History B GCSE AQA Unit 6 (6.3)

Effectiveness/limitations of the New Deal

1933-35 Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass loads of acts-
Unemployment was starting to fall and the economy was recovering
However, Roosevelt had criticism, from people who thought the government was doing too much and people who thought the opposite
Roosevelt made the Second New Deal, it kept the momentum of the first New Deal going
In 1936 Roosevelt was re-elected
However in 1937 when the unemployment figure was still at 6 million, Roosevelt became concerned at the extenet of government spending and debt and cut back on programmes
The result was alarming, the country went back into depression
By the winter of 1937-38 there were over 10 million unemployed
The government had to respond by increasing expenditure again
The New Deal provided economic recovery yet, in 1939 business was still 25 per cent less than in 1929

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Some critics said that the New Deal was not helping the poor enough, the Southern states were benefitting little and blacks least of all
One of Roosevelts opponents - Democratic Huey Long was from a poor background, was self-taught and spoke againt big businesses in favour of small ones
He was elected US Senate, he supported Roosevelt's New Deal but said it wasn't doing enough
Wanted all Americans with over $3 million to have their wealth confiscated and the money redistributed to the poor
He intended to run against Roosevelt in 1936, but was shot by a young white doctor
Others, mainly Republicans, complained the New Deal was doing too much
They said Roosevelt was behaving like a dictator
Roosevelt also had opposition in 1935 from judges in the Supreme Court

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Supreme Court ruled that some of the New Deal was illegal because Roosevelt's government had gone beyond what was allowed in the constitution
Various acts passed by Congress had restricted people's rights, e.g. the NRA
Roosevelt was furious
After his re-election he asked Congress to considder changing the number of judges from 9 to 15, with the excuse that there was a backlog of cases to be heard and the elderly judges could not cope
However this met a storm of protests, many from Democrats
After this, some of the nine judges modified their positions and no more New Deal measures were declared unconstitutional

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1939, war started in Europe, many Americans wanted to stay neutral
Roosevelt realised this was not an option and increased spending on defence
Congress eventually agreed to allow countries to purchase goods, including weapons on a 'cash and carry' basis
In 1940, most of Western Europe had been captured by the Nazis and Churchill became Prime Minister of Britain
Roosevelt gave Britain 50 old destroyers in return Britain allowed the USA to use some of its bases in North and Central America for its own protection
In March 1941, Roosevelt got Congress to support the Lend-Lease programme (between USA and Britain during WW2 allowing Britain to obtain materials from the USA without cash payment, lasted from 1941-45)
America could no longer be neutral

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In December 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, the US air base in Hawaiian Islands
The USA declared war on Japan
Hitler supported Japan by declaring war on USA
Congress supported Roosevelt and declared war on Germany
1939-41, US economy began to recover from 1937-38 Depression
Unemployment was still high
However 1942 - it fell to nearly zero
When war started there were 1,600,000 men in the armed services in 1945, there were 12 million
The Gross National Product (GNP) doubled between 1938-1944
Expaning industries needed for war meant taking on the laid-off workers
Encouraging migration of 1.6 million people from the southern states
The Depression was gone

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