the new deal
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“The only thing we have to fear, is 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. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
““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???