The New Deals and Everything In Between

Who were speculators?

Those who bought 'on margin' not interest in long-term investment, just short-term profit

How much money did US banks lend to spectators one year?

$9 billion in 1929

When was the Wall Street Crash?

October 1929

What was the Wall Steet Crash?

Rapid selling of shares due to spreading fear that the values had gone too hight leading to some shares and companies declining in value and becoming virtually worthless

Who were some high-profile figures that were affected by the Wall Street Crash? (3)

1) John D. Rockefeller lost $40 million

2) Winston Churchill lost $500,000

3) Singer Fanny Brice lost $500,000

What did President Hoover do to try and bring prosperity again?

Cut taxes so people would buy more goods eventually increasing production by 1931 but confidence was still lost

How were banks affected by the Crash and the death of confidence? (3)

1) 1929, 659 banks failed

2) Another 1352 went bankrupt in 1930 because people stopped trusting them and withdrew their savings

3) $1 billion dollars were withdrawn from banks

What were the consequences of people withdrawing their money from banks? (2)

1) Banks had less money to offer loans to businesses or for mortgages

2) Banks asked businesses to pay back loans which they could not afford so many businesses collapsed/cut back

How did the Depression affect Americans from 1929-1933? (3)

1) Those who lived in the countryside

2) Those who lived in towns

3) Overall attitudes to poverty

What were 2 ways farmers stopped banks from taking their homes (as they were hardest hit by the Depression and couldn't pay their mortgages)?

1) When sheriffs came, they would hold pitchforks and hangman's nooses so they'd retreat

2) They barricaded highways to stop authorities reaching them

Why did people in rural USA face severe malnutrition during the early 1930s? (2)

1) Prolonged drought causing the topsoil to turn to dust

2) Depression

How were workers in cities affected by the Depression?

Unemployment rose (50% in Chicago in 1932) eventually leading to rise in homelessness as many were forced to sell their homes or became evicted

How did some men try and find work?

Travelling from place to place in railway freight wagons

What were 'Hoovervilles'?

A shanty town of huts where migrants lived while they searched for work

How did attitudes toward the poor change?

Those with sob stories who lacked 'rugged individualism' -> sympathetic and angry at a system that prospered because of their labour but now expected them to accept charity

Who were the opponents in the 1932 election?

Republican - Herbert Hoover

Democrat - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Why was Hoover not in favour when it came to the 1932 election?

He refused to see the severity of the situation and kept on saying 'Prosperity is just around the corner'. An example of a reaction to this is Iowa farmers holding a banner saying 'In Hoover we trusted and now we are busted'.

What did Hoover try and do to restart the economy? (4)

1) Tax cuts

2) Persuade businesses to not cut wages

3) Reconstruction Finance Company - propped up vanks to stop them going bankrupt

4) Put money into public works programmes e.g., the Hoover Dam in Colorado

What was The Revenue Act of 1932?

Largest peacetime tax increase in US history doubling the rate of tax paid by the richest 1% of the population

What was the Republican argument for not intervening with the crisis?

Business comes in booms and prosperity would return sooner or later

What was the Garner-Wagner Relief Bill?

Bill blocked by president Hoover in 1932 which would have allowed Congress to spend $2.1 billion to create jobs.

What event damaged Hoover's reputation in 1932?

- June 1932 thousands of WW1 veterans marched Washington asking for early war bonuses

- They camped peacefully and sang songs but Hoover ignored them

- On the 28th they were sprayed with guns and tear gas killing 2

How was Roosevelt different to Hoover? (3)

1) Believed in an active government but as a last resort if all else failed

2) Plans to spend public money on getting people back to work

3) Would ask for advice on important issues from experts

What was Roosevelt's campaign journey like?

28,000km, 16 major speeches, 60 from back of his train promising

By how many votes did the Democrats win by?

7 million

What did the New Deal promise? (4)

1) Get Americans back to work

2) Protect their savings and property

3) Provide relief for the sick, old and unemployed

4) Get the US industry and agriculture back on their feet

Who were the Brain's Trust?

Roosevelt's advisers helping him to produce a huge range of sweeping measures in the first one hundred days of his presidency

How did Roosevelt try to prevent the Crash from happening again? (2)

1) Closed banks to be assessed by government officials then reopened 5000 of them a few days later funded by the government if needed

2) Roosevelt's advisers came up with rules and regs to prevent reckless speculation

What enabled these measures to be put in place? (2)

1) Emergency Banking Act

2) Securities Exchange Commissions

How did Roosevelt connect with the American citizens?

Fireside chats - updating people every Sunday on his broadcast radio station, where an estimated 60 million would tune it

What was FERA and what did it tackle?

Federal Emergency Relief Administration tackling the needs of the poor

How did FERA help the needs of the poor?

$500 million towards soup kitchens, blankets, employment schemes, and nurseries

What was the CCC and what did they tackle?

The Civilian Conservation Corps aimed at unemployed young men

How did the CCC help unemployed young men?

They could sign on for 6 months and it could be renewed if needed. Most of the work done by the CCC was on top of environmental projects in national parks

Was the CCC effective?

Yes as many young men sent the money back to their families and around 2.5 million were helped the scheme

What was the AAA and what did they tackle?

The Agricultural Adjustment Administration tackling the problems facing farmers setting quotas to reduce farm production to force prices upwards

How did the AAA tackle the problems of farmers?

Helped them to modernise and use farming methods that would conserve and protect soul and some were given help with mortgages

Was the AAA effective?

Undeniably helped farmers but modernisation put more farm labourers out of work

What was the final measure of the Hundred Days and what did it do?

National Industrial Recovery Act set up two organisations: The Public Works Administration (PWA) and The National Recovery Administration (NRA)

What did the PWA do?

Used government money to build schools, roads, dams etc. These would be vital once the US recovered and in the short term created lots of jobs

What did the NRA do?

Improved industry conditions, outlawed child labour, set fair wages and sensible levels of production with the aim of giving workers spending money without overproduction and causing a slump to stimulate the economy. 2 million joined the scheme

What was the NRA symbol of presidential approval?

Blue eagle

What was the Tennessee Valley and what were its issues?

Area across 7 states (Georgia, Mississippi etc) that would flood in the wet season and reduce to a trickle during the dry season. The surrounding farmland was a dust bowl with eroding soil

What was the aim of the TVA?

Build dams on the Tennessee River brining water to the dried land and providing electricity for the area.

Was the TVA successful?

Dams built thousand of jobs which was good since the area was badly hit by the Depression

What was the reception of the First New Deal?

Some people e.g., Senator Huey long thought he was doing too little

Other e.g., wealthy businessmen thought he was doing too much

The USA was recovering from Depression slower than Europe

When did Roosevelt decide for the Second New Deal

14th May 1935

Why did the Second New Deal happen?

Senators and advisers persuaded Roosevelt to take radical steps to achieve his vision, specifically looking at areas and problems that affected ordinary people

What was the Revenue Act of 1935

79% tax on incomes >$5 million

What was the Revenue Act of 1937?

Raised the old tax from 7% to 16%

What was the Undistributed Profits Act of 1936

Brought taxes on business

What was the Wagner Act?

Forced employed to allow trade unions and made it illegal to sack workers for being in a union

What was the Social Security Act?

State pension for elderly and widows + allowed governments to work with the federal government to provide help for sick and disabled + set up a scheme for unemployment insurance

What was the WPA

The works progress administration, it employed workers to build buildings, airports, bridges, and parks

What was the RA?

Resettlement Administration helped smallholders and tenant farmers who had not been helped by the AAA (moved 500,000 families to better-quality land and housing)

What was the FSA?

Farm Security Administration replaced the RA in 1937 and it gave special loans to small farmer to help them buy their land as well as building camps to provide decent living conditions for migrant workers

What did Huey Long do to "oppose" the New Deal?

'Share Our Wealth' - all personal fortunes would be reduced to $3 million maximum and maximum income would be $1 million/year. Government taxes would be shared between all Americans

What was the Schechter Poultry Corporation scandal?

1935, broke NRA regulations as they sold chickens unfit to eat + exploited workers but the Supreme Court ruled that the government had no right to prosecute the company as the NRA was unconstitutional which made Roosevelt angry