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Chapter 24 The Great Depression and the New Deal. The American People , 6 th ed. I. The Great Depression. The Depression Begins. Farmers had suffered throughout the 1920s and were the first group to plunge into depression
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Chapter 24The Great Depression and the New Deal The American People, 6th ed.
The Depression Begins • Farmers had suffered throughout the 1920s and were the first group to plunge into depression • Businesses increased profits while holding down material costs and wages, thus suppressing consumer spending power • Global economic problems created by World War I were the main factors
Hoover and the Great Depression • President Hoover took aggressive action to stem the depression by using the power of the federal government • He created a wide variety of agencies and boards that contained the best minds in American business to suggest solutions • He also sponsored a tax cut hoping to stimulate the economy
The Election of 1932 • Hoover’s unpopularity denied him his second term and ushered Franklin Roosevelt into the White House • Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for Americans and relief from the depression • “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
The Banking Crisis • Many American banks had closed immediately after the stock market crash and the public no longer trusted them • Roosevelt tabled an emergency Banking Relief Act that gave the executive broad powers of financial reform • Additional legislation followed strengthening the Federal Reserve and establishing the FDIC to insure deposits
Relief Measures • The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) • The Civil Works Administration (CWA) • The Public Works Administration (PWA) • The Agricultural Adjustment Act: stabilized prices on farm produce through paying farmers to reduce their acreage under cultivation
Industrial Recovery • The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRC) • The National Recovery Administration (NRA) • National Labor Board
Work Relief and Social Security • The Works Progress Administration (WPA) • The National Youth Administration (NYA) • The Social Security Act of 1935
The Battle of the Supreme Court • As the first act of his second term, Roosevelt announced a plan to reform the judicial system • Angry with the Supreme Court for foiling several New Deal measures, the president was determined to create a more willing court • His scheme was complex and produced a public outcry of dictatorship; Roosevelt quickly pulled back his plan • Ironically, the Court began passing practically every new initiative after this event