How did the New Deal tackle unemployment and industry?

Learning objective – to examine how the New Deal tackled the problems in unemployment and industry. I can describe some of the Alphabet Agencies designed to tackle unemployment, and industrial relations. Grade D I can explain the actions of the Alphabet Agencies in tackling unemployment and industrial relations. Grade B I can explain and analyse how successful the New Deal was in tackling unemployment and industrial relations. Grade A/A*

Starter – FDR on the problem of what? Our greatest primary task is

The problem of unemployment Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. In March 1933, 25% of the workforce – 13 million people – were unemployed.

What did the First New Deal do to tackle unemployment? Roosevelt asked Congress to pass legislation that would increase government assistance in providing relief, money for public work projects and set up programmes to put young people to work. In the First New Deal – the FERA, CWA, PWA and CCC were set up to tackle these problems.

Civilian Conservation Corps [CCC] The Civilian Conservation Corps was set up to create jobs for young men who lived in Hoovervilles as well as members of the Bonus Army. Workers received food, clothing, a home and $1 per day. At its height, the CCC employed 2.5 million men in improving land and the environment with projects such as planting trees to combat soil erosion and constructing reservoirs and dams.

Federal Relief Administration [FERA] FERA was given $500 million to distribute through grants to state governments to provide unemployed jobs. This led to the FERA helping to provide any job to get men to work. This led to the FERA being criticised for creating Boondoggle Jobs – jobs that had no point. Although state governments were reluctant to provide aid, FERA helped to construct 5,000 public buildings and 7,000 bridges.

Civil Works Administration [CWA] and Public Works Administration [PWA] The CWA was a short-lived Alphabet Agency and offered emergency relief aid and temporary jobs to the unemployed during the winter of 1933/34. After that it changed its name to the WPA – the Workers Progress Administration. The PWA employed over 8 million people in public works projects, such as road building and schools. Although some of these jobs were Boondoggle Jobs, such as men responsible for scaring birds away in a field and unemployed actors hired to perform free shows.

National Recovery Act [NRA] The NRA encouraged employers and workers to get together and work out a code of fair conditions. Any company that signed up to this code, covering such conditions as a limit to hours of a working week and decent wages, were allowed to use the symbol of the NRA – the blue eagle – on its products. Buyers of a ‘blue eagle product’ knew that the goods they were buying were of good quality and made under fair conditions. Also the NRA allowed workers to be members of a trade union – something which had previously been banned.

Copy and complete the table into your exercise book. Alphabet Agency Who did the Alphabet Agency try to help? What did they do? Civilian Conservation Corps [CCC] Federal Relief Administration [FERA] Civil Works Administration [CWA] National Recovery Administration [NRA] Public Works Administration [PWA]

Main task – complete the cartoon analysis sheet.

Plenary Stick a copy of this visual representation of the impact of the New Deal on unemployment and industry. Beside each image write how it can contribute to answering the central question – ‘How did the New Deal tackle unemployment and industry?’