CHAPTER 22
THE NEW DEAL
The Big Picture: The New Deal was President
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan for overcoming
the Great Depression. Although New Deal
programs achieved varied levels of success,
they did represent a basic change in American
society.
CHAPTER 22 SECTION 1:
LAUNCHING THE NEW
DEAL
Main Idea: In 1933 Franklin Delano
Roosevelt became president of a
suffering nation. He quickly sought
to address the country’s needs with
mixed results.
The Election of 1932
• Theodore Roosevelt had a strong political past.
• Suffered from polio that left him paralyzed and in a
wheelchair.
• Became governor of New York in 1929.
• Launched a relief program to aid the victims of the Great Depression,
provided relief to 1 out of 10 families.
• During his campaign he promised relief and public works that
would provide jobs.
• Attacked the Republicans response to the Great Depression.
• Roosevelt won the Presidential Election of 1932 by a landslide.
A Political Partnership
• Roosevelt had a personality
that appealed to the American
public – cheerful and optimistic.
• Used the radio to connect with Americans in his fireside chats.
• Roosevelt believed that it was the government’s duty to
provide direct aid to the people.
• Theodore Roosevelt deeply valued his wife Eleanor Roosevelt.
• He trusted her with very important tasks and took her opinion seriously.
• She became a powerful political force campaigning for several causes
including ending lynching.
Banking Crisis
• In order to stop the “run” on banks, Roosevelt issued an
executive order to temporarily close the banks. He called it a
bank holiday.
• He also pushed through the Emergency Banking Act that gave
government officials power to examine each bank, determine
its soundness, take steps to correct problems, and if necessary
close the bank.
• This was the first of his Fireside Chats.
• The plan worked, banks began to reopen and ordinary Americans began to
return their funds to the banks.
• The Glass-Steagall Act created the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) that provides government insurance for
depositors’ savings.
The Hundred Days
• The resolution of the banking crisis was just the beginning of
a critical period of government activity that came to be
known as the Hundred Days.
• Roosevelt called his new relief programs The New Deal.
3 Main goals:
1) Relief
2) Recovery
3) Reforms
Hundred Days Programs
Program
Type
What it did
CCC – Civilian
Conservation Corps
Relief
Employed young men 18-25 to work on
conservation projects
AAA – Agricultural
Adjustment Act
Recovery
Gave farmers a subsidy or government payment
to grow fewer crops
NIRA – National
Industrial Recovery Act
Recovery/
Relief
Mandated that businesses in the same industry
cooperate with each other to set prices and
levels of production. Included the PWA (Public
Works Administration)
Federal Securities Act
Reform
Forced companies to share certain financial
information with the public.
SEC – Securities and
Exchange Commission
Reform
Watched over the nation’s stock markets
TVA – Tennessee Valley
Authority
Relief
Employed thousands of workers to develop
resources such as dams and other public works
for Tennessee.
Beyond the Hundred Days
• Roosevelt continued to pass legislation to help the nation
after his hundred days:
• Civil Works Administration (CWA): provided winter employment to 4
million workers that built highways, sewer lines, and airports.
• Indian Reorganization Act: Limited the sale of Indian lands and provided
assistance to native groups in developing their resources, economy, and
culture.
Trouble for the New Deal
• Some believed the New Deal had not gone far enough;
some believed that it had gone too far.
• The leading critics of the New Deal were:
• Huey P. Long who believed the policies were too friendly with banks
and businesses.
• Created an organization that provided every family with $5000 to buy a home,
proposed to fund this effort by taxing the wealthy.
• Father Charles Coughlin promoted his religious views and criticism of
the president over his radio talk show “radio priest.”
• Dr. Francis Townsend criticized the New Deal for not doing enough for
older Americans. He wanted a program to provide pensions for people
over the age of 60.
• The American Liberty League spoke on behalf of many conservatives
who felt that the New Deal programs had gone too far.
Opposition from the Courts
• Some critics believed that the New Deal programs violated
the constitution and challenged them in court.
• Found parts of the New Deal unconstitutional.
• Roosevelt was still very popular with the American public.
CHAPTER 22 SECTION 2:
THE SECOND NEW
DEAL
Main Idea: A new wave of
government initiatives starting in
1935 resulted in some strong
successes and stunning defeats for
President Roosevelt.
The Second Hundred Days
• Democrats held ¾ of all the seats in the Senate in 1934 – clear
indication of American support of Roosevelt.
• Meanwhile, courts were finding parts of the New Deal
unconstitutional and the economy refused to budge.
• Still liberals wanted Roosevelt to do more.
• During his second hundred days Roosevelt did do more. He called it
the Second New Deal.
Emergency Relief
• The Second New Deal sought to expand one of the successful
parts of the New Deal – work relief programs.
• The Emergency Appropriations Act which created job
opportunities for Americans.
• Created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that employed 8.5
million Americans for all kinds of public works projects (parks, zoos, oral
history, arts).
• Americans appreciated being able to work hard for a paycheck rather than
just get a handout.
Social Security
• The Social Security Act was passed in 1935 that set up a
pension or regular payments for Americans 65 and older.
• No need to fear hunger and homelessness once you couldn’t work
anymore.
• Included unemployment insurance so that you could have a financial
cushion while looking for work.
• Roosevelt would have to raise taxes in order to fund the new
Social Security Act.
• To avoid a tax increase some workers were left out of it including farmers,
government employees, and household workers.
Reviving Organized Labor
• Many businesses ignored the
NIRA and the new
regulations on Unions,
government had a hard time
supporting them.
• Passed a new act called the
Wagner Act outlawed a
number of anti-labor actions,
also set up the Labor
Relations Board that gave
the government more power
in protecting workers.
• American Federation of
Labor (AFL) had been the
largest union in the country;
it looked down upon many
unskilled (immigrant)
laborers.
• The Committee for Industrial
Organization or CIO rose to
challenge the AFL.
• Helped organize the first sit-down
strike for workers at General
Motors (GM).
• After six weeks GM recognized
the union and the CIO had its first
labor victory.
Election of 1936
• In one last effort to satisfy Americans before election time
Roosevelt passed the Rural Electrification Act (REA) that
would provide money to groups trying to bring electricity to
people living outside of cities.
• Increased electricity availability to 90%.
• The economy had finally taken a turn for the better and
unemployment was down 10%.
• American voters had no problem voting in Roosevelt in 1936.
• African Americans switched from Republican to Democrat.
A Troubled Year
• Frustrated that the courts had ruled many of his legislative
acts unconstitutional Roosevelt came up with a plan to
reorganize the court system.
• Wanted to add six judges and give the president the power to appoint new
judges.
• Many people were against this and felt it gave the president too much
power.
• People in his own party began to desert him.
• Farm Tenancy Act was passed to aid the tenant farmers and
sharecroppers.
• Many had been pushed off the land due to other New Deal programs.
• Gave them the opportunity to buy land of their own.
• Roosevelt’s New Deal program also had wins in the Supreme
Court that enabled Roosevelt to move forward.
• There was a drop in the economy in 1937; Roosevelt feared a
deficit in the economy.
• Keynesian Economics supported the ideology that deficit spending could
provide jobs and stimulate the economy.
• By the end of his second term the positive feelings about
Roosevelt and the New Deal had begun to fade.
CHAPTER 22 SECTION 3:
LIFE DURING THE NEW
DEAL
Main Idea: The Great Depression
and the New Deal had a deep
impact on American culture
during the 1930s.
New Roles for Women
• Eleanor Roosevelt became an important figure in campaigning for
women’s issues.
• Other women also moved into political roles – Frances Perkins
became Secretary of Labor.
• Roosevelt appointed women to many different political roles while he was
president.
• Women in society still experienced discrimination.
• New Deal programs paid men more than women.
• Women in the workforce were looked down upon – men believed they
shouldn’t be working.
New Roles for African Americans
• Roosevelt appointed many African Americans to different federal
positions while he was president.
• Unofficial group called the Black Cabinet met under Mary McLeod Bethune
and advised the president.
• African Americans still experienced hardships in society.
• Roosevelt could not pass as much legislation affecting African Americans
as he wanted because of Southern Democrats.
• African Americans were still voting Democrat for the first time since before
Lincoln.
Story of the Great Depression
• Artists exposed the stories of
the Great Depression through
art and literature.
• Dorthea Lange photographed
the Great Depression; she
worked as a part of the Farm
Security Administration taking
pictures of the rural poor to
raise awareness.
• Books like The Grapes of Wrath
were published to expose the
hardships of the poor during
the Great Depression.
Popular Entertainment in the 1930s
• People started going to the movies weekly.
• Few movies were depression themed.
• Movies tried to help movie goers escape from their problems.
• Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire appeared in movies with
glamorous dance themes.
• New movie techniques allowed different types of movies to
be released.
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became the first full length animated
movie.
• The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind were also released.
• Radio brought a variety of news and views into American
homes.
• Roosevelt conducted his fireside chats over the radio and other political
and religious views.
• Entertainment radio was also very popular – The Lone Ranger,
War of the Worlds and other entertainment shows were
broadcast over Radio.
• Radio broadened the appeal of Jazz and helped popularize
swing.
• Swing featured “big bands” and allowed for different dance styles.
• Duke Ellington and Count Basie were two famous African American swing
musicians.
CHAPTER 22 SECTION 4:
ANALYZING THE NEW
DEAL
Main Idea: The New Deal had mixed
success in rescuing the economy, but
it fundamentally changed Americans’
relationship with their government.
Relief, Recovery, and Reform
• Relief programs successfully helped millions of people get
some sort of relief from the Great Depression and became a
permanent fixture of the American government.
• Social Security and Unemployment insurance still exist today.
• New Deal was not as successful in recovering the American
economy, unemployment remained high. Many gains were
wiped out in the recession of 1937.
• New Deal reforms were more successful and long lasting.
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation helped restore public
confidence in the Banking system.
• The New Deal had mixed results.
• Some historians believe the New Deal hurt businesses confidence and
slowed down the pace of recovery.
• Some believe the New Deal was too timid and a lot more money should be
spent to help relieve hard times.
• The New Deal overall had an impressive track record for
internal improvements for America.
• Many roads, bridges, dams, and public buildings were built through New
Deal programs.
Changing Relationships
• The New Deal changed the relationship between government
and citizens.
• Expanded the role of government to helping citizens by providing aid and
relief.
• Moved away from the laissez-faire economics of the 1920s.
Limits of the New Deal
• While the relief programs gave aid to millions of people they
were never meant to provide a permanent solution to
joblessness and often did not provide enough money to live
comfortably.
• Level of government assistance varied from state to state.
• Some New Deal programs allowed discrimination against
African Americans, Hispanics, women, and other groups.
• Didn’t want any programs to go against local standards.
The End of the New Deal
• The country’s sense of optimism with the New Deal plans had
depleted by 1938.
• Republicans and Southern Democrats called out Roosevelt on
his promises to cut taxes, balance the budget, and return
more power to the states.
• Last piece of legislation to pass was the Fair Labor Standards
Act that established a minimum wage and set the maximum
number of hours a person could work a week and established
overtime pay.
• Roosevelt thought the best way to defend his New Deal plans
would be to hand pick the Democratic candidate.
• None of the president’s candidates won.
• No more New Deal legislation would be passed.
• American attention turned away from domestic affairs and
towards growing conflict in Europe that would result in WWII.