Depression and New Deal

"In January 1932 Congress approved the formation of an independent government agency called the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). The RFC was funded by the U.S. Treasury and was authorized to make loans to banks, railroads, life insurance companies, and other large businesses devastated by the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover believed that funds disbursed through the RFC would eventually benefit the average citizen through job growth, higher wages, and the protection of bank accounts and insurance policies."
The RFC is similar to later New Deal legislation in that both:

• Protectd the economy through government intervention in private business
• gave direct relief payments to unemployed citizens
• provided more efficient services through public utility regulation
• borrowed money from foreign banks to reduce the national debt

"We are not now required to ascertain the scope of the phrase 'general welfare of the United States' or to determine whether an appropriation in aid of agrIculture falls within it. Wholly apart from that question, another principle embedded in our Constitution prohibits the enforcement of the Agricultural Adjustment Act...It is a statutory plan to regulate and control agricultural production, a matter beyond the powers delegated to the federal government." -U.S. v. Butler, 1936
Which constitutional amendment did the Supreme court use as a basis of this ruling.

• First
• Tenth
• Fourteenth
• Twenty-sixth

"There is a solidarity and interdependence about the modern world which makes it impossible for any nation completely to isolate itself from economic and political upheavals in the rest of the world, especially when such upheavals appear to be spreading and not declining. International anarchy destroys every foundation of peace. It jeopardizes the future and security of every nation, large or small. It is, therefore, a matter of vital interest and concern to the people of the United States that the sanctity of international treaties and the maintenance of international morality be restored." -President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937.
President Roosevelt later used similar reasoning as one justification for:

• implementation of the Marshall Plan
• dropping atomic bombs on Japan
• U.S. involvement in World War II
• U.S. participation in the League of Nations

Hawley-Smoot Tariff
Purpose: To protect U.S. agriculture and industry from foreign competition.
Outcome: ?

• Led to a decrease in U.S. international trade
• Helped stabilize U.S. economy
• Strengthened U.S. relationships overseas
• Led to a decline in U.S. unemployment

What is one ongoing result of the New Deal?

• The federal government funds a space-exploration program
• State governments deny residency to persons working in other states.
• State governments use property taxes to fund social security programs.
• People can rely more on the federal government during times of economic distress.

Which of the following was a defining characteristic of the United States during the 1930s?

• A sharp increase in the power given to state governments.
• An extended period of economic depression.
• The adoption of an interventionist foreign policy.
• The formation of a national Civil Rights movement.

"The National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis, later renamed the March of Dimes, was establish in 1938 and was a grassroots campaign run primarily by volunteers. Over the years, millions of people gave small amounts of money to support both the care of people who got (1) and research into prevention and treatment. Those contributions financed Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin, and the other researchers who developed the (2) that children around the world receive today.

• chicken pox, antibiotics
• tuberculosis, iron lung treatment
• polio, vaccines
• whooping cough, serum

Which of these factors contributed most to the Dust Bowl?

• Flash flooding and intense deforestation.
• Prolonged drought and poor farming practices.
• High winds and railroad construction.
• Severe heat and rapic suburban development.

"They wanted us out of the country. I didn't understand why when we'd been born here."
Emilia Castaneda was born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents. In 1935, she and her father and brother were forced to board a train bound for Mexico. 
This excerpt describes an instance of deportation during the 1930s as part of a repatriation effort. Why did the federal government implement repatriation?

• To fulfill the terms of a global peace treaty.
• To protect national security.
• To reduce competition for jobs.
• To prevent communist influence on labor unions.

In response to the national crisis posed by the Great Depression, the U.S. government:

• abandoned deficit spending as a remedy for economic downturns.
• dismantled financial regulatory agencies.
• assumed a principal role in protecting economic stability.
• decreased the number of federal entitlement programs.