- Occurred in October 1929.

- Caused by a crash in the Stock Markets. 1) The Emergency Banking Act – Roosevelt shut down
the banks for two days and had them all checked out.
- People had been investing in the Stock
5000 trustworthy banks were reopened; they were to
Market because the value of shares kept
be backed by the government if necessary.
rising.
2) The Federal Emergency Relief Administration – this
- This made them borrow money to buy even
acted on the needs of the poor. A sum of $500
more shares. Before selling these shares for
a profit (not keeping them for very long). million was spent on soup kitchens, blankets,
employment schemes and nursery schools.
This was called speculation.
Key Facts: 3) The Civilian Conservation Corps – aimed at young
- When people started to sell shares their
value decreased. unemployed men in particular. They could sign up
- In 1920 there had been only 4
for periods of six months which could be
- This meant that the people who had million share owners in America.
borrowed money were left in massive debt. renewed. Most of their work was done on
- By 1929 there were 20 million.
- Unemployment started to rise as companies environmental projects in national parks. 2.5
- There were 600,000 speculators
million young men were helped by this scheme.
4) The Agricultural Adjustment Administration – set
quotas to reduce farm production in order to
increase prices. Helped modernise farms,
Impacts of the Wall Street Crash: however this put farm labourers out of work.
5) The National Industrial Recovery Act:
1) The Wealthy: Rockefeller lost 80% of wealth – left with $40 million
2) The Banks: 1929 – 659 banks went bankrupt, 1930 – 1,352 went bankrupt, 1931 – 2,294 banks went
- Public Works Administration – used
bankrupt, and overall $1 billion have been removed from these banks by investors. government money to build schools, roads,
dams, bridges and airports. Great for the
3) Industry and Farming: Industrial and farm production fell by 40% and wages by 60% between
long term and created millions of jobs.
1928 and 1933. Farm income had dropped to $5 billion per year.
- The National Recovery Administration –
4) Unemployment: By 1933 14 million workers had been made unemployed. Unemployment in
the steel city of Cleveland hit 50% and Toledo 80% improved working conditions in industry and
outlawed child labour. It also set fair wages and
5) The Human Cost: New slums were created and caused ‘Hoovervilles’ and in New York in 1932
238 people were admitted to hospital for malnutrition. 45 died? sensible levels of production. It was voluntary,
but firms which joined used the blue eagle as a
6) WWI Veterans: WWI veterans marched on Washington to ask for their war bonus to be
symbol of presidential approval. Over 2 million
paid early. Hoover asks General MacArthur to deal with them, but to treat them with
employers joined the scheme.
respect. MacArthur ignored these orders and burnt their camp down. Hoover refused to
condemn MacArthur, instead he stood by him. 6) The Tennessee Valley Authority – this cut across an
area of seven states which were particularly poor.
The authority built dams which irrigated dried out
land, created electricity to those who had none, and
The Campaign: created thousands of jobs in the area.

- Unlike Hoover (Republican), Roosevelt (Democrat) wanted to do something.

- He carried out a campaign of some 20,800km giving 16 major speeches and a further 60 from the back of
the train. He promised a ‘New Deal’.
- Roosevelt won by 7 million votes (a huge margin)
 Bethune. She was also African American. Schechter Poultry Corporation vs NRA
a
Problems in the Supreme Court: The Schechter Poultry Corporation had
been found guilty of:
- Although he won a huge victory in 1936,
Roosevelt’s problems were far from over. 1) Selling diseased chickens for
Despite his achievements, by May 1935 Roosevelt was
human consumption.
facing severe criticism from all sides. People like Senator Women - He now faced the most powerful enemy of
Huey Long, for example, thought that he wasn’t doing 2) Filing false sales claims (to
the New Deal – The Supreme Court, which
enough. Roosevelt met with his ‘brains trust’ and decided -The New Deal saw many women
was controlled by the Republicans. make the company worth
to take even further action. achieve prominent positions
more)
including Eleanor Roosevelt. - In May 1935 the case highlighted to the
1) The Wagner Act – forced all employers to allow right came to the Supreme Court (The 3) Exploiting its workers
trade unions to operate in their companies and -The National Youth Administration
Schechter Poultry Corporation).
to let them negotiate with employers for better was a woman, Mary Macleod 4) Threatening government
pay and conditions. The act made it illegal to Bethune. She was also African - The company appealed to the Supreme inspectors.
sack workers for being in a union. American. Court, who overturned the prosecution,
2) The Social Security Act – provided state pensions claiming that the federal government had
-Frances Perkins was the Secretary of
for the elderly and for widows and allowed state no right to prosecute the company. In fact, Opposition to the New Deal:
Labour and a key New Deal figure.
and federal governments to work together to the Supreme Court (Republican controlled)
help the sick and disabled. It also set up -Most of the New Deal programmes claimed that the NRA was unconstitutional 1) It’s not doing enough – Huey Long,
unemployment insurance for workers. were aimed at men, only 8,000 (illegal) because it took too much power Governor of Louisiana in 1928 (and
3) The Works Progress Administration – later women benefited from the CCC. away from the local states. senator 1932) believed in taxing big
renamed the Works Project Administration business and giving to the poor. He
united all of the projects put together to create -Local governments sought to avoid - Roosevelt was furious. He asked Congress proposed ‘Share Our Wealth’
jobs. Also extended to unemployed actors etc. paying women social security by to give him power to appoint six more (personal fortunes no more than $3
For example 80,000 photos of farming were introducing special qualifications and Supreme Court judges who were million and maximum earning $1
taken and displayed locally as part of the Federal conditions. sympathetic to the New Deal and would million a year). Free washing
Arts Project. overturn this ruling (by changing the machines and radios for the over
balance of power in the Supreme Court. 60s! Assassinated 1935. Dr Francis
4) The Resettlement Administration – helped
smallholders and tenant farmers who had not Townsend (founder of Townsend
- However, the American public were scared
been helped by the AAA. It moved over 500,000 Clubs) campaigned for a pension of
by this behaviour. They saw it as Roosevelt
families to better quality housing. The Farm $200 per month for the over 60s.
attacking the American style of government
Security Administration replaced the RA in 1937. Father Coughlin set up the National
and behaving like a dictator. Roosevelt had
It gave special loans to small farmers to help Union for Social Justice.
to abandon his plans.
them buy their land. It also built camps to help
2) It’s doing too much – Republicans
migrant workers. - However, the Supreme Court were also
and section of the business
shaken by Roosevelt’s threats and were
community claimed that: there were
much less obstructive in the future. Most of
too many codes and regulations, the
Roosevelt’s Second New Deal was approved
free market should deal with the
after 1937.
issues, Roosevelt was behaving like a
dictator. There was even a smear
campaign against Roosevelt claiming
that he was disabled due to an STD
rather than Polio.

The outcome? Roosevelt won the

1936 election gaining 27 million
votes!!
A New Society? Industrial Workers
- The NRA and second new Deal
- The New Deal restored the faith of strengthened the position of
the American people in their the labour unions.
government.
- Some labour unions joined
- It handled billions of dollars of public forces in 1935 to form the
money with no corruption. For Committee for Industrial
example, Harold Hopkins distributed Organisation (CIO).
$10 billion but never drew more - The Union of Automobile
than his salary of $15,000. The Workers (UAW) was recognised
Secretary of the Interior, Harold by two very anti-union
Ickes, actually tapped the phones of organisations: General Motors in
his employees to ensure there was 1936 and Ford in 1941.
no corruption. There was none.
- However, many strikes
- However, others accused Ickes and continued to be broken up with
Hopkins of being Communist and violence and companies such as
anti-business (because they Ford and Chrysler employed
supported trade unions). their own thugs or controlled
the local police.

Unemployment 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

Native Americans
African Americans:
- The Indian Reorganisation Act
- Around 200,000 African Americans in 1934 provided money to help
gained benefits from the CCC and Native Americans to buy and
other New Deal agencies. improve land.
- They benefited from the slums - The Indian Reservation Act
clearances etc. (1934) helped the Native
- However, many New Deal agencies Americans to preserve and
still discriminated against African practise their traditions
Americans. laws and cultures.
- Native Americans remained
a poor and excluded group
of society.