Restoring the Nation’s Hope
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1933- presidential elections took place in
November, but the Inauguration didn’t
take place until April
4 months delay Hoover a “lame duck”
 Depression deepened
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Prompted Congress to pass the Twentieth
Amendment which changed the date of the
inaugural to January 20.
Did not take place until the following
election
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2nd Bonus March on Washington
 Whitehouse provided campsites for the
veterans
 Eleanor Roosevelt visited them
demonstrating compassion and soothed
popular fears about renewed radical
agitation
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Inaugural Address- “The only thing we
have to fear is fear itself”
Fireside chats
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Referred to the relief, recovery, and
reform programs of FDR’s
administration that were aimed at
combating the Great Depression
Stabilizing Financial Institutions
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“Bank holiday”- closed banks for 4 days to
inspect financial health
 2/3 reopened
 Americans regained confidence in the banking
system and began to put more money back into
their accounts than they took out
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Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933created the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) to insure bank
deposits
Federal Securities Act- required companies
to provide information about their finances
if they offered stock for sale
 Securities and Exchange commission
(SEC)- regulated the stock market
 Decreased the value of U.S. currency by
taking it off the gold standard
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 Hoped that this action would raise the prices of
farm products and other goods
 Hoped that a devalued American currency
would stimulate export trade
Providing Relief and Creating Jobs
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Sent funds to local relief agencies
Put federal money into public works
programs, government-funded projects
to build public facilities
Civil Works Administration (CWA)- put
unemployed to work building or
improving roads, parks, airports, and
other facilities
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Civilian conservation Corps (CCC)- put
more than 2.5 million young, unmarried
men to work maintaining forests, beaches,
and parks
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Paid $30/month, allowed to live in camps free of charge
and received food, medical care, and job training
Indian Affairs used federal funds and
native American workers to build schools,
hospitals, and irrigation systems
Regulating the Economy
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National Recovery Administration (NRA)balance the unstable economy through
extensive planning
 Industry-wide codes to spell out fair business
practices
 Regulated wages, restraining wage competition
 Controlled working conditions, production, and
prices, and set a minimum wage
 Gave organized labor collective bargaining
rights, which allowed workers to negotiate as a
group with employers
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Public Works Administration (PWA)launched projects ranging from the
Grand Coulee Dam to NYC’s Triborough
Bridge to the causeway that connects
Key West to the Florida mainland
Assisting Homeowners and Farmers
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Home Owners’ Loan corporation
(HOLC)- refinanced mortgages
National Housing Act of 1934established the Federal Housing
Administration (FHA)- government0wned corporation created to improve
housing standards and conditions to
insure mortgages and to stabilize the
mortgage market
Agricultural Adjustment Administration
(AAA)- tried to raise farm prices through
subsidies or government financial
assistance
 Paid farmers not to raise certain crops and
livestock- lower production would cause
prices to rise
 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)- public
works project that helped farmers and
created jobs in one of the country’s least
developed regions
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1st President ever to appoint a woman to a
Cabinet post
 Frances Perkins became Secretary of Labor and
successfully pressed for laws that would help
both wage earners ad the unemployed
 Hired African Americans in more than a
hundred policymaking posts
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 Mary McLeod Bethune held the highest position of
any African American woman in the New Dealinfluential spokesperson for Af. Am. Concerns
▪ Advised FDR on programs that aided Af.Am. And in the
process increased her level of influence
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Traveled widely for her husband, whose
disability made traveling difficult
 Reported back on conditions in the country and
on the effects of his program
 Sometimes took stands that embarrassed her
FDR
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Controversial- some Americans though a
First Lady should act only as a gracious
hostess
Many came to admire her for her political
skills, her humanity, and her idealism
Critics worried that New Deal agencies
were giving increasing power to the federal
government
 Supreme Court attacked FDR’s programs
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 Declared the NIRA unconstitutional because it
gave the Pres. Lawmaking powers and
regulated local, rather than interstate,
commerce
 Struck down the tax that funded AAA subsidies
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Called the Second New Deal or the
Second Hundred Days
Included more social welfare benefits,
stricter controls over business, stronger
support for unions, and higher taxes on
the rich
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Works Progress Administration (WPA)provided work for more than 8 million
citizens
Built or improved tens of thousands of
playgrounds, schools, hospitals, and
airfields, and supported the creative work of
many artists and writers
 National Youth Administration provided
jobs, education, recreation, and counseling
for young men and women ages 16-25
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Resettlement Administration/Farm
Security Administration (FSA)- loaned
money to owners of small farms and helped
resettle tenants and sharecroppers
Rural electrification
New Labor Legislation
 Wagner Act- legalized such union practices as
collective bargaining and closed shops, which
are workplaces open only union members. Also
outlawed spying on union activities and
blacklisting
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Be able to list 6 new deal agencies and
their purpose.