U.S. HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER 10
NY resident, enjoyed the outdoors,
educated at Harvard then Columbia
law. Married to Eleanor, Theodore
Roosevelt’s niece.
NY Senator 1910, Secretary of Navy
1920, Governor of NY 1928.
Contracted polio in 1920 & would only
be able to walk with his braces &
assistance
Elected to presidency in November
1932. Takes office in March 1933.
20th Amendment: moves presidential
inaugurations to January, not ratified
until February 1933.
Before being inaugurated, FDR will meet with
lawyers, professors, & journalists to begin
formulating policies that will help the American
people
The NEW DEAL will focus on: relief for the
needy, economic recovery, & financial reform
FDR will abandon the gold standard & would
press banks to obtain their deposits so as to
convert it to gold. Over 4k banks will collapse by
March 1933.
March 9 to June 16, 1933: launching of policies
called the NEW DEAL. More than 15 pieces of
legislation. All of these policies expanded &
redefined the federal government’s role in the
national economy
FDR persuaded Congress to
allow the production & sale of
some alcohol so that it could
be taxed. Eventually the 21st
Amendment (1933) repealed
prohibition
FDR surrounded himself with advisers who were
not afraid to disagree with one another which
provided him with different perspectives of
what government should or should not do to
help deal with the Great Depression. FDR would
make the final decision as to what government
would attempt to do
“Bank Holiday” – first
measure of New Deal.
Closed banks for a day
(for some banks it would
be a couple).
Emergency Banking Relief
Act 1933: allowed the
government to inspect
banks & to make sure
that they were stable &
could reopen
Fireside chats: FDRs information sessions by
radio telling the American people what his
proposals were & what they could do to assist in
the recovery of the nation’s economy. These
chats continued throughout his presidency
Glass-Steagall Act 1933: separated commercial
banking from investment bank.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
ensuring deposits up to $5k.
Federal Securities Act 1933: required
corporations to provide complete info on stock
offerings & made them liable for
misrepresentations
Securities & Exchange Commission: created to
regulate stock market, stop fraud, & keep
people from “rigging” the stock market
Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC):
purchased mortgages of homeowners who were
behind & then restructured the loan with longer
repayment terms & lower interest rates
Farm Credit Administration (FCA): farmers were
able to refinance their mortgages & hold onto
their land
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA): raised crop
prices by lowering production. It paid farmers
NOT to raise certain livestock, grow certain
crops, or produce dairy products. It contained a
processing tax that would cause it to be found
unconstitutional by U.S. Supreme Court
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA): set up
the National Recovery Administration (NRA). Act
suspended antitrust laws & allowed for
business, labor, & government to set up
voluntary rules for fair competition in each
industry. These set up prices, minimum wages,
set working hours, create more jobs, allowed for
unionization, & fair competition. Not everyone
liked the voluntary rules. NRA would be
considered unconstitutional in 1935 by U.S.
Supreme Court
National Industrial Recovery Act
Fort Peck Dam in Montana; spillway
construction. It is one of the largest dams in
the world and continues to generate
electricity; in July 1936 its construction
employed 10,500 workers
Lincoln Tunnel, NYC built by PWA
National Recovery Administration
Hugh Johnson, Fiorello
LaGuardia and Robert
Moses on Grand Street
to start a section of the
FDR Drive, 1934.
FDR’s advisers felt that getting $ into the hands
of the needy would be a fast remedy but none,
including FDR, wanted to just give $ to the
unemployed. They would create work programs
for them.
SEE POLITICAL CARTOON PG. 254
Civilian Conservation Corps: men, 18-25,
working for the forestry service planting trees,
fighting forest fires, & building reservoirs
These men would build the Shelter Belt to
prevent another Dust Bowl
Earned $30/month, $25 was sent home, as they
were provided with meals, shelter, & clothing
near their work sites.
Many were taught to read & write while there.
3 million young men would go through this
program including 80k Native Americans
Civilian Conservation Corps
CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)
boys building steps at picnic
grounds of recreation area. Ross
County, Ohio
Civilian Conservation Corps workers at Fort
Ancient, 1934. Located in Warren County,
Ohio and maintained as a state memorial
by the Ohio Historical Society
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA):
provided $ to state & local agencies to fund
their relief projects
Public Works Administration (PWA): employed
construction workers to build highways, dams,
schools, & government facilities. Contractors
who received contract to build could not
discriminate against African Americans
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal
Emergency
Relief
Administration
camp July 1934.
Tennessee Valley Authority: renovation of 5
dams, constructed 20 others, provided flood
control, jobs, & hydroelectric power
SEE MAP PG. 252
Tennessee Valley Authority
Douglas Dam
Cherokee Dam
TVA is the largest U.S. public power company with twentynine hydroelectric dams These dams distribute electricity over
an area of about 207,000 square kilometers (80,000 square
miles), consisting of 8 million users within Tennessee, and
portions of Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky,
Virginia, and Alabama. The TVA system annually produces
over 125 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, more than 90
times the electricity produced in 1933.
Civil Works Administration: provided 4 million
jobs. Built 1k airports, 40k schools, 3.5k
playgrounds & parks, paid 50k teachers, & built
a million miles of roads.
The program only lasted from the fall of 1933 to
spring of 1933 as FDR realized the amount of $
it was costing plus he did not want Americans
used to the government providing them with
jobs
Civil Works Administration
Civil Works Administration workers
repaving road in front of the
Philadelphia Zoo's administration
building, Philadelphia, PA, June,
1934
Civil Works Administration
workers on their way to fill
a gully with wheelbarrows
of earth during the
construction of the Lake
Merced Parkway
Boulevard, San Francisco,
California
FDR’s & Congress’ legislation did not restore
prosperity but it aided banks to reopen, people
to retain their homes & farms, employ many of
the unemployed & to inspire hope & faith in the
nation
FDR will begin to face opposition to his policies
even though there were some successes with
the New Deal programs
“Right wing’s”
Opposition: deficit
spending
“Left wing’s” Opposition:
New Deal had not gone
far enough & wanted a
redistribution of wealth.
Huey Long, Senator from
LA, would represent the
“left wing’s” ideals &
would consider running
for president in 1936
Father Charles Coughlin
(Catholic): grew impatient
with reforms of the New
Deal & called for inflating the
currency & nationalizing the
banking system. Founded the
National Union for Social
Justice
Dr. Francis Townsend wanted
the government to give
$200/month to all citizens
over the age of 60 & they in
turn would be required to
spend it every month
Newsweek Magazine (11th March, 1933)
Works Progress Administration: 1935-1941:
employs 8.5. million, spent $11 billion,
constructed 650k miles of road, 125k public
buildings, 835 airports, 124k bridges, & 8k parks
Federal Number One: part of WPA that would fund
artists, musicians, actors/actresses, painters, &
writers (chapter 9)
National Youth Administration (NYA): assisted
youths, professionals, & other workers by providing
them with work, a paycheck, or educational
opportunities
Schechter Poultry v. United States May 1935:
Schechter brothers were convicted of violating
NRA’s poultry code. U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that Congress could not delegate legislative
powers to the executive branch thus the NRA’s
codes were unconstitutional
U.S. Supreme Court will invalidate the NIRA
section that allowed for unions to organize.
Democrats needed the working-class vote to
win reelection & will pass new labor legislation
National Labor Relations Act 1935 (Wagner Act):
allowed for unions to exist & to engage in
collective bargaining. Established the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hear testimony
about unfair practices. Act created a process
where union members & companies could go to
a neutral party to help make decisions on issues
called binding arbitration
American Federation of Labor (AFL) will split in
1935. Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO)
will represent everyone. In 1955, the two joined
back together. New tactic: sit-down strike
UAW Members hold their sit down strike
on car seat inventory
Social Security Act 1935:
Old age insurance for retirees
65 or older
Unemployment compensation
Aid to families with dependent
children & disabled.
Still in effect today
IDA MAY FULLER, RECIPIENT
OF THE FIRST SOCIAL
SECURITY CHECK. (THESE
DAYS, YOU CAN GET DIRECT
DEPOSIT.) SSA Photo
U.S. Supreme Court’s
findings of New Deal
programs to be
unconstitutional caused
FDR to propose to
Congress a bill (courtpacking bill) that would
increase the number of
justices (by 6) & allow the
president to appoint an
additional justice if a
sitting justice who had
served 10 years did not
retire within 6 months of
turning 70.
This was a serious
political mistake for FDR.
Southern Democrats
feared that new justices
would overturn
segregation & African
American leaders thought
new justices might
oppose civil rights
U.S. Supreme Court would back down by a
narrow margin upholding the constitutionality
of Social Security & the Wagner Act.
Eventually, justices began resigning (6 total)
which allowed FDR to appoint justices who
supported New Deal programs
Industrial output began to improve & recovery
was in sight. FDR decided to cut spending to
WPA & PWA programs. At the same time that
he did this Social Security took $2 billion out of
the budget
Keynesianism economics: the idea that
government should spend heavily in a recession
to jump-start the economy. FDR was reluctant
to engage in this as he was trying to stop deficit
spending but would do so to allow the economy
to get stronger
National Housing Act 1934: furnished loans for
home mortgages & repairs. Established the
United States Housing Administration (FHA) –
still in existence today
Resettlement Administration 1935 & Farm
Security Administration 1935: provided
monetary loans to small farmers (tenant) to buy
land & establish camps for migrant farm
workers
Fair Labor Standards Act 1938: set maximum
work hours per week to 44, a minimum wage, &
abolished child labor
Soil Conservation & Domestic Allotment Act:
paid farmers for cutting production of soildepleting crops & rewarded farmers for
practicing good soil conservation methods
Agricultural Adjustment Act 1938: had many
features of the first AAA except it left out the
processing tax that was unconstitutional
Rural “Electrification Administration (REA) &
Public Utility Holding Company Act 1935:
expanded & regulated utilities in states
Rural Electrification Admin
(REA): lineman working on
pole as farmer watches.
FDR Library Photo
Collection. Wisconsin
Hayti, Missouri. U.S.
Rural Electrification
Administration (REA)
Installing REA power lines in
the 1930s. These lines were
built in rural Otter Tail
County in West Central
Minnesota
Indian Reorganization Act 1934: called for
changes in the areas of economic (lands back to
tribal ownership), cultural (reduction in
boarding schools), & political (set up their own
tribal councils)
New Deal programs were scaled back at the
request of Congress & other supporters as the
economy grew a little by the end of the 1930s.
Many individuals were divided as to whether or
not the New Deal programs were a good thing
or a bad thing. The New Deal gave the federal
government a more powerful role in influencing
the national economy
Gained limited entrance into the
work force. FDR appointed Frances
Perkins as our first female cabinet
member (Secretary of Labor). Two
other female diplomats & a female
judge would also be appointed.
Women still faced discrimination in
the work place as so many men
were unemployed but would
continue to be an increasing factor
in the makeup of the workforce
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters –
1st all black trade union, created by A.
Philip Randolph
Mary McLeod Bethune: appointed to
head the Division of Negro Affairs of
the National Youth Administration.
She organized a “black cabinet” of
individuals, including William Hastle
& Robert Weaver (both appointees to
Department of Interior). They
assisted in advising Roosevelt’s
administration of issues pertaining to
African Americans
The New Deal did not END the Great Depression
but it EASED the suffering of men, women, &
children by providing them with a job, food, &
some income.
What brought the END of the Great Depression
was the need for war materials as event in
Europe (Hitler) took shape
Programs still in place today:
Wagner Act
Fair Labor Standards Act
National Labor Relations Board
Securities & Exchange Commission
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Social Security
Tennessee Valley Authority (cutbacks in the late
80s, early 90s)