THEME 2: c - the New Deal

Question 1

What were Roosevelt’s THREE aims?

Answer 1

Relief, Recovery, Reform

to restore faith in the US economy

Question 2

What did Roosevelt begin doing after 8 days of his presidency?

Answer 2

Fireside chats

• he would explain his policies via RADIO
• aided by his charismatic personality
• his reassuring voice helped restore confidence & gave optimism

Question 3

Was the New Deal planned or specified?

Answer 3

NO - there was no blueprint

Question 4

What is meant by ‘The 100 Days’?

Answer 4

The first 100 days of Roosevelt’s presidency saw more legislation passed than any other previous time in history - most of the ND legislation

Question 5

What emergency relief did Roosevelt establish?

Answer 5

1933: The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
* $500 million to divide equally among states to provide unemployment relief
* Half $ given by FERA to the states
* Other half kept back (to give states $1 for every $3 of their own funds they spent on relief)

Question 6

What were the issues with FERA?

Answer 6

• Some states refused to comply

* It was insufficient for the scale of the problem - but it did set the precedent for future direct relief

Question 7

What does relief mean?

Answer 7

Financial/practical help given to those in special need or difficulty

Question 8

What does recovery mean?

Answer 8

A return to a normal state of economic strength

Question 9

What does reform mean?

Answer 9

Governmental and economic restructuring and change

Question 10

How many alphabet agencies were there in total?

Answer 10

16

Question 11

What alphabet agency helped farmers?

Answer 11

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) 1933

• paid farmers to reduce their production of ‘staple’ items
• corn, cotton, milk etc

Question 12

What were the issues with the AAA?

Answer 12

• Cotton prices still increased from 6.5c - 10c.
• fields of food destroyed when many were hungry
• contentious issues like the slaughter of 6 mil piglets

Question 13

What were the aims of the TVA & how did they go about achieving them?

Answer 13

The Tennessee Valley Authority
* modernise the Tennessee Valley
* relief from poverty
HOW?
* harness the power of the river there (20 huge dams)
* develop welfare & educational programmes
* produce hydro-electric power

Question 14

Which alphabets agency helped industry?

Answer 14

The National Industry Recover act (NIRA)

* set up: national recovery admin (NRA) & the public works admin (PWA) - later financed the Civil Works admin (CWA)

Question 15

What did the NRA do?

Answer 15

(part of the NIRA)

• firms were encouraged to accept codes of practice
• codes regulated unfair competition (price cutting)
• codes = working conditions & min wage

Question 16

What problems did the NRA face?

Answer 16

• codes turned out to be unworkable
• big businesses didn’t comply
• small ones couldn’t comply & put them at a disadvantage
• if codes were followed, unions said they were insufficient for needs

Question 17

Did the work of the NRA help the economy?

Answer 17

NO

Question 18

What did the PWA do?

Answer 18

• funded w/ $3.3 bil
• purpose = ‘pump-priming’
• hoped this would stimulate the economy
• eventually put hundreds of thousands to work

Question 19

How successful was the PWA?

Answer 19

VERY -

• employed hundreds of thousands
• built nearly 13,000 schools
• pumped billions into economy
• responsible for massive public work schemes

Question 20

What did the CVA do?

Answer 20

• aimed to create employment
• got a $400 mil grant from PWA
• ^ provide emergency unemployment relief

Question 21

Which two acts reformed the banking system?

Answer 21

• The Emergency Banking Relief Act

* The Glass-Steagall Act

Question 22

What did the Emergency Banking Relief act do?

Answer 22

• aim = restore faith in the banking system
• close all banks for 4 days
• gave the state power to investigate all banks threatened w/ collapse
• authorised the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to buy stock, support & take on the debts of those failing banks
• R. explained all this through his ‘fireside chats’ and $1 mil redeposited in banks by the people

Question 23

What did the Glass-Steagall Act do?

Answer 23

• commercial banks banned from involvement in the type of investment banking which fuelled the 20s speculation
• bank officials not allowed to take out personal loans from their bank
• open-market operations (buying & selling gov securities) centralised by being transferred to the Federal Reserve Boards
• individual depositors insured against bank failure

Question 24

How was the stock exchange regulated?

Answer 24

1933, The Truth-in-Securities Act
* brokers had to offer realistic info about the securities they were selling

1934, The Securities Act
* set up a commission tasked to oversee stock market activities & prevent fraud (bull pool)

Question 25

What alphabet agency targeted youth unemployment?

Answer 25

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) * unemployment among youth = huge issue * R. understood they needed a special programme

Question 26

What did the CCC do?

Answer 26

* aimed to give them experience & training in community service & other skills essential for good citizens * put 17-24-year-olds at work in national forests, parks & public lands * by 1935, 500,000 employed * 4 mil man-hours spent fighting forest fires & planted 1.3 bil trees

Question 27

What opposition did Roosevelt face from the right?

Answer 27

* many who supported him as the saviour of capitalism now turned against him as taxes were too high & he was doing too much (Republicans & conservative Democrats) * The Liberty Leaguers: promoted private property & enterprise unregulated by law

Question 28

How much of a threat was opposition from the right to Roosevelt?

Answer 28

INSIGNIFICANT - they had little impact * The Liberty Leaguers disbanded after R's victory in the 1936 election However, a lack of support from big businesses and upsetting conservative congressmen could risk R's popularity

Question 29

What opposition did Roosevelt face from the left?

Answer 29

* End Poverty In California (Sinclair) * 'Share our Wealth' (Huey Long) * Old Age Revolving Pension (Townsend) * Farther Charles Coughlin - radio programme * Thunder on the left

Question 30

Who was Huey Long and the 'share our wealth' campaign?

Answer 30

Senator from Louisiana * all private fortunes over $3 mil should be confiscated * that money should be redistributed so every family can buy a house, a car & a radio * old-age state pensions & minimum wage

Question 31

How prominent was Huey Long & his ideas?

Answer 31

* had a big following: 'share our wealth' clubs grew to approx. 27,000 & had 4 - 5 mil followers * very popular - Roosevelt was concerned about his prominence in the 1936 election (he could've won) * assassinated in 1935 - no longer a threat

Question 32

Who was Francis Townsend?

Answer 32

* a retired doctor * advocated for old-age pensions * 60+ unemployed should be given $200 per month * all of this should be spent not saved * hoped this would boost consumption & free up jobs for the young

Question 33

How prominent was Francis Townsend & his ideas?

Answer 33

* his clubs had 500,000 members * Congress was being lobbied to put the plan into action * so, his support was taken seriously however, soon it was realised these measures were IMPRACTICAL (pensions would have amounted to 50% of national income)

Question 34

What was the impact of the opposition?

Answer 34

* R. learnt the mood of the country * He began preparing a second new deal that was influenced by demands from radical politicians & the opposition from big businesses ( he tried to appease the right & left)

Question 35

What did the Indian Reorganisation Act do? (1934)

Answer 35

* got rid of assimilation * tribes reorganised into self-governing bodies (vote, police, justice system) * allowed them to control land sales on the reservations * new tribal corps established to manage resources

Question 36

What opposition did this act face?

Answer 36

* Collier accused it of encouraging Native Americans to 'go back to the blanket' * felt a return to tribal traditions was a backwards movement * argued they needed assimilation to proper in society