Unit 5 Lesson 6: Roosevelt's New Deal

Question 1

What did FDR do before the war?

Answer 1

During World War I, FDR served as assistant secretary of the navy. In 1920, he was the Democratic candidate for Vice President but lost in the Harding landslide.

Question 2

What happened to FDR in the summer of 1921

Answer 2

Roosevelt was stricken with a severe case of polio. A disease caused by a virus, polio has been almost totally wiped out in the United States today. However, before the development of a vaccine in the 1950s, polio was a devastating disease. FDR’s legs were completely paralyzed. He struggled for years to rebuild his strength.

Question 3

In 1928 FDR was nominated for what?

Answer 3

In 1928, he was elected governor of New York. Then, in 1932, the Democrats made him their presidential candidate. The Republicans again nominated Herbert Hoover, even though they knew he had little chance of winning.

Question 4

How did FDR election for president go?

Answer 4

Voters responded to FDR’s confident manner and personal charm. On election day, he won a landslide victory. Democrats also gained many seats in Congress. On inauguration day, the new President addressed the American people with optimism

Question 5

Who did FDR get his advice from to fight the Depression?

Answer 5

Brain Trust; During his campaign for the presidency, FDR had sought advice on how to fight the Depression. He turned to a number of college professors who were experts on economic issues. These experts, nicknamed the Brain Trust, helped Roosevelt to plan bold new programs.

Question 6

Who was Harikd Ickes?

Answer 6

President Roosevelt chose Harold Ickes (IK eez), a Republican reformer from Chicago, became secretary of the interior.

Question 7

Who was Frances Perkins?

Answer 7

The President FDR named social worker Frances Perkins the secretary of labor. Perkins was the first woman to hold a Cabinet post.

Question 8

What did FDR do about the failing bank problem?

Answer 8

The President knew that without sound banks, the economy could not recover. On his second day in office, he declared a bank holiday. He closed every bank in the country for four days. He then asked Congress to pass the Emergency Banking Relief Act. Under this act, only those banks with enough funds to meet depositors’ demands could reopen. Others had to stay closed.

Question 9

What were fireside chats and how did the make the people of America feel?

Answer 9

FDR gave 30 radio speeches while in office. He called them fireside chats because he spoke from a chair near a fireplace in the White House. All across the nation, families gathered around their radios to listen to Roosevelt. Many felt the President understood their problems.

Question 9

How did President FDR radio talks about banks affect banking systmes?

Answer 9

Reassured by the President, depositors returned their money to banks, and the banking system grew stronger.

Question 10

Qhat was the Hundread Days?

Answer 10

Between March 9 and June 16, 1933, Congress passed a record 15 major new laws. Even the President admitted he was “a bit shellshocked” by the Hundred Days, as this period was called.

Question 11

What did the bills in the hundread days do?

Answer 11

The bills covered programs from job relief to planning for economic recovery. Together, they made up Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Question 12

What were the goals of the new deal?

Answer 12

The New Deal laid out three main goals: relief for the jobless, plans for economic recovery, and reforms to prevent another depression.

Question 13

Among the earliest New Deal programs was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC); what did the CCC do?

Answer 13

The CCC hired unemployed single men between the ages of 18 and 25. For $1 a day, they planted trees, built bridges, worked on flood-control projects, and developed new parks. The CCC served a double purpose. It conserved natural resources, and it gave jobs to young people.

Question 14

What did the Federal Emergery Relief Administrastion do?

Answer 14

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) gave federal money to state and local agencies. These agencies then distributed the money to the unemployed

Question 15

What did the Works Progress Administration (WPA) do?

Answer 15

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) came into existence in 1935. The WPA put the jobless to work making clothes and building hospitals, schools, parks, playgrounds, and airports.

The WPA also hired artists, photographers, actors, writers, and composers. Artists painted murals on public buildings. The Federal Theatre put on new plays for adults and children, as well as classics by such writers as Shakespeare.

Question 16

How could WPA workers help us learn about slavery?

Answer 16

WPA writers collected information about American life, folklore, and traditions. Some WPA writers interviewed African Americans who had lived under slavery. Today, scholars still use these interviews to learn firsthand about slave life.

Question 17

What was the National industrial recovery act?

Answer 17

A key new law was the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). Under this law, each industry wrote a code, or set of rules and standards, for production, wages, prices, and working conditions. The NIRA tried to end price cutting and worker layoffs.

Question 18

How was the national industrial reovery act enforced?

Answer 18

National Recovery Administration; Congress set up the National Recovery Administration (NRA). Companies that followed the NRA codes stamped a blue eagle on their products. The government encouraged people to do business only with companies displaying the NRA eagle.

Question 19

How did companies feel about the NRA codes? Did they follow the codes?

Answer 19

The NRA soon ran into trouble, however. Many companies ignored the codes. Also, small businesses felt that the codes favored the biggest firms.

Question 20

What did the NIRA (National industrial recovery act) set up?

Answer 20

the Public Works Administration (PWA)

Question 21

What did the PWA do?

Answer 21

the Public Works Administration (PWA) promoted recovery by hiring workers for thousands of public works projects

Question 22

Did the Public Works Administration help big time with the recovery?

Answer 22

No; PWA workers built projects such as the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington, public schools in Los Angeles, two aircraft carriers for the navy, and a deep-water port in Brownsville, Texas. Despite these efforts, the PWA did little to bring about recovery

Question 23

What was the Agricultural Adjustment Act(AA)

Answer 23

To help farmers, the President asked Congress to pass the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). Under the AAA, the government paid farmers not to grow certain crops. Roosevelt hoped that with smaller harvests, the laws of supply and demand would force prices to rise.

Question 24

What were farmers paid to get rid of?

Answer 24

The government also paid farmers to plow surplus crops under the soil and to destroy surplus cows and pigs. Many Americans were outraged that crops and livestock were being destroyed when people in the cities were going hungry. Yet, the plan seemed necessary to help farmers recover and keep them growing food.

Question 25

What was the Rural Electrification Administration (REA)?

Answer 25

The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was created to help people in rural areas get the same electrical service as people in urban areas. The REA provided money to extend electric lines to rural areas.

Question 26

How did the Rural Electrication Administartaion help out?

Answer 26

The number of farms with electricity rose from 10 percent to 25 percent. Electricity helped save many farms from ruin. For example, with refrigeration, dairy farmers did not have to worry about milk going sour before it could be sent to market.

Question 27

What was the Tennesse Valley Authority?

Answer 27

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). It set out to remake the Tennessee River Valley. This vast region often suffered from terrible floods. Because the farmland was so poor, more than half the region’s families were on relief.

Question 28

What improvments did they make during the Tennesse Valley Authorit (TVA)?

Answer 28

The TVA was a daring experiment in regional planning. To control flooding, TVA engineers built 49 dams in seven states. The dams also produced cheap electric power. In addition to building dams, the TVA deepened river channels for shipping. It planted new forests to conserve soil and developed new fertilizers to improve farmland. The agency also set up schools and health centers.

Question 29

Why did the Tennesse valley Authority outrage people?

Answer 29

• Critics argued that the government had no right to take business away from private companies in the region.
• Power companies in the Tennessee River Valley were especially outraged. They pointed out that the government, which did not have to make a profit for shareholders, could supply electrical power more cheaply than a private company could. Having to compete with the government, they said, might force them out of business.

Question 30

What did people say in defense of the Tennesse valley Authoritu (TVA)?

Answer 30

Supporters replied that the TVA showed how the government could use its resources to help private enterprise. In the end, the program helped transform a region of desperate poverty into a prosperous and productive area.

Question 31

During the Hundred Days, Congress passed laws regulating the stock market and the banking system. What was the Truth-in-securites Act?

Answer 31

The Truth-in-Securities Act was designed to end the risky buying and selling of stocks in the hope of making a quick profit. Experts agreed that uncontrolled buying and selling was a leading cause of the 1929 crash.

Question 32

What was the Federal Deposit insurance Corporation (FDIC)?

Answer 32

Another law set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). It insured depositors’ accounts in banks approved by the government. If a bank insured by the FDIC failed, the government would make sure depositors received their money.

Question 33

Later New Deal laws brought about other kinds of reforms:

Answer 33

• Laws regulated gas and electric companies.
• In 1938, a new law extended the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. It protected consumers by requiring manufacturers to list the ingredients in certain products. It also made sure that new medicines passed strict tests before they were put on the market.

Question 34

What was the National labor relations Act also known as the Wagner act?

Answer 34

In 1935, Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act, or Wagner Act. Senator Robert Wagner of New York, the act’s sponsor, was a strong supporter of labor. The Wagner Act protected American workers from hostile management practices, such as firing a worker for joining a union. It also guaranteed workers the right to collective bargaining. Workers had fought for this right since the late 1800s.

Question 35

What is collective bargaining?

Answer 35

Collective bargaining is the process by which a union representing a group of workers negotiates with management for a contract. Workers had fought for this right since the late 1800s.

Question 36

How did the Wagner Act and the Congress of idustrial organization help expand union emebership?

Answer 36

The Wagner Act helped union membership grow from 3 million to 9 million during the 1930s. Union membership got a further boost when John L. Lewis set up the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The CIO represented workers in whole industries, such as steel, automobiles, and textiles.
With more members, unions increased their bargaining power. They also became a powerful force in politics.

Question 37

What was the CIO who set it up?

Answer 37

John L. Lewis set up the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The CIO represented workers in whole industries, such as steel, automobiles, and textiles.

Question 38

Despite the Wagner Act, employers tried to stop workers from joining unions. Violent confrontations often resulted. Workers then tried a new strategy. Which was..

Answer 38

At the Goodyear Tire Factory in Akron, Ohio, workers staged a sit-down strike. They stopped all machines and refused to leave the factory until Goodyear recognized their union. The tactic worked. Workers at other factories made use of sit-down strikes

Question 39

What is a sit down strike?

Answer 39

stopped all machines and refused to leave the factory until Goodyear recognized their union.

Question 40

What happened to the sit down strike in 1939?

Answer 40

until the Supreme Court outlawed them in 1939.

Question 41

In the 1930s, the United States was the only major industrial nation that did not have a formal..

Answer 41

pension program

Question 42

What is a pension?

Answer 42

. A pension is a sum of money paid to people on a regular basis after they retire

Question 43

In September 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act. The new law had three parts:

Answer 43

• First, it set up a system of pensions for older people. Payments from employers and employees supported this system.
• Second, the new act set up the nation’s first system of unemployment insurance. People who lost their jobs received small payments until they found work again.
• Third, the act gave states money to support dependent children and people with disabilities.

Question 44

What did critics say about the Socail Security law?

Answer 44

Critics condemned the Social Security law. Some liberals pointed out that it did not include farm workers, domestic servants, or the self-employed—many of whom were women or members of minority groups. Some conservatives, on the other hand, saw Social Security as another way for the government to take money away from people who had jobs. Others saw it as an unacceptable expansion of the role of government.

Question 45

What happened when sumpre court leaders decided to attack the New deal?

Answer 45

In 1935, members of the Supreme Court began to attack the New Deal. In that year, the Supreme Court ruled that the National Industrial Recovery Act was unconstitutional. The NIRA, the Court ruled, gave too much power to the President and to the federal government. A year later, the Court struck down the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Then, it overturned eight other New Deal laws on constitutional grounds. To Roosevelt, the Supreme Court rulings threatened not only the New Deal but also his ability to lead the nation.

Question 46

What did crtis say about the new deal?

Answer 46

critics called for a return to the traditional policy of laissez faire—the idea that government should play as small a role as possible in the economy.

Critics also expressed alarm because the government was spending more than it took in. This practice of deficit spending was creating a huge increase in the national debt, or the total sum of money the government owes.