This memory aid covers Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts within The New Deal for GCSE History. Revise The New Deal in America 1920-1973 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 5 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 10 of 13 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.
Topic position
Section 10 of 13
Practice
10 questions
Recall
5 flashcards
🧠 Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts
The Three Rs: Relief, Recovery, Reform — Think of a doctor treating a patient: First you give RELIEF (painkillers), then you help RECOVERY (physiotherapy), then you REFORM lifestyle (diet and exercise) to prevent it happening again. FDR's New Deal followed exactly this logic for the American economy.
Alphabet Agencies — "Can Anyone Tell Very Well-Written Stories?"
- C — CCC: 2.5 million young men, conservation work
- A — AAA: paid farmers to produce less, raise prices
- T — TVA: dams for electricity in Tennessee Valley
- V — (NRA declared invalid) — federal labour codes struck down 1935
- W — WPA: 8 million employed, roads, bridges, schools
- S — Social Security Act: pensions + unemployment insurance (still exists!)
The key numbers: CCC = 2.5 million, WPA = 8 million. The WPA was the bigger agency. Remember: "Eight is more than two-point-five" — WPA employed more than three times as many people as the CCC.
First New Deal vs Second New Deal: The First (1933-34) was about EMERGENCY action — stopping the bleeding. The Second (1935-37) was about more RADICAL reform — the Wagner Act gave workers union rights, Social Security gave people pensions. If you're asked which was more important for workers' rights, the answer is the Second New Deal.
Key dates to know:
- 1932: FDR elected president (landslide, 57% of vote)
- 1933: "Hundred Days" — First New Deal; CCC, AAA, TVA, NRA launched
- 1935: Second New Deal — WPA, Social Security Act, Wagner Act; NRA declared unconstitutional
- 1936: AAA declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court
- 1937: FDR's "court packing" plan fails; spending cuts cause Roosevelt Recession
- 1941: US enters WW2 — war production finally ends the Depression