““THE ONLY THE ONLY THING WE HAVE THING WE HAVE

TO FEAR, IS TO FEAR, IS FEAR ITSELF”FEAR ITSELF”

REMEMBER THIS QUOTE!!!– FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT,

1933 -

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

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)

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

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

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

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”

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

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)

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

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

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

Federal Emergency Relief Federal Emergency Relief AdministrationAdministration

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

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

Works Progress Works Progress AdministrationAdministration

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

National Recovery National Recovery AdministrationAdministration

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

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

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)

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

Social Security Social Security AdministrationAdministration

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

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

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

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

Farm Credit Administration Farmers’ version of

the HOLC Helped farmers

refinance the mortgages on their farms

Saved thousands of family farms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Question:Final Question:

Has the American Public become to dependent on

Government Aid and welfare programs???