Which group had about 5 million members by 1935?

• A. The Social Security Act supporters
• B. The Townsend clubs
• C. The American Liberty League supporters
• D. The CCC participants

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how different reform movements attracted large followings during the early New Deal era. The Townsend clubs were a mass movement built around the Townsend Plan, which proposed giving every person over 60 a $200 monthly pension funded by a national sales tax. This simple, direct promise spoke to millions who were struggling with unemployment and poverty, and by 1935 the movement claimed about five million members. That scale shows how powerful a single policy idea could feel to people at the time and why it had enough clout to push conversations about social welfare into the national agenda. In contrast, the other groups didn’t reach that level of organized, nationwide membership: the CCC drew a few million participants over its existence, the American Liberty League was a smaller, business-backed opposition, and supporters of the Social Security Act came from broad political support rather than a single, large club.