• Herbert Hoover was
president at the start
• Philosophy: We’ll
make it!
• What He Did: Nothing
• The poor were
looking for help and
no ideas on how to
correct or help were
coming
Many waited in unemployment
lines hoping for a job.
People in cities would wait in line
for bread to bring to their family.
“Hooverville”
• Some families were
forced to live in
shanty towns
– A grouping of
shacks and tents in
vacant lots
• They were referred
to as “Hooverville”
because of
President Hoover’s
lack of help during
the depression.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) won the 1932 Presidential
election.
• FDR came from a wealthy family was
educated at Harvard and Columbia Law
School.
• He married his distant cousin Anna
Eleanor Roosevelt.
• In 1920 he caught polio and overcame the
disease.
• In his inauguration speech, FDR stated that, “the only thing
we have to fear is fear itself.”
Inauguration of FDR, March 4, 1933
• FDR gathered
information from
many economic
experts, known as the
Brain Trust, on how
to fight the
depression.
II. plans for
I. Relief for
economic
the unemployed
Recovery
The New Deal had three major goals:
III. Reforms to
prevent another
depression
The New Deal
• FDR developed many
new bills that created
programs to help end the
Great Depression.
• These programs were
known as the New Deal.
Saving the Banks
Bank run, New York City, 1931
• Roosevelt declared a “bank holiday”, closing every bank in
the nation for eight days.
• Congress then
passed the
Emergency Banking
Relief Act, which
only allowed banks to
open if they had
enough funds to pay
their depositors.
FDR signing the
Emergency Banking
Relief Act into law.
Fireside Chats
• FDR gave 30 radio speeches to the nation, which became
known as fireside chats.
FDR’s
first
fireside
chat on
the bank
crisis.
(March
12,
1933)
• FDR’s
first
fireside
chat
reassured
people
that
banks
were safe
to use
again.
Fix the Banks and Stock Market
• Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) was created to regulate the stock
market and prevent fraud.
– *Known as “Prevention Reform”
The CCC (Civilian Conservation
Corps) was formed two days after
FDR took office in March, 1933.
FDR believed that this “Tree Army”
of young men would relieve rural
unemployment and keep youth “off
the street corners.”
They came from families
on relief.
Each enrollee was paid $30 per
month, of which $25
was sent to his family.
Room, board, and
clothing were provided
by the government.
Created in the same first year of
FDR’s NEW DEAL program was the
PWA.
It was to strengthen the nation’s
infrastructure while combating
unemployment.
Simply put, it was designed to
spend big bucks on big projects.
Between 1933 and 1939, the PWA
funded the construction of over
34,000 projects…
Challenges to the New Deal
• Support of Roosevelt and his New Deal
began to fade in 1935.
• The American Liberty League was
created as business leaders and anti-New
Deal politicians from both parties
organized to oppose the New Deal.
Launching the Second New Deal
• In 1935 Roosevelt’s second New Deal
began with a series of programs and
reforms to speed up recovery and provide
economic security to every American.
• In the Supreme Court case
Schechter v. United States, the court
struck down the National Industrial
Recovery Act.
The Rise of Industrial Unions
• New labor legislation was created because
Roosevelt believed in high union wages to
allow more spending power to boost the
economy.
• The United Auto Workers (UAW)
was formed and quickly became one of
the most powerful unions in the United
States.
The Social Security
Act
(1935) Providing
security for the
elderly, unemployed
workers, and other
needy people.
Roosevelt’s Second Term
• Millions of voters owed their jobs, homes,
and bank accounts to the New Deal.
• Roosevelt sent Congress a bill to increase
the number of justices on
the Supreme Court.
• In 1937 a sudden rise in unemployment
further hurt Roosevelt’s popularity.
The Last New Deal Reforms
• Congress kept appropriations low, believing
that the plan made agricultural problems
worse.
• The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 gave
protection to workers, abolished child labor,
and created a 40-hour workweek for
workers.
• New Deal legislation began to get blocked
as Congress began to turn against the New
Deal.
The Legacy of the New Deal
• The New Deal had limited success, but
gave Americans a stronger sense of
security and stability.
• The program gave Americans a safety net
that provided safeguards and relief
programs to protect them from economic
disaster.