FDR's New Deal: Programs to Combat the Great Depression

1. Chapter 25, Section 2New Deal Programs 1933 – 15 Million Americans Unemployed

2. The New Deal • New Deal – nickname for FDR’s programs to combat the problems of the Great Depression • Goals of the New Deal • Relief for the needy (unemployed) • Economic recovery (industry & ag.) • Financial reform • Brain Trust – nickname for the experts in different areas of the economy that FDR surrounded himself by that advised him on what to do to help the economy • Hundred Days – FDR’s first 3 months in office which he used to propose and sign numerous pieces of legislation

3. FIRST HUNDRED DAYS PROGRAMS:

4. EMERGENCY BANKING RELIEF ACT • Gave the federal gov’t the right to regulate banks and rushed money to re-opened banks (after the bank holiday ordered by FDR) Fireside Chat 1 on the Banking Crisis (March 12,1933) given by FDR

5. RELIEF FOR THE HOMELESS

6. FERA • FEDERAL EMERGENCY RELIEF ADMINISTRATION • Provided federal money for relief projects to the roughly 13 million unemployed

7. HOLC • HOME OWNERS LOAN CORPORATION • Provided home owners with low cost loans

8. AAA • AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ADMIN. • Regulated farm production and promoted soil conservation (provided subsidies to farmers to produce less to get prices to go up)

9. FCA • FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION • Provided low cost farm loans • Still around today: http://www.fca.gov/about/index.html

10. TVA • TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY • Planned development of the Tennessee Valley region – created jobs, built 40 dams, provided electricity, and controlled flooding

11. CCC • CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS • Hired young men to plant trees, build dams, construct parks, and work on other conservation projects

12. FDIC • FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORP. • Protected the money of depositors in insured banks (up to $100,000)

13. NIRA • NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY ACT • It was a law to regulate industry in order to raise prices and stimulate economic recovery • It created the National Recovery Administration (NRA) to accomplish this • It also established a national public works program known as the Public Works Administration (PWA) • These two programs are on the next slides

14. NRA • NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION • Regulated industry, raised wages (minimum wage) & prices, allowed collective bargaining

15. PWA • PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION • Created jobs by having people build highways, bridges & other public works • Hired private companies to complete the projects

16. Accomplishments of the Hundred Days • Following the passage of these laws, there was a lull in the passage of new legislation to combat the depression – why? • The legislation in this period significantly increased the role of the gov’t • The public’s confidence in the nation’s future had rebounded • Millions benefitted from the programs the Hundred Days created • To pay for it required deficit spending (spending more money that the gov’t receives in revenue) • Despite the help provided, the depression was not close to being over

17. Frances Perkins • College graduate who worked in settlement houses (including Hull House in Chicago) • Became the first woman cabinet member when FDR made her the Secretary of Labor • She supported the NIRA, the minimum wage, and an end to child labor

18. Eleanor Roosevelt • Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady during the Great Depression • She was a social reformer who supported laws to help women, minorities, and children in particular • With FDR confined to a wheelchair, she traveled the country and became his eyes and ears • Her reports back to her husband helped to shape future legislation

19. Critics of the New Deal • American Liberty League – an organization formed in 1934 by conservatives who were some of the strongest opponents of the New Deal as they believed it violated the rights of individuals and property • Charles Coughlin – a Roman Catholic priest from Detroit who had a Sunday radio broadcast of his sermon who believed in a guaranteed annual income and the nationalization of the banks • Coughlin eventually lost popularity due to his anti-Semetic views

20. Critics of the New Deal • Francis Townshend – a doctor from Long Beach, California who believed that FDR was not doing enough to help the poor and elderly, so he devised a pension plan that would provide monthly benefits to the elderly • Huey Long – a Senator from Louisiana who proposed a nationwide social program called “Share the Wealth” which was undefined, but extremely popular • With 7.5 million members in his Share the Wealth clubs in 1935, Long’s popularity was rising, but he was assassinated that same year • FDR faced criticism from the left and right. What does that say about his reforms?

21. New Deal Faces Supreme Court Challenges • The Supreme Court struck down the NIRA in 1935, declaring the law gave legislative powers to the executive branch and went beyond its powers to regulate interstate commerce • In 1936 the AAA was struck down with the argument that agriculture is a local matter and should be regulated by states not the federal gov’t • Fearing the Supreme Court would strike down more New Deal laws, FDR proposed a bill to allow him to appoint 6 new justices to the Supreme Court, which would shift the balance of the court from conservative to liberal • The bill faces strong opposition from Congress and in the media and never passed • Due to resignations in the next few years, FDR was able to appoint several new justices to the Supreme Court anyway

22. Labor Unions During the Depression • Union members enjoyed better working conditions and increased bargaining power due to the NIRA (and later the Wagner Act) • Union membership grew from less than 3 million in 1933 to more than 10 million by 1941 • The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was traditionally for only craft unions • John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) to organize industrial workers, and it was expelled from the AFL in 1938 • Once independent it changed its name to the Congress of Industrial Organizations and kept CIO as its acronym

23. Sit-down Strikes • sit-down strike – one of the main bargaining tactics of the labor movement of the 1930s, in which workers did not walk off the job, but instead remained in the plants refusing to work • Sit-down strikes prevented the factory owners from carrying on production with strikebreakers doing the work • The most famous sit-down strike was at the General Motors in 1937 by the United Auto Workers union (UAW) • The police tried to enter the plant to get the workers out • The police used tear gas and the workers used fire hoses and car parts to fight them off • 14 workers were injured by gun fire • John L. Lewis of the CIO and UAW leaders were able to negotiate an end to the strike and GM agreed to recognize the union and negotiate future contracts with it

24. Second New Deal • By 1935 the FDR administration was seeking ways to build on the programs established during the Hundred Days • Economic improvement was evident, but very slow • More needed to be done • The next wave of legislation passed by FDR is known as the Second New Deal Franklin Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law during 1935

25. SECOND NEW DEAL PROGRAMS:

26. Farmers Face New Problems • 2 out of every 5 farms in the US were mortgaged, thousands of small farmers lost their land, and the AAA was struck down by the Supreme Court (#2) • Soil Conservation Act – paid farmers for cutting production of soil-depleting crops • Resettlement Administration – created by executive order, it provided loans to small farmers to buy land • Farm Security Administration – replaced the Resettlement Administration and loaned $1 billion to tenant farmers to help them buy land, and set up camps for migrant farm workers • A second AAA was passed to restore subsidies (one that would not be struck down by the courts)

27. WPA • WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION • Established small and large scale national works programs to create jobs • Created industrial and construction jobs, but also jobs for people with other skills • Federal gov’t employed them (not private companies)

28. NYA • NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION • Part of the WPA • Set up job programs for young people & helped them continue their education

29. REA • RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION • Brought electricity to rural areas • This created jobs and made rural people consumers of electric products

30. NLRB (part of the National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act) • NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD • Oversaw labor unions and investigated disputes between management and labor • Allowed workers to join unions and allowed collective bargaining

31. SSA • SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION • Provided workers with unemployment insurance & retirement benefits