The New Deal Forging a New Deal

Chapter 13 Section 1 Angela Brown

 The New Deal became FDR’s program of relief, recovery, and reform aimed at combating problems caused by the Depression.

 FDR was not sure exactly how the New Deal would work…

Restoring the Nation’s Hope

  Both Eleanor and FDR smoothed public fears Second Bonus March – provided campsites for veterans – Eleanor paid them a visit   Demonstrated new administrations approach to unrest FDR’s “Fireside Chats” – address nation on radio the first Sunday after taking office  Easy manner and confidence made people feel better

The First Hundred Days

 Had promised “bold, persistent experimentation” no one knew what that would include  From March Inaugration – June 1933  Pushed many programs through Congress to provide relief, create jobs and stimulate economic recovery

Roosevelt

 2 forms of Public communications  met with press twice a week – put achievement and plans in headlines 

Fireside Chats

– talked about programs and purposes to the nation

 “It’s common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails admit it frankly and try another. But above all try something.”  Should government programs to help the elderly and poor be temporary responses to crisis or should they be permanent?

Closing the Banks

 March 5, 1933 – FDR ordered all banks to close for next four days  Pushed Congress to pass

Emergency Banking Act

  Authorized the government to inspect the financial health of all banks Government found most banks healthy – 2/3 reopened by March 15  Americans gained confidence in banking system

 They began to put more money into their accounts than they took out   Allowed banks to make loans that would help stimulate the economy June – Congress established -

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

insure bank deposits up to $5000.

to  Confidence increased further

Providing Relief and Creating Jobs

 May Congress passed

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (Fera)

 Sent funds to overburdened local relief agencies   Gave out $5 million in first two hours in office (Harry Hopkins) Fera put money into Public facilities – works programs – government funded projects to build public

 Nov. 1933

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

gave jobs building roads, parks, airports – 4 million employed – boosted moral   March 1933

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

– FDR’s favorite program – 2.5 unmarried young men restored/maintained forests, beaches, and parks CCC earned $1 a day – lived in camp free, received food, med. Care and job training

 Eleanor created similar program for young women 8500 took part   Native American workers built schools, hospitals, and irrigation systems (through Indian Affairs)

Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

– ended sale of tribal lands begun under Dawes Act (1887) and restored ownership of some lands to Indian groups.

A Helping Hand to Business

 National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) sensible planning – established the

National Recovery Administration

(

NRA

) – an agency that set out to balance the unstable economy through  Industry wide codes to spell out fair practices – regulated wages, working conditions, production, and even prices, set a minimum wage and gave organized labor collective bargaining rights (allowed workers to negotiate as a group)

 Worked for a while but higher wages = higher prices – people stopped buying   Businesses soon complained that the codes were too complicated and control by the NRA was too rigid.

Best part of NIRA –

Public Works Administration (PWA

) – built Grand Caulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington, Causeway connecting Key West to Florida Mainland, Triborough Bridge in NY City



Federal Securities Act

– required companies to provide information about their finances if they offered stock for sale  Congress reformed Stock Market  Congress set up

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

to regulate the stock market – tell companies what info must be included in their financial statements  Congress gave Federal Reserve board power to regulate the purchase of stock on-margin

Saving Homes and Farms



Home Owner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC)

refinanced, or reshaped terms of mortgage payments more manageable – 3 year period made about one million low-interest loans 

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

tried to raise farm prices through subsidies or government financial assistance  new tax used to pay farmers not to raise certain crops and animals

Saving Homes and Farms

 hoped lower production would raise prices  Many people could not understand destroying food while so many were hungry – (farmers plowed under crops to get subsidies)

The TVA



Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

– May 1933 helped farmers and created jobs in one of the country’s least developed regions  Reactivating a hydroelectric power facility started during WWI = cheap electric power, flood control, and recreational opportunities to the entire Tennesse River Valley

New Deal Personnel



Frances Perkins

– Sec. Of Labor until 1945 first woman in a cabinet post –pressed for laws to help employed and unemployed  Est.

Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics

– min wage, max work week, disabled workers compensation  Two dozen women held key New Deal positions  African Americans held more than one hundred policy-making posts



Mary McLeod

– African American woman – highest position of any African American woman – director of the division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration   Advised FDR on programs that aided African Americans Formed

Federal Council on Negro Affairs

– known as black cabinet – met weekly to prioritize

Eleanor Roosevelt

  Most important advisor/colleagues – traveled and reported on effect on programs Wealthy, educated – FDR’s distant cousin – they had 6 children   During WWI volunteered Reshaped position of First Lady – toured country in place of her husband

Eleanor Roosevelt

  Held own press conferences with women correspondences Newspaper column “My Day” drummed up support for the New Deal  At Southern Conference for Human Welfare interracial group – refused Jim Crow laws – sat in center aisle between divided races – symbolism of act made huge publicity – embarrassed FDR

Eleanor Roosevelt

 Eleanor’s activities troubled some Americans  First Lady should be a gracious hostess   many came to admire her unconventional style (Compare to Hillary Clinton – Is there room for personal differences in the role of First Lady?)