Quick questions on Evaluating the New Deal: HSC Modern History USA

The New Deal moved around 35 million Americans through some form of federal relief at peak.

The Depression-era reforms built the architecture of the modern American state.

The Indian Reorganization Act (Wheeler-Howard Act, 18 June 1934), pushed through by Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier, ended the policy of allotment (the Dawes Act of 1887) and encouraged tribal self-government. It restored around 2 million acres of land, ended the prohibition on tribal religious practice, and granted federal funds for tribal economic development. Collier's policy was controversial; some tribes resisted his model. It nevertheless marked the largest change in federal Indian policy since the 1880s.

Roosevelt's electoral coalition (Solid South + urban Catholics + Jewish voters + African Americans + organised labour + farmers + intellectuals) dominated American politics from 1932 to 1968 and elected Truman (1948), Kennedy (1960), and Johnson (1964). It cracked over civil rights in 1948 and broke up in 1968.

The Civilian Conservation Corps employed around 3 million men over its life (1933 to 1942) on reforestation and parks. The Civil Works Administration employed 4 million through the winter of 1933 to 1934. The Works Progress Administration employed around 8.5 million on 1.4 million projects between 1935 and 1943.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration distributed 500 million dollars in grants to states from May 1933. Around 20 per cent of Americans received some federal cash relief in 1934.

The Home Owners' Loan Corporation refinanced around 1 million mortgages (around 20 per cent of all American urban mortgages) between 1933 and 1936. The Federal Housing Administration (1934) standardised the 20- and 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

The AAA, the Farm Credit Administration, the Soil Conservation Service, and the Farm Security Administration delivered price supports, debt restructuring, and land resettlement. The Rural Electrification Administration (May 1935) raised farm electrification from 10 to 25 per cent by 1939.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (1933) ended the banking panic; bank failures fell from 4,000 in 1933 to around 50 a year by 1934. The Securities Act (1933) and Securities Exchange Act (1934) created the SEC. Glass-Steagall (1933) separated commercial and investment banking until its repeal in 1999.

The Wagner Act (1935) created the National Labor Relations Board. Union membership rose from 3.5 million (1935) to 8.4 million (1939). The Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) established a federal minimum wage and 40-hour week.

The Social Security Act (1935) created old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and Aid to Dependent Children. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (1939) restructured Social Security taxation.

The Federal Communications Commission (1934), the Public Utility Holding Company Act (1935), and the Civil Aeronautics Authority (1938) created the regulated industries.

(The Age of Roosevelt, 1957 to 1960) is the longer and more partisan companion volume.

Source A is an extract from Mary Frances Berry on Social Security exclusions. Using Source A and your own knowledge, explain the racial limits of the New Deal. [5 marks]

Evaluate the extent to which the New Deal succeeded in its stated goals. [25 marks]