UNIT 3 USA BOOM AND BUST REVISION BOOKLET

AREAS OF KEY LEARNING:

Self assess your knowledge of the course using the table below. The key questions and statements are taken from the exam board specification of what you are meant to know. Focus on the areas you have ticked red!

Read each topic and tick to indicate your knowledge and understanding (1=poor; 5=excellent). Use this document to help you prioritize your revision.

Topic Understanding (1=poor; 5=excellent)1 2 3 4 5

The economy of the US in the 1920s in the ‘boom’ yearsAn understanding of the condition of the USA’s economy in 1917 in order to understand the impact of the war and its legacyKnowledge and understanding of the reasons for the prosperity of the 1920sUnderstand the way in which government policies helped create and perpetuate this ‘boom’, in particular: the Emergency Tariff Act of 1921 and the Fordney-McCumber Act of 1922, tax reductions and Coolidge’s general policy of ‘laissez-faire’Social and political tension in the USA in the period to 1933The activities of the Ku Klux KlanFederal immigration policyThe ‘Red Scare’Reactions to social changes, to the women’s suffrage issue and to racial tensionsStudents should also understand why prohibition was introduced into the US. Be able to consider the positive and negative attributes of prohibition and its impact on US societyTo opposition to Roosevelt as President in the period 1933-45 and opposition to the New DealKnowledge of Supreme Court opposition via its legal rulings and Roosevelt’s response to itBusiness opposition within the US and political challenges from both left and right perspectives.The impact on the USA of its entry of the US into the Second World War and the consequences of this involvement in the period to 1954Knowledge and understanding of the growth of federal intervention in the economy in the period 1941-54Know about the economic benefits of the war for US society and how this laid the foundations for the post-war boom‘Anti-communism ‘refers mainly to the impact of McCarthyism

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on US society why so many people supported the anti-communist and anti-trade union activityThe first controversy requires a study of the nature of the depression in the years 1929-33, both long and short term causes of this and why it lasted so long.Students should be aware of the historical debate which surrounds this period with historians stressing various factors: structural imbalances within the USA, the weaknesses in the US banking system and the lack of financial regulation by the federal government, the problems of international trade etc.The second controversy requires a study of the New Deal and its impact on the US economy and society in the period 1932-41In terms of success, some historians see the initiatives of President Roosevelt and federal government as being of importance.Others have argued that recovery only really came when the US decided to rearm in 1938 and the Second World War broke out in 1939, thus providing millions of new jobs for both men and women.

LEGISLATION:

Use your knowledge and notes to remind yourself of key legislation from our course. Can you write a sentence about every key piece of legislation? (The New Deal years will be dealt with in a separate section)

LEGISLATION I NEED TO KNOW:

DETAILS

16th Amendment (1913)

Selective Service Act (1914)

War Revenue Act (1916 and 1917)

Espionage Act (1917)

Sedition Act (1918)

Prohibition Act (1918)

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19th Amendment (1918)

Volstead Act (1919)

Budget and Accounting Act (1921)

Grain Futures Trading Act (1921)

The Emergency Quota Act (1921)

Fordney McCumber (1922)

The Capper Volstead Act (1922)

The Intermediate Credit Act (1923)

Quota Act (1924)

Hawley Smoot (1930)

National Credit Corporation (1931)

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1932)

Neutrality Act (1935)

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Neutrality Act (1936)

Neutrality Act (1937)

House Un-American Activities Committee (1938)

Modification of Neutrality Act (1939)

Lend Lease Act (1941)

GI Bill or Serviceman’s Readjustment Act (1944)

Taft Hartley Act (1946)

Federal Loyalty Bonds established (1947)

KEY TERMS:

Can you write a sentence about each of these key terms? Page 176 of the textbook may help you!

Atlanticism:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________American Federation of Labour (AFL): ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Anti-Saloon League: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Balanced Budget:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Bear Market:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Bonus Army:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Boondoggling:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Bootlegger:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Bull Market:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Buying on Margin:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Brain Trust:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Congress:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Consumer Credit: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Creditor Nation: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Debtor Nation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Democrat:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Devaluation: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Federal Patronage: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Federal Reserve: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Fiscal Conservatism:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________Foreclosure: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Four Horseman of the Apocalypse: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________GDP: _________________________________________________________GNP:_________________________________________________________House of Representatives: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________HUAC: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Hyphenated Americans: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________Insider Dealing: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Isolationism: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Keynesianism:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________KKK:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Liberty Bonds: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Liquidity:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mass Production:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________McCarthyism:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Monetarism:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________NAACP:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________New Deal:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Prohibition:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Protectionism: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Republican Party:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Red Scare: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Roosevelt Recession: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sacco and Vanzetti Trial: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Senate: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Scientific Management:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Scopes Monkey Trial: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sharecroppers: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Speakeasies: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Supreme Court: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tariffs: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tin Lizzie: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Voluntarism:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Wall Street Crash:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

KEY INDIVIDUALS:

Clarence Birdseye:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Louis Brandeis:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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William Jennings Bryan:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Calvin Cooldige:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Father Charles Coughlin:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Clarence Darrow:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Harry Daughtery:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hiram Wesley Evans:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Albert Fall:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Charles Forbes:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________

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Henry Ford:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Felix Frankfurter:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Warren Harding:____________________________________________________________________________

Herbert Hoover:______________________________________________________________________

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______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Harry Hopkins:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harold Ickes:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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General Hugh Johnson:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Huey Long:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Andrew Mellon:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Franklin Delano Roosevelt:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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______________________________________________________________________________________

Doc Simmons:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alfred Sloan:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Al Smith:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

David Curtis Stephenson:________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Judge Webster Thayer:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr Townsend:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Woodrow Wilson:_________________________________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TIMELINE:

Create a timeline of key dates relevant to the course. The beginning of each chapter of the textbook may help you

DATE KEY DETAILS1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

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1923

1924

1925

1926

1927

1928

1929

1930

1931

1932

1933

1934

16

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

1946

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1947

1948

1949

1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

1956

1957

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THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR ONE:

What was the impact of World War One on the US? Make notes here to revise the topic. What was the political, social and economic impacts?

POLITICAL:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SOCIAL:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ECONOMIC:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OTHER:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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THE SCOPES-MONKEY TRIAL

KEY DATES

KEY INDIVIDUALS

WHAT HAPPENED?

WHY WAS IT SYMBOLIC?

WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME?

WHAT WAS THE CASE ABOUT?

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THE KKK

HOW DID THE KKK BEGIN?

KEY INDIVIDUALS

IMPORTANCE/SIGNIFIANCE OF THE KKK

RE-EMERGENCE

KEY IDEAS AND STRUCTURE

THE KKK IN INDIANA

WHAT WERE THE CAUSES OF PROHIBITION?

WHAT LEGISLATION WAS PASSED? WHAT WERE THE ANTI-ALCOHOL LOBBY GROUPS?

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PROHIBITION

WHAT WERE THE CAUSES OF PROHIBITION?

WHAT LEGISLATION WAS PASSED? WHAT WERE THE ANTI-ALCOHOL LOBBY GROUPS?

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SACCO AND VANZETTI AND IMMIGRATION

READ THROUGH THE STATEMENTS BELOW AND REWRITE THEM IN THE CORRECT ORDER TO REVISE THE SACCO AND VANZETTI CASE:

After appeals, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in 1927.

In 1917 literacy tests were introduced for immigrants-they were required to be able to read and write. Woodrow Wilson spoke of the need for 100% Americanism and ex-President Theodore Roosevelt demanded ‘America for Americans’. In 1917, the Russian Revolution happened.

The new arrivals seemed to threaten the old lifestyles of the old migrants who had mainly come from Great Britain, Germany and Scandinavia who were mainly Protestant.

In 1919-20 two violent robberies took place. The crime was linked to immigrants and Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested.

Immigration was increasingly linked to left-wing politics. In 1919, a bomber blew himself up on the steps of the Attorney General, Mitchell Palmer. The bomber was an Italian anarchist.

The period 1880-1914 had been marked by a new flood of immigration from eastern and southern Europe. Over 2.3 million Jews from Russia and Poland became US citizens, as did 2 million Catholic Poles.

At the trial, the evidence against Sacco and Vanzetti was dubious and the judge, Webster Thayer, was criticised. He is reputed to have said: “I want to see the anarcghist bastards hanged.”

In July 1921, Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death.

There was a growing radicalism against immigration. In 1916, Madison Grant, a wealthy New Yorker wrote ‘The Passing of a Great Race’. He believed in the pseudo science of Eugenics which divided the races of the world up.

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THE REPUBLICAN YEARS

TAXATION

BUSINESS INTERESTS

KEY IDEAS

TARIFFS

TRADE UNION POLICY

AGRICULTURE

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THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Make notes under the headings/factors below to remind yourself of the causes of the Great Depression-remember the mneumonic BIAS!

Cause/factor NotesBANKING

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

INDUSTRY_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AGRICULTURE_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

STOCKS AND SHARES_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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WHY DID THE GREAT DEPRESSION LAST SO LONG?

Foreign Economic Crises

Insuffiecent Government Interventions Extent of the Depression

Monetarist Theory Nature of American Business

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I cut my own and state officials salaries by 20%In 1930, I introduced the Hawley Smoot tariff act with an average of 40% tariffs32

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HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE WALL STREET CRASH AND GREAT DEPRESSION

MILTON FRIEDMAN:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PETER TEMIN:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

JIM POWELL:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ANTHONY BADGER:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MICHAEL BERNSTEIN:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHARLES KINDELBERGER:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DAVID KENNEDY:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THE FIRST NEW DEAL

DATE LEGISLATION KEY DETAILS1933 EMERGENCY BANKING ACT ________________________________________

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CCC ESTABLISHED ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FERA ESTABLISHED ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AAA ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TVA ESTABLSISHED ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HOME OWNERS REFINANCING ACT

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

GLASS STEAGALL ACT ________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FARM CREDIT ACT ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NIRA WHICH ESTABLISHED THE PWA AND THE NRA

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1934 FARM MORTGAGING REFINANCING ACT

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CROP LOAN ACT ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

JONES-CONNALLY FARM RELIEF ACT

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FEDERAL FARM BANKRUPTCY ACT

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSON

________________________________________________________________________________

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SET UP ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1935 SOIL EROSION ACT ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WPA ESTABLISHED ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ACT

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SOCIAL SECURITY ACT ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NATIONAL LABOUR RELATIONS ACT (WAGNER ACT)

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WEALTH TAX ACT ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1936 SOIL CONSERVATION AND DOMESTIC ALLOTMENT ACT

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________________________

1937 WAGNER STEAGALL ACT ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1938 AAA ACT ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FAIR LABOUR STANDARDS ACT

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FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION (FANNIE MAE) SET UP

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OPPOSITION TO THE NEW DEAL

Design a poster to show the views of either Father Charles Coughlin, Townsend. Better still design one for each of them!

HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE NEW DEAL

ARHTUR SCHLEISINGER:______________________________________________________

LEUCHTENBERG:_______________________________________________________

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_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B.J. BERNSTEIN:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AMITY SHALES:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HUGH BROGAN:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ANTHONY BADGER:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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PAUL CONKIN:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FIONA VENN:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DAVID KENNEDY:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NIALL FERGUSON:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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“THE NEW DEAL WAS A SUCCESS”

“THE NEW DEAL WAS A FAILURE”

1940

1941

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1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

Make notes on how America became embroiled in World War Two

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POLITICAL

SOCIALECONOMIC

Make notes on the political, social and economic impacts of World War Two

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THE GROWTH OF FEDERAL INTERVENTION

DATE KEY DETAILS:1941 _________________________________________________________________

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1942 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1943 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1944 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1945 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1946 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1947 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1948 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1949 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1950 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1951 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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WHAT WERE THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF THE WAR?

Technology

New technologies were developed such as synthetic rubber-51 new plants were created

Thousands of new jobs were created

The USA was the largest exporter of synthetic rubber

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MCCARTHYISM

WHAT WERE THE CAUSES OF THIS NEW SCARE OR HYSTERIA?

WHAT WAS HUAC? WHY DID/WOULD A COMMUNIST THREAT BENEFIT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY?

WHO WAS MCCARTHY? WHO WAS ALGER HISS?

WHAT DID MCCARTHY SAY? WHAT EVIDENCE DID HE HAVE?

HOW DID MCCARTHYISM/THE RED SCARE END?

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PRACTICE A QUESTIONS:

1. To what extent was the First World War the key factor in the US decision to restrict immigration in the years 1917–29? (PREVIOUS EXAM QUESTION)2. How far do you agree with the view that McCarthyism had little impact on US society in the years 1950–54? (PREVIOUS EXAM QUESTION)3. How far do you agree with the view that, in the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan possessed neither sizeable support nor significant influence? (PREVIOUS EXAM QUESTION)4. ‘American prosperity in the years 1945–54 was primarily due to the impact of the US war economy.’ How far do you agree with this view? (PREVIOUS EXAM QUESTION)5. ‘The US economic boom of the 1920s was primarily due to the motor manufacturing industry.’ How far do you agree with this view? (PREVIOUS EXAM QUESTION)6. ‘Neither the Supreme Court nor Roosevelt’s critics exerted much influence over the nature of the New Deal in the 1930s.’ How far do you agree with this view? (PREVIOUS EXAM QUESTION)7. ‘Herbert Hoover’s Presidency was a complete failure’ How far do you agree with this view8. To what extent was the policy of Prohibition a complete failure? 9. The prosperity of the 1920s was entirely due to the policies of the Republican Presidencies. How far do you agree with this view?10. To what extent do you agree that the Scopes Monkey Trial demonstrated the supremacy of the traditional conservative Protestant elite?

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SELF ASSESSMENT TABLE FOR PRACTICE A QUESTIONS:

SUCCESS CRITERIA

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10R A G R A G R A G R A G R A G R A G R A G R A G R A G R A G

Clear introductionArgument explained in introductionQuestion addressed at the start of each paragraphDepth of evidenceAnalysisBalanced answerClear argumentClear conclusionIncludes most important reason Paragraphs arranged in order of importance/significance

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PRACTICE B QUESTIONS

Practice Question 1:

‘The Great Depression was caused by the failure of America to assume leadership of the world economy’ How far do you agree with this view? Explain your answer, using sources 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge of the issues related to this controversy?

SOURCE 1: (From Charles P. Kindelberger, The World Depression 1929-39, published in 1973)

The world economic system was unstable unless some country stabilised it, as Britain had done in the nineteenth century and up to 1913. In 1929, the British couldn’t and the United States wouldn’t. When every country turned down its own interest the world public interest went down the drain, and with it the private interests of all.

SOURCE 2: (From Jim Powell, FDR’s Folly, published in 2003)

The Great Depression was a government failure, brought on principally by Federal Reserve policies that abruptly cut the money supply; unit banking laws that made thousands of banks more vulnerable to failure; Hoover’s tariffs, which throttled trade’ Hoover’s taxes which took unprecedented amounts of money out of peoples pockets at the worst possible time and Hoover’s other policies which made it more difficult for the economy to recover.

SOURCE 3: (From Maldwyn A. Jones, The Limits of Liberty, published in 1995)

The most serious underlying weakness of the economy was that the capacity to produce had outrun the capacity to consume. One reason for this was that a substantial part of the population-farmers, for example, and workers in declining industries like coal and textiles-had not shared in the general prosperity. Another was that income was maldistributed. Profits and dividends had risen faster than wages, while Republican tax policies favoured the wealthy.

Practice Question 2:

‘The Great Depression lasted so long because of the failure of Hoover’s government to intervene’ How far do you agree with this view? Explain your answer, using sources 3, 4 and 5 and your own knowledge of the issues related to this controversy?

SOURCE 3: (From Charles P. Kindelberger, The World Depression 1929-39, published in 1973)

The world economic system was unstable unless some country stabilised it, as Britain had done in the nineteenth century and up to 1913. In 1929, the British couldn’t and the United States wouldn’t. When every country turned down its own

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interest the world public interest went down the drain, and with it the private interests of all.

SOURCE 4: (From Anthony Badger, The New Deal, published in 1989)

However noble Hoover’s aspirations the fact remains that his anti-Depresssion policies failed. The President was eventually forced to abandon his voluntary principles. But in the main, Hoover clung doggedly to his anti-state control policies, often wilfully refusing to acknowledge the extent of the failure of his policies.

SOURCE 5: (From David Kennedy, Freedom from Fear, published in 1999)

Given the constraints under which he laboured, Hoover made impressively aggressive countercyclical use of fiscal policy. Measured against either past of future performance, his accomplishment was remarkable, He nearly doubled federal public works expenditure in three years. Thanks to his prodding, the net stimulating effect of federal, state and local fiscal policy was larger in 1931 than any subsequent year of the decade

Practice Question 3:

‘The New Deal was a failure because it did not provide relief, recovery and reform to all American 1933-39’

SOURCE 6: From Niall Ferguson, The Ascent of Money, published in 2008)

In the flood of acronyms the New Deal produced, it is easy to miss the fact that its most successful and enduring component was the new deal it offered with respect to housing. By radically increasing the opportunity for Americans to own their own homes, the Roosevelt administration pioneered the idea of a property owning democracy. It proved to be the perfect antidote to red revolution.

SOUCE 7: (From David Kennedy, Freedom from Fear, published in 1999)

Above all, the New Deal gave to countless Americans who had never had much of it, a sense of security, and with it a sense of having a stake in their country. And it did it all without shredding the American constitution or sundering the American people. At a time when despair and alienation were prostrating other peoples under the heel of dictatorship, that was no small accomplishment.

SOURCE 8: (From Maldwyn A. Jones, The Limits of Liberty, published in 1995)

Upon black Americans the Depression had a catastrophic effect. In the rural South where most of them lived, blacks were more dependent than whites on cotton, the crop hardest hit by the Depression. New Deal agricultural policies compounded Negro miseries; the AAA in particular displaced many Negro tenants and croppers. New Deal agencies generally discriminated against blacks. The NRA all but excluded them …

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Practice Question 4:

‘The New Deal failed to revive the US economy.’ How far do you agree with this view? Explain your answer, using Sources 10, 11 and 12 and your own knowledge of the issues related to this controversy.

SOURCE 10: (From Paul Johnson, A History of the American People, published 1997)

The New Deal recovery was slow and feeble. The only reasonably good year was 1937 when unemployment stood at 14.3 per cent, but by the end of the year the economy was in free-fall again, and unemployment was at 19 per cent in 1938. In 1937 production briefly passed 1929 levels but soon slipped below again. The realrecovery came only when news of the war in Europe plunged the New York Stock Exchange into a joyful confusion which finally wiped out the traces of October 1929. Two years later, with America on the brink of war itself, production finally passed 1929 levels for good. If government interventionism worked, it took nine years and a world war to demonstrate the fact.

SOURCE 11: (From Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, published 2007)

Roosevelt created relief, aid and regulatory agencies, assuming that recovery could be achieved only through large military-style effort. Some were useful, such as the financial institutions he established upon entering office. Some were inspiring – the Civilian Conservation Corps, for example. Other institutions such as the National Recovery Agency (NRA) did damage. NRA rules were so inflexible they frightened45 away capital and discouraged employers from hiring workers. Where the private sector could help to bring the economy back, Roosevelt often suppressed it. The creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority snuffed out a growing – and potentially successful – private sector effort to light up the South. The high wages generated by New Deal legislation helped those workers who earned them but also prevented50 companies from hiring additional workers. Hence the persistent shortage of jobs in the latter part of the 1930s.

SOURCE 12: (From Philip Jenkins, A History of the United States, published 1997)

The New Deal had its greatest success in Roosevelt’s first term. Between 1930 and 1933 the gross national product (GNP) of the US had fallen from $99 billion to $77 billion – a figure which more than bounced back to $113 billion by 1937. GNP55 per head rose from $615 in 1933 to $881 in 1937, and to $954 by 1940. People also became significantly better off as the decade progressed, as measured by possession of material goods. However, in some ways the New Deal only softened the worst effects of the crisis. Unemployment remained at 16–20 per cent for most of the late 1930s. Even in 1937, unemployment only just dipped below 8 million,60 and 1938 brought a brief but painful economic contraction. Moreover, the financial costs were immense: the federal debt grew from $22.5 billion in 1933 to $40.5 billion in 1939.

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Practice Question 5: ‘The New Deal failed because of FDR’s failure to engage in radical and drastic change.’ How far do you agree with this view? Explain your answer, using Sources 10, 11 and 12 and your own knowledge of the issues related to this controversy.

SOURCE ??? David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), pages 153-154

“By any standard, the achievements of the Hundred Days were impressive. The New Deal had decisively halted the banking panic. It had invented wholly new institutions to restructure vast tracts of the nation’s economy, from banking to agriculture to industry to labor relations. It had authorized the biggest public works program in American history. It had earmarked billions of dollars for federal relief to the unemployed. It had designated the great Tennessee watershed as the site of an unprecedented experiment in comprehensive, planned regional development. No less important, the spirit of the country, so discouraged by four years of economic devastation, had been infused with Roosevelt’s own contagious optimism and hope. . . . But for all of the excitement about the Hundred Days . . . the Depression still hung darkly over the land.

SOURCE ??? Anthony Badger, FDR: The First Hundred Days (New York: Hill and Wang: 2008), p. 173-174.

“Roosevelt gave indispensable assistance to many Americans in the summer of 1933. He instigated a regulatory regime for financial institutions that prevented a repeat of the Great Crash. He made a start on a massive program of investment in the physical infrastructure of the United States. What he had not found in 1933 was the magic key to economic recovery.

SOURCE ???? Robert S. McElvaine, The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941 (New York: Random House, 1984, 1993)

But to fault Roosevelt for missing his chance to bring about drastic changes in the American economic system is to overlook the restraints upon him (even assuming he wanted such changes, which in most cases he did not). A time of economic collapse, such as 1933, might seem just the time to introduce radical change. It is not. People may be willing to try new ideas; much evidence suggests that a majority was ready for bold new experiments in 1933. But any move toward either socialization or truly effective antitrust action would have been resisted vehemently by business. This would have made the economic collapse even worse in the short run (which might well not be very short). The fact is that, bad as things were in early 1933, they could get worse, and drastic change was likely to bring about that undesirable end.

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SELF ASSESSMENT TABLE FOR PRACTICE B QUESTION

SUCCESS CRITERIA 1 2 3 4 5R A G R A G R A G R A G R A G

Clear introductionArgument explained in introductionRefers to the question at the start of each paragraphDepth of evidenceAnalysis of all the sourcesIn-depth own knowledge included Historians views/historiography includedClear conclusion/judgmentOwn view explained in conclusionMay include a most important reason in conclusionParagraphs organised in order of importance/significance

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