The New Deal

1. “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself”REMEMBER THIS QUOTE!!!– Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933 -

2. The New Deal • 1933 – 1938 • FDR was willing to experiment – it was better to try something and have it fail, than to sit and do nothing at all • Focus on relief, recovery, and reform

3. Deficit Spending • Roosevelt’s plans would require the government to spend more than it took in in taxes, creating a national deficit • Roosevelt assured Congress that the deficit was an emergency measure which would be temporary (it wasn’t)

4. John Maynard Keynes • 1883 – 1946 • British economist who argued that the best way to end an economic recession was through government spending programs which create a national debt

5. The First Hundred Days • Between March 9 & June 16, 1933 (FDR’s first 100 days in office) he got Congress to pass 15 major acts which launched his New Deal reforms

6. Emergency Banking Relief Act • Upon assuming office, FDR declared a federal banking holiday and closed all banks and called Congress into a special session • Both houses of Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act in a single afternoon • The act called for all banks to be assessed for credit-worthiness by the US government and banks found to be stable enough were issued special federal licenses to operate

7. Fireside Chats • Roosevelt then went on the radio and assured Americans that it was safe to put their money back in these newly licensed banks • Americans believed him and stopped withdrawing their money from the banking system and began resuming deposits • Throughout his presidency, FDR would keep America informed of his intentions and progress through these radio-broadcast “fireside chats”

8. Securities Act • 1933 • Required all securities sold in the US to be registered with the US government • Required companies which sold stocks and bonds to provide complete and truthful information to investors

9. Securities and Exchange Commission • Created in 1934 • Government agency which enforces the Securities Act • Responsible for supervising companies in US which deal in securities (stocks, bonds, and other financial investments)

10. Glass-Steagall Act • 1933 • Separated commercial banking (everyday banks that accept deposits, make mortgage loans, etc.) from investment banking by banning commercial banks from risking customers deposits with investments in the stock market • Established the FDIC

11. Federal Deposit Insurance Company • FDIC • Designed to boost Americans’ confidence in banks • Government program which insures bank deposits up to $250,000 per person per bank • Also supervises all banks in the US to ensure that they are stable and manages the assets of any banks which fail

12. Civilian Conservation Corps • 1933 - 1942 • Government agency which offered work to unemployed men between 17 and 25 in the forestry service • Workers planted trees, fought forest fires, and built drinking water reservoirs • Workers lived in special camps and earned $30 per month • Over 3 million men worked for the CCC over its 9 years

13. Federal Emergency Relief Administration • 1933 • Created by the Federal Emergency Relief Act • Provided work for over 20 million by giving over $3 billion to state and local governments so they could create jobs for unskilled labor • Many of these jobs were in manufacturing consumer goods for the needy – canning fruits & vegetables, making mattresses and bedding, distributing surplus food to the hungry • Replaced by the WPA in 1935

14. Civil Works Administration • 1933 – 34 • Part of FERA • Provided short-term work to 4 million • Built sewers and other sanitation systems, roads, airports, and over 40,000 schools • Spent over $1 billion in just over 5 months

15. Works Progress Administration • 1935 – 1943 • Largest New Deal organization, at one time it was the largest single employer in the US • Spent over $11 billion • Government program designed to provide jobs to unskilled laborers • Constructed many government buildings • Also hired artists, writers, and others who were paid to expand US cultural arts

16. National Recovery Administration • 1933 - 1935 • Created by the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) • Mission was to stabilize prices for manufactured goods and prevent any more businesses from failing • Helped create codes of fair competition and reductions in competition • Struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in case of Schechter v. US in 1935

17. Public Works Administration • 1933 - 1939 • Created by the NIRA • Government agency which created jobs for skilled workers through large-scale public works projects, such as the construction of dams, bridges, and highways • Spent over $6 billion • PWA = Power to the people

18. Tennessee Valley Authority • 1933 - Today • Built dams in the South to create jobs, bring electric power, and provide flood control to some of the poorest and most rural parts of the nation (Appalachian Mountains)

19. National Labor Relations Board • 1935 - Today • Created by the National Labor Relations Act (also called the Wagner Act) • Designed to monitor unfair management practices, monitor labor unions, and act as an arbitrator between management and unions

20. Social Security Administration • 1935 - Today • Provides retirement income for all workers once they reach age 65; also provides payments to needy children and people with permanent disabilities • Also included the first form of unemployment insurance • All of this is paid for through a payroll tax which every worker in America pays

21. Fair Labor Standards Act • 1938 • Raised minimum wage to $.40/hour • Set maximum number of work hours at 44 hours/week • Required payment of overtime wages • Banned child labor for those under 16 years of age

22. Agricultural Adjustment Administration • 1933 • Provided government loans to farmers • Paid farmers to not grow crops in order to reduce supply and push up crop prices • Program saved American farmers from ruin, but angered consumers because it increased the price of food

23. Home Owners’ Loan Corporation • 1933 – 1935 • Created to save homeowners from eviction • US government bought mortgages from banks and then restructured them with lower interest rates and longer terms • About 10% of home owners in the US had mortgages with the HOLC • Still, thousands could not make even the adjusted payments and the HOLC foreclosed on many homes

24. Farm Credit Administration • Farmers’ version of the HOLC • Helped farmers refinance the mortgages on their farms • Saved thousands of family farms

25. National Housing Act • 1937 • Created the US Housing Authority (USHA) • Subsidized loans to builders who were willing to tear down old tenements and build large tracts of low-cost housing to help the poor • First public housing (“projects”) effort in the US

26. Farm Security Administration • The programs of the AAA had helped farmers who owned the land they worked, but had hurt tenant farmers • 1937: The FSA was created to loan money to tenant farmers so that they could buy their own farms • Loaned over $1 billion

27. American Liberty League • Created in 1934 • Conservative opposition to FDR’s programs • Combined business leaders with anti-New Deal politicians • Organized opposition to the New Deal, especially Social Security and the AAA

28. Huey Long • 1893 – 1935 • Very popular Democratic Senator from Louisiana • Head of a powerful (and corrupt) political machine • Ran a “Share Our Wealth” campaign which called for taxes on the rich to pay for programs to help the poor • Assassinated in 1935

29. Father Charles Coughlin • 1891 – 1979 • Catholic priest who used his weekly radio show to call on FDR to do more to help the poor, such as raising taxes on the wealthy and nationalization of the banking industry • During WWII, he was arrested for violation of the Espionage Act for his continued criticisms of FDR and the Catholic Church ordered him to end his radio program

30. Dr. Francis Townsend • 1867 – 1960 • Proposed in his Townsend Plan that the government provide all citizens over 60 with a $200/month pension with the requirements that they must retire (creating jobs for young people) and must spend the entire $200 each month (which would boost the economy) • Townsend Plan gained widespread support among the elderly and increased political activism among seniors

31. The Supreme Court • Starting in 1935, the Supreme Court began attacking Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, striking down several as unconstitutional • These attacks worried Roosevelt, prompting him to take action to swing the Court in his favor

32. FDR’s Court Packing Scheme • FDR proposed a bill to Congress which would allow the President to appoint extra Justices to the Supreme Court anytime a Justice had served 10 years or had passed the age of 70 • This would have allowed FDR to appoint 6 new justices almost immediately, ones who would have supported his New Deal programs • Congress refused to expand the Court, but the Supreme Court sensed the danger and did not attack any more New Deal programs

33. US as a “Broker State” • Federal government assumed the new role of balancing and mediating the competing economic interests of businesses, farmers, workers, and consumers

34. US as a “Welfare State” • FDR’s New Deal programs also began to shift spending priorities in the budget • As Americans became used to the idea of government assistance for the needy, more and more of the federal budget was spent on public welfare programs

35. Final Question: Has the American Public become to dependent on Government Aid and welfare programs???