Social Studies
Name: _______________________
Directions: Complete the following questions using the link listed below.
http://www.history.com/topics/new-deal
Surprise Beginnings
1. How did Franklin Roosevelt’s first inaugural address make American people feel?
2. Explain the significance of Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act.
3. What was the significance of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act?
4. What was the significance of the National Industrial Recovery Act?
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5. What prompted Roosevelt to launch a “Second New Deal”?
6. Explain the role and purpose of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
7. Explain the Social Security Act of 1935.
8. Under the heading “The Second New Deal” the website states:
“By 1937, to the dismay of most corporate leaders, some 8 million workers had joined
unions and were loudly demanding their rights.”
Why would workers unionizing and “demanding” their rights be against what corporate
leaders want?
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9. Explain the “issue” with the Supreme Court and the New Deal.
10. How did the start of World War Two effectively end the Great Depression?
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Teachers Key
Name: _______________________
Directions: Complete the following questions using the link listed below.
http://www.history.com/topics/new-deal
Surprise Beginnings
1. How did Franklin Roosevelt’s first inaugural address make American people feel?
His speech gave many people confidence that they’d elected a man who was not afraid to
take bold steps to solve the nation’s problems.
2. Explain the significance of Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act.
It reorganized the banks and closed the ones that were insolvent. In his first “fireside chat”
three days later, the president urged Americans to put their savings back in the banks, and
by the end of the month almost three quarters of them had reopened.
3. What was the significance of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act?
It enabled the federal government to build dams along the Tennessee River that controlled
flooding and generated inexpensive hydroelectric power for the people in the region. The
construction of the dams would put people to work and assist with unemployment.
4. What was the significance of the National Industrial Recovery Act?
It guaranteed that workers would have the right to unionize and bargain collectively for
higher wages and better working conditions; it also suspended some antitrust laws and
established a federally funded Public Works Administration.
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5. What prompted Roosevelt to launch a “Second New Deal”?
Despite the best efforts of President Roosevelt and his cabinet, however, the Great
Depression continued–the nation’s economy continued to wheeze; unemployment
persisted; and people grew angrier and more desperate.
6. Explain the role and purpose of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
Created to provide jobs for unemployed people. WPA projects weren’t allowed to compete
with private industry, so they focused on building things like post offices, bridges, schools,
highways and parks. The WPA also gave work to artists, writers, theater directors and
musicians.
7. Explain the Social Security Act of 1935.
It guaranteed pensions to millions of Americans, set up a system of unemployment
insurance and stipulated that the federal government would help care for dependent children
and the disabled.
8. Under the heading “The Second New Deal” the website states:
“By 1937, to the dismay of most corporate leaders, some 8 million workers had joined
unions and were loudly demanding their rights.”
Why would workers unionizing and “demanding” their rights be against what corporate
leaders want?
Corporate leaders imply the owners of the companies or factories. By unionizing the
workers could demand more pay and benefits that would cost the “corporate leaders” more
money. It would make it difficult to keep the workers working.
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9. Explain the “issue” with the Supreme Court and the New Deal.
Arguing that they represented an unconstitutional extension of federal authority, the
conservative majority on the Supreme Court had already invalidated reform initiatives like
the NRA and the AAA. In order to protect his programs from further meddling, in 1937
President Roosevelt announced a plan to add enough liberal justices to the Court to
neutralize the “obstructionist” conservatives.
10. How did the start of World War Two effectively end the Great Depression?
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States
entered World War II. The war effort stimulated American industry and, as a result,
effectively ended the Great Depression.
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