Great Depression & New Deal Assignment

Part 1:
SAQ’s #1-3 on page 519

1.
A. The composition of the New Deal political coalition was the democratic party organizations,
labor unions, minorities, and liuberal farm groups.
B. One specific way the New Deal caused a long-term realignment in U.S. politics was the shift
of African Americans from the Republican party to the Democratic party.
C. One specific political challenge to Franklin Roosevelt and his policies were from
conservatives that called for secure pensions.
2.
A. One specific event that contributed to the kind of internal migration depicted in the photo
is the Dust Bowl because it ruined farms.
B. One specific event that contributed to the migration of Mexican Americans in the 1930s is
discrimination in New Deal programs and competition.
C. One specific way the New Deal policies specifically impacted Native Americans because
laws were created to restore the land to Native Americans which encouraged self
government and educational opportunities.
3.
A. One specific similarity between the Great Depression of 1929 and depressions from 1865
to 1900 was an unusually high rate of unemployment and banks and companies went out of
business.
B. One specific similarity between policies of the Progessive era and the New Deal era were
regulating the trusts and big business and limiting laissez-faire.
C. One specific New Deal reform that went beyond the reforms of the Progessive era was the
Fair Labor standards Act which limited work to a 40 hours work week and setting a
minimum wage.

Part 2: New Deal Programs

New Deal Programs Purpose/Definition

1. Emergency Banking Relief Act the government to inspect the financial health
authorized the of all banks

2. The Glass Steagall Act 1933 & the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC)
Glass Steagall Act Prohibited commercial banks
from engaging in the investment business; The
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures
bank deposits with a pool of money
appropriated from banks

3. The Home Owners Loan Corporation allowed one-fifth of all U.S. mortgages to
(HOLC) become refinanced which would prevent
 another Great Depression; restructured home
mortgage payments and lowered mortgage
interest rates for homeowners

4. Farm Credit Administration financial recovery-provided low interest farm

loans and mortgages to prevent foreclosures on
the property of indebted farmers

5. Federal Emergency Relief response to Federal Emergency Relief Act;

Administration FERA headed by Harry Hopkins; fought adult
unemployment, gave money away, short term
solution to unemployment

6. Public Works Administration (PWA) budgeted several billions of dollars to

construction of public work and providing
employment-Improving public welfare.

7. Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) Public work relief program for young men ages
18-25-Built and improved Nat'l forests, state &
city parks and rec areas, conservation projects,
campgrounds

8. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) hired people to build dams and generators,
bringing electricity and jobs to communities
the Tennessee River Valley

9. National Recovery Administration Designed to assist industry, labor, and the

(NRA) unemployed. Businesses that agreed to the
NRA would cooperate with other industries to
create industry-wide codes for minimum wages
and maximum hours

10. Agricultural Adjustment Administration federal law of the New Deal era which reduced
agricultural production by paying farmers
subsidies not to plant on part of their land and
to kill off excess livestock

11. Civil Works Administration (CWA) put people directly on the federal payroll to
repair roads, paint schools, rake leaves, and
build playgrounds

12. Securities and Exchange Commission Enforce and administer the Federal securities
(SEC) laws

13. Federal Housing Administration formed to improve home ownership by

insuring loans so lenders can offer lower down
payments, lower closing costs, and make credit
qualifying easier
 14. Works Progress Administration (WPA) the largest and most ambitious American New
Deal agency, employing millions of unemployed
people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out
public works projects

15. Resettlement Administration (RA) it was designed to resettle low-income families

from rural and urban areas

16. National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act guarantees the right for every employee to
formally organize and to engage in the
collective bargaining process

17. Rural Electrification Administration Created by Executive Order to bring electricity

(REA) to isolated rural areas

18. Social Security Act 1935 A two-tiered system of social insurance

programs and means-tested assistance

19. Fair Labor Standards Act 1. Establish a minimum wage rate

2. Eliminate detrimental working conditions
3. Protect the educational opportunities of
youth

Part 3: Key Concept Wrap Up

1. Explain the causes of the Great Depression

Prosperity in the USA during the 1920s created a cycle of higher employment and incomes.
It led to rise in consumption and demands. More investment and more employment
created tendencies of speculations which led to the Great Depression of 1929 up to the mid
1930s. Stock market crashed in 1929. It created panic among investors and depositors who
stopped investing and depositing. As a result, it created a cycle of depreciation. Failure of
the banks. Some of the banks closed down when people withdrew all their assets, leaving
them unable to invest. Some banks loans taken from them at the same dollar rate in spite of
the falling value of the dollar. It was worsened by British change in policy to value the
pound at the pre-war value.
2. Explain Hoover’s approach to the Great Depression.
Hoover urged businesses not to cut wages, unions not to strike, and private charities to
increase their efforts for the needy and the jobless. He did not want to ask the federal
government for help but think that it should be given from the state and local government.
3. Explain the Bonus Army incident. What effect did it have on Hoover?
The Bonus Army was a group of almost 20,000 WWI veterans who were hard hit victims of
the depression, who wanted what the government owed them for their services and
“saving” democracy. They marched to Washington and set up public camps and erected
shacks on vacant lots. The effect on Hoover’s administration was to put one more nail in its
coffin. Hoover was a classic laissez-faire Republican who had seen other economic booms
 and busts, and thought the government should stay out of the way while the free market
corrected itself.
4. Who were the opponents of the New Deal?
Father Charles E. Coughlin, Dr. Francis E. Townsend, Huey Long, Herbert Hoover, Robert
Taft
5. What was the court reorganization bill of 1937?
The bill proposed that the president be authorized to appoint to the Supreme Court an
additional justice for each current justice who was older than a certain age of 70.5 yrs old.
6. What long term effects did the New Deal have on the federal government, the economy and
society?
The Federal government became directly responsible for people’s well-being in a way it had
not been before. It now made relieff payments, served school lunches, and ran a program
providing pensions. The U.S. economy started growing again. Although the New Deal didn’t
end the Depression. It forever changed the U.S. government. It created the national pension
system. Oversight of labor practices, agricultural price supports, and regulation of the stock
market.