When President Roosevelt took office, he set up a series of initiatives to help the
economy recover speedily. These initiatives became known as The New Deal and all
the new agencies that were created to help, became known as the Alphabet Agencies.
The New Deal focused on: getting Americans back to work; getting US industry and
agriculture back on their feet; providing relief for the sick, elderly and unemployed
and protecting people’s savings and property. The Emergency Banking Relief Act
closed all banks for four days for investigation and reorganized and reopened the
banks that were strong enough to survive. The Federal Emergency Relief Agency
(FERA) gave immediate financial relief to the poorest victims of the Depression. The
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided work for two million young men from
unemployed families across America. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) helped
farmers, encouraging diversification to prevent overproduction. The Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) built dams to control the Tennessee River and provide electricity.
This was one of the most successful parts of the New Deal, as a poor and backward
area was revived with new jobs and industry.
This first New Deal was aimed at short-term recovery and it had faced lots of
criticism. Some thought he was doing too little to help those in need and that the New
Deal was too complicated, while others thought he was doing too much. In June 1935
he passed several new laws. The second New Deal was an attempt to provide work
rather than welfare. It included The Works Progress Administration (WPA), which
directed the construction of buildings, roads, airports and schools. Actors, painters,
musicians and writers were employed through the Federal Theatre Project, the
Federal Art Project and the Federal Writers Project. The National Youth
Administration gave part-time employment and training to students. The Social
Security Act of 1935 was a system of insurance for the elderly, unemployed and
disabled, based on employer and employee contributions. From 1933, 12,830,000
were unemployed but after these measures, in 1936, the number had dropped to
9,030,000, showing that the New Deal was working, but not curing all. In 1936,
Roosevelt won a huge election victory but the following year, another depression hit
the country as unemployment increased and production decreased. In 1938 a
Republican Congress majority was elected, who were against Roosevelt, yet
Roosevelt won the election again in 1940.
The Main Alphabet Agencies:
CCC - Civilian Conservation Corps; outdoor projects for jobs
AAA - Agriculture Adjustment Administration: adjust food production
TVA - Tennessee Valley Authority: jobs building Hydro electric damns
NRA - National Recovery Administration: pay fair wages to workers. It included two
areas:
PWA - Public Works Authority offering jobs through building programmes.
Blue Eagle scheme set fair wages and working conditions.