal?

1. AAA
2. CCC
3. PWA

Answer 43

1. Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)
2. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
3. Public Works Administration (PWA)

Question 44

What are the full names of these alphabet agencies of the First New Deal?

1. FERA
2. NRA
3. HOLC

Answer 44

1. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
2. The National Recovery Administration (NRA)
3. The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)

Question 45

What are the full names of these alphabet agencies of the Second New Deal?

1. SSA
2. WPA
3. RA

Answer 45

1. The Social Security Act (SSA)
2. The Works Progress Administration (WPA)
3. The Resettlement Administration (RA)