Paper 3, Option 39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 3 The New Deal and race relations, 1933–41 — Edexcel A-Level History
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Paper 3, Option 39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 3 The New Deal and race relations, 1933–41 explained
Paper 3, Option 39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 3 The New Deal and race relations, 1933–41 covers 3 specification points, including The influence of southern whites in the… and Continuation of Jim Crow Laws, exclusion of….
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The influence of southern whites in the Democrat Party.
Southern whites shaped the Democrat Party in the 1930s through Congress. One-party Democratic control in the South meant senators and representatives were re-elected for decades, giving them committee chairmanships and seniority. They used this power to block civil rights measures, including anti-lynching bills and attempts to end poll taxes. President Roosevelt needed their votes for New Deal legislation, so he avoided challenging segregation. This influence explains why the New Deal brought economic relief to many black Americans but did not dismantle Jim Crow or secure federal protection against racial violence. For example, the anti-lynching bill stalled in the Senate despite Roosevelt's private sympathy. Students should assess how southern Democrats limited federal action on race.
The failure to address black grievances: continuation of Jim Crow Laws, exclusion of black voters and the defeat of federal attempts at anti-lynching legislation.
The New Deal failed to address black grievances in three ways. Jim Crow laws continued to enforce racial segregation in schools, transport and public places across the South. Black voters were excluded through poll taxes, literacy tests and intimidation, so few could influence politics. Federal anti-lynching legislation was defeated in Congress, despite bills such as Costigan-Wagner, because southern Democrats blocked it. Roosevelt did not push hard for these measures, needing southern support for New Deal programmes. Consequently, black Americans gained some economic relief but remained second-class citizens. Students should explain each failure and assess why it occurred.
Impact of the New Deal: effects of the AAA on black farmers; segregation in the CCC and differential wages in the NRA; benefits of welfare to black workers and their families; the work of Eleanor Roosevelt; impact on the voting patterns.
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.
Your focus
- Describe how southern whites exercised influence within the Democrat Party in the 1930s.
- Explain how that influence affected New Deal race relations and civil rights legislation.
- Evaluate the extent of southern Democrat influence compared with other factors.
Show all 9 objectives
- Identify the main black grievances that persisted during the New Deal era.
- Explain how Jim Crow laws, voter exclusion and the defeat of anti-lynching bills operated.
- Evaluate the reasons for the failure to address these grievances.
- Explain how the AAA affected black farmers and sharecroppers.
- Compare the segregated CCC and differential NRA wages with the welfare gains black workers received.
- Evaluate Eleanor Roosevelt's contribution and the New Deal's impact on black voting patterns.
Paper 3, Option 39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 3 The New Deal and race relations, 1933–41 exam tips
Marking Points
- Explain that southern states were effectively one-party Democrat, so southern white politicians held safe seats and accumulated seniority.
- Show how seniority gave southern Democrats control of key congressional committees, allowing them to block civil rights legislation.
- Link Roosevelt's need for southern Democrat votes to pass New Deal programmes to his reluctance to support anti-lynching or anti-poll-tax measures.
- Use a specific example, such as the failure of the Costigan-Wagner anti-lynching bill, to illustrate southern Democrat influence.
- Assess the extent to which this influence, rather than other factors, limited federal action on civil rights in 1933–41.
- Describe how Jim Crow laws maintained segregation and discrimination in the South during the 1930s.
- Explain the methods used to exclude black voters, such as poll taxes, literacy tests and violence.
- Show that federal anti-lynching legislation was introduced but defeated in Congress, using the Costigan-Wagner bill as an example.
- Link these failures to political factors, especially southern Democrat influence and Roosevelt's priorities.
- Assess the extent to which the New Deal failed black Americans, considering both economic gains and continued civil rights abuses.
- 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.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Define 'southern whites' and 'Democrat Party' in your introduction to show precise understanding.
- 💡Use specific congressional mechanisms, such as committee chairmanships and filibusters, to explain how influence worked.
- 💡Balance your argument by considering limits to southern Democrat influence, such as northern Democrat support for civil rights or black activism.
- 💡Use specific examples, such as the Costigan-Wagner bill, to support your points.
- 💡Explain the mechanisms of voter exclusion, not just that exclusion happened.
- 💡Consider both the failures and any limited successes of the New Deal for black Americans to reach a balanced judgement.
- 💡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.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming all Democrats were southern whites: correction—the Democrat Party included northern liberals and black voters, but southern whites held disproportionate power in Congress.
- Claiming Roosevelt was personally opposed to all civil rights: correction—Roosevelt privately sympathised with some aims but prioritised New Deal legislation and avoided alienating southern Democrats.
- Treating southern Democrat influence as total: correction—some New Deal programmes did aid black Americans, and black voters began shifting towards the Democrats, so the influence was powerful but not absolute.
- Assuming the New Deal ended Jim Crow: correction—Jim Crow laws remained in force throughout the 1930s and beyond.
- Believing all black voters were excluded everywhere: correction—exclusion was most severe in the South, while some northern black voters could vote, though often facing discrimination.
- Thinking Roosevelt openly supported anti-lynching bills: correction—Roosevelt privately sympathised but did not publicly campaign for them, fearing loss of southern Democrat support.
- Treating the New Deal as uniformly beneficial: correct this by weighing gains in welfare and employment against AAA evictions, CCC segregation and NRA wage gaps.
- Assuming AAA payments went directly to sharecroppers: correct this by explaining that landlords usually received and controlled the payments.
- Claiming Eleanor Roosevelt ended lynching or segregation: correct this by describing her as an influential advocate whose aims were often blocked, not a law-maker who achieved them.