Life in the Great
Depression and
FDR’s New Deal
Goal 9
Essential Idea
 Poor conditions of the Great Depression
led to FDR’s election. FDR’s New Deal
helped stabilize the American economy.
Life in the Great Depression

Who: People in cities
 Getting in lines:
 12 million people lost their jobs and the
unemployment rate was 25%
 People waited in “breadlines” or outside soup
kitchens hoping for charity
 Notice anything
ironic?
 What two eras
of American
history are
represented in
this picture?
Hobos

Hobos:
 Many people could not
find jobs at home
 Hobos snuck on to train
cars and went from town
to town looking for work
Hoover “stuff”
 Hoovervilles –
 Communities of
shacks that people
lived in
 Hooverblankets –
 Newspapers that
people slept under
“Hoover-stuff”
Hooverflags – empty pockets that were turned
inside-out, representing poverty
 Do you think Hoover will get reelected?

Farmers Suffering
 Who: Farmers
 Problem #1:
 Overfarming – farmers
had farmed improperly,
robbing the topsoil of
nutrients and drying out
the soil
The Dust Bowl
 Problem #2:
 A drought (lack of rain)
casued the soil to turn to
dust
 The Dust Bowl:
 Farmers were unable to
farm because their farmland
was barren
 Huge dust storms would
suffocate cattle and carry
dust as far as New York City
Escapism







How many Americans
coped:
Looked to entertainment
to escape reality
Notable movies:
Gone with the Wind
Wizard of Oz
Walt Disney:
Disney invented Mickey
Mouse in 1928
FDR Elected



Election of 1932:
Franklin Roosevelt
(FDR) won in a
landslide
At the inauguration,
he famously said
“we have nothing to
fear but fear itself”
The Hundred Days
 Beginning of FDR’s First
Term:
 Known as the “First
Hundred Days”
 Fireside chats – FDR
began making weekly
radio messages to
American citizens
 The New Deal - FDR got
Congress to pass 15
new laws that
established new
programs
The First New Deal
 New Deal programs had _____ purposes: relief,
recovery, and reform
 Relief:
 Give Americans immediate help
 Recovery:
 Give Americans a way to recover long-term
 Reform:
 Fix problems that had led to the Great Depression
Saving the Banks
 Saving the Banks
 Emergency Banking
Relief Act:
 This act allowed the
Treasury Department to
give licenses to stable
banks
Saving the Banks
 In his first fireside chat,
FDR told Americans to
put their money back in
the banks, and they did
 FDR ended the banking
crisis in a week
Reforming Banks

1. FDIC
 Stands for: Federal
Deposit Insurance
Corporation
 What it did: insured bank
accounts up to $100,000
Securities and
Exchange
Commission

2. SEC
 Stands for: Securities
and Exchange
Commission
 What it did: regulated
the stock market and
prevented fraud
Agricultural Adjustment
Administration
Saving Farms and
Businesses
What was the problem?
Low prices and
overproduction had hurt
farms and businesses
1. AAA
Stands for: Agricultural
Adjustment Act
What it did: paid farmers not
to produce as many crops
or livestock, causes prices
to rise
National Recovery
Administration
 2. NRA
 Stands for: National
Recovery
Administration
 What it did: regulated
businesses to create
more jobs
The Blue Eagle

Cut work hours, limited factories
to two shifts, and set a
minimum wage
 Companies who participated go
a “blue eagle” label, and the
government encouraged
Americans to buy from them
Civilian Conservation Corps




Saving Jobs
1. CCC
Stands for : Civilian
Conservation Corps
What it did: paid young men to
plant trees, fight forest fires,
build reservoirs and parks, etc.
(also taught 40,000 of them to
read and write)
Tennessee Valley Authority
2. TVA
Stands for:
Tennessee Valley
Authority
What it did: paid
workers to build
dams in the
Tennessee area,
which gave electricity
to rural areas
Public Works Administration



3. PWA
Stands for: Public
Works Administration
What it did: paid
workers in construction
to build highways,
dams, sewer systems,
schools, and
government facilities
FDR’s Early Successes
The New Deal’s Impact on the
Economy:
The New Deal did not immediately
restore prosperity
However, it saved banks, farms,
businesses, and jobs
The New Deal’s Impact on the
American People:
It changed the spirit of Americans
People were inspired by FDR and
filled with hope
NEW DEAL RECAP