18
FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) Responds to the Great Depression
FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) Responds to the Great Depression
I. The Impact of the Great Depression on Ordinary Americans
A. Unemployment, Eviction, and Hunger
4 of 43
U.S. Unemployment Rate 1929-1940
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1929 1931 1933 1935 1937 1939
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (%)
B. Falling Fathers, Falling Birth Rates
C. Failing Farmers, the Dust Bowl, and Hoovervilles
D. Soup Kitchens, Bread Lines, and the Limits of Local Relief
II. FDR Proposes a New Deal
A. FDR’s Fireside Chats Appeal to the “Forgotten Man”
B. FDR’s Inaugural Address & the First Hundred Days
• “This Nation asks for action, and action now. “
• “Our greatest primary task is to put people to work…. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war.”
C. Three Competing and Conflicting Goals
– Relief – Immediate End to Human Suffering
– Recovery – Bring US Out of Depression
– Reform – Make Sure Depression Cant Happen Again
III. The 1st Hundred Days and Alphabet Soup
New Deal Program Summary Relief, Recovery or Reform?
Glass-Steagall Act FDIC -- government insures deposits up to $5,000
Recovery/Reform
New Deal Program Summary Relief, Recovery or Reform?
Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC)
Environmental projects to give jobs to young men
Relief/Recovery
New Deal Program Summary Relief, Recovery or Reform?
Home Owners’ Loan Corporation
(HOLC)
Government loans money to homeowners so that they can pay mortgages
Relief/Recovery
Agricultural Adjustment Act
(AAA)
Government loans money to farms so they can pay mortgages
Relief/Recovery
New Deal Program Summary Relief, Recovery or Reform?
National Recovery Act (NRA)
Minimum wages, maximum hours/week, the Blue Eagle
Relief/Recovery
