Timeline of Selected New Deal Legislation During his first two years in office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress passed programs intended to provide temporary but immediate relief to those who were struggling and restore confidence in the banks. Roosevelt’s critics demanded he keep a balanced budget, so he was unwilling to spend more money than the government took in revenues. Yet the Great Depression lingered. People asked for stronger regulation, permanent aid programs, and higher spending to fund employment programs. March 31, 1933 Congress and President Roosevelt establish the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which provided men ages 18-25 with jobs restoring and improving national parks and other public lands. April, 1935 Congress establishes the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided 8.5 million people with jobs over the next 8 years (projects start within one month) May, 1935 The Resettlement Administration is established to relocate farmers to more productive lands and to teach farmers soil conservation; it also provided low-interest loans to farmers • The Resettlement Administration later became part of the Farm Security Administration (1937). May, 1935 The Rural Electrification Administration is created; through infrastructure projects like hydroelectric dams, the REA brings electricity to the 90% of rural Americans who don’t have it August, 1935 Congress passes the Social Security Act, a permanent relief program that provides pensions to the elderly and the disabled • Farm workers, domestic workers and the self-employed initially not covered by Social Security July, 1935 President Roosevelt signs the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) that establishes workers’ rights to unionize, collectively bargain with employers, and investigate unfair labor practices Source: American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, 2013.
