9 History - 'The New Deal'

pgs. 217-226

Why was President Hoover so heavily criticized?

• He refused to change his basic policies, as did most Republicans.

• Blocked the 1932 Garner-Wagner Relief Bill, which would have allowed Congress to provide $2.1 billion to create jobs.

• Believed in rugged individualism and that government help wasn’t needed and everyone should be responsible for getting out of poverty themselves due to one’s hard work. Believed relief should only be provided by the local government or charities.

• Believed the main cause of the Depression had been economic problems in Europe, not weaknesses in the USA’s economy.

• Introduced tariffs that strangled international trade and worsened the Depression.

What are some positive things Hoover attempted?

• He set up the Reconstruction Finance Company in an attempt to prop banks up and stop them from going bankrupt.

• Introduced tariffs to attempt protection of US industries, but this only strangled international trade and made the Depression worse.

• Attempted to restart the economy in 1930-1931 through tax cuts. He tried to persuade business leaders not to cut wages.

Why did millions of Americans vote for Roosevelt?

• He had policies of providing benefits for the unemployed and employing men to work on massive state-building projects.

• He planned to help people get back into work by spending public money.

• He believed strongly in active government to improve the lives of ordinary people.

• He went on a grand train tour of the USA in the weeks before the election and mercilessly attacked the attitude of Hoover and the Republicans.

What were the 9 agencies introduced in the First New Deal?

1. Emergency Banking Act

2. Securities Exchange Commission

3. Federal Emergency Relief Administration

4. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

5. Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

6. National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)

7. Public Works Administration (PWA)

8. National Recovery Administration (NRA)

9. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

What did the Emergency Banking Act aim to tackle?

Aimed to stabilize the banking system during the Great Depression by allowing only financially sound banks to reopen and providing for the inspection of banks to restore public confidence.

What did the Securities Exchange Commission aim to tackle?

Aimed to regulate the stock market, protect investors from fraudulent activities, and restore public confidence in the financial system following the stock market crash of 1929.

What did the Federal Emergency Relief Administration aim to tackle?

Aimed to provide direct relief and support to the unemployed and poor during the Great Depression through grants and work programs. A sum of $500 million was spent on soup kitchens, blankets, employment schemes, and nursery schools.

What did the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) aim to tackle?

Aimed to provide job opportunities for young men through environmental conservation projects, such as reforestation and park maintenance, during the Great Depression. The money earned generally went back to the men’s families. Around 2.5 million young men were helped by this scheme.

What did the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) aim to tackle?

Aimed to tackle a long-term view of the problems facing farmers (increase in mechanization, competition from Canadian farmers, and the war in Europe ending). It set quotas to reduce farm production to force prices gradually upwards and helped farmers to modernize and use farming methods that would conserve and protect the soil. Also aided farmers with their mortgages.

What did the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) aim to tackle?

Aimed to stimulate the economy and improve working conditions during the Great Depression by establishing fair wages, sensible levels of production, and outlawing child labor. Over 2 million employers joined the ideal to give workers money to spend without overproducing and causing a slump. Created the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the National Recovery Administration (NRA).

What did the Public Works Administration (PWA) aim to tackle?

Aimed to create jobs through large-scale public works projects such as the construction of bridges, roads, dams, airports, and schools during the Great Depression. It aimed to stimulate economic recovery by providing employment and improving infrastructure.

What did the National Recovery Administration (NRA) aim to tackle?

Aimed to improve working conditions in the industry by establishing fair wages and reducing hours of labor. It also aimed to stimulate the economy and consumer purchasing power during the Great Depression by giving workers money to spend without overproducing and causing a slump. Over 2 million employers joined this scheme.

What did the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) aim to tackle?

Aimed to provide economic development in the Tennessee Valley through the building of dams, electricity generation, and improving agriculture and living standards during the Great Depression. It aimed to modernize the region and enhance the quality of life for its residents.

What are some achievements of the First Hundred Days of Roosevelt’s presidency?

• Restored confidence and stopped investors from pulling money out of the banks.

• Banking measures saved 2 percent of homeowners and farmers from repossession.

• Farmers were 50 percent better off under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) by 1936.

• The Public Works Administration (PWA) created 600,000 jobs and built landmarks like San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

What was the Second New Deal?

A huge range of laws that President Roosevelt wanted passed. He summoned the leaders of Congress on June 14th, 1935, to let them know of it.

What did the Wagner Act aim to tackle?

Aimed to establish the right of workers. Organized trade unions to operate in every employer's company and allow workers to negotiate with their employers for better pay and conditions. Made it illegal to sack workers for being in a union.

What did the Social Security Act aim to tackle?

Aimed to provide financial assistance to the elderly, unemployed, disabled, and widows. It created a system of retirement benefits and unemployment insurance to support citizens until they could find work.

What did the Works Progress Administration (WPA) aim to tackle?

Aimed to create jobs for millions of unemployed Americans by funding public works projects, such as roads, bridges, and buildings for office workers, during the Great Depression. Also created jobs for unemployed actors, artists, and photographers. Artists were paid to paint pictures to be displayed in the city or town they featured.

What did the Resettlement Administration (RA)/Farm Security Administration (FSA) aim to tackle?

Aimed to assist poor farmers and migrant workers by providing them with loans to purchase land and improve their farming practices. It also focused on relocating families from areas affected by the Dust Bowl to more productive lands. Moved over 500,000 families to better-quality land and housing and built camps to provide decent living conditions and work for migrant workers.

Who were the individuals/groups that opposed the New Deal?

1. Huey Long

2. Dr. Francis Townsend

3. Father Coughlin

4. Businesses

5. Republicans

6. The American Supreme Court

Why did Huey Long criticize the New Deal?

Criticized the New Deal for not doing enough in addressing economic inequality and poverty and for being too complicated. He believed that the New Deal's measures favored the wealthy and failed to support the poor and working-class Americans. Advocated for wealth redistribution through his "Share Our Wealth" program, which proposed pensions for everyone over 60 and free washing machines and radios.

Why did Dr. Francis Townsend criticize the New Deal?

Criticized the New Deal for not doing enough and not addressing the needs of the elderly. Founded several Townsend Clubs to campaign for a pension plan that provided $200 per month to people over 60 to spend that month, which stimulated the economy by increasing consumer spending.

Why did Father Coughlin criticize the New Deal?

Criticized the New Deal for not addressing the needs of the poor. He was initially supportive of some of Roosevelt's policies but later became disillusioned with their effectiveness. He used his radio programme to attack Roosevelt and set up the National Union for Social Justice.

Why did businesses criticize the New Deal?

• Government should not support trade unions, and it should not support calls for higher wages - the market should deal with these issues.

• Schemes such as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) created unfair competition for private companies.

• The wealthy were wealthy because they had worked hard and used their abilities. High taxes discouraged people from working hard and gave money to people for doing nothing or doing unnecessary jobs.

Why did Republicans criticize the New Deal?

• The New Deal was complicated, and there were too many codes and regulations.

• Roosevelt was behaving like a dictator.

• The New Deal schemes were like the economic plans being carried out in the Communist USSR and unsuitable for the democratic, free-market USA.

Why did the American Supreme Court criticize the New Deal?

Criticized the New Deal because they were full of old Republicans and deemed it unconstitutional and undermined too much of the power of local states.

What was Roosevelt’s response to the disapproval of the American Supreme Court?

He asked Congress to give him the power to appoint six more Supreme Court judges who were more sympathetic to the New Deal and thus increase his chances of laws surrounding the New Deal to pass.

How did the American Supreme Court respond to Roosevelt’s attempt at “packing the court” despite backing down?

They were shaken by Roosevelt’s actions and were significantly less obstructive in the future. They approved of most of the main measures in Roosevelt’s Second New Deal from 1937 onwards.

How was the New Deal a success in terms of Attitudes?

• The New Deal restored the faith of the American people in their government.

• The New Deal was a huge social and economic programme. Government help on this scale would never have been possible before Roosevelt’s time. It set the tone for future policies for government to help people.

• The New Deal handled billions of dollars of public money, but there were no corruption scandals. For example, the head of the Civil Works Administration, Harold Hopkins, distributed $10 billion in schemes and programmes, but never earned more than his salary of $15,000. The Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, actually tapped the phones of his own employees to ensure there was no corruption. He also employed Black Americans, campaigned against anti-semitism, and supported the cause of Native Americans.

How was the New Deal a failure in terms of Attitudes?

• The New Deal divided the USA. Roosevelt and his officials were often accused of being Communists and of undermining American values. Ickes and Hopkins were both accused of being anti-business because they supported trade unions.

• The New Deal undermined local government.

How was the New Deal a success in terms of Industrial Workers?

• The NRA and the Second New Deal measures strengthened the position of labor unions against the large American industrial giants.

• Roosevelt’s government generally tried to support unions and make large corporations negotiate with them.

• Some labor unions combined forces to form the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) in 1935. This union was large enough to be able to bargain with big corporations.

• The Union of Automobile Workers (UAW) was recognized by the two most anti-union corporations: General Motors (after a major sit-in strike in 1936) and Ford (after a ballot in 1941).

• Big business remained immensely powerful in the USA despite being challenged by the government.

How was the New Deal a failure in terms of Industrial Workers?

• Unions were treated with suspicion by employers.

• Many strikes were broken up with brutal violence in the 1930s.

• Companies such as Ford, Republic Steel, and Chrysler employed their own thugs or controlled local police forces.

How was the New Deal a success in terms of Unemployment and the Economy?

• The New Deal created millions of jobs.

• It stabilized the American banking system.

• It cut the number of business failures.

• Projects such as the TVA brought work and an improved standard of living to deprived parts of the USA.

• New Deal projects provided the USA with valuable resources such as schools, roads, and power stations.

How was the New Deal a failure in terms of Unemployment and the Economy?

• The New Deal never solved the underlying economic problems.

• The US economy took longer to recover than that of most European countries.

• Confidence remained low throughout the 1930s; Americans only spent and invested about 75 percent of what they had before 1929.

• When Roosevelt cut the New Deal budget in 1937, the country went back into recession.

• There were six million unemployed in 1941.

• Only the USA’s entry into the war brought an end to unemployment.

How was the New Deal a success in terms of Black Americans?

• Around 200,000 Black Americans gained benefits from the Civilian Conservation Corps and other New Deal agencies.

• Many Black Americans benefited from New Deal slum clearance and housing projects.

How was the New Deal a failure in terms of Black Americans?

• Many New Deal agencies discriminated against Black people. They either got no work or received worse treatment, or lower wages.

• Roosevelt failed to pass laws against the lynching of Black Americans. He feared that Democratic senators in the southern states would not support him.

How was the New Deal a success in terms of Women?

• The New Deal saw some women achieve prominent positions. Eleanor Roosevelt became an important campaigner on social issues.

• Mary McLeod Bethune, a Black woman, headed the National Youth Administration.

• Frances Perkins was the Secretary of Labor. She removed 59 corrupt officials from the Labor Department and was a key figure in making the Second New Deal work in practice.

How was the New Deal a failure in terms of Women?

• Most of the New Deal programmes were aimed to help male manual workers rather than women (only about 8000 women were involved in the CCC).

• Local governments tried to avoid paying out social security payments to women by introducing special qualifications and conditions.

• Frances Perkins was viciously attacked in the press as a Jew and a Soviet spy. Even her cabinet colleagues tended to ignore her at social gatherings.

How was the New Deal a success in terms of Native Americans?

• The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 provided money to help Native Americans buy and improve land.

• The Indian Reservation Act of 1934 helped Native Americans to preserve and practice their traditions, laws, and culture.

How was the New Deal a failure in terms of Native Americans?

Native Americans remained a poor and excluded section of society.

What impression of the New Deal does Source 12 attempt to convey?

What does Source 15 suggest about the critics of the New Deal?

What does Source 13 suggest about Roosevelt’s New Deal?