The New Deal Flashcards
(23 cards)
100 Days - Banks
- Close to collapse as customers were panic withdrawing
- Emergency Banking Act
- Unsound banks (5%) closed and remainder helped with grants
- First fireside chat to restore confidence
100 Days - Unemployed
- 13 million in 1933 (25% of workforce)
- CCC provided employment to young men
- PWA spent $7 billion on major construction projects
- 4 million jobs created by CWA
100 Days - Farmers
- Food prices collapsed after 1929
- AAA paid farmers to produce less and kill cattle (6 mil piglets)
- Prices rose and farmers’ incomes doubled
- Many farm labourers lost jobs
100 Days - Industry
- NRA aimed to stabilise production and prices, improve pay and working conditions
- Businesses that signed NRA displayed Blue Eagle
- Public were encouraged to buy from Blue Eagle companies
- NRA declared unconstitutional in 1935 as it tended to put small businesses out of business
100 Days - The poor
- FERA spent $500 million on the poor
- Provided food, clothing and bedding
100 Days - TVA
- Restored prosperity of Tennessee Valley
- Forests planted, hydroelectric dams built
- New businesses attracted by cheap electricity
Second New Deal - Wagner Act
In 1935 to replace NRA. Outlawed unfair anti-union practices and supported workers rights
Second New Deal - Social Security Act
Pensions, unemployment benefits and help for sick and disabled - contradicted American belief of complete independence
Second New Deal - WPA
1600km windbreak of trees to prevent further soil erosion from Dust Bowl
Lots of projects (highways, schools)
Second New Deal - RA
Moved 500,000 families of farm labourers to better land
Radical opposition - Who was Father Coughlin
- He was originally a New Deal supporter but it did not do enough for the poor
- Broadcast ideas every Sunday evening to 40 million
- Founded National Union for Social Justice
Radical opposition - What were Townsend Clubs
- Townsend Plan stated everyone over 60 would receive $200 dollars a month in pension
- Devised to help the elderly and inject money into economy
- Millions joined the clubs
Radical opposition - Share our Wealth
- Huey Long wanted a redistribution of wealth
- Included confiscations of large fortunes and free education
- Had 7.5 million supporters in 1935 but Huey Long was killed
Conservative opposition - Republicans
- Believed in laissez faire, low taxation and self-help.
- New Deal seemed to undermine American ‘core values’
- TVA and NRA compared to Soviet Russian policies
- Roosevelt believed to be a dictator
Conservative opposition - Liberty League
- Formed in 1934 by business leaders
- Roosevelt accused of socialism
- Businessmen disliked Roosevelt’s support for unions
Conservative opposition - Supreme Court
- During 1930s most of the 9 judges were old and Republican
- NRA and AAA deemed unconstitutional
- Roosevelt accused of trying to ‘pack the court’
- Supreme Court began to drop opposition
How did the number unemployed change from 1932 to 1941
25% —-> 9.7%
12.8 million —-> 5.6 million
Unemployment (Post New Deal) - Home market
Low incomes meant less money could be spent on American products
Unemployment (Post New Deal) - Foreign market
Overseas customers in a depression and tariffs became commonplace so less foreign trade
Unemployment (Post New Deal) - Production
Mechanisation meant less labour needed in farms or factories
Unemployment (Post New Deal) - Business cycle
Global event causing a recession (1933-37)
Unemployment (Post New Deal) - Self inflicted
Roosevelt had to choose whether to watch farming sector collapse or approve action leading to unemployment
Unemployment (Post New Deal) - New Deal Limitations
Roosevelt could not have full control so had to provide solutions to smaller problems rather than solve bigger ones
