Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 3 The New Deal and…

The idea

The New Deal mixed help and harm for black Americans. The Agricultural Adjustment Act paid landowners to cut production; because southern landlords controlled payments and sharecropping contracts, many black tenant farmers were evicted or had relief denied, though some did receive aid. The CCC ran segregated camps, often with black enrollees confined to manual work, and the NRA allowed lower southern wage codes, so black workers frequently earned less than white counterparts. Welfare and relief programmes nonetheless reached many black families, especially in northern cities, easing poverty and building loyalty to the Democrats. Eleanor Roosevelt used her public platform, pressing for anti-lynching legislation and black appointments. Together these experiences pushed many black voters from the party of Lincoln towards the Democrats, a shift clearest in northern urban wards.

What earns the marks

• Explains that AAA payments went mainly to landowners, so black sharecroppers and tenants often lost land or income, while acknowledging that some black farmers did benefit from relief and adjustment payments.
• Analyses CCC segregation: separate camps, limited skilled roles and quotas meant black enrollees gained wages and training but under unequal, segregated conditions.
• Explains NRA differential wages: southern wage codes set lower rates for black workers, so recovery legislation could entrench rather than remove pay inequality.
• Assesses welfare benefits: federal relief, the WPA and other agencies provided jobs, income and security for many black workers and their families, especially outside the South.
• Evaluates Eleanor Roosevelt's work: public advocacy, support for anti-lynching campaigns and pressure for black federal appointments gave civil rights a prominent White House voice.
• Explains the voting shift: New Deal relief and Democratic outreach, plus disillusion with Republicans, moved many northern black voters towards the Democrats by 1936 and beyond.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Treating the New Deal as uniformly beneficial.

  Put it right by weighing gains in welfare and employment against AAA evictions, CCC segregation and NRA wage gaps.

• Assuming AAA payments went directly to sharecroppers.

  Put it right by explaining that landlords usually received and controlled the payments.

• Claiming Eleanor Roosevelt ended lynching or segregation.

  Put it right by describing her as an influential advocate whose aims were often blocked, not a law-maker who achieved them.

Exam tips

• Link each programme to a specific effect on black farmers, workers or families rather than describing the New Deal generally.
• Use the voting-pattern clause as an analytical conclusion, connecting economic experience to political realignment.
• Balance positive and negative impacts in each paragraph so judgements rest on evidence, not assertion.