Chapter 33
The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1933–1939
CHAPTER THEMES
Theme: Roosevelt’s New Deal tackled the Great Depression with massive federal programs designed to bring about
relief, recovery, and reform.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Confident, aristocratic Roosevelt swept into office with an urgent mandate to cope with the depression emergency. His
bank holiday and frantic Hundred Days lifted spirits and created a host of new agencies to provide for relief to the
unemployed, economic recovery, and permanent reform of the system.
Roosevelt’s programs put millions of the unemployed back on the job through federal action. As popular demagogues like
Huey Long and Father Charles Coughlin increased their appeal to the suffering population, Roosevelt developed sweeping
programs to reorganize and reform American history, labor, and agriculture. The TVA, Social Security, and the Wagner
Act brought far-reaching changes that especially benefited the economically disadvantaged.
Conservatives furiously denounced the New Deal, but Roosevelt formed a powerful coalition of urbanites, labor, “new
immigrants,” blacks, and the South that swept him to victory in 1936.
A decade after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, women began to exercise their rights, both politically and
intellectually.
Roosevelt’s Court-packing plan failed, but the Court finally began approving New Deal legislation. The later New Deal
encountered mounting conservative opposition and the stubborn persistence of unemployment. Although the New Deal
was highly controversial, it saved America from extreme right-wing or left-wing dictatorship.
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FDR
Eleanor
“Brains Trust”
Bank Holiday
Hundred Days
3 R’s
Emergency Banking Relief
Act
“fireside chats”
Glass-Steagall Banking
Reform Act
gold standard
“managed currency”
CCC
FERA
Harry L. Hopkins
AAA
HOLC
CWA
Father Charles Coughlin
Senator Huey P. Long
“Share Our Wealth”
Dr. Frances E. Townsend
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WPA
Frances Perkins
Mary McLeod Bethune
Ruth Benedict
Margaret Mead
Pearl S. Buck
NRA
Schecter decision
PWA
Harold L. Ickes
Grande Coulee Dam
21ST Amendment
AAA
Soil Conservation and
Domestic Allotment
Second Agricultural
Adjustment Act
Dust Bowl
The Grapes of Wrath
Frazier-Lemke Farm
Bankruptcy Act
Resettlement
Administration
John Collier
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Indian Reorganization Act
Federal Securities Act
SEC
Public Utility Holding
Company Act
TVA
George W. Norris
FHA
Social Security Act of
1935
Wagner Act of 1935
John L. Lewis
CIO
Fair Labor Standards Act
Alfred M. Landon
Twentieth Amendment
Court Packing Plan
“Roosevelt Recession”
John Maynard Keynes
Hatch Act of 1939
Hamiltonian FDR
Jeffersonian FDR
Chapter 33 Study Guide
FDR: A Politician in a Wheelchair
What kind of man was FDR?
In what ways was Eleanor an asset for Franklin?
Presidential Hopefuls of 1932
What was Roosevelt's campaign message in the 1932 election?
The Humiliation of Hoover in 1932
What were the immediate results of Roosevelt's victory?
FDR and the Three R's: Relief, Recovery, Reform
Describe the New Deal.
Roosevelt Manages the Money
What were the key aspects of FDR's monetary policy?
Creating Jobs for the Jobless
Explain the difference between New Deal agencies and what radical critics wanted the government to do.
A Day for Every Demagogue
List other historical demagogues.
New Visibility for Women
Explain the factors that made it possible for these women to gain fame.
Helping Industry and Labor
How did the NRA attempt to restore industry?
Paying Farmers Not to Farm
How did the federal government attempt to help farmers?
Dust Bowls and Black Blizzards
How did nature cause problems for some farmers on the plains?
Makers of America: The Dust Bowl Migrants
In what ways were things better in California? In what ways were they the same?
Battling Bankers and Big Business
"Reformist New Dealers were determined from the outset to curb the `money changers....'" Explain.
The TVA Harnesses the Tennessee River
What arguments were used for and against the TVA project?
Housing Reform and Social Security
How did the FHA and Social Security attempt to help some of society's least fortunate?
A New Deal for Labor
How did labor respond to the improvement of conditions brought about by the New Deal?
Landon Challenges "the Champ”
What was the significance of the 1936 election?
Nine Old Men on the Supreme Bench
Why did Roosevelt ask Congress for a bill that would allow him to add justices to the Supreme Court?
The Court Changes Course
What were the consequences of FDR's attempt to pack the Court?
The Twilight of the New Deal
Assess the successfulness of FDR in his second term.
New Deal or Raw Deal?
What criticism of the New Deal seems most fair to you? Least fair?
FDR's Balance Sheet
What is the textbook author's opinion of Roosevelt? Do you agree?
Varying Viewpoints: How Radical Was the New Deal
What are the 5 groups of historical thought and their historians concerning the New Deal?
What did William Leuechtenburg mean when he called the New Deal a "half-way revolution?" (Your answer should focus
more on the information before this term than on the information after it.)
How might each of these historians interpret such programs as the AAA, Social Security, and the Wagner Act?
Analysis Questions
“In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that support and understanding
of the people themselves which is essential to victory.…The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple
of our civilization.…This nation asks for action, and action now.” Franklin Roosevelt (1882–1945) (Inaugural address,
1933)
“As time went by, I found that people no longer considered me a mouthpiece for my husband but realized that I had a
point of view of my own with which he might not at all agree. Then I felt freer to state my views.” Eleanor Roosevelt
(1884–1962) (Autobiography, 1949)
“Why weep or slumber, America,
Land of brave and true?
With castles, and clothing, and food for all
All belongs to you.
Every Man a King! Every Man a King!” Huey Long (1893–1935) (Radio address, 1935)
1.
Which of Roosevelt’s measures were most effective in fighting the depression? Why?
2.
How did Roosevelt alter the role of the federal government in American life? Was this necessary for American
survival?
3.
How did ordinary workers and farmers effect social change in the 1930s?
4.
What were the positive and negative effects of the New Deal’s use of the federal government as an agency of social
reform?
5. The depression of the 1890’s delayed reform; the depression of the 1930’s stimulated it. To what extent and in what
ways do you agree or disagree with this statement?
(72)
6. The New Deal did not radically alter American business, but conserved and protected it. Assess the validity of this
statement. (73)
7. Despite artificial similarities, the domestic programs of the New Deal constituted a fundamental departure from those
of the Progressive Era. Assess the validity of this generalization. (74)
8. The history of the U.S. shows that none of the three branches of the federal government is immune from the
temptation to upset the system of checks and balances established by the Constitution. Assess the validity of this
generalization in regard to BOTH Congress versus the President 1865 – 1868 AND the President versus the Supreme
Court 1935 – 1937. (75)
9. The New Deal secured the support of labor and agriculture after 1932 as the Republican party had secured the support
of industry and commerce since 1920 – with special interest programs giving financial aid, legal privileges, and other
types of assistance. Assess the validity of this statement, giving attention to both periods
(1920 –1932 and 1932 – 1940). (81)
10. Despite often brutal clashes between labor and capital in the United States during the period 1865-1940, collective
working-class protest did not constitute a basic attack on the capitalistic system. Assess the validity of this statement. (82)
11. Why did socialism fail to become a major force in American politics between 1900 and 1940 despite widespread
dissatisfaction with the social and economic order and significant support for radical movements during that time period?
(88)
12. Although American writers of the 1920’s and 1930’s criticized American society, the nature of their criticisms
differed markedly in the two decades. Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to writers in both
decades. (90)
13. Analyze the ways in which the Great Depression altered the American social fabric in the 1930’s. (96)
14. Identify Three of the following New Deal measures and analyze the ways in which each of the three attempted to
fashion a more stable economy and a more equitable society.
Agricultural Adjustment Act
Wagner National Labor relations Act
Securities and Exchange Commission Social Security Act (93)
15. How successful were the programs of the New Deal in solving the problems of the Great Depression? Assess with
respect to TWO of the following.
Relief
Recovery
Reform (02B)
16. Compare and contrast the programs and policies designed by reformers of the Progressive era to those designed by
reformers of the New Deal period. Confine your answers to programs and policies that addressed the needs of those
living in poverty. (04)
HISTORIC NOTES
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The first hundred days if FDR’s presidency witness a torrent of executive and legislative programs, act, and policies
that attempt to deal with the Great Depression and to reform the economic system so that the nation will never again
experience such a devastating economic collapse.
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To jumpstart the economy, FDR institutes an inflationary policy in which deficit spending is used to create jobs. It
is hoped that this will reduce the number of people needing government aid and increase consumer spending, further
stimulating demand and, consequently, higher employment. Income would be taxed to help defray the cost of
federally funded jobs.

The TVA creates thousands of jobs and brings electricity to rural areas along the Tennessee River. Critics claim that
the TVA eliminates competition and is akin to government control of utilities similar to that found in socialist
economies
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One of the longest-lasting legacies of the New Deal is Social Security, which provides economic assistance to some
of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens such as retired senior citizens.
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When the conservative Supreme Court starts ruling the New Deal programs such as the NRA unconstitutional, FDR
devises a plan to “pack” the court, an undertaking that is met with a storm of criticism. He withdraws the plan.
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Uncomfortable with deficit spending, FDR tries to balance the budget during the depression. Unemployment again
rises, and capacity utilization declines significantly before he returns to his original economic plan.
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Francis Perkins, secretary of labor, was the first female cabinet member in US History
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Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most active and energetic First Ladies in American History, actively campaigned for
the rights of women, blacks, and labor.
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At a time when many were out of work and going hungry, the government paid hard-pressed farmers not to grow
food in order to boost the value, and therefore the price, of their crops.
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Most historians agree that unemployment was fixed only when the nation entered WWII.
Advanced Placement United States History Topic Outline
19. The New Era: 1920s
A. The business of America and the consumer economy
B. Republican politics: Harding, Coolidge, Hoover
C. The culture of Modernism: science, the arts, and entertainment
D. Responses to Modernism: religious fundamentalism, nativism, and Prohibition
E. The ongoing struggle for equality: African Americans and women
20. The Great Depression and the New Deal
A. Causes of the Great Depression
B. The Hoover administration's response
C. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal
D. Labor and union recognition
E. The New Deal coalition and its critics from the Right and the Left
F. Surviving hard times: American society during the Great Depression