15.1 A New Deal Fights the Depression

How did FDR’s programs fight the Depression?

Change Takes Hold

• Hoover had believed at first that the Depression was just another slow down that would end on its own

• He thought that the government should take some action, but not give too much aid to poor people

• He created several programs that helped some people, but his popularity fell and by 1932 people wanted a change, and Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was elected in a landslide

Continued

• Roosevelt and his advisors planned programs to end the Depression that were known as the New Deal, which had three goals:– Relief for the needy– Economic recovery– Financial reform

The New Deal

• In the first Hundred Days of the New Deal, Congress quickly passed many important laws that expanded the federal government’s role in the nation’s economy

• Roosevelt declared a bank holiday, closing them to prevent any more bank failures

• Congress passed several reforms to restore public confidence in banks, like the Glass-Steagall Act, which established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), which insures your money at banks

Continued

• Congress also passed the Federal Securities Act, which made companies give accurate information in its stock offerings

• They also created the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate stock markets

• FDR spoke directly to the American people through radio ‘fireside chats’ that explained New Deal measures and asked for public support

Helping the American People

• Roosevelt worked to help farmers and workers through several reforms:– Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA): helped raise crop

prices by lowering production– Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): put young men to

work building roads and planting trees– Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA):

provided direct relief of food, clothing, and cash to the poor

– National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA): set codes of fair practice for industries and guaranteed workers the right to unionize

The New Deal Comes Under Attack

• Roosevelt paid for New Deal programs through deficit spending, or spending more money than the government receives in revenue

• Some claimed that it did not do enough to help the poor

• The Supreme Court found the NIRA and AAA unconstitutional, which upset FDR and he proposed a bill to allow him to appoint more Supreme Court justices

Continued

• Critics claimed that FDR was trying to ‘pack the court’ with justices who supported him

• He got around this issue by having several justices retire or resign, so that he was able to appoint seven new justices

• FDR’s most famous critic was Senator Huey Long of Louisiana, who early on supported the New Deal but also wanted to become president

• He was assassinated in 1935 before he could try to run against FDR