Chapter 33: The Great Depression and the New Deal Study Guide
Chapter #33: Identifications
Eleanor Roosevelt: Presidential wife who became an effective lobbyist for the poor during the New Deal
Harry Hopkins: Former New York social worker who became an influential FDR adviser and head of several New Deal agencies.
Frances Perkins: Roosevelt's secretary of labor, America's first female cabinet member.
Father Coughlin: The "microphone messiah" of Michigan whose mass radio appeals turned anti-New Deal and anti-Semitic.
Huey Long: Louisiana senator and popular mass agitator who promised to make "every man a king" at the expense of the wealthy. Give every poor family $5000.
Francis Townsend: Leader of senior citizen movement who called for the federal government to pay $200 a month to everyone over sixty.
Harold Ickes: Former Bull Moose progressive who spent billions of federal dollars on public building projects while carefully guarding against waste.
Alfred M. Landon: Republican who carried only two states in a futile campaign against "The Champ" (FDR) in 1936.
Brain Trust(s): A small group of reform-minded intellectuals, predominately young college professors, who advised FDR and authored much of the New Deal legislation.
The three R's: Relief was for right now like food and shelter, recovery was for a year or so to get out of the Depression, and reform was to ensure that it would never happen again.
National Labor Relation Board: Created by the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act it was created in the 1930's by Congressman Wagner who was sympathetic to labor unions. The National Labor Relation Board was an administrative board that gave laborers the rights of self-organization and collective bargaining.
Congress of Industrial Organizations: Led by John L. Lewis. Group of unskilled laborers and had success in many large strikes in the auto and steel industries. Had 4 million members by 1940.
Liberty League: Consisted of conservatist Democrats and rich Republicans.
Court-packing scheme: An attempt by Roosevelt to add judges to the Supreme Court that would support his New Deal. The bill was highly opposed, hurt Roosevelt's reputation, and the bill was rejected by Congress.
Chapter #33 Guided Reading Questions
FDR: A Politician in a Wheelchair
Know: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt
1. What kind of man was FDR?
FDR was Tall, athletic, and handsome but suffered from polio in 1921, and was confined to a wheelchair. He empathized with the “forgotten man” and his wife, Eleanor, was the most active first lady in history. Eleanor strongly influenced government policies. He was a great speaker and was the first person to accept the presidential nomination.
Presidential Hopefuls of 1932
2. What was Roosevelt's campaign message in the 1932 election?
Roosevelt’s campaign message was that “Happy Days are Here Again.” One of his buzzwords was confidence and the Democrats appealed to the common man and exuded confidence.
The Humiliation of Hoover in 1932
3. What were the immediate results of Roosevelt's victory?
Black voters switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. With Washington deadlocked, the vast and vaunted American economic machine clanked to a virtual halt. One worker in four tramped the streets, feet weary and hands idle. Banks were locking their doors all over the nation, as people nervously stuffed paper money under their mattrsses.
FDR and the Three R's: Relief, Recovery, Reform
Know: New Deal, Banking Holiday, Hundred Days, Three R's,
4. Describe the New Deal.
The New Deal consisted of the Three R’s: Relief, Recovery, and Reform. Relief was fir the right-now (food, shelter), recovery was for a year or so to get out of the Depression, and reform was to ensure it would not happen again. FDR’s first hundred days saw a shipload of bills passed into law.
Roosevelt Manages the Money
Know: Fireside Chats, Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Managed Currency
5. What were the key aspects of FDR's monetary policy?
In only eight hours, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act which set up the banking holiday. Roosevelt used Fireside Chats to talk to America through the radio. He went over what the problems were and what was being done about them. The Glass Steagall Banking Reform Act set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation which insured people’s money in the bank up to $5000.
Creating Jobs for the Jobless
Know: Pump Priming, CCC, FERA, Harry Hopkins, AAA, HOLC, CWA
6. Explain the difference between New Deal agencies and what radical critics wanted the government to do.
One of FDR’s main weapons was to prime the pump, or use federal money on programs in hopes that it would jump start the economy to run on its own. The most popular was the CCC. Young men were hired to work in national forests to clear land, blaze trails, plant trees, drain swamps, etc. The CCC provided some experience, some adventure, and a wage to send home. The FERA sought relief in the form of the dole. The AAA offered low interest loans to farmers. The HOLC refinanced people’s homes at lower interest rates and the CWA provided temporary jobs to see folks through a short period. Many of the jobs were “made-up”, called boondoggling.
A Day for Every Demagogue
Know: Father Charles Coughlin, Huey Long, Dr. Francis E. Townsend, WPA
7. List other historical demagogues.
Coughlin: He was at first pro-FDR, the very anti-New Deal.
Long: Spoke of giving $5000 per family to the poor, likely taking it from those who had it
Townsend: Proposed $200/ month to 5 million senior citizens
New Visibility for Women
Know: Frances Perkins, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, Pearl Buck
8. Explain the factors that made it possible for these women to gain fame.
Perkins: The first female cabinet member as the Secretary of Labor
Bethune: Was in charge of the Office of Minority Affairs, the highest ranking black in FDR’s administration.
Benedict: An Anthropologist who studied cultures as personalities in Patterns of Cultures
Mead: Understudy of Benedict and wrote the landmark anthropology book Coning of Age in Samoa.
Buck: Novelist who wrote the timeless The Good Earth about a peasant farm family and won the Nobel Prize
Helping Industry and Labor
Know: NRA, Sick Chicken Decision, PWA, Harold Ickes
9. How did the NRA attempt to restore industry?
They attempted to combine immediate relief with long-range recovery and reform andnd assist the industry, labor, and unemployed. Individual industries made codes of fair competition -> reduced hours for more employment -> restored industry. Maximum work hours and minimum wages were set and were granted benefits to labor.
Paying Farmers Not to Farm
10. How did the federal government attempt to help farmers?
America fell into depression after WWI and the farmers were in trouble. The AAA was created, basically paying farmers to not farm and tried to help farmers by creating “artificial scarcity.” Parity prices were set and the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1938 was passed, paying farmers to plant crops what preserved and reinvigorated the soil, like soybeans. The Second AAA was passed and encouraged farmers to plant less acreage in exchange for payments.
Dust Bowls and Black Blizzards
Know: Dust Bowl, Okies and Arkies, The Grapes of Wrath, Indian Reorganization Act
11. How did nature cause problems for some farmers on the plains?
The Dust Bowl made the fertile topsoil of many farms blow away, mostly in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. This was caused by the drought and wind but also because of the dry-farming technique that they had been using. People moved to the west, more notably California. Congress tried to aid debtors by passing the Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act which held off mortgage foreclosures for five years.
Makers of America: The Dust Bowl Migrants
Know: San Joaquin Valley, Farm Security Administration, Okievilles
12. In what ways were things better in California? In what ways were they the same?
The great depression caused many people from eastern Colorado, northern Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and western Missouri to hit the road. ¼ of those people came to California. These people were called Okies and Arkies. California didn’t have as many jobs as it was portrayed. The San Joaquin Valley was very similar to the old homes of the migrants, showing the parallel qualities of the state of California. The Farm Securities Administration set up camps and houses to help the Okies. Eventually, Okievilles developed in California, bringing in western music, pecan pie, and evangelical religion to the Far West.
Battling Bankers and Big Business
Know: Federal Securities Act, SEC
13. "Reformist New Dealers were determined from the outset to curb the `money changers....'" Explain.
Reformist determination is seen in their actions of the Hundred Days Congress. They passed the “Truth in Securities Act” often called the Federal Securities Act. This act required promoters to transmit to the investor sworn information regarding the soundness of their stocks and bonds. Congress took further steps to protect the public against fraud, deception, and inside manipulation when it authorized the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934. This act made stock markets operate in more of trading market rather than gambling. Finally, in 1935 the Public Holding Company Act was put into action, putting a “death sentence” on bloated growths of businesses, except where it might be economically needful.
The TVA Harnesses the Tennessee River
Know: TVA, Creeping Socialism
14. What arguments were used for and against the TVA project?
Against: “planned economy”, “creeping socialism in concrete”, Utility corp. accused TVA of dishonest bookkeeping, the absence of taxes, and too much government control.
For: Full employment, cheap electric power, low-cost housing, abundant cheap nitrates, Reforestation, navigation, and flood control.
Housing Reform and Social Security
Know: FHA, Social Security
15. How did the FHA and Social Security attempt to help some of society's least fortunate?
The FHA was set up to offer low interest home loans. It got people in homes and put people to work by building them. The Social Security Act set up a payment for old age, handicapped, delinquent children, and other dependents.
A New Deal for Labor
Know: Wagner Act, National Labor Relations Board, CIO, John L. Lewis, Sit-down Strike
16. How did labor respond to the improvement of conditions brought about by the New Deal?
There were strikes and walkouts in 1934 and Congress struck down the National Recovery Administration. They passed the Wagner Act which guaranteed the right of the unions to organize and to collectively bargain with management. Under the management of the National Labor Relations Board, unskilled workers began to organize into effective unions. John L. Lewis, who was the head of the United Mine Workers, formed the Committee of Industrial Organization. They led series of strikes, including the sit-down strike at General Motors automobile factory in 1936.
Landon Challenges "the Champ”
Know: Alfred Landon, American Liberty League
17. What was the significance of the 1936 election?
The Republican nomination was Alfred Landon who was the governor of Kansas. He criticized FDR’s massive spending but supported much of FDR’s New Deal. He was weak on radio and personal campaign. In 1934, the American Liberty League was formed by conservative Democrats and wealthy Republicans. They were against the “socialist” New Deal. FDR won the election easily because he appealed to the “forgotten man” and oforged a powerful and enduring coalition of the south, blacks, urbanites, and the poor.
Nine Old Men on the Supreme Bench
18. Why did Roosevelt ask Congress for a bill that would allow him to add justices to the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court kept blocking Roosevelt's programs. FDR proposed increasing the Supreme Court to perhaps 15 justices. This would greatly increase his powers. Congress voted against him because it did not want to lose its power. Roosevelt was ripped for trying to become a dictator.
The Court Changes Course
Know: Court Packing, Hugo Black
19. What were the consequences of FDR's attempt to pack the Court?
FDR’s “court-packing scheme” failed and some justices to start to vote his way (Owen J. Roberts, a former conservative). The failure showed that Americans did not want to tamper with the justice system. He was widely accused of trying to turn into a dictator.
The Twilight of the New Deal
Know: Roosevelt Recession, John Maynard Keynes, Hatch Act
20. Assess the successfulness of FDR in his second term.
FDR’s second term was not as successful as his first. In 1937, the economy took another brief downturn when the “Roosevelt Recession,” caused by government policies. Finally, FDR embraced the policies of British economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1937, FDR announced a bold program to stimulate the economy by planned deficit spending. In 1939, Congress relented to FDR’s pressure and passed the Reorganization Act, which gave him limited powers for administrative reforms, including the key new Executive Office in the White House. The Hatch Act of 1939 barred federal administrative officials, except the highest policy-making officers, from active political campaigning and soliciting.
New Deal or Raw Deal?
21. What criticism of the New Deal seems most fair to you? Least fair?
Most fair: Critics were shocked by the “try anything” attitude of FDR, who had increased the federal debt from $19.487 million in 1932 to $40.440 million in 1939.
Least fair: Foes of the New Deal condemned its waste, citing that nothing had been accomplished.
Varying Viewpoints: How Radical Was the New Deal
Know: Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Carl Degler, Constraints School of Historians, New Deal Coalition
22. What did William Leuechtenburg mean when he called the New Deal a "half-way revolution?" (Your answer should focus more on the information before this term than on the information after it.)
It was not too radical but not conservative and was created in response to the Great Depression. It was the first time government assisted people to help hardships and went against capital ideals.
Eleanor Roosevelt: Presidential wife who became an effective lobbyist for the poor during the New Deal
Harry Hopkins: Former New York social worker who became an influential FDR adviser and head of several New Deal agencies.
Frances Perkins: Roosevelt's secretary of labor, America's first female cabinet member.
Father Coughlin: The "microphone messiah" of Michigan whose mass radio appeals turned anti-New Deal and anti-Semitic.
Huey Long: Louisiana senator and popular mass agitator who promised to make "every man a king" at the expense of the wealthy. Give every poor family $5000.
Francis Townsend: Leader of senior citizen movement who called for the federal government to pay $200 a month to everyone over sixty.
Harold Ickes: Former Bull Moose progressive who spent billions of federal dollars on public building projects while carefully guarding against waste.
Alfred M. Landon: Republican who carried only two states in a futile campaign against "The Champ" (FDR) in 1936.
Brain Trust(s): A small group of reform-minded intellectuals, predominately young college professors, who advised FDR and authored much of the New Deal legislation.
The three R's: Relief was for right now like food and shelter, recovery was for a year or so to get out of the Depression, and reform was to ensure that it would never happen again.
National Labor Relation Board: Created by the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act it was created in the 1930's by Congressman Wagner who was sympathetic to labor unions. The National Labor Relation Board was an administrative board that gave laborers the rights of self-organization and collective bargaining.
Congress of Industrial Organizations: Led by John L. Lewis. Group of unskilled laborers and had success in many large strikes in the auto and steel industries. Had 4 million members by 1940.
Liberty League: Consisted of conservatist Democrats and rich Republicans.
Court-packing scheme: An attempt by Roosevelt to add judges to the Supreme Court that would support his New Deal. The bill was highly opposed, hurt Roosevelt's reputation, and the bill was rejected by Congress.
Chapter #33 Guided Reading Questions
FDR: A Politician in a Wheelchair
Know: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt
1. What kind of man was FDR?
FDR was Tall, athletic, and handsome but suffered from polio in 1921, and was confined to a wheelchair. He empathized with the “forgotten man” and his wife, Eleanor, was the most active first lady in history. Eleanor strongly influenced government policies. He was a great speaker and was the first person to accept the presidential nomination.
Presidential Hopefuls of 1932
2. What was Roosevelt's campaign message in the 1932 election?
Roosevelt’s campaign message was that “Happy Days are Here Again.” One of his buzzwords was confidence and the Democrats appealed to the common man and exuded confidence.
The Humiliation of Hoover in 1932
3. What were the immediate results of Roosevelt's victory?
Black voters switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. With Washington deadlocked, the vast and vaunted American economic machine clanked to a virtual halt. One worker in four tramped the streets, feet weary and hands idle. Banks were locking their doors all over the nation, as people nervously stuffed paper money under their mattrsses.
FDR and the Three R's: Relief, Recovery, Reform
Know: New Deal, Banking Holiday, Hundred Days, Three R's,
4. Describe the New Deal.
The New Deal consisted of the Three R’s: Relief, Recovery, and Reform. Relief was fir the right-now (food, shelter), recovery was for a year or so to get out of the Depression, and reform was to ensure it would not happen again. FDR’s first hundred days saw a shipload of bills passed into law.
Roosevelt Manages the Money
Know: Fireside Chats, Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Managed Currency
5. What were the key aspects of FDR's monetary policy?
In only eight hours, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act which set up the banking holiday. Roosevelt used Fireside Chats to talk to America through the radio. He went over what the problems were and what was being done about them. The Glass Steagall Banking Reform Act set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation which insured people’s money in the bank up to $5000.
Creating Jobs for the Jobless
Know: Pump Priming, CCC, FERA, Harry Hopkins, AAA, HOLC, CWA
6. Explain the difference between New Deal agencies and what radical critics wanted the government to do.
One of FDR’s main weapons was to prime the pump, or use federal money on programs in hopes that it would jump start the economy to run on its own. The most popular was the CCC. Young men were hired to work in national forests to clear land, blaze trails, plant trees, drain swamps, etc. The CCC provided some experience, some adventure, and a wage to send home. The FERA sought relief in the form of the dole. The AAA offered low interest loans to farmers. The HOLC refinanced people’s homes at lower interest rates and the CWA provided temporary jobs to see folks through a short period. Many of the jobs were “made-up”, called boondoggling.
A Day for Every Demagogue
Know: Father Charles Coughlin, Huey Long, Dr. Francis E. Townsend, WPA
7. List other historical demagogues.
Coughlin: He was at first pro-FDR, the very anti-New Deal.
Long: Spoke of giving $5000 per family to the poor, likely taking it from those who had it
Townsend: Proposed $200/ month to 5 million senior citizens
New Visibility for Women
Know: Frances Perkins, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, Pearl Buck
8. Explain the factors that made it possible for these women to gain fame.
Perkins: The first female cabinet member as the Secretary of Labor
Bethune: Was in charge of the Office of Minority Affairs, the highest ranking black in FDR’s administration.
Benedict: An Anthropologist who studied cultures as personalities in Patterns of Cultures
Mead: Understudy of Benedict and wrote the landmark anthropology book Coning of Age in Samoa.
Buck: Novelist who wrote the timeless The Good Earth about a peasant farm family and won the Nobel Prize
Helping Industry and Labor
Know: NRA, Sick Chicken Decision, PWA, Harold Ickes
9. How did the NRA attempt to restore industry?
They attempted to combine immediate relief with long-range recovery and reform andnd assist the industry, labor, and unemployed. Individual industries made codes of fair competition -> reduced hours for more employment -> restored industry. Maximum work hours and minimum wages were set and were granted benefits to labor.
Paying Farmers Not to Farm
10. How did the federal government attempt to help farmers?
America fell into depression after WWI and the farmers were in trouble. The AAA was created, basically paying farmers to not farm and tried to help farmers by creating “artificial scarcity.” Parity prices were set and the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1938 was passed, paying farmers to plant crops what preserved and reinvigorated the soil, like soybeans. The Second AAA was passed and encouraged farmers to plant less acreage in exchange for payments.
Dust Bowls and Black Blizzards
Know: Dust Bowl, Okies and Arkies, The Grapes of Wrath, Indian Reorganization Act
11. How did nature cause problems for some farmers on the plains?
The Dust Bowl made the fertile topsoil of many farms blow away, mostly in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. This was caused by the drought and wind but also because of the dry-farming technique that they had been using. People moved to the west, more notably California. Congress tried to aid debtors by passing the Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act which held off mortgage foreclosures for five years.
Makers of America: The Dust Bowl Migrants
Know: San Joaquin Valley, Farm Security Administration, Okievilles
12. In what ways were things better in California? In what ways were they the same?
The great depression caused many people from eastern Colorado, northern Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and western Missouri to hit the road. ¼ of those people came to California. These people were called Okies and Arkies. California didn’t have as many jobs as it was portrayed. The San Joaquin Valley was very similar to the old homes of the migrants, showing the parallel qualities of the state of California. The Farm Securities Administration set up camps and houses to help the Okies. Eventually, Okievilles developed in California, bringing in western music, pecan pie, and evangelical religion to the Far West.
Battling Bankers and Big Business
Know: Federal Securities Act, SEC
13. "Reformist New Dealers were determined from the outset to curb the `money changers....'" Explain.
Reformist determination is seen in their actions of the Hundred Days Congress. They passed the “Truth in Securities Act” often called the Federal Securities Act. This act required promoters to transmit to the investor sworn information regarding the soundness of their stocks and bonds. Congress took further steps to protect the public against fraud, deception, and inside manipulation when it authorized the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934. This act made stock markets operate in more of trading market rather than gambling. Finally, in 1935 the Public Holding Company Act was put into action, putting a “death sentence” on bloated growths of businesses, except where it might be economically needful.
The TVA Harnesses the Tennessee River
Know: TVA, Creeping Socialism
14. What arguments were used for and against the TVA project?
Against: “planned economy”, “creeping socialism in concrete”, Utility corp. accused TVA of dishonest bookkeeping, the absence of taxes, and too much government control.
For: Full employment, cheap electric power, low-cost housing, abundant cheap nitrates, Reforestation, navigation, and flood control.
Housing Reform and Social Security
Know: FHA, Social Security
15. How did the FHA and Social Security attempt to help some of society's least fortunate?
The FHA was set up to offer low interest home loans. It got people in homes and put people to work by building them. The Social Security Act set up a payment for old age, handicapped, delinquent children, and other dependents.
A New Deal for Labor
Know: Wagner Act, National Labor Relations Board, CIO, John L. Lewis, Sit-down Strike
16. How did labor respond to the improvement of conditions brought about by the New Deal?
There were strikes and walkouts in 1934 and Congress struck down the National Recovery Administration. They passed the Wagner Act which guaranteed the right of the unions to organize and to collectively bargain with management. Under the management of the National Labor Relations Board, unskilled workers began to organize into effective unions. John L. Lewis, who was the head of the United Mine Workers, formed the Committee of Industrial Organization. They led series of strikes, including the sit-down strike at General Motors automobile factory in 1936.
Landon Challenges "the Champ”
Know: Alfred Landon, American Liberty League
17. What was the significance of the 1936 election?
The Republican nomination was Alfred Landon who was the governor of Kansas. He criticized FDR’s massive spending but supported much of FDR’s New Deal. He was weak on radio and personal campaign. In 1934, the American Liberty League was formed by conservative Democrats and wealthy Republicans. They were against the “socialist” New Deal. FDR won the election easily because he appealed to the “forgotten man” and oforged a powerful and enduring coalition of the south, blacks, urbanites, and the poor.
Nine Old Men on the Supreme Bench
18. Why did Roosevelt ask Congress for a bill that would allow him to add justices to the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court kept blocking Roosevelt's programs. FDR proposed increasing the Supreme Court to perhaps 15 justices. This would greatly increase his powers. Congress voted against him because it did not want to lose its power. Roosevelt was ripped for trying to become a dictator.
The Court Changes Course
Know: Court Packing, Hugo Black
19. What were the consequences of FDR's attempt to pack the Court?
FDR’s “court-packing scheme” failed and some justices to start to vote his way (Owen J. Roberts, a former conservative). The failure showed that Americans did not want to tamper with the justice system. He was widely accused of trying to turn into a dictator.
The Twilight of the New Deal
Know: Roosevelt Recession, John Maynard Keynes, Hatch Act
20. Assess the successfulness of FDR in his second term.
FDR’s second term was not as successful as his first. In 1937, the economy took another brief downturn when the “Roosevelt Recession,” caused by government policies. Finally, FDR embraced the policies of British economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1937, FDR announced a bold program to stimulate the economy by planned deficit spending. In 1939, Congress relented to FDR’s pressure and passed the Reorganization Act, which gave him limited powers for administrative reforms, including the key new Executive Office in the White House. The Hatch Act of 1939 barred federal administrative officials, except the highest policy-making officers, from active political campaigning and soliciting.
New Deal or Raw Deal?
21. What criticism of the New Deal seems most fair to you? Least fair?
Most fair: Critics were shocked by the “try anything” attitude of FDR, who had increased the federal debt from $19.487 million in 1932 to $40.440 million in 1939.
Least fair: Foes of the New Deal condemned its waste, citing that nothing had been accomplished.
Varying Viewpoints: How Radical Was the New Deal
Know: Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Carl Degler, Constraints School of Historians, New Deal Coalition
22. What did William Leuechtenburg mean when he called the New Deal a "half-way revolution?" (Your answer should focus more on the information before this term than on the information after it.)
It was not too radical but not conservative and was created in response to the Great Depression. It was the first time government assisted people to help hardships and went against capital ideals.