Did these actions help or hinder the United States in
its Efforts to Rise From the Depression?
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear is
Fear Itself” Franklin D. Roosevelt
 The Roosevelt Administration initiated policies that
supported and regulated agriculture and industry
 Legislation improved labor conditions and increased
power of the unions
 Programs of the New Deal: CWA, TVA, FDIC, SEC,
Social Security
 New Deal created new opportunities for women and
minority groups
Roosevelt Takes Office in 1932
 Roosevelt knew that he had to act with a nation in the
midst of a Depression, some people had not worked in
three years or more
 Formed “Brain Trust,” a group of advisers made up of
professors, lawyers, and journalists
 Worked to formulate set of policies to relieve the
problems plaguing many Americans
 New Deal, phrase from a campaign speech in which
Roosevelt had promised, “a new deal for the American
people.”
Focus of New Deal
 Three general goals:
a. Relief for the needy
b. Economic Recovery
c. Financial Reform
Roosevelt launched a period of intense activity, known
as the Hundred Days, from march 9-June 16, 1933.
During this period Congress passed more than 15 major
pieces of New Deal legislation, expanding the federal
government’s role in the nation’s econom
Banking and Financial Reform
 March 5 when Roosevelt took office, declared a bank
holiday
 Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass Emergency
Banking Relief Act
 Emergency Banking Relief Act: authorized US
Treasury to inspect banks, those unable to pay debts
remained closed
 Americans began to regain confidence in banks
Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats
 Started March 12, 1933, when solvent banks were
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allowed to reopen
Used these radio programs to discuss his concerns and
detail policies on the New Deal
First chat centered on restoring financial system
“We have provided the machinery to restore our
financial system. It is up to you to support and make it
work.”
He explained that banks invests your deposit. People
demanding cash for savings cause banks to fail
Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933
 Established Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC),
which provided federal insurance for individual bank
account of less than $5,000. The FDIC is still in use today.
 Regulated Stock Market with the Federal Securities Act,
required corporations to provide complete information on
all stock offerings and made corporations responsible
 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) created in
1934 to regulate stock market to prevent people from
rigging the market with inside information
Alcohol Bills
 Allowed manufacturing and sale of some alcoholic
beverages
 Alcohol tax to raise government revenues
 21st Amendment: 1933, repealed the prohibition
amendment
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
 Purpose to raise crop prices by lowering production
 Government paid farmers to leave a certain amount of
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every acre unseeded
Reduction of supply, cost would rise
Government paid cotton workers $200 million to plow
under 10 million acres of their crop
Hog farmers paid to slaughter 6 million pigs
This act was controversial because so many were
hungry
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
 1933, Men 18-25 given jobs, $30/month with $25 of it
sent home to families, given free food and uniforms
 Built roads, developed parks, planted trees and helped
soil erosion and flood-controlled projects
 Ended in 1942: 3 million men had worked with CCC
and planted in 8 years over 200 million trees
 Many of these jobs were in the Great Plains to prevent
another Dust Bowl
Federal Emergency Relief
Administration (FERA)
 1933, funded with $500 million to provide direct relief
for the needy
 Half of the money went to the states as direct grantsin-aid to help furnish food and clothing to the
unemployed, the aged, and the ill
 Additional $250 million distributed on the basis of one
federal dollar for every three state dollars
 Harry Hopkins headed the program, believed that
money helped people buy food, but work gave them
confidence and self-respect
Public Works Administration (PWA)
 1933, provided money to states to create jobs
 Mostly in construction of schools and other
community buildings
 When these programs failed, Roosevelt created the
CWA
Civil Works Administration (CWA)
 1933 after PWA failed
 Provided 4 million jobs
 Criticized by many because the jobs were viewed as
busy work and wasting money
 CWA built over 40,000 schools and paid the salaries of
50,000 school teachers
 Half a million miles of roads were built
National Industrial Recovery Act
(NIRA)
 1933, Promoted industrial growth by establishing codes of
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fair practice for individual industries
Created National Recovery Administration (NRA) to set
prices of products to ensure fair competition
NRA established standards for working hours and a ban on
child labor
NRA promoted recovery by interrupting wages cuts, falling
prices and layoffs
Established workers’ rights to unionize and bargain
collectively
Many felt this act served large businesses
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
 1933, focused on Tennessee River valley
 Created thousands of jobs and provided flood control,
hydroelectric power, and other benefits to the region
Home Owners Loan Corporation
(HOLC)
 1933 provided government loans to homeowners who
faced foreclosure because they could not make their
loan payments
National Housing Act (NHA)
 1933, created the Federal Housing Administration
(FHA), which continues today providing loans for
home mortgages and repairs
Protests Against New Deal
 After first 100 days, many felt that the New Deal
interfered with the workings of a free market economy
 1935, Supreme Court struck down the NIRA as
unconstitutional, declaring that the law gave
legislative power to the executive branch
 Enforcement of industry codes within stats went
beyond federal government’s constitutional powers
 1936, AAA was struck down due to agriculture being a
local matter and should be regulated by the states
Roosevelt’s Response to Supreme
Court
 1937, proposed that Congress enact a court-reform bill
that would reorganize the federal judiciary and allow
him to appoint six new Supreme Court justices
 Seen as “court packing” and Roosevelt was criticized
for violating separation of powers
 Rulings in the Supreme Court began to be more in
Roosevelt’s favor without this action because of
resignations
 Roosevelt was able to appoint 7 new justices in the
next 4 years
American Liberty League
 1934, made up of wealthy business leaders such as Al
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Smith, John W. Davis
Opposed New Deal because it was believed that it violated
respect for the rights of individuals and property
Charles Coughlin, Francis Townsend and Huey Long felt
the poor suffered more with the New Deal
Father Coughlin favored a guaranteed annual income and
nationalization of banks
Dr. Townsend devised a pension plan to provide monthly
benefits, but this was too expensive
Senator Long proposed a nationwide social program, Share
Our Wealth
Second New Deal
 Also known as the Second Hundred Days
 Focus on farmers, workers and poor, the “forgotten
man”
 Eleanor Roosevelt played a role in social reform
aspects of the New Deal
Soil Conservation and Domestic
Allotment Act
 1936, to replace AAA, which was struck down
 Paid farmers for cutting production of soil-depleting
crops like cotton and wheat
 Rewarded farmers for practicing good soil
conservation methods
 Second Agricultural Act 1938 passed with out the
unconstitutional processing tax to pay for farm
subsidies
 “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck illustrated the
struggling farmers
Resettlement Administration
 1935, to help sharecroppers, migrant workers and poor
farmers
 Designed to loan money to small farmers to buy land
 1937, replaced by the Farm Security Administration
(FSA), loaned more than $1 billion to help tenant
farmers by forming a network of migrant farmer
camps
 FSA sent photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Ben
Shaun, Walker Evans to take pictures of rural towns
and farms
Works Progress Administration
(WPA)
 Created jobs on largest public works budget ($5
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billion)
1935-1943 employed over 8 million people
Built 850 airports
Constructed or repaired 651,000 miles of roads and
streets
Built 110,000 libraries, schools and hospitals
Sewed over 300 million garments for the needy
Gave a sense of hope and purpose to many workers
National Youth Administration
(NYA)
 More than 2 million high school and college students
worked part-time clerical positions at their schools
 1936, more than 200,000 students received aid and
assistance through NYA
Wagner Act
 Reestablished NIRA provision of collective bargaining
 Listed unfair labor practices that companies could not use
such as threatening workers, firing union members, and
interfering with unions
 Set up National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hear
testimony and unfair practices and hold elections to find
out if they wanted union representation
 Fair Labor Standards Act 1938 to establish maximum hours
and minimum wages
 FLSA set minimum hourly rate at 25 cents/hour then by
1940, it was 40 cents. National maximum work week of 44
hours and in 2 years 40 hours. Banned factory labor
workers under 16 years old (18 yrs if work hazardous)
Social Security Act
 1935 by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins
 3 Parts: a) old age insurance for retirees 65 or older
and their spouses ($10-85/month) Groups excluded:
domestic servants, farm workers, many hospital and
restaurant workers, b) Unemployed compensation
system ($15-18/week), c) Aid to families with
dependent children and the disabled
Rural Electrification Act (REA)
 Created, financed and worked with rural and farm
electrical cooperatives to bring electric to rural areas
 1935 30% of American farms had electricity, 1945 45%,
1951 90%
Public Utilities Holding Company
Act
 1935 aim to fight financial corruption in the public
utility industry
 Outlawed ownership of utilities by multiple holding
companies
New Deal
 Helped different minority groups as well such as
women, African Americans, Latinos and Native
Americans
 Eleanor Roosevelt opened many doors for African
Americans, particularly the performance of Marian
Anderson in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939
 Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 to strengthen Native
American land claims by prohibiting the government
from taking unclaimed reservation lands and selling
them to people other than Native Americans
New Deal Coalition
 An alignment of diverse groups dedicated to
supporting the Democratic Party
 Enabled Democrats to dominate politics in the 1930s
and 1940s
Impact of New Deal
 To avoid deficit spending, President Roosevelt did not
launch a Third New Deal
 Conservatives felt that Roosevelt made the federal
government too large and it had stifled free enterprise
and individual initiative
 Liberals felt that Roosevelt did not do enough to
socialize the economy and eliminate social and
economic inequalities
Sources
 The Americans: Reconstruction through the 2oth
Century, McDougal Littell, Inc, Evanston, IL, 2002.