The New Deal
The First One Hundred Days
Relief, Recovery and Reform
"More history had been made during these 15 weeks than in any other comparable peace time period." This comment in a magazine on
the "New Deal" was not an exaggeration. In one hundred days, from March 9 to June 16, 1933, Roosevelt prompted Congress to pass
fifteen major pieces of legislation. In addition, a number of programs were started with executive orders. Read the following and look
for answers to these questions: How did Roosevelt try to combat the Depression? How did his measures differ from those of President
Hoover? How was the power of the federal government being used?
Emergency Banking Act
Introduced: March 9 …………………………………. Enacted: March 9
After the President's temporary closing of the banks, the Treasury Department was given the power to decide when a bank could
reopen. The movement of gold was put under the President's control. The banking act was prepared, by Hoovers advisors. On Sunday
following passage of the act, the President made a speech on the radio, the first series of "fireside chats," telling people that it was safe
for them to put their money back in approved banks. They did. Deposits were greater than withdraws in every city.
Economy Act
Introduced: March 10 ………………………………… Enacted: March 11
To fulfill a campaign promise that called for a cut in federal spending, veterans' pensions were cut in half to save 400 million dollars.
Salaries of federal government employees were also cut by 100 million dollars. This was one of the few New Deal laws that decreased
spending.
Beer Act
Introduced: March 13 ………………………………... Enacted: March 22
This popular law made the sale of beer and wine legal. This law was a step toward the end of Prohibition. The 18th Amendment was
repealed on December 5, 1933.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) Introduced: March 16 ………………………………… Enacted: May 12
The act set up a system whereby the government paid farmers not to grow crops, thus raising farm prices and reducing surpluses. With
the related Emergency Mortgage Act, the government was authorized to refinance farm mortgages, preventing foreclosures. An
amendment to the act gave the President the power to print more paper money in the hopes that inflation (more money circulating and
rising prices) might help end the Depression.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Introduced: March 21 ………………………………… Enacted: March 31
The CCC initially gave jobs to 250,000, and eventually to 2.5 million unemployed single men between the ages of 18 and 25. Living in
camps set up in parks and forests, the young men planted trees, built dams and bridges, restored historic sites, cleared beaches, and in
many more ways improved and reclaimed natural resources.
Federal Emergency Relief Act
Introduced: March 21 ………………………………… Enacted: May 12
Five hundred million dollars in loans and grants were given to the states to use in providing emergency relief payments to the
unemployed. Many men and women were able to move from direct relief to the work relief programs of the Civil Works Administration
(CWA) and to the Public Works Administration (PWA). These programs used federal funds to hire unemployed people for public works
projects. Under these work programs, 250,000 miles of roads and streets were repaired, over 1000 airfields were built or improved, and
millions of public records were saved.
Farm Credit Act
Introduced: March 27 ………………………………… Enacted: June 16
This law created an agency to centralize all farm credit services. The Farm Credit Administration refinanced one-fifth of all farm
mortgages.
"Truth in Securities" Act
Introduced: March 29 ………………………………… Enacted: May 27
This law required sellers of securities (stocks and bonds) to make public important information about the nature of these securities. It
also gave power to the Federal Trade Commission to block the sale of misrepresented securities and imposed stiff civil and criminal
penalties for violators.
Tennessee Vally Authority (TVA)
Introduced: April 10 ………………………………….. Enacted: May 18
The TVA was a public corporation created to operate a power plant in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on the Tennessee River. It also was
supposed to determine the fairness of power rates and to develop the Tennessee Valley area through flood control and conservation and
by generating and selling electricity. The TVA received much criticism over the years because the government was actively competing
with private industry.
Home Owners' Loan Act
Introduced: April 13 …………………………………. Enacted: June 13
Modeled on the Farm Credit Act, this law formed the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) to refinance individual home mortgages at
low interest for up to fifteen years. Thousands of home owners threatened with foreclosure or eviction were saved by HOLC loans. The
HOLC eventually helped refinance one-fifth of all mortgaged urban homes.
Railroad Coordination Act
Introduced: May 4 ……………………………………. Enacted: June 16
This act attempted to rescue the depressed railroad industry by enforcing consolidation, rate-making reforms, and other economy
measures. The goal, never realized, was a coordinated transportation system.
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)
Introduced: May 17………….. Enacted: June 16
In perhaps the most far reaching of all the laws, Congress gave the President power to manage the nation's business life. To stimulate
the recovery of private business and to spread work among as many men and women as possible, Roosevelt established the National
Recovery Administration (NRA). Businesses were to plan together, without fear of anti-trust suits, to set up codes for making, marketing
and pricing goods and to work with the unions to determine minimum wages and maximum hours. The act also established a 3.3 billion
dollar public works programs. The NRA was supposed to regulate wages, working hours, and prices, as well as established recognition
of trade unions. The act was declared unconstitutional in 1935 on the grounds that Congress did not have the right to delegate its
lawmaking privileges to the President.
Glass-Steagall Banking Act
Introduced: May 17 ………………………………… Enacted: June 16
The law forced commercial banks out of the investment business. The
insured bank deposits up to $5,000.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Answer the following questions….
1) How did Roosevelt try to combat the Depression?
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How did his measures differ from those of President Hoover?
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3) How was the power of the federal government being used?
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