FDR and the New Deal

1. What plans did Roosevelt make in the four months while he waited to take office?        
Roosevelt worked on plans later called the New Deal in the four months while he waited to take office.  The purpose of these plans were to provide relief for the needy, financial reform and an economic recovery.  The New Deal was what Roosevelt worked on.



2. How successful were FDR's fireside chats?       
FDR's fireside chats were very successful.  This was shown by the fact that the first fireside chat was about the banks.  Roosevelt urged people to put their money into banks because the banks had only failed because people took their money out and that the government needed people to put their money into banks.  Without money in the banks, the welfare system would not work.  It was clear that fireside chats were successful when many Americans put their money back into banks in the next few weeks.  Therefore, the fireside chats were successful.



3. How did New Deal programs affect various regions of the United States?       
The New Deal programs affected various regions of the United States differently.  In rural areas, the New Deal affected agriculture through the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA).  The government had farmers not use all of their land for growing crops.  Many animals were also killed.  This was too decrease the supply because the demand was not there for the amount the farmers had been producing.  In the Great Plains, there was the  Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  This was a group made up of unemployed young men who would be put on work on conservation projects and many of these took place in the Great Plains.  All over the country, schools were built by similar groups of men through the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). Industry was also restructured by new policies, like set prices of products and no child labor, from the National Recovery Act (NRA).  Homeowners all over the country were also helped by the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), which provided loans to help people keep their houses.  Clearly the New Deal Programs affect various regions of the United States.

4. How did liberal and conservative critics differ in their opposition to the New Deal?            

  Liberal and conservative critics differ in their opposition to the New Deal.  The liberals did not think that Roosevelt was being involved enough and needed to do more to directly help those who were suffering. For example, Dr. Francis Townsend thought that Roosevelt needed to give a pension plan to the elderly.  Also, Huey Long believed in a program that would "Share-the Wealth", so that everyone would be rich.  Conservatives, however, thought Roosevelt was doing too much and needed to stay out of directly helping people and business.  The American Liberty League thought that the New Deal was a violation of individuals' rights and rights to their property. So, while liberals thought Roosevelt was doing too little, conservatives thought he was doing too much.

5. Do you think Roosevelt was wrong to try to "pack" the Supreme Court with those in favor of the New Deal? Explain your answer.      

Roosevelt was wrong and right to try to "pack" the Supreme Court.  Legally, there was nothing stopping Roosevelt from asking congress to make a law that would allow him to pack the Supreme Court.  So, legally, he was right.  Morally, however, Roosevelt was wrong.  There was supposed to be a separation of power so that one person or section of government could not have too much power.  If Roosevelt was to put his people in the Supreme Court, he would have control of two sections of government.  Anything Roosevelt would do or have the Congress do could never be questioned because he had control of the Supreme Court.  This would basically create a dictatorship.  By Roosevelt asking the Congress to allow him to pack the Supreme Court, he was asking them if he could have control of two sections of the government.  Whether of not the ideas he would carry out would be good or not, he would be asking for a dictatorship.  That would be against what America was founded on.  Therefore, Roosevelt trying to pack the Supreme Court was morally wrong.




6. Of the New Deal programs discussed in this section, which do you consider the most important?

Explain your choice. Think About:
• the type of assistance offered by each program
• the scope of each program
• the impact of each program       
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was the most important program of the New Deal. The CWA put millions back to work during some of the worst parts of the depression, 1933 to 1934.  This allowed men to support their families and kept people from starving.  It even affected many more than the men who worked on such projects. The CWA helped those in rural areas stay in school, where it was difficult to go to school due to many schools closing, by paying around fifty thousand teachers' salaries.  The CWA also built forty thousand schools. This helped people feed their families in rural areas, where there were not many jobs, and made sure that the future after the depression would be set.  If the schools had not been kept open or built, the generation coming out of the depression would not be educated enough to build the country up again after the depression.  Clearly, the CWA was the most important program of the New deal because of its long term impact on the future, how large the scope of people it was keeping from starving or educating, and how those aspects of life helped people.