The New DealRevising the New Deal Part I and II

1) How many agencies can you remember? 2) Who did the CCC help? 3) What did the TVA do? 4) How much did farm profits increase by as a result of the AAA? 5) Which two agencies made up the NIRA? 6) Who didn’t like the New Deal? Explain why. 7) Who did? (think votes!) 8) Who did Roosevelt consult before creating the Second New Deal? 9) Do you know all these agencies? 10)Who benefited from the SSA? 11)What was good about the RA? 12)Who benefited from the New Deal? 13)Who didn’t? 14)What was unemployment in 1941? 15)Give two key New Deal supporters from Roosevelt’s government; what did

they do that made them important? 16)Give an example of an important woman? 17)Who were the CIO and UAW?

What is there to cover?• Winning the election and restoring confidence• The First 100 days (First New Deal) aka the ‘Alphabet Agencies’• Opposition to the New Deal and the 1936 election• The Second New Deal• Evaluating the New Deal

It’s profile time!• Create a Facebook profile for

Roosevelt.• Include:- Response to the WSC.- Comments from Hoover on what

he’s doing. - Events of the first hundred days.- Events of the Second New Deal.- Response (eg. comments) from

different groups/people.

Winning the election• Hoover was unpopular (see Wall

Street Crash!)• Roosevelt offered something

different (but was careful to keep his promises vague!)• Roosevelt campaigned

effectively,. 20,800 km travelled, 16 major speeches etc

The Alphabet Agencies• AAA – Agricultural Adjustment

Administration: set quotas on farm production to increase prices. Put farm labourers out of work.• CCC – Civilian Conservation

Corps: targeted short term (6 months) work on government projects eg national parks. Helped 2.5 million young men.

• FERA – The Federal Emergency Relief Administration: Supported the poor, $500 million spent on soup kitchens, blankets, employment needs etc.• TVA – Tennessee Valley

Authority: Cut across 7 poor states to build dams etc to provide electricity and irrigation to the poorest areas.

The Alphabet Agencies• NIRA – The National Industrial

Recover Act: Made up of two parts:• PWA – Public Works Administration:

used government money to build schools and other infrastructure• NRA – National Recovery

Administration: Improved working conditions, outlined child labour, blue eagle, over 2 million employers voluntary joined.

Opposition to the New Deal• Not doing enough – Huey Long ‘Share

our Wealth’ and Francis Townsend• Doing too much – Republicans

believed in ‘Rugged Individualism’.• Schechter Poultry Corporation vs NRA

– 1935, Supreme Court ruled in favour of the NRA being unconstitutional, Roosevelt threatened to appoint 6 more Supreme Court judges, American public worried by this, but Supreme Court became much less obstructive.

Second New Deal• The Wagner Act – forced all employers to allow trade unions

to operate in their companies and to let them negotiate with employers for better pay and conditions. The act made it illegal to sack workers for being in a union.

• The Social Security Act – provided state pensions for the elderly and for widows and allowed state and federal governments to work together to help the sick and disabled. It also set up unemployment insurance for workers.

• The Works Progress Administration – later renamed the Works Project Administration united all of the projects put together to create jobs. Also extended to unemployed actors etc. For example 80,000 photos of farming were taken and displayed locally as part of the Federal Arts Project.

• The Resettlement Administration – helped smallholders and tenant farmers who had not been helped by the AAA. It moved over 500,000 families to better quality housing. The Farm Security Administration replaced the RA in 1937. It gave special loans to small farmers to help them buy their land. It also built camps to help migrant workers.

Evaluating the New DealA New Society?• The New Deal restored the faith of the American people in their

government. • It handled billions of dollars of public money with no corruption. For

example, Harold Hopkins distributed $10 billion but never drew more than his salary of $15,000. The Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, actually tapped the phones of his employees to ensure there was no corruption. There was none.

• However, others accused Ickes and Hopkins of being Communist and anti-business (because they supported trade unions).

Industrial Workers• The NRA and second new Deal strengthened the position of the labour

unions. • Some labour unions joined forces in 1935 to form the Committee for

Industrial Organisation (CIO). • The Union of Automobile Workers (UAW) was recognised by two very

anti-union organisations: General Motors in 1936 and Ford in 1941. • However, many strikes continued to be broken up with violence and

companies such as Ford and Chrysler employed their own thugs or controlled the local police.

Evaluating the New DealUnemployment and the Economy:• The New Deal created millions of jobs. • It stabilised the banking system and reduced the number of

business failures. • Projects, eg. The TVA improved the standard of living for

thousands of people. • Valuable resources including schools, roads and power stations

were built. • The new Deal never solved the underlying economic problems. • The US economy took longer to recover than most European

countries. • There were 6 million unemployed in 1941 African Americans: • Around 200,000 African Americans gained benefits from the CCC

and other New Deal agencies. • They benefited from the slums clearances etc. • However, many New Deal agencies still discriminated against

African Americans.

Evaluating the New DealNative Americans• The Indian Reorganisation Act in 1934 provided money to help

Native Americans to buy and improve land. • The Indian Reservation Act (1934) helped the Native Americans

to preserve and practise their traditions laws and cultures. • Native Americans remained a poor and excluded group of

society. Women• The New Deal saw many women achieve prominent positions

including Eleanor Roosevelt. • The National Youth Administration was a woman, Mary

Macleod Bethune. She was also African American. • Frances Perkins was the Secretary of Labour and a key New

Deal figure. • Most of the New Deal programmes were aimed at men, only

8,000 women benefited from the CCC. • Local governments sought to avoid paying women social

security by introducing special qualifications and conditions.

Source D highlights that the Republicans opposed the New Deal because it was ‘an attempt to take money away from those who have been careful with it’. The Republicans objected to the increased taxes that the rich had to pay in order to help to fund the New Deal. They believed in Rugged Individualism which is the idea that the individual should work to get themselves out of trouble/poverty rather than relying on government support which is exactly what the New Deal was (eg. The Civilian Conservation Corps provided work for 6 months to unemployed people). As such, this source explains why one group (the Republicans) hated the New Deal.

On the other hand, source D does not explain why many other Americans hated the New Deal. There were some individuals who believed that the New Deal was ‘not doing enough’ to help. Huey Long was a Democratic senator who believed that more should be done by the government. He proposed a ‘Share our Wealth’ scheme where personal earnings would be capped at $1 million per year and OAPs would be given radios and fridges to support them. As such, it is clear that this source only explains why some Americans hated the New Deal, not all of the different reasons for opposition.

Source B indicates that Roosevelt won because of his campaigning methods. It highlights that ‘he liked going around the country’ and there can be no doubt that Roosevelt’s extensive campaign (he travelled 20,800 km) helped to get his message across to the people of America. He gave 16 major campaign speeches, and far more from the back of his train. This spread his message of hope and ‘doing something’ across America and caused people (who had lost hope in the Republican administration) to vote for Roosevelt.

On the other hand, Roosevelt would not have won the election had it not been for the Wall Street Crash and Hoover’s inability to handle the crisis which followed. The Wall Street Crash caused massive unemployment in America with some 14 million Americans being unemployed by 1932. As a result the people of America wanted a change and Hoover was unable to provide it. His efforts to solve the crisis, including reducing taxes and introducing tariffs did not help. In fact, his message of ‘prosperity is just around the corner’ made people think that he was not really doing anything to help. Hoovervilles were named after him because people were so angry with his lack of action. Source B does not reference any of these factors.

As such, it is clear that Roosevelt won the Presidency because of his campaigning methods, but that these were made more effective by the impacts of the Wall Street Crash and Hoover’s failure to handle the situation effectively. Had Hoover been a more pro active President, then Roosevelt’s message and campaign may have had less impact.

b) Explain why some industries faced problems before 1929 (6 marks)- Farming eg. Profits fell by 50% in 1921, overproduction, increased competition from Canadian Wheat etc- Old industries and materials eg. Silk stockings replaced by rayon (300 million sold in 1930), unable to compete.

c) ‘The main reason for the boom in the American economy in the 1920s was the impact of the First World War’. How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. (10 marks)- War - exporting produce to Europe including food, weapons, ammunition etc. Weapons, supplies etc for

America troops in Europe.- Republican policies – Laissez faire, low taxes etc- Hire Purchase Credit – 8/10 cars brought on HPC

b) Explain why some people opposed the New Deal (6 marks)- Doing too much – Republicans, Rugged Individualism etc- Not doing enough – Democrats eg Huey Long, ‘Share our Wealth’ etc

- The New Deal failed to achieve any of it’s objectives. To what extent do you agree with this statement? (10 marks)

- Failed – eg. Unemployment in 1941, AAA and impact on farmers, lack of progress in improving number of women in work, only 200,000 Black African Americans helped by the New Deal.

- Succeeded – eg. New Society – NRA and Wagner act = impact on unions, CCC helped 2.5 million young men, unemployment = down from 14 million.