1933 – 1941
Introduction
No master blueprint -
contradictory hodge-
podge of programs
New Deal didn’t end
Great Depression – only
World War II did that
F.D.R. possessed ability
to inspire and restore
confidence
Listening to the “Fireside Chats”
Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s
The Election of 1932
Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s Press
Shoring Up the Financial State
Emergency Banking Relief Act (March 9)
allowed Treasury to reopen solvent banks &
reorganize insolvent ones
Federal Securities Act (May 27) mandated full
disclosure on all new securities
Home Owners’ Loan Corp. (June 13) created to
refinance home mortgages
Glass-Steagall Act (June 16):
Separated commercial & investment banking
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. created to
insure bank deposits up to $5,000.00
Securities Exchange Commission created in
1934 to monitor Wall Street
Creating Jobs for the Unemployed
Civilian Conservation Corps (March 31, 1933) put
young, unmarried men to work planting trees & creating
parks
Almost 3 million men, aged 18-25, participated
2,650 segregated, military-style camps
Paid nominal $30 a month, but point was to keep them out
of the labor force
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (May 12,
1933) gave grants to states to fund relief efforts
Run by Harry Hopkins
Set up some works programs
Public Works Administration (June 12, 1933) hired
private contractors for large infrastructure projects
Run by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes
Spent $3.3 billion on projects like Triborough Bridge
Used private contractors who hired union members & did
FDR and the CCC
Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s Press
Helping the Farmers
Agricultural Adjustment
Administration (May 12, 1933)
Run by George Peek
Set crop quotas & prices based on
1909-14
Worked through state & local
officials, so benefits went to middle
& upper class
Declared unconstitutional by
Supreme Court in U.S. v. Butler
(1936)
Emergency Farm Mortgage Act
(May 12, 1933) allowed refinancing of
farm mortgages
The Dust Bowl
The Tennessee Valley Authority
May 18, 1933
TVA created to bring
economic development to
poor rural region
Cheap electricity used as
yardstick to measure private
companies’ rates
Government bought nitrates
Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s for military use
Caused vast pollution
Rural Electrification
Administration created in
1935 to bring electricity to
rural areas
Norris Dam
ELECTRICITY COMES TO RURAL
AMERICA
TVA workers at Norris Dam construction site
REA customer admires her
new electric meter
National Recovery Administration
June 16, 1933
N.R.A. meant to be centerpiece of
New Deal – based on T.R.’s New
Nationalism
Run by Gen. Hugh Johnson
Joint committees of labor,
management & government created
fair practice codes
Section 7(a) guaranteed union
recognition
Declared unconstitutional by Supreme
Court in Schecter Poultry Co. v.
U.S. (1935)
Critics on the Right
Conservative Democrats formed the
American Liberty League –
opposed New Deal as corrupt
patronage politics
Hoover & Republicans labeled the
New Deal “socialist” & warned of loss
of personal liberty
Supreme Court invalidated
legislation:
Schecter Poultry Co. v. U.S. -
declared NRA restricted intrastate
commerce & delegated legislative
power to executive branch
U.S. v. Butler - invalidated AAA as Justice Owen Roberts
attempt to use taxing power to
unconstitutionally regulate agriculture
Critics on the Left
Father Charles Coughlin created the
National Union for Social Justice
Claimed New Deal really benefited
wealthy, not poor
Father Coughlin
charged that an international conspiracy
of Jewish financiers was behind Roosevelt
Dr. Francis Townshend suggested a
revolving pension scheme for the
elderly
Sen. Huey Long (the Kingfish) wrote
Every Man a King & created Share Our
Wealth Clubs
Called for seizing incomes above $1
million & redistributing to all families
Sen. Huey Long Planned to run for president in 1936
The Second New Deal, 1935:
Works Progress Administration
Run by Harry Hopkins
Spent $4.8 billion
Employed 8.5 million
put people to work using their existing
talents
Wagner National Labor Relations
Act
Guaranteed unions right to organize
& bargain collectively
Est. National Labor Relations
Board to supervise elections &
The W.P.A. at Work
W.P.A. Projects
The Second New Deal (cont.):
Social Security Act
Social Security Admin.
Provides pensions to elderly
& disabled
Financed by flat payroll tax
Aid to Dependent Children
(later AFDC) was 1st federal
direct welfare program
“Soak the Rich” Tax
Increased income,
inheritance, gift & excess Copyright 2000,
profits taxes Bedford/St. Martin’s Press
Didn’t really redistribute
1937 Recession
Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s
The Third New Deal, 1937-38:
United States Housing
Authority (1937)
Long-term loans to local agencies &
subsidized rents
Redlining continued segregation
Farm Security Administration
(1937) gave loans to tenant
farmers
Second A.A.A. (1938) required a
2/3 vote in plebiscites to set
quotas
Food, Drug & Cosmetics Act
(1938) forbade false or misleading
ads – regulated by FTC
Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)
set min. wage & max. 40-hour
New Deal Gains & Losses
Growth of labor unions
AFL grew from 2.3 million to 6.89
million, 1933-45
CIO had 3.7 million by 1938
More women working, but
often excluded from relief
Blacks benefited from some
programs (esp. W.P.A.)
Wheeler-Howard Act (1934)
reversed Dawes Act & restored
tribal land & self-government Copyright 2000,
Bedford/St. Martin’s
