THE NEW DEAL
AND THE
RISE OF
FRANKLIN
D.
ROOSEVELT
THE NEW DEAL: 3 R’S
Three general goals:
THE HUNDRED DAYS
 The FDR administration
undergoes a period of
intense activity known as
the Hundred Days.
 His 1 st 100 days in office.
 Congress passes more than
15 major pieces of New Deal
legislation.
 A dramatic expansion of
the federal government’s
role in the American
economy.
THE HUNDRED DAYS
FDR’s banking and
finance reform:
 Declared a bank holiday
and closed all banks to
prevent further
withdrawals.
 Persuaded Congress to
pass the Emergency
Banking Relief Act.
 Restored public confidence
in banks.
FIRESIDE CHATS
 Fireside Chats: series of thirty
evening radio addresses given
by Pres. FDR between 1933
and 1944
 Goal was to talk to the public,
to win their support, so that
the people would then
pressure their Congressmen
to pass FDR’s desired
policies.
REFORMING BANKING AND FINANCE
 Glass-Steagall Act of 1933:
 Established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) .
• Gives federal insurance for individual bank accounts of up to $5,000.
• Assures bank customers that their money is safe.
• Requires banks to be careful with their customers’ money.
 Federal Securities Act of 1933:
 People lose faith in the stock market after the crash of 1929.
 Requires corporations to give complete information on all stock offerings
and makes them liable for misrepresentations.
 In 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is created.
Regulates the stock market with the goal of preventing
insider trading
 21 st Amendment is passed in 1933, repealing prohibition.
HELPING
THE
AMERICAN
PEOPLE
N ew D e a l
P r o g r am s
RELIEF FOR AMERICANS
Rural assistance:
 Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA).
• Raised crop prices by lowering
production.
• Government paid farmers to leave
portions of every acre of land
unseeded
 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
• Renovated dams and constructed
new ones to create jobs
• Provided flood control,
hydroelectric power,
RELIEF FOR AMERICANS
 Work projects:
 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
 Gave young men, ages 18-25, work building
roads, developing parks, planting trees, and
flood-control projects
 Public Works Administration (part of the
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).
 Gave money to states to make jobs in the
construction of schools and community
buildings
 Civil Works Administration (CWA).
• Programs had failed to make sufficient dent
in unemployment  CWA established
• Created 4 million immediate jobs
• Built 40,000 schools and paid rural
schoolteachers’ salaries
• Built more than half a million miles of roads
RELIEF FOR AMERICANS
 Promoting fair practices:
 National Recovery Administration (NRA).
 Set prices of many products and established
standards
 Aimed at promoting recovery by interrupting the
trend of wage cuts, falling prices, and layoffs
 Guaranteeing workers’ rights to unionize and
bargain collectively.
 Food, clothing, and shelter:
 Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC).
 gave government loans to homeowners facing
foreclosure
 Federal Emergency Relief Administration
(FERA).
 provided direct relief for the needy; given to
states as direct grants-in-aid for food and
clothing to the unemployed, aged, and ill. The
rest of the money was given to states to support
work relief programs.
THE NEW
DEAL
UNDER
ATTACK
To o m u c h
government
i n te r fe r e nc e o r
not enough?
CRITICISM OF THE NEW DEAL
 FDR engaging in deficit spending to
deal with the depression.
 A necessary evil.
 Conservative critique:
 Too much spent on direct relief.
 FDR used the New Deal policies to
control business and socialize the
economy.
 Too much federal government control
over agriculture and industry.
 The New Deal interfered with a freemarket economy.
THE SUPREME COURT VS. FDR
 In February 1937, FDR asks Congress to enact his Court-packing bill.
Court Packing Bill:
This would appoint 6
more justices to
Supreme Court for
15 total.
The threat of doing
this, plus Justice
Black retiring made
Supreme Court
agree to his New
Deal Legislation.
THE NEW DEAL COMES UNDER ATTACK
 Three Fiery Critics
 Father Charles Coughlin withdraws initial support of New Deal
 Wants guaranteed income, banks nationalized
 Dr. Francis Townsend devises pension plan for elderly
 Presidential hopeful, Senator Huey Long has popular social
program
Charles Coughlin
Huey Long
Dr. Francis Townsend
THE SECOND NEW DEAL
CONTINUING
TO COMBAT
THE
ECONOMIC
CRISIS
THE SECOND HUNDRED DAYS
 Also known as the Second New Deal.
 Unemployment still high, and production still lagging.
 FDR asks Congress to give more extensive relief to farmers and workers.
 1936 presidential election.




Republican candidate Alfred Landon vs. Democratic candidate FDR.
Overwhelming victory for Democrats.
First time that most African Americans voted Democratic.
First time labor unions give support to a presidential candidate.
HELPING FAMERS
 1936,
Congress
passes the
Soil
Conservation
and Domestic
Allotment
Act.
 1938,
Congress
passes a
second
Agricultural
Adjustment
Act.
THE IMPACT OF PHOTOJOURNALISM
 Dorothea Lange: photographer of the Great Depression and
New Deal era.
 Much of her work was funded by federal agencies like the Farm
Security Administration.
 Helped highlight the desperate conditions in rural America and
underscore the need for direct relief.
“Migrant Mother"
EXTENDING RELIEF
 Works Progress Administration (WPA): aimed to create as
many jobs as possible.
 National Youth Administration (NYA): provided jobs,
counseling, education, and recreation for young people.
LABOR AND OTHER REFORMS
 Wagner Act (aka National Labor Relations
Act): reestablished the NIRA provision of
collective bargaining.
 Also prohibited unfair labor practices.
 Established the National Labor Relations
Board.
 Fair Labor Standards Act : established
workplace standards, like maximum work
hours and minimum wages.
LABOR AND OTHER REFORMS
 Social Security Act:
 Old-age insurance for
retirees 65 or older and their
spouses.
 Unemployment
compensation system.
 Aid to families with
dependent children and the
disabled.
 Public Utilities:
 Promoted rural
electrification and regulation
of public utilities.
 By executive order, the Rural
Electrification
Administration (REA) was
established to bring
electricity to isolated areas.
 Public Utility Holding
Company Act aimed to
combat corruption.
NLRB V. JONES AND LAUGHLIN STEEL
CORP. (1937)
 Facts: Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp. was charged with
intimidating union organizers and firing several union members.
The NLRB found the company guilty of unfair labor practices.
 Issue: Does Congress have the authority to regulate labor
relations (i.e., is the NLRA constitutional)?
 Holding: Yes, because production is a part of the interstate flow
of commerce. Under Article 1 , section 8 of the Constitution,
Congress has the power to regulate commerce. And, a labor
unrest at a steel mill would create burdens and obstructions to
interstate commerce such that Congress has the power to
prevent unrest.
 Impact of the case : Labor unions grew quickly, which helped
improve the economic standing of many working class citizens.
This case also greatly broadened Congress’s power under the
Commerce Clause.
UNIONS POST-NLRB V. JONES AND
LAUGHLIN STEEL CORP
 An example: