The Great Depression
The New Deal
Federal Emergency
Relief Administration
• 1933
• Sent millions of dollars
to states to use in
direct relief payments
and food for the
unemployed
• Relief
Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC)
• 1933
• Created jobs for
over two million
young men in
conservation work
and parks
• Relief
Agriculture Adjustment
Act (AAA)
• 1933
• Paid farmers to
reduce the amount
of crops they
planted, in order to
cut excess
production.
• Recovery
Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation
(FDIC)
• 1933
• Protected people’s bank deposits, thus
eliminating the problem of “bank runs”
that were a serious problem in the early
1930s.
• Reform
National Recovery
Administration (NRA)
• 1933
• Set up voluntary
agreements among
businesses to cut
excess
production. The
agreements covered
production, prices,
wages, and hours of
work
• Recovery; Reform
Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA)
• 1933
• Built hydroelectric
power plants and
flood control dams in
seven states in the
Tennessee River
region.
• Recover; Relief
Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC)
• 1934
• Created to supervise
the stock market
and protect
investors from
dishonest practices.
• Reform
Public Works Administration &
the Works Progress
Administration (WPA)
• 1935
• Created jobs for millions of
unemployed people constructing
roads, hospitals, post offices,
parks, and many other
projects. The WPA also included
a program that hired out-of-work
artists, photographers, actors,
and writers for a wide range of
artistic and educational projects.
• Relief; Recovery
National Labor
Relations Act
• 1935
• Gave labor unions the
right to organize and
represent workers in
collective bargaining
• Reform
Social Security
Act
• 1935
• Created a federal
system of old-age
pensions and
assistance for
orphans and the
disabled. It also
created an
unemployment
insurance system.
• Reform; Relief
Fair Labor
Standards Act
• 1938
• Set up the first
national
minimum wage
law and
abolished child
labor.
• Reform
Critics of the New Deal
• Father Charles Coughlin
– Detroit Priest who had a
radio show that reached
millions of listeners
– criticized FDR for not
being harder on big
business
– Also attacked bankers,
Jews, communists, and
labor unions
Critics of the New Deal
• Dr. Francis
Townsend
– Pushed for programs
to help elderly
Americans
– Introduced the idea
of a pension system
for retired
Americans
– Influenced the
creation of the
Social Security Act
Critics of the New Deal
• Huey “Kingfish” Long
– Louisiana Senator
– Wanted FDR to redistribute wealth
from the wealthy to the poor
• Long developed the “Share Our
Wealth Plan”
• Heavily tax wealthy Americans and
give every American a home and
$2,500 a year
• Motto- “Every man a king”
– Support for Long began to grow
• Was seen as a threat to FDR
• Some people claimed he had dictator
like characteristics
– He was assassinated in 1935
Critics of the New Deal
• Business Leaders accused FDR of
spending too much money and trying to
destroy the free enterprise system
– Wanted the government to leave business
alone and play a less active role in
regulating the economy
FDR and the Supreme Court
• Many of Roosevelt’s New Deal
programs were accused of being
unconstitutional
• The Supreme Court ruled that
some of these programs were
unconstitutional
• FDR proposed increasing the
number of justices on the
Supreme Court
– He would appoint 5 additional
justices under this plan
• People claimed FDR was trying
to “pack” the court with
justices who would support his
plans
• FDR’s plan was rejected
The Impact of the New Deal on
the Great Depression