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Student Study Guide for the American Pageant
Chapter 33 The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1933–1939
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.
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 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.
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 rightwing or left-wing dictatorship.
FRQ: 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 answer to programs and policies
that addressed the needs of those living in poverty.
GLOSSARY - To build your social science vocabulary, familiarize yourself with the following terms:
dispossessed - The economically deprived.
rubberstamp - To approve a plan or law quickly or routinely, without examination.
blank check - Referring to permission to use an unlimited amount of money or authority.
foreign exchange - The transfer of credits or accounts between the citizens or financial institutions of different
nations.
hoarding - Secretly storing up quantities of goods or money.
boondoggling - Engaging in trivial or useless work; any enterprise characterized by such work.
Fascist (Fascism) - A political system or philosophy that advocates a mass-based party dictatorship, extreme
nationalism, racism, and the glorification of war.
parity - Equivalence in monetary value under different conditions; specifically, in the United States, the
price for farm products that would give them the same purchasing power as in the period 1909-1914.
holding company - A company that owns, and usually controls, the stocks and securities of another company.
collective bargaining - Bargaining between an employer and his or her organized work force over hours, wages,
and other conditions of employment.
jurisdictional - Concerning the proper sphere in which authority may be exercised.
checks and balances - In American politics, the interlocking system of divided and counterweighted
authority among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.
pinko - Disparaging term for someone who is not a "red," or Communist, but is presumed to be sympathetic
to communism.
deficit spending - The spending of public funds beyond the amount of income.
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Lecture Notes:
Franklin Roosevelt's poliomyelitis (also known as infantile paralysis) contributed the most to his development of
compassion and strength of will.
poliomyelitis - a severe infectious viral disease, usually affecting children or young adults, that inflames the brainstem
and spinal cord, sometimes leading to loss of voluntary movement and muscular wasting
During the presidential campaign of 1932, what were the policies that FDR promised he would utilize in attacking the
Great Depression? (pg. 771-72)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
What does the phrase “Hundred Days” refer to? (pg 775) _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________.
What minority group changes its voting allegiance beginning with the election of 1932? (pg. 773) ___________________
__________________________________________________________________________________.
What was Hoover’s agenda when he asked to meet with FDR during the interval of the presidential transition? (pg. 773)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________.
How did congress respond to FDR becoming president? (pg. 773-774) ________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________.
What did the Glass-Steagall Act do? (pg 776) ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________.
What was the goal of Franklin Roosevelt's “managed currency”policy? (pg 776) _______________________________
__________________________________.
The _______________ was probably the most popular New Deal program; the _______________ was one of the most
complex; and the _______________ was the most radical. (Page 777-778, 781,788)
A) Works Progress Administration; Agricultural Adjustment Act; Civilian Conservation Corps
B) Agricultural Adjustment Act; Public Works Administration; Tennessee Valley Authority
C) National Recovery Act; Tennessee Valley Authority; Social Security Act
D) Civilian Conservation Corps; National Recovery Act; Tennessee Valley Authority
E) Social Security Act; Civilian Conservation Corps; Works Progress Administration
Who was Huey Long and what was he known for? (pg. 779) ______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________.
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Match each New Dealer below with the federal agency or program with which he or she was closely identified.
A. Robert Wagner
1. Department of Labor
B. Harry Hopkins
2. Public Works Administration.
C. Harold Ickes
3. Works Progress Administration
D. Frances Perkins
4. National Labor Relations Act
The National Recovery Act (NRA) failed largely because (Page 781-782)
A) businesses resisted regulation by the agency. B) it required too much self-sacrifice on the part of industry, labor,
and the public. C) Harold Ickes, the head of the agency, proved to be an incompetent administrator. D) it did
not provide enough protection for labor to bargain with management. E) the agency did not have enough power
to control business.
The first Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) raised the money that it paid to farmers not to grow crops by (Page 783)
A) raising the tariff. B) imposing a tax on the sale of farms. C) selling government surplus grain.
D) increasing taxes on the wealthy. E) taxing processors of farm products.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) proposed to solve the “farm problem” by (Page 783)
A) reducing agricultural production. B) subsidizing American farm exports overseas. C) encouraging farmers to
switch to industrial employment. D) helping farmers to pay their mortgages. E) creating farm cooperatives.
What did the Twentieth Amendment and Twenty-first Amendment do? (pg. 783, 792) __________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________.
What factors contributed to the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s? (pg. 783-784) _______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________.
The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 attempted to (Page 784. 786-787)
A) reverse the forced assimilation of Native Americans into white society by establishing tribal self-government.
B) encourage Native Americans to give up their land claims.
C) reinforce the Dawes Act of 1887.
D) pressure Native Americans to renounce self-government.
E) define clearly which tribes were federally recognized.
Where did most of the Dust Bowl migrants head to? (pg. 786-787) ___________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________.
What were the major purposes of the Federal Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Commission? ______________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________.
What types of benefits are covered by the Social Security Act of 1935? (pg. 789) _____________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________.
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Explain the motivation behind FDR’s “Court-packing” scheme? (pg. 792-93) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________.
Describe the short and long term results of the “Roosevelt recession” of 1937: (Page 794-795) ____________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Which of the following statements is most true of events in the 1930’s? (pg. 796)
A) the Great Depression forced President Roosevelt to trim the size of the federal bureaucracy.
B) the states regained influence over the economy.
C) businesspeople eventually came to admire President Roosevelt's New Deal programs.
D) the New Deal substantially closed the gap between production and consumption in the American economy.
E) the national debt doubled.
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