The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA, 1933) was a First New Deal law that tried to spark industrial recovery through 'codes of fair competition' setting prices, wages, and hours, and its Section 7(a) protected workers' right to organize, until the Supreme Court struck it down in 1935.
The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) was one of the boldest experiments of FDR's First New Deal in 1933. The idea was that the Depression was partly caused by cutthroat competition, where businesses kept slashing prices and wages in a race to the bottom. So the NIRA let industries write their own "codes of fair competition" that set minimum prices, wages, and maximum hours, all overseen by a new agency called the National Recovery Administration (NRA). Businesses that signed on displayed the Blue Eagle symbol. The act also created the Public Works Administration to fund big construction projects, and its famous Section 7(a) guaranteed workers the right to organize and bargain collectively.
This was a huge expansion of federal power over the economy, which is exactly why it ran into trouble. In 1935, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down the NIRA in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, ruling that Congress had improperly delegated its legislative power to the executive branch. That collision between New Deal ambition and conservative judicial limits is the core story the AP exam wants you to know (KC-7.1.III.B).
The NIRA lives in Topic 7.10 (The New Deal) in Unit 7 and directly supports learning objective APUSH 7.10.A: explaining how the Great Depression and New Deal impacted American political, social, and economic life. It's a perfect example of KC-7.1.III.A, since it shows the federal government using its power to stimulate recovery and reform the economy in ways it never had before. It's also Exhibit A for KC-7.1.III.B, because the Supreme Court's decision to invalidate it shows conservatives successfully limiting the New Deal's scope. And it fits KC-7.1.III.C's legacy point too. Even though the NIRA itself died, its labor protections were reborn in the Wagner Act, leaving a lasting regulatory legacy. For the Politics and Power (PCE) theme, the NIRA is your go-to evidence for the debate over how far federal power should reach into the economy.
Keep studying APUSH Unit 7
National Labor Relations Act / Wagner Act (Unit 7)
When the Supreme Court killed the NIRA in 1935, Congress rescued its labor provisions by passing the Wagner Act, which made the right to unionize permanent and created the NLRB. Think of the Wagner Act as Section 7(a) brought back to life with teeth.
Section 7(a) (Unit 7)
Section 7(a) was the part of the NIRA that guaranteed workers the right to organize and bargain collectively. It set off a wave of union growth in the 1930s, pushing FDR further left, which is exactly the dynamic described in KC-7.1.III.B.
Public Works Administration (Unit 7)
The NIRA didn't just regulate industry; Title II of the act created the PWA, which pumped federal money into dams, bridges, and schools. One law tried to attack the Depression from two angles, regulation and spending.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (Unit 7)
The AAA was the NIRA's twin for farming, using federal power to raise prices by limiting production. Both were First New Deal recovery programs, and both got struck down by the conservative Supreme Court, making them a matched pair for essays about limits on the New Deal.
The NIRA shows up most often in multiple-choice questions about the New Deal's scope and its opponents. A classic stem asks you to identify Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States as the case that invalidated the NIRA because Congress improperly delegated legislative power. You should be able to do three things with this term. First, explain what the NIRA tried to do (codes of fair competition, Section 7(a), the PWA). Second, explain why it failed (the Supreme Court struck it down in 1935). Third, trace what came next (the Wagner Act preserved its labor rights). No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but it's strong evidence for any LEQ or DBQ about the New Deal's expansion of federal power, conservative resistance to it, or the growth of organized labor in the 1930s.
The NIRA (1933) was a broad industrial recovery law where labor rights (Section 7(a)) were just one piece, and it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1935. The Wagner Act (1935) was passed after that defeat and focused entirely on labor, permanently guaranteeing the right to organize and creating the National Labor Relations Board. Easy memory hook: NIRA is the failed first draft, the Wagner Act is the labor section rewritten to survive.
The NIRA (1933) was a First New Deal law that tried to spark industrial recovery through codes of fair competition setting prices, wages, and hours, enforced by the National Recovery Administration.
Section 7(a) of the NIRA guaranteed workers the right to organize and bargain collectively, fueling a surge in union membership during the 1930s.
The Supreme Court unanimously struck down the NIRA in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935), ruling that Congress had improperly delegated its legislative power.
The NIRA's death didn't kill its ideas; the Wagner Act (1935) revived and strengthened its labor protections, showing the New Deal's lasting regulatory legacy.
On the exam, the NIRA is your best evidence for KC-7.1.III.B, the push and pull between New Deal expansion of federal power and conservative limits from Congress and the courts.
The NIRA (1933) let industries create codes of fair competition that set minimum prices and wages and maximum hours, created the National Recovery Administration to enforce them, guaranteed workers' right to organize under Section 7(a), and established the Public Works Administration to fund construction projects.
In Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935), the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the NIRA improperly delegated Congress's legislative power to the executive branch. It's the textbook example of the conservative judicial challenge to the New Deal.
No. The NIRA lasted only two years before being struck down, and the New Deal as a whole did not end the Depression (KC-7.1.III.C). Its real significance is the precedent it set for federal economic regulation and labor rights.
The NIRA (1933) was a broad recovery law covering prices, wages, and public works, with labor rights as one section, and the Court struck it down in 1935. The Wagner Act (1935) replaced its labor provisions with a permanent, stronger guarantee of the right to unionize, plus the NLRB to enforce it.
Almost. The NIRA is the law Congress passed in 1933, and the NRA (National Recovery Administration) is the agency that law created to enforce the fair competition codes, the one with the Blue Eagle symbol. On the exam, keep the law and the agency straight.
Connect this key term to the AP exam workflow: review the course, practice questions, and check related study tools.
Review units, study guides, and course resources.
Check this vocabulary in multiple-choice context.
Apply key concepts in written AP responses.
Estimate the exam score you are working toward.
Review the highest-yield facts before practice.
Put the full course together before test day.