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When FDR was elected he promised “bold, persistent experimentation”
• People didn’t know what he meant but they knew he would do something
Relief, recovery, and reform programs set up by the FDR administration
• First hundred days Roosevelt pushed programs through congress
 Provide relief
 Create jobs
 Stimulate the economy

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Banks were closed for 4 days to be inspected to see if they were “healthy”
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• Most banks were healthy
Brought confidence to the people and they began to put money back in the banks
FDIC- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
 Insured bank deposits

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Federal Securities Act- required companies to provide info about their finances if they offered stock for sale
Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC)
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• Regulated the stock market
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
(FERA)
• Sent funds to agencies to create jobs

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Public Works program
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• Government funded projects to build public facilities
Civil Works Administration- built or improved roads, parks, airports etc
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• 4 million employees
Civilian Conservation Corps
•
• 2.5 million young unmarried men
Maintaining forests, beaches, and parks
 Made $30 a month, lived in camps rent free
 Received food, medical care, and job training

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National Recovery Administration (NRA)
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• Regulated wages, controlled working conditions, production and prices, set a minimum wage
Organized labor had collective bargaining

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The Home Owners Loan Corporation
(HOLC)
• Refinanced mortgages to make it easier to pay
Agricultural Adjustment Administration
(AAA)
• Tried to raise farm prices with government assistance
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
• Provided cheap electric power with
Hydroelectric power facility

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Roosevelt appointed many new people to office including women and African
Americans
His wife Eleanor worked side by side with him reporting conditions and working on social reforms
Many were impressed with the New Deal but it did not bring about significant change

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Included more social welfare benefits, stricter controls over business, stronger support for unions and higher taxes for the rich
FDR expanded on many of the agencies to give more relief

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Wagner Act
• Legalized collective bargaining and closed shops
 Which allowed workplaces to only allowed to union workers
• Outlawed spying on union activities and blacklisting
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)set up to enforce provisions
• NLRB v Jones and Laughlin (1939)
 The Supreme Court upheld the Wagner Act

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1935- Congress passed the Social
Security Act
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• Old age pensions
Unemployment insurance
Aid for dependent children, the blind, and disabled

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Minimum wage at $0.25/ hour- less than what some people were already making
Less helpful to women and minorities than white men

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New deal permitted lower wages for women
Relief and job programs were geared toward men
Jobs went to men or “head of families” unless they couldn’t work

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New Deal public works projects reinforced segregation
•
• not offered professional positions
Kept out of skilled labor jobs
Received lower wages than whites •
New deal did nothing to stop discriminatory practices
•
• Whites would only hire whites
 African American’s boycotted
 “don’t shop where you can’t work”
Senate got rid of a bill that made lynching a federal crime

• FDR appointed African Americans to policy making posts
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• FDR seemed genuinely concerned about the fate of African Americans
Led to strong support for FDR from
African Americans

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Does too much
The rich were taxed- based on income and price of house
Claimed in penalized successful, hardworking people
American Liberty League- Led by Alfred
E Smith
•
• Said New Deal limited individual freedom in an
“un-American” manner
Often called it “bolshevism”

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Does not do enough
Upton Sinclair believed US was in a
“permanent crisis”
•
• Entire economic system needed to be reformed
Ran for governor of California
 Lost- was painted as a socialist and associated with communism

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Father Coughlin
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Called himself the “radio priest” and had a huge following in Detroit
Advocated the nationalization (government ownership of banks and redistribution of wealth) of government
Supported FDR and the New Deal but later denounced him on the radio and National Union for Social Justice
 Called FDR “Franklin ‘Double-crossing’ Roosevelt” and great betrayer and liar
Began to issue anti-Jewish statements and praised Hitler and Mussolini
 People became alarmed and he was ordered to stop his radio show

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Huey Long
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Lawyer and grew up in southern poverty
Never used racial attacks to build power
Worked to help underprivileged by improving education, medical care, and public services
Wanted to redistribute wealth by Share-Our-Wealth
 Personal income could not exceed 1 million
 Inheritance could not exceed 5 million
 The money taken would go to make sure all families had a minimum $5,000 household estate and minimum annual income of $2,500
Also wanted shorter working hours, more veteran benefits, payments for education, and pensions for the elderly

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Some people believe the New Deal actually hindered economic progress
Was too powerful of a federal government
Hurt the idea of a free market economy
Used heavy taxes
Use of deficit spending
- spending more money than what the government receives in revenues

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FDR wanted to appoint 6 new Supreme
Court Judges
There was strong opposition to this because people thought he just wanted to appoint judges who would side with him