Setting the Scene
📖 Setting the Scene
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🧠 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
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 12
How many young men were employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)?
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This topic in real past papers
Every real exam question we've found on the new deal, with a full worked answer.
AQA Paper 1, Section A
Read Interpretations A and B. How does Interpretation B differ from Interpretation A about [X]? Explain your answer based on what it says in Interpretations A and B.
AQA Paper 1, Section A
Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about [X]? Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.
AQA Paper 1, Section A
Which interpretation gives the more convincing opinion about [X]? Explain your answer based on your contextual knowledge and what it says in Interpretations A and B.
AQA Paper 1, Section A
Which of the following had more impact on [X]: [bullet A]; [bullet B]? Explain your answer with reference to both bullet points.