The New Deal
An Effective Response to the
Great Depression?
But First…
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What was the New Deal?
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Campaign Slogan in 1932
No Ideology at first: Experimentation
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“This nation asks for action and action now.”
Becomes synonymous with American
“liberalism”
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Assistance to poor and unemployed
Protect rights of organized labor
Public housing
Subsidized agriculture
Regulation of the economy
Origin of the New Deal
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FDR had no clear philosophy:
experimentation – the
“quarterback analogy”
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“The New Deal will never be understood by
anyone who looks for a single thread of
policy, a far-reaching, far-seeing plan. It
was a series of improvisations…”
Richard Hofstadter
(p. 431 for those interested!)
Origins of the New Deal
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European Models
Progressive Era Reforms
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Poverty not a moral failure
Government regulation
Mobilization for WWI
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Cooperation between public and private
War Boards
Two “New Deals”
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The First New Deal
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1933-34
Stop the panic
The 100 Days
The First New Deal
Unemployed
in line at a
soup kitchen
The 100 Days
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National Bank Holiday
A “run” on the bank
“100 DAYS” OF ACTION
March 9—June 16, 1933
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FINANCIAL REFORMS
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March 9 Emergency
Banking Act
March 20 Government
Economy Act
April 19 Abandonment of
the Gold Standard
May 27 Securities Act
June 5 Abrogation of Gold
Payment Clause
June 13 Home Owners
Loan Act
June 16 Glass-Steagall
Banking Act (F.D.I.C.)
March 22 Beer-Wine
Revenue Act
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JOBS AND RELIEF
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March 31 Creation of
Civilian Conservation
Corps
May 12 Federal
Emergency Relief Act
June 16 National Industrial
Recovery Act
June 16 Emergency
Railroad Transportation Act
Agr. REFORMS
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May 12 Agricultural
Adjustment Act
May 12 Emergency Farm
Mortgage Act
May 18 Tennessee Valley
Authority Act
June 16 Farm Credit Act
The First New Deal
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Two
Cornerstones
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First
Agricultural
Adjustment Act
National
Industrial
Recovery Act
First Agricultural Adjustment Act
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Raise farm prices by
reducing supply
Farmers paid “not to
farm”
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¼ of cotton crop
plowed under
6 million pigs
slaughtered
$100,000,000 paid out
first year
National Industrial Recovery Act
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Replace competition with
cooperation
Industry-wide “codes of fair
competition”
Reduce hours of work
Minimum wage (.40)
Collective bargaining
guaranteed
No “yellow dog” contracts
Established PWA: $4 Billion on
34,000 construction projects
First New Deal
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Stopped the panic, especially in financial
community, “runs” on banks
Created support for FDR
Didn’t end or even put a dent in the
depression
Unemployment
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1933: 12,830,000
1934: 11,340,000
24.9%
21.7%
The Second New Deal
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Cornerstones of first
New Deal declared
unconstitutional
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Butler v. U.S. strikes
down NIRA
Schecter v. U.S. strikes
down AAA
Father
Coughlin
Critics from right and
left
Huey Long
The Second New Deal
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Second AAA
Wagner Labor Relations Act
Social Security
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Keynesian Economics
Second AAA
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Replace first AAA
Introduced “parity” price subsidies for
farm goods
Farm subsidies become permanent
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Fulton County
Georgia
Wagner Labor Relations Act
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Restored section 7a of the
NIRA on labor
Known as the “Magna Carta” of
organized labor.
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Legalized collective bargaining
Prohibited “yellow dog” contracts,
blacklists, “company unions”
Established the NLRB – National
Labor Relations Board – to
supervise and oversee
Social Security
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Monthly payroll deduction
Federal Old-Age, Survivors,
and Disability Insurance
Unemployment benefits
Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families
One generation pays for the
next
Works Progress Administration
(WPA)
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Largest public works program in history
$11 billion to employ 7 million, 1935-1942
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What cost $11,000,000,000 in 1936 would cost
$168,473,306,927.94 in 2009.
Jobs for nearly all kinds of people
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Highway (651,087 miles; 124,031 bridges)
Building construction (125,110 public buildings, 8,192 parks
853 airports including LaGuardia in NYC and National in D.C.
Slum clearance, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation
The Federal Arts Project
The Federal Theatre Project
The Federal Writers' Project
The Federal Music Project
New Deal Images
Was the New Deal Effective?
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1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
7,700,000
10,390,000
9,480,000
8,120,000
5,560,000
14.3%
19.0%
17.2%
14.6%
9.9%