Chapter 23
The New Deal
Section 1
A New Deal Fights the Depression
Americans Get a New Deal
 Democratic candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt-
FDR-beat Hoover in the presidential election of 1932 by a
landslide. (23million-16million)
 Roosevelt and his advisors planned programs to end the
Depression.
 These programs became known as the New Deal- it had
three goals:
 Relief for the needy
 Economic recovery
 Financial reform
Continued
 In the first Hundred Days, Congress quickly passed many
important laws.
 Roosevelt declared a “bank holiday.” He closed the banks to
prevent more bank failures.
 Then Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act,
which allowed healthy banks to reopen.
 The Glass-Steagall Act established the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC), in which protects the savings
people put in banks.
Continued
 Congress also passed the Federal Securities Act-this law
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made companies give accurate information in its stock
offerings.
Later, Congress created the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) to regulate stock markets.
FDR spoke directly to the American people in radio talks
called “fireside chats.”
He explained the New Deal measures and asked for public
support.
These chats did a lot to restore the nation’s confidence.
Helping the American People
 The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) helped to
raise crop prices by lowering production.
 The New Deal included programs that gave relief through
work projects and cash payments.
 The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) put young
men to work building roads and planting trees.
 The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
provided direct relief for food, clothing, and cash to the
needy.
Continued
 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) set
codes of fair practices for industries.
 The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) was set up to
provide government loans to homeowners who faced
foreclosure because they could not make their loan
payments.
 The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
provided direct relief to the needy.
The New Deal Comes Under Attack
 Roosevelt reluctantly financed the New Deal through deficit
spending-spending more money than the government
receives in revenue.
 The most serious challenge to the New Deal came from
Senator Huey Long of Louisiana.
 He was an early supporter of the New Deal.
 Long proposed a program called “Share Our Wealth.”
Section 2
The Second New Deal Takes Hold
The Second Hundred Days
 FDR launched a second wave of reforms—sometimes called
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the Second New Deal.
These programs were designed to help poor people.
The president’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, traveled around
the country. She was a reformer and political advisor.
She reported to the president on the suffering of the poor.
She spoke up for women & minorities.
The 1936 election was an overwhelming victory for
Roosevelt, the Democrats, and the New Deal.
Continued
 It also marked the first time most African Americans voted
Democratic. And it was the first time that labor unions
supported a single candidate. They supported Roosevelt.
 The 1936 election was the most lopsided in history.
Helping Farmers
 The first Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) had helped
some farmers before it was struck down by the Supreme
Court.
 Other laws helped sharecroppers and tenant farmers. They
provided loans to help farmers buy land.
 New laws also helped migrant workers by providing better
housing for them.
Roosevelt Extends Relief
 A new agency called the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) set out to create jobs as quickly
as possible. The WPA used millions of workers to build
airports, roads, libraries, schools, and hospitals.
 The WPA also employed teachers, writers, artists, actors,
and musicians.
 It made special efforts to help women, minorities, and the
young.
 The National Youth Administration (NYA) provided
aid and part-time jobs to many high school & college
students.
Improving Labor and Other Reforms
 The second New Deal created important reforms for labor.
 The Wagner Act supported workers’ rights to collective
bargaining and also banned unfair labor practices.
 The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set maximum hours
and minimum wage for the first time for workers.
 Passed in 1938
 1938 Minimum wage 0.25 cents
 1939 raised to 0.30
 1956 raised to $1.00
 Set the work week of 44 hours
 Banned child labor
Improving Labor and Other Reforms
(cont.)
 The Social Security Act was one of the most important
achievements of the New Deal. It was to aid to people with
disabilities and pensions for retired workers.
 1. Old-age insurance—Supplemental retirement plan that
provided funds from what workers and employers paid into the
system.
 2. Unemployed compensation—Payments to workers who lost
their jobs.
 3. Aid to the disabled and families with children—This helped
people who could not be expected to work.
 The Second New Deal also extended electricity to rural areas
through the Rural Electrification Administration.
Section 3
The New Deal Affects Many Groups
The New Deal Brings New
Opportunities
 Women made some important gains during the New Deal.
More women were appointed to important federal jobs.
 Francis Perkins became the first female cabinet member as
secretary of labor. She also helped to create the Social
Security system.
 Many New Deal agencies did not discriminate in hiring. This
gave women more opportunities. But, some government
agencies did not hire as many women as men.
 For example, the Civilian Conservation Corps hired men only.
And women were almost always paid less than men.
African-American Activism
 President Roosevelt gave a number of African Americans a
voice in government.
 Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator who became head of
the Minority Affairs Office of the National Youth
Administration.
 Worked to ensure that the NYA hired some African Americans.
 Helped organize the “Black Cabinet,” which was a group of
influential African Americans that advised Roosevelt on racial
issues.
 However, President Roosevelt did not push for full civil
rights of African Americans. He was afraid of losing the
support of white Southerners.
Mexican-American Fortunes;
Native American Gains
 Mexican Americans tended to support the New Deal. But
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they received few benefits from New Deal programs.
Native Americans got support from the New Deal.
1933, Roosevelt made John Collier commissioner on
Indian affairs.
The was a strong supporter of Native Americans rights.
Collier helped pass the Indian Reorganization Act. This law
strengthened Native American land claims.
FDR Creates the New Deal Coalition
 Roosevelt got votes from Southern whites, city people,
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African Americans, and workers who belonged to unions.
Together these groups of voters formed a coalition that
supported FDR.
It became known as the New Deal Coalition-voters from
different groups that supported the Democrat party because
of the New Deal.
Divisions emerged between labor unions.
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was made up of
mostly crafts unions, such as plumbers or carpenters.
Continued
 Other unions wanted to represent workers in a whole industry,
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such as the automobile industry.
These unions broke away to form the Congress of Industrial
Organization (CIO).
Labor employed a new kind of strike in the 1930s-a sit down
strike.
Workers did not leave their workplace.
They remained inside but refused to work.
That prevented factory owners from using strikebreakers or scabs
to get the work done.
Some strikes led to violence.
Roosevelt appointed people of urban-immigrant backgrounds to
important government jobs.
Section 4
Culture of the 1930s
The Lure of Motion Pictures and Radio
 The 1930s were a golden age for the radio and film industries
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in spite of the hard economic times.
About two-thirds of Americans went to a movie once a week.
One of the most popular films of all time was Gone With
the Wind (1939).
Other popular movies in the 1930s included The Wizard of
Oz, and the Disney animated film, Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs.
Audiences flocked to see comedies starring the Marx
Brothers and also to see dark, gritty gangster movies.
Continued
 Radio showed the democratic spirit of the times.
 There were radios in nearly 90 percent of American homes.
 The radio offered inexpensive entertainment.
 There were comedy and variety shows, news programs, soap
operas, and children’s shows.
 There were also excellent dramas and mysteries.
 Radio made people like Bob Hope, Jack Benny and George
Burns, and Gracie Allen stars long before they had success on
television.
 In order to reach the greatest number of people, President
Roosevelt went on the radio during his famous fireside chats.
Continued
 The most famous radio broadcast was by Orson Welles.
 Welles was an actor, director, and filmmaker. His fictional
radio show “The War of the Worlds” was so realistic that it
convinced many Americans that Martians had landed in New
Jersey.
The Arts in Depression America
 SOL: The Federal Arts Project was part of the WPA. It paid
artists to create posters, murals, and other works of art for
public places.
 800,000 people put to work through the WPA.
 Artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood
painted mid-western subjects.
 Wood’s American Gothic, a portrait of a serious-looking man
and woman standing in front of their farmhouse, remains
symbolic of life during the Depression (pg. 719).
Continued
 Richard Wright was an African-American writer. He
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receive financial help while writing Native Son.
This novel shows the problems racism caused for a young
African-American man.
John Steinbeck also got help from the FWP. His novel The
Grapes of Wrath is one of the most famous books about the
Depression.
It shows the problems faced by Oklahoma farmers who were
forced from their homes during the Dust Bowl.
They became migrant workers.
They made it to California, but their hardships continued.
Section 5
The Impact of the New Deal
New Deal Reforms Endure
 Roosevelt was also more and more worried about events in
Europe, particularly the rise of Hitler.
 Conservative critics say that the New Deal made the
government too big and too powerful. They say that it got in
the way of free enterprise.
 They feel that government should not be so involved in the
economy.
 Liberal critics say that the New Deal did not go far enough.
They think that Roosevelt should have done more to end the
differences in wealth between the rich and the poor.
Continued
 The New Deal expanded the power of the federal
government.
 The government also created agencies such as the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (insurance
for savings) and the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) to regulate banking and investment
activities.
 To do all this, the government went deeply into debt. In the
end, what really ended the depression was the massive
spending for World War II.
Continued
 Today the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
(regulates business) still mediates labor disputes. And the
FDIC and SEC help regulate the banking and securities
industries.
Social and Environmental Effects
 One of the most important and lasting benefits of the New
Deal is the Social Security system. It provides old-age
insurance and unemployment benefits.
 It also help families with dependent children and those who
are disabled.
 The Second Agricultural Adjustment Act made loans to
farmers. The loans were based on the parity (equal or fair
price or amount) value—a price based on 1910-1914
levels—of farmers surplus crops. Projects that spread
electric power to rural areas also helped farmers.
Continued
 The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) helped
prevent floods and provided electricity.
 The TVA was a federal agency that constructed dams and
power plants on the Tennessee River and its tributaries
(dozens of dams). They created the “Great Lakes of the
South.”
 New Deal programs also added to the national park system.
They set up areas to protect wildlife. However, the TVA did
contribute to pollution through strip mining.