Case Studies (2)
Source: http://www.u-s-history.com/index.html
1. Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was instituted by presidential executive order under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of April 1935, to generate public jobs for the unemployed. The WPA was restructured in 1939 when it was reassigned to the Federal Works Agency
- Is this an example of relief, recovery or reform?
- Do you think this program was a good idea or bad idea? Why?
2. National Labor Relations Act
Prior to 1935, American workers had the right to become trade union members and to withhold their labor during industrial disputes, but employers also had the right to fire workers because they had enrolled in unions or had taken part in strikes. During economic hard times it was more difficult for an employee to find other work than it was for an employer to hire another employee. Thus, workers were hesitant to join trade unions, and by 1933 just 10 percent of America's workforce was unionized.
In 1933, Senator Robert F. Wagner (NY-D) submitted a bill before Congress that would help prohibit unfair labor practices by employers. With the backing of Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, Wagner's measure became the National Labor Relations Act (NRLA), informally known as the Wagner Act.
- Is this an example of relief, recovery or reform?
- Do you think this program was a good idea or bad idea? Why?
3. Agricultural Adjustment Act
World War I severely disrupted agriculture in Europe. That was an advantage to farmers in the United States, who increased production dramatically and were therefore able to export surplus food to European countries. But by the 1920s, European agriculture had recovered and American farmers found it more difficult to find export markets for their products. Farmers continued to produce more food than could be consumed, and prices began to fall.
The decline in demand for agricultural products meant that many farmers had difficulty paying the mortgages on their farms. By the 1930s, many American farmers were in serious financial difficulty.
In South Dakota, the county grain elevators listed corn as minus three cents a bushel — if a farmer wanted to sell them a bushel of corn, he had to bring in three cents. Fields of cotton lay unpicked, because it couldn't be sold even for the price of picking. Orchards of olive trees hung full of rotting fruit. Oranges were being sold at less than the cost of production. Grain was being burned instead of coal because it was cheaper.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated president in 1933, he called Congress into special session to introduce a record number of legislative proposals under what he dubbed the New Deal. One of the first to be introduced and enacted was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The intent of the AAA was to restore the purchasing power of American farmers to pre-World War I levels. The money to pay the farmers for cutting back production by about 30 percent was raised by a tax on companies that bought farm products and processed them into food and clothing.
- Is this an example of relief, recovery or reform?
- Do you think this program was a good idea or bad idea? Why?