New Deal

1. New Deal Did these actions help or hinder the United States in its Efforts to Rise From the Depression?

2. “The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself” Franklin D. Roosevelt • The Roosevelt Administration initiated policies that supported and regulated agriculture and industry • Legislation improved labor conditions and increased power of the unions • Programs of the New Deal: CWA, TVA, FDIC, SEC, Social Security • New Deal created new opportunities for women and minority groups

3. Roosevelt Takes Office in 1932 • Roosevelt knew that he had to act with a nation in the midst of a Depression, some people had not worked in three years or more • Formed “Brain Trust,” a group of advisers made up of professors, lawyers, and journalists • Worked to formulate set of policies to relieve the problems plaguing many Americans • New Deal, phrase from a campaign speech in which Roosevelt had promised, “a new deal for the American people.”

4. Focus of New Deal • Three general goals: a. Relief for the needy b. Economic Recovery c. Financial Reform Roosevelt launched a period of intense activity, known as the Hundred Days, from march 9-June 16, 1933. During this period Congress passed more than 15 major pieces of New Deal legislation, expanding the federal government’s role in the nation’s econom

5. Banking and Financial Reform • March 5 when Roosevelt took office, declared a bank holiday • Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass Emergency Banking Relief Act • Emergency Banking Relief Act: authorized US Treasury to inspect banks, those unable to pay debts remained closed • Americans began to regain confidence in banks

6. Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats • Started March 12, 1933, when solvent banks were allowed to reopen • Used these radio programs to discuss his concerns and detail policies on the New Deal • First chat centered on restoring financial system • “We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system. It is up to you to support and make it work.” • He explained that banks invests your deposit. People demanding cash for savings cause banks to fail

7. Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933 • Established Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which provided federal insurance for individual bank account of less than $5,000. The FDIC is still in use today. • Regulated Stock Market with the Federal Securities Act, required corporations to provide complete information on all stock offerings and made corporations responsible • Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) created in 1934 to regulate stock market to prevent people from rigging the market with inside information

8. Alcohol Bills • Allowed manufacturing and sale of some alcoholic beverages • Alcohol tax to raise government revenues • 21st Amendment: 1933, repealed the prohibition amendment

9. Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) • Purpose to raise crop prices by lowering production • Government paid farmers to leave a certain amount of every acre unseeded • Reduction of supply, cost would rise • Government paid cotton workers $200 million to plow under 10 million acres of their crop • Hog farmers paid to slaughter 6 million pigs • This act was controversial because so many were hungry

10. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) • 1933, Men 18-25 given jobs, $30/month with $25 of it sent home to families, given free food and uniforms • Built roads, developed parks, planted trees and helped soil erosion and flood-controlled projects • Ended in 1942: 3 million men had worked with CCC and planted in 8 years over 200 million trees • Many of these jobs were in the Great Plains to prevent another Dust Bowl

11. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) • 1933, funded with $500 million to provide direct relief for the needy • Half of the money went to the states as direct grants-in-aid to help furnish food and clothing to the unemployed, the aged, and the ill • Additional $250 million distributed on the basis of one federal dollar for every three state dollars • Harry Hopkins headed the program, believed that money helped people buy food, but work gave them confidence and self-respect

12. Public Works Administration (PWA) • 1933, provided money to states to create jobs • Mostly in construction of schools and other community buildings • When these programs failed, Roosevelt created the CWA

13. Civil Works Administration (CWA) • 1933 after PWA failed • Provided 4 million jobs • Criticized by many because the jobs were viewed as busy work and wasting money • CWA built over 40,000 schools and paid the salaries of 50,000 school teachers • Half a million miles of roads were built

14. National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) • 1933, Promoted industrial growth by establishing codes of fair practice for individual industries • Created National Recovery Administration (NRA) to set prices of products to ensure fair competition • NRA established standards for working hours and a ban on child labor • NRA promoted recovery by interrupting wages cuts, falling prices and layoffs • Established workers’ rights to unionize and bargain collectively • Many felt this act served large businesses

15. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) • 1933, focused on Tennessee River valley • Created thousands of jobs and provided flood control, hydroelectric power, and other benefits to the region

16. Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) • 1933 provided government loans to homeowners who faced foreclosure because they could not make their loan payments

17. National Housing Act (NHA) • 1933, created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which continues today providing loans for home mortgages and repairs

18. Protests Against New Deal • After first 100 days, many felt that the New Deal interfered with the workings of a free market economy • 1935, Supreme Court struck down the NIRA as unconstitutional, declaring that the law gave legislative power to the executive branch • Enforcement of industry codes within stats went beyond federal government’s constitutional powers • 1936, AAA was struck down due to agriculture being a local matter and should be regulated by the states

19. Roosevelt’s Response to Supreme Court • 1937, proposed that Congress enact a court-reform bill that would reorganize the federal judiciary and allow him to appoint six new Supreme Court justices • Seen as “court packing” and Roosevelt was criticized for violating separation of powers • Rulings in the Supreme Court began to be more in Roosevelt’s favor without this action because of resignations • Roosevelt was able to appoint 7 new justices in the next 4 years

20. American Liberty League • 1934, made up of wealthy business leaders such as Al Smith, John W. Davis • Opposed New Deal because it was believed that it violated respect for the rights of individuals and property • Charles Coughlin, Francis Townsend and Huey Long felt the poor suffered more with the New Deal • Father Coughlin favored a guaranteed annual income and nationalization of banks • Dr. Townsend devised a pension plan to provide monthly benefits, but this was too expensive • Senator Long proposed a nationwide social program, Share Our Wealth

21. Second New Deal • Also known as the Second Hundred Days • Focus on farmers, workers and poor, the “forgotten man” • Eleanor Roosevelt played a role in social reform aspects of the New Deal

22. Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act • 1936, to replace AAA, which was struck down • Paid farmers for cutting production of soil-depleting crops like cotton and wheat • Rewarded farmers for practicing good soil conservation methods • Second Agricultural Act 1938 passed with out the unconstitutional processing tax to pay for farm subsidies • “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck illustrated the struggling farmers

23. Resettlement Administration • 1935, to help sharecroppers, migrant workers and poor farmers • Designed to loan money to small farmers to buy land • 1937, replaced by the Farm Security Administration (FSA), loaned more than $1 billion to help tenant farmers by forming a network of migrant farmer camps • FSA sent photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Ben Shaun, Walker Evans to take pictures of rural towns and farms

24. Works Progress Administration (WPA) • Created jobs on largest public works budget ($5 billion) • 1935-1943 employed over 8 million people • Built 850 airports • Constructed or repaired 651,000 miles of roads and streets • Built 110,000 libraries, schools and hospitals • Sewed over 300 million garments for the needy • Gave a sense of hope and purpose to many workers

25. National Youth Administration (NYA) • More than 2 million high school and college students worked part-time clerical positions at their schools • 1936, more than 200,000 students received aid and assistance through NYA

26. Wagner Act • Reestablished NIRA provision of collective bargaining • Listed unfair labor practices that companies could not usesuch as threatening workers, firing union members, and interfering with unions • Set up National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hear testimony and unfair practices and hold elections to find out if they wanted union representation • Fair Labor Standards Act 1938 to establish maximum hours and minimum wages • FLSA set minimum hourly rate at 25 cents/hour then by 1940, it was 40 cents. National maximum work week of 44 hours and in 2 years 40 hours. Banned factory labor workers under 16 years old (18 yrs if work hazardous)

27. Social Security Act • 1935 by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins • 3 Parts: a) old age insurance for retirees 65 or older and their spouses ($10-85/month) Groups excluded: domestic servants, farm workers, many hospital and restaurant workers, b) Unemployed compensation system ($15-18/week), c) Aid to families with dependent children and the disabled

28. Rural Electrification Act (REA) • Created, financed and worked with rural and farm electrical cooperatives to bring electric to rural areas • 1935 30% of American farms had electricity, 1945 45%, 1951 90%

29. Public Utilities Holding Company Act • 1935 aim to fight financial corruption in the public utility industry • Outlawed ownership of utilities by multiple holding companies

30. New Deal • Helped different minority groups as well such as women, African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans • Eleanor Roosevelt opened many doors for African Americans, particularly the performance of Marian Anderson in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 • Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 to strengthen Native American land claims by prohibiting the government from taking unclaimed reservation lands and selling them to people other than Native Americans

31. New Deal Coalition • An alignment of diverse groups dedicated to supporting the Democratic Party • Enabled Democrats to dominate politics in the 1930s and 1940s

32. Impact of New Deal • To avoid deficit spending, President Roosevelt did not launch a Third New Deal • Conservatives felt that Roosevelt made the federal government too large and it had stifled free enterprise and individual initiative • Liberals felt that Roosevelt did not do enough to socialize the economy and eliminate social and economic inequalities

33. Sources • The Americans: Reconstruction through the 2oth Century, McDougal Littell, Inc, Evanston, IL, 2002.