How Successful was the New Deal? (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE History): Flashcards

True.

The TVA built 16 hydroelectric dams by 1944 to prevent flooding and soil erosion, and also provided cheap hydroelectricity.

False.

The Economy Act cut the wages of all government employees by 15%, including Roosevelt's own, which freed up $1 billion to help the unemployed.

The Second New Deal was the set of reforms introduced by Roosevelt in 1935 that strengthened workers' rights, created a national welfare state and enforced a national minimum wage.

Roosevelt introduced the Second New Deal in 1935.

There were still 11 million unemployed Americans in 1935.

The Supreme Court ruled that FDR had overreached his powers as president.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 replaced the NRA.

The Social Security Act of 1935 created a national social welfare system that included old-age pensions, disability payments and unemployment payments.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) became the US's biggest employer.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 enforced a minimum wage, as well as limiting working hours and improving working conditions.

The Soil Conservation Act of 1935 replaced the AAA and helped resolve soil erosion caused by the Dust Bowl.

The Resettlement Administration of 1935 aimed to move 500,000 families but only resettled about 5,000 families.

False.

The system only covered a third of workers and did not support farmers or workers in private households, with pension payments as low as $85 a month.

True.

With the American people set to decide whether to keep or replace FDR in 1936, he wanted to ensure he won the election.

Small government is the Republican belief that the government should stay out of people's lives and leave them to succeed or fail on their own.

Republicans believed the New Deal would make Americans lazy and cause them to wait for government handouts.

Roosevelt increased the amount of tax that wealthy people paid to help pay for the New Deal.

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) forced business leaders to pay a minimum wage and improve working conditions.

Huey Long, a senator from Louisiana, argued that the New Deal did not go far enough.

Huey Long argued that every penny a person owned over $5 million should be confiscated by the government and distributed amongst the American people.

The Supreme Court was the body that ruled Roosevelt had broken the rules over how much power a president has by acting through the NRA and AAA.

The Supreme Court ruled that the AAA had paid farmers to not grow food, which was the role of the state governments, not the president.

Under Huey Long's plans, the redistributed money would give every family a house, a radio and a car.

The Supreme Court ruled that the NRA had tried to set prices and wages that only Congress, not the president, could do.

False.

Some opponents, such as the radical Huey Long, argued that the New Deal did not go far enough in correcting the problems in American society.

True.

Wealthy people deeply resented their money being used to plant trees or being given to homeless people.

There were 12.8 million unemployed Americans when Roosevelt became president in 1933.

By 1941, unemployment had been slashed to 5.6 million Americans.

Unemployment never fell below 10 per cent during the 1930s.

Improvements in manufacturing meant that fewer workers were needed to produce goods.

Disposable income is the spare money workers can spend on consumer goods, which many Americans lacked because unemployment was high and wages were low.

Sales of consumer goods such as cars, radios, vacuum cleaners and refrigerators were low because workers lacked disposable income.

The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, and the US's entry in 1941, finally dragged America out of the Great Depression.

Factories that had been built to make cars were soon making thousands of planes, tanks and guns.

By 1944, there were just 670,000 unemployed Americans.

Tariffs on US goods affected exports, which was one reason unemployment continued.

True.

The combined effect of booming industry and agriculture and people joining the armed forces almost eliminated unemployment, falling to 670,000 by 1944.

False.

Low sales of consumer goods led to the closure of businesses that made them and contributed to the persistently high unemployment figures.

Frances Perkins was appointed by Roosevelt as Secretary of Labor, the first woman in history to have a cabinet job in the US government.

The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) reduced the number of farmers losing their land and improved profits.

After the New Deal, more Black Americans supported the Democrats, having previously supported the Republican Party.

By 1939, 9.5 million US citizens remained unemployed.

The New Deal benefitted skilled workers more than unskilled workers.

The NRA purposefully set wages lower for women than for men.

Sharecroppers were farmers who, when the AAA encouraged reduced production, were forced to leave farming and head to industrial cities to find work.

Roosevelt refused to pass the anti-lynching bill because he needed the support of southern Democrats who supported White supremacy.

The Civilian Conservation Corps had segregated camps for Black workers.

After 1935, many vulnerable people in society benefitted from the Social Security Act.

False.

The NRA paid Black workers less than white workers, and many Black Americans continued to work in low-paying jobs.

True.

The WPA employed women, though it mainly gave them unskilled jobs.