Chapter 34 Reading Guide

The Great Depression and the New Deal 1933-1939

I. Election of 1932

A.FDR: Politician in a Wheelchair

  1. Describe the conditions in the U.S. in 1932.
  2. Describe FDR’s Background.
  3. How did FDR’s struggle with Polio affect his character?
  4. How was Eleanor a political asset to FDR?

B.Presidential Hopefuls of 1932

  1. What was the Democratic and Republican platform in 1932?
  2. Why did FDR call for a balanced budget?

C.Hoover’s Humiliation in 1932

  1. What were the results of the election?
  2. Why did Hoover lose? How did personal style influence the campaign?
  3. How did the election of 1932 shift in the black vote?
  4. What happened to the U.S. during the Lame Duck period?
  5. Why did Hoover try to coordinate policy w/ FDR? Why did FDR avoid this?

II. New Deal Reforms

A. FDR and the Three R’s: Relief, Recovery, Reform

  1. What did Roosevelt mean by saying “ the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”?
  2. Describe and explain the 3 R’s?
  3. How much control did FDR have over legislation in the first hundred days?
  4. Know the charts on pg. 781& 784
  5. How did the Progressive Era influence the New Deal?

B.Roosevelt Tackles Money and Banking

  1. What was the crisis in banking?
  2. How did the “fireside chats” help during the depression?
  3. How did the Emergency Banking Relief Act and the Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act address these problems?
  4. What was the goal of FDR’s currency policy? What was the policy?

C.Creating Jobs for the Jobless

  1. How did the New Deal try to alleviate high unemployment? Be Specific.
  2. What was the chief aim of the F.E.R.A.? Who headed the agency?
  3. How did the New Deal seek to help those with mortgages they couldn’t pay?
  4. What was the purpose of the C.W.A.? What criticisms were directed at the C.W.A.?

D.A Day for Every Demagogue

  1. How were men such as Coughlin, Townshend, and Long threats to FDR politically?
  2. Who was the greatest threat? Why? How did FDR respond to the support these men received?
  3. How did the W.P.A. help relieve unemployment? How did it work? Who headed this agency?

E.A Helping Hand for Industry and Labor

  1. How did the New Deal seek to achieve Industrial Recovery?
  2. How would laws requiring shorter hours help employment?
  3. How did the N.R.A. affect labor?

F.Paying Farmers Not to Farm

  1. How did the Depression exacerbate the problems of American Farmers?
  2. How did the New Deal attempt to deal with agricultural overproduction?
  3. Why and how was the AAA criticized?
  4. What happened to the AAA?
  5. What was it replaced by? How effective were these efforts at relieving farmers?

G.Dust Bowls and Black Blizzards

  1. What were the many causes of the dustbowl?
  2. What were the human results?
  3. How did the New Deal attempt to address the problems of the dustbowl migrants?
  4. How did the New Deal affect Native Americans?
  5. What were the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act?
  6. How was it received?

H.Battling Bankers and Big Business

  1. What did the Federal Securities Act require?
  2. What was the purpose of the Securities and Exchange Commission?
  3. How did the New Deal affect Public Utility Holding Companies (Utility Monopolies)?

I.The TVA Harnesses the Tennessee River

  1. What was the purpose of the TVA?
  2. What “yardstick” did the TVA attempt to establish?
  3. How was the TVA criticized?
  4. What were the accomplishments of the TVA?

J.Housing Reform and Social Security

  1. What was the purpose of the Federal Housing Administration?
  2. What was the purpose of the US Housing Authority?
  3. How successful were these programs?
  4. What was the purpose of the Social Security Act?
  5. How did it change the relationship between people and its government?

K.A New Deal for Unskilled Labor

  1. How did Congress protect the rights of labor? What were the provisions of this legislation.
  2. How did unskilled labor become a force during the New Deal?
  3. Who organized the CIO? How was it organized? Evaluate its effectiveness.
  4. Why did the CIO split with the AF of L?
  5. What tactic did the CIO use at the General Motors Strike in Flint, Michigan? Why did it work?
  6. What resulted in the attempt to unionize Big Steel? Little Steel?
  7. How did the Fair Labor Standards Act improve conditions for labor?

III. Electoral Successes and Judicial Challenges to the New Deal

  1. Landon Challenges “ the Champ” in 1936
  2. Who was the Republican candidate? What was his attitude towards the New Deal?
  3. How did the Republican platform view the New Deal?
  4. What was the result of the election?
  5. Why did FDR win? What groups belonged to the New Democratic Coalition?
  1. Nine Old Men on the Supreme Bench
  2. What was the 20th amendment?
  3. How did the Courts react to the New Deal?
  4. How did FDR react to Supreme Court Obstructionism? Explain his plan.
  5. How did FDR defend the Court packing plan? What was his real reason?
  1. The Court Changes Course
  2. Describe and explain the nation’s reaction to the Court Packing Scheme.
  3. How was the Supreme Court affected by Owen Roberts switching votes in support of New Deal legislation?
  4. How did the Court reform bill affect the Supreme Court?
  5. Explain the significance of the FDR’s 1st setback in losing the Court Packing fight. Why was this plan a “catastrophic miscalculation”?

IV. End of the New Deal and Evaluation

  1. The Twilight of the New Deal
  2. How successful was FDR’s 1st term in ending the Depression?
  3. Why did the 1937 “Roosevelt Recession” occur?
  4. How did FDR respond? What is Keynesian economics?
  5. What was the Hatch Act? How did it affect politics?
  6. Explain the significance of the Congressional Elections of 1938 regarding the New Deal?
  1. New Deal or Raw Deal
  2. Explain the criticisms of the New Deal.
  3. How did the New Deal affect the bureaucracy? The National Debt?
  4. What did FDR attempt to do with conservative southern Democrats who opposed his New Deal legislation in 1938? How did it lead to a backlash against the New Deal?
  5. What was the most damning indictment of the New Deal?
  6. How was the unemployment problem finally solved?
  1. FDR’s Balance Sheet
  2. How did supporters defend the New Deal?
  3. Assess this statement: FDR and his New Deal saved capitalism.
  1. Varying Viewpoints: How Radical Was the New Deal
  2. Why does Schlesinger Jr. believe that there would have been a New Deal without the Depression?
  3. What did Degler believe about the New Deal?
  4. How did the Left criticize the New Deal?
  5. What was the view of the “Constraints School” about the New Deal?
  6. What were there findings?
  7. What is the best proof of the “Constraints School” conclusions?