The New Deal

I. New Deal ActionsA. Election Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932

B. Waiting for FDR to take over1. Election was in November and

inauguration was in March2. FDR put together his advisors and

many of the ideas for his plan designed to deal with the problems of the depression known as the New Deal

C. The first 100 days1. Reforming banking and finance

a. FDR declared a bank holiday to prevent further withdrawalsb. Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Actc. In FDR’s first fireside chat he boosted American’s confidence

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrfirstfiresidechat.html

2. Assisting Farmers—the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) raised farm prices by lowering production (paying farmers to NOT plant or to destroy crops already planted)

3. Providing Work Projectsa. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) put 3 million young men to work on parks, roads, and planting trees

b. The Public Works Admininstration (PWA) provided construction jobs for schools and community buildings

4. Assisting Industrya. National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) passed to promote

industrial growthb. NIRA created the NRA or

National Recovery Administration which created codes for fair competition

5. Helping people with Housinga. The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) provided government loans to homeowners facing foreclosureb. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) provides

loans for mortgages and repairs

D. The New Deal comes under attack1. Liberal critics argued that the New

Deal did not go far enough to help the poor and reform the nation’s economic

system2. Conservatives argued the opposite: that FDR spent too much time on direct relief and used New Deal policies to

control business and socialize the economy

3. The Supreme Court reacts: the court struck down NIRA and AAA as

unconstitutionala. FDR tried to add six new justices

to the Supreme Courtb. the Congress and the press protested and called this the

“court- packing bill”

4. Three Fiery Critics (and the American Liberty League)

a. Charles Coughlin—catholic priest turned against the New Deal and appealed to the poorb. Dr. Francis Townsend—also appealed to the poor and elderlyc. Huey Long—Governor of

Louisiana proposed the “Share our Wealth” program, luckily for FDR, Long was assassinated in 1935

II. The Second Hundred DaysA. More relief for Farmers and WorkersB. 1934 midterm elections the Democrats increased their majority in CongressC. 1936 Election FDR beat the Republican Al Landon

D. Helping Farmers…again1. A new Agricultural Adjustment Act in 19382. Resettlement Administration was

created to loan money to small farmers to buy landE. Helping Youth, Professionals, and Others

1. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) set out to create as many jobs as possible as quickly as possible

2. Many of the people employed were professionals like teachers, writers, artists, actors and musicians

a. they wrote travel guidesb. painted muralsc. collected slave narrativesd. gave music lessons

3. Labor and other reformsa. the Wagner Act gave unions some

powerb. the Fair Labor Standard Act set

minimum wage and maximum hours4. The Social Security Act

a. Old Age Insuranceb. Unemployment compensationc. Aid to families with dependent

children and the disabled

5. Expanding and regulating utilitiesa. REA (Rural Electrification

Administration) brought electricity to rural areas of the country

b. The Public Utilities Holding Company Act outlawed a utilities company from

buying up many other utilities company to create a monopoly

III. New Deal affects many groupsA. New opportunities for women

1. FDR named several important women to important positions

a. Frances Perkins became the first female cabinet member as secretary of laborb. the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt pressured FDR to appeal to female voters

2. Women continued to struggle for equal rights during the New DealB. New opportunities for African Americans

1. FDR did not support an antilynching bill for fear of upsetting southern Democrats

2. But millions of A.A. got jobs with the WPA

3. Overall A.A. supported FDR and the New Deal as their best hope for the future and

many started to vote Democratic for the first time since the Civil War

C. Mexican Americans and the New Deal—they tended to support the New Deal even though they received fewer benefits than blacksD. Native Americans

1. Received strong support from the New Deal2. Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

strengthened Native American land claims (casinos)

E. FDR forms the New Deal coalition made up of Southern whites, urban voters, African Americans, and unionsF. Labor

1. The CIO or Congress of Industrial Organizations split from the AFL (American Federation of Labor), they unionized the unskilled and used strikes to win gains

2. Overall, the New Deal was good for labor

IV. Society and CultureA. Motion pictures, radio, art, and literature all blossom during the Depression and New DealB. Art and Literature was sober during the 1930sC. movies, radio offered escapes for people (comedy, drama, musicals)

V. The impact of the New DealA. The New Deal’s legacy

1. It did not end the Great Depression but it helped

2. It’s projects provided much needed relief and lasting results (bridges,buildings, art, ect…)B. Opinion on the New Deal still differs

1. Conservatives say the federal government grew too large and powerful

2. Liberals say the New Deal didn’t go far enough in restructuring the economy and wealthC. the longest lasting impact of the New Deal is a middle road between the socialism and laissez faire economy